M^RAfiY UNIVBKfTT Of CAUFOKNIA I J^^ QUEEN VICTORIA, 187 7 (OSTON, B.B.RUSSELL. POPULAR HISTORY DOMINION OF CANADA jFrom t}}z W&cabzx^ of America to t\it Present ULimz, INCLUDING A HISTORY OF THE PROVINCES OF ONTARIO, QUEBEC, NOVA SCOTIA, NEW BRUNSWICK, PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA, MANITOBA, AND THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY; AND OF THE ISLAND OF NEWFOUNDLAND. WILLIAM H. WITHROW, M.A. Author of "The Catacombs of Rome," "School History of Canada," etc. WITH STEEL PORTRAITS, MAPS, AND NUMEROUS WOOD ENGRAVINGS. PUBLISHED BY B. B. RUSSELL, BOSTON, MASS. CLOUGH & TOWNSEND, TORONTO, ONT. L. A. KENDALL, MONTREAL, P. Q. JOHN KILLAM, Sr., YARMOUTH, N. S. JOHN RUSSELL, PORTLAND, ME. 1878. Cro)jm:tgf}t, 187S, BY B. B. RUSSELL. ALL RIGHTS RKSERVED. Albert J. Wright, PRINTER, No. 79 Milk Street (cor. of Federal), BOSTON. I LORD DUFFEHIH K.P, G.C-M.G.,K.C.B. BOSTON, B.B. RUSSELL. TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF DUFFERIN, K. P., G.C.M.G., K.C.B., CiofacrnotsCcncral of Ifje JDotninion of CTanatia, THIS HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY WHICH HE HAS SO WISELY GOVERNED, AND IN WHOSE WELFARE HE TAKES SO DEEP AN INTEREST IS, BY GRACIOUS PERMISSION, RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR. 027 PREFACE. The essential pre-requisite of a rational patriotism, is an intelligent acquaintance with the history of one's country. To supply the means of making that acquaint- ance has been for years the cherished purpose of the writer. After long-continued and careful labour, in which no pains have been spared, this volume is sub- mitted to the public. The author has endeavoured to describe, in as full detail as his prescribed limits of space would permit, the picturesque incidents of the early history of Canada ; the stirring episodes of its military conflicts; and the important events leading to and following the confed- eration of the British North American Provinces. The growth of the principles of civil liberty and the develop- ment of the Canadian Constitution will, it is hoped, be found impartially traced in these pages. The history of the maritime provinces, l^ova Scotia, l^ew Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, together with that of the newer provinces of the Northwest and the Pacific coast, as well as that of Old Canada, has been given as fully as possible. The contemporary his- tory of the Empire, and of foreign countries, where it 6 PREFACE. is intimately connected with that of Canada, has been interwoven with the text. The writer has made copious use of the best existing sources of information, embracing original documents in French and English, parliamentary reports, newspa- per files representing the views of all political parties, and many printed volumes. He has endeavoured to observe strict impartiality, and trusts that he has suc- ceeded in doing so, even in treading upon the delicate ground of recent political events. The particular attention of the reader is directed to the carefully prepared map which accompanies this volume, without the use of which, the important geo- graphical relations of places and events cannot be un- derstood. A copious index has been considered essen- tial to the completeness of the work. w. H. w. Toronto, May 10, 1878. CONTENTS CHAPTEE I. THE DISCOVERY OP AMERICA. Ancient Traditions — The Norsemen in America — Diaz — Colnmbns Discovers San Salvador, 1492 — His further Discoveries, Misfortunes, and Death — Vespucci — Da Gama, 17 CHAPTER II. EARLY EXPLORATION. The Cabots — Corter6al — De L^ry — Verrazzani — Jacques Cartier Discovers the St. Lawrence, 1534 — Roberval, Viceroy, 1541 — Cartier his Lieutenant — Founds Charlesbourg — The Robervals Founder at Sea, 1549, . . 25 CHAPTER III. THE INDIAN TRIBES. The Mound-Buiklers — Their probable Origin and Fate — Modern Tribes — Their Arts, Wars, Superstitions — Alliances — The Fur-Trade — Tribal Divi- sions — Present Condition, 34 CHAPTER IV. EARLY COLONIZATION — FOUNDING OF PORT ROYAL. Spanish and English Colonization — Frobisher — Magellan — Drake — Sir Humphrey Gilbert — Raleigh — Gosnold — Hudson — Convicts at Sable Island — Chauvin at Tadousac — Champlain's first Voyage to Canada, 1603 — The Tragedy of St. Croix — Poutrincourt Founds Port Royal, 1605 — Lescharbot — The "Order of the Good Time" — Discord at Port Royal — Mount Desert — Captain Argall. 44 CHAPTER V. champlain's administration. Champlain Founds Quebec, 1608 — Explores Country — Iroquois War — The De Caens — The Hundred Associates, 1627 — Acadia — Kirk's Conquest of Quebec, 1629 — Restored to the French, 1632— The La Tours in Acadia — Death of Champlain, 1635 — His Character, 57 CHAPTER VI. ENGLISH COLONIZATION — CANADA UNDER THE HUNDRED ASSOCIATES. English Colonies — Montmagny — Madame de la Peltrie — Marie de I'ln- carnation — Founding of Viile Marie (Montreal), 1642 — Indian Wars and Treaties — The Jesuit Missionaries — Isaac Jogues — Bressani, . . 70 8 COXTENTS. CHAPTER VII. THE WILDERNESS MISSIONS. The Huron Mission — Br€lienf, Lalemant, Daniel, Davost — Trials and Triumphs of the Missionaries — Destruction of the Huron Mission, 1648-1649 — Iroquois Ravages — The Onondaga Mission planted, 1656 — Abandoned, 1658 — Dulac dea Ormeauit — Thermopylae of Canada — Laval — Earthquakes, . . 84 CHAPTER VIII. ACADIA. La Tour and D'Aulnay — Their Feuds — Madame La Tour's Heroic Defence of St. John — Its Capture, 1667 — Perfidy of D'Aulnay — His Death — La Tour Marries his Widow — Le Borgne — Re-conquest of Acadia hy the English, 1654 — It is Restored to the French, 1667 105 CHAPTER IX. KOYAL GOVERNMENT. The Supreme Council — De Mezy — Great Company of the West — De Tracy — Talon — De CourceUes — Mohawk Wars — Seigneurial Tenure — The Fur Trade — Jesuit Explorations — The French on Hudson's Bay — In Newfound- land, Ill CHAPTER X. DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST. Frontenac — Joliet and Jlarquetto Discover the Mississippi, 1673 — La Salle — Fort Frontenac — Launcti of the "Griffin," 1679 — Crfeve Cceur — Mutiny — Tonti — Hennepin — La Salle in Louisiana — Disasters at Fort St. Louis — Assassination of La Salle, 1687 — Tragic Fate of Texan Colony, . 129 CHAPTER XL "the AGONY OF CANADA." Civil Disputes — La Barre, Viceroy — Iroquois Wars — Famine Cove — Denon- ville. Viceroy — Iroquois Ravage Frontier — Treachery of Le Rat (Kon- diaronk) — Massacre of Lachine, 1689, 147 CHAPTER XIL FRONTENAC'S SECONT) ADMINISTRATION. Abenaquis Ravages — Massacres of Corlaer, Salmon Falls, and Casco Bay, 1690 — Sir Wni. Phips Captures Port Royal — Repulsed at Quebec — St. Castine — Fall of Fort Pemaquid — Villebon on the St. John — D'Iberville in New- foundland and Hudson's Bay — Treaty of Ryswick, 1697 — Death of Frontenac, 1698, 155 CHAPTER XIIL " QUEEN ANN-E'S WAR." De Calli^^c8 — Detroit Founded, 1702 — Vandreuil — Massacres of Deerfield and Haverhill — Port Royal Captured, 1710 — Sir Hovenden Walker's Disastrous Attomiit against Qnebec, 1711— The Treaty of Utrecht, 1713 — Charlevoix — Kasles — Death of Vaudreuil — The V^reudryes, .... 170 CONTEXTS. 9 CHAPTER XIV. LOUISBURG— DU QUESNE. Pepperell's Conquest of Lonisburg, 1745 — Death of D'Anville and D'Estoiimelle — Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle Kestores Louisburg, 1748 — Halifax Founded, 1749 — The Acadian "Neutrals" — Beau Sejour — Bigot — Fort Du Quesne — Collision in the Ohio Valley, 1754, 187 CHAPTER XV. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1755. Convention of British Colonists at Albany — William Johnson — Britisli Naval Victories — Braddock's Defeat — The Expedition against Fort Niagara a Failure — Johnson Defeats Dieskau at Lake George — Capture of Beau Sejour — The Tragedy of Grand Prd — Expulsion of the Acadians, . . . 198 CHAPTER XVI. THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1756 AND 1757. The Seven Years' War begun, 17.56 — Bradstreet's Gallant Exploit — Montcalm Captures Fort Oswego — Immense Booty — Loudon atLouisburg — Montcalm Reduces Fort William Henry — Massacre of Prisoners — Exhaustion of Can- ada — Famine — Extortion of Bigot, 210 CHAPTER XVII. THE CAMPAIGNS OP 1758 AND 1759. William Pitt — Fall of Louisburg — Abercrombie's Defeat at Ticonderoga — Bradstreet Captures Fort Frontenac — Fort Du Quesne Reduced — The Hero of Louisburg — Fall of Fort Niagara — Amherst Reduces Ticonderoga — Exploit and Sufferings of Major Rogers, 219 CHAPTER XVIIL THE CONQXIEST OF CANADA, 1759-1760. Wolfe at Quebec — The Fire-rafts — The Siege opened — Straits of the Inhabi- tants — Attack at Montmorenci — Wolfe's Illness — An Audacious Design — The Battle of the Plains of Abraham — The Death of Wolfe and Mont- . calm — British Occupation of Quebec — Battle of Ste. Foye — French Siege of Quebec — English Fleet arrives — Siege raised — Amlaerst's Advance — Surrender of Montreal and Capitulation of Canada, .... 237 CHAPTER XIX. BRITISH RULE — THE CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC. Beneficial Effects of the Conquest — Military Government — Punishment of Bigot — The Peace of Paris, 1763 — Conspiracy of Pontiac — Siege of Detroit — Massacres in the West — Bouquet's Victory at Bushy Run — Sir Guy Carleton, Governor — Law Reforms — The Quebec Act, 1764, . . 257 CHAPTER XX. THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. Causes of the American Revolution — Concord, Lexington, Ticonderoga, and Bunker Hill, 1775 — American Invasion of Canada — Capture of Forts Chambly and St. John — Montgomery Occupies Montreal — Arnold's Wilderness Raid — Ineffective Siege of Quebec — Death of Montgomery — Defeat of Arnold — American Invasion Repulsed — Burgoyne's Surrender, 1777 — General Haldi- mand, Governor, 1779 — The Peace of Versailles, 1783 — The U. E. Loyal- ists, 273 2 IQ CONTENTS. ' CHAPTEK XXI. THE FOUNDING OF UPPER CANADA. Lord Dorcliester (Sir Guy Carleton), Governor-General, 1780 — The Constitu- tional Act, 1792 — Government of Upper Canada Organized — York (Toronto) Founded, 1795 — Major-General Hunter, Lieut.-Governor, 1799 — Growth of Parties — Francis Gore, Lieut. Governor, 1806 — Judge Thorpe — Social Or- ganization — Education — Eeligion, etc., 288 CHAPTER XXII. LOWER CANADA — OUTBREAK OF THE WAR OF 1812-15. The New Constitution, 1793 — McLean's Treason — Sir James Craig, 1808-11 — Constitutional Crisis — Sir George Prevost — Causes of the War of 1812-15 — Tlie "Chesapeake" and "Shannon" — "Secret Correspondence" — War Declared, June 18, 1812 — Canadian Loyalty — Hull's Invasion and Repulse — He Surrenders to Brock, Aug. 15, 1812 — Battle of Queenston Heights — Death of Brock, Oct. 13, 1812 — Dearborn's Invasion — Naval Engage- ments, 299 CHAPTER XXIII. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1813. Proctor at French Town — Capture of York and Niagara — Victories of Stony Creek, Beaver Dams, and Fort Meigs — Defeats of Sackett's Harbour, San- dusky, Lake Erie, and Moravian Town — Death of Tecumseh — Victories of Chrysler's Farm, and Chateauguay — Burning of Niagara — Retaliation at Lewiston, Black Rock, and Buflalo — Sea Fights, the "Chesapeake" "Shan- non," etc. • . . • • 312 CHAPTER XXIV. CAMPAIGN OF 1814. Victories of Lacolle and Oswego — Battles of Chippewa, Lundy's Lane, and Fort Erie — Surrender of Maine — Prevost's Retreat from Plattsbnrg — Capture of Washington — Burning of Capitol — Menace of Baltimore — Ti'eaty of Ghent, December 24th — Battle of New Orleans — Valour and Patriotism of the Canadians, 328 CHAPTER XXV. AFTER THE WAR — LOWER CANADA. Effects of the War — Internal Development — Political Strive — Administra- tions of Sir John Sherbrooke, the Duke of Richmond, and Earl of Dalhousie — Union of the Provinces Proposed, 341 CHAPTER XXVI. AFTER THE WAR — UPPER CANADA. Clergy Reserves — The " Family Compact '' — Robert Gourlay — The " Can- ada Trade Act" — Rev. Dr. Strahan — William Lyon Mackenzie — Robert Baldwin — Sir Francis Bond Head, 349 CHAPTER XXVII. THE REBELLION — LOWER CANADA. Political Disaffection — Election Riot — Papinoau's Grievance Resolutions — Tlic (rosford Connnission — Seditious Gatherings — Collision at Montreal — Ri'lxas Kendczvous at the Richelieu — Routed by Wctherall and Sir John Colborno — Lord Dui'ham — Hia Clement Policy and able Report, . 363 CONTENTS. 11 CHAPTER XXVIII. THE REBELLION — UPPER CANADA. Struggle for Responsible Government — Speaker Biclwell — Mackenzie Defeated — Rebellious Projects — Apathy of the Government — The Rendezvous at Gal- lows Hill — Death of Colonel Moodie — Dr. Rolph — Van Egmont — Attack on Toronto — Rout of the Rebels — Colonel McNab, .... 373 CHAPTER XXIX. THE "patriot" war. Hunters' Lodges — Mackenzie at Navy Island — " The Republic of Upper Canada " — Colonel McNab on Niagara Frontier — Destruction of the " Caroline " — " Patriot " Raids — Battle of Windmill Point — Rebellion Sup- pressed, 382 CHAPTER XXX. the union op the canadas. Beneficial Effect of Lord Durham's Report — Hon. Charles Poulett Thompson, Governor-General — He Urges the Union Policy of Home Government — The Union Act Passed — Responsible Government Granted — Mr. Draper's Clergy Reserve Bill, 390 CHAPTER XXXI. RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. The New Constitution — " Double Majority " — Municipal System — Sir Charles Bagot — Baldwin-Hincks Ministry — Sir Charles Metcalfe — Constitutional Struggle — Draper Ministry — Upper Canada — Rebellion Losses Bill, . 396 CHAPTER XXXII. REBELLION LOSSES AGITATION. Lord Elgin — Fiscal Emancipation — Large Emigration — Baldwin-Lafontaine Ministry — Lower Canada — Rebellion Losses Bill — Mob Violence at Mon- treal — Burning of Parliament Buildings — Lord Elgin Mobbed, . . 406 CHAPTER XXXIII. THE RAILWAY ERA. Political and Commercial Emancipation — Internal Development — Clergy Reserve Question — Francis Hincks — Railway Legislation — Municipal Loan Fund, 413 CHAPTER XXXIV, IMPORTANT LEGISLATION. Gavazzi Riots — Reciprocity Treaty — McNab-Morin Ministry — Secularization of Clergy Reserves — Abolition of Seigneurial Tenure — Canada Steamship Company — Resignation of Lord Elgin — His Death — Crimean War, . 421 CHAPTER XXXV. ► COALITION MINISTRY. Sir Edmund Walker Head — Militia Organization — The Corrigan Trial — Mr. John A. Macdonald — Legislative Council made Elective — Commercial Crisis — Representation by Population Demanded — Mr. George Brown, 430 12 coy TEXTS. CHAPTER XXXVI. " RKPRESENTATION BY POPULATION." T. D'Arcy McGeo — Ottawa selected as Capital— The Two Days' Ministry— The Cartier-Macdonald Ministry — The " Double-SUutile " — "Joint Authority" Resolutions — The Prince of Wales iu Canada — Outbreak of American War, 439 CHAPTER XXXYII. POLITICAL CRISIS. Lord Monck — The "Trent" Affair — Militia Bill — Macdonald-Sicotte Ministry — Commercial Prosperity — Macdonald-Dorion Ministry — Alabama Pi- racies, 451 CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE CONFEDERATION MOVEMENT. The Tach6-Macdonald Ministry — Political Dead-lock — Coalition Ministry — Confi'derato Raids — Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences — Canadian Parliament Adopts Quebec Scheme — Close of American War — Ottawa the Seat of Government, 458 CHAPTER XXXIX. THE FENIAN INVASION, Abrogation of Reciprocity Treaty — The Fenian Brotherhood — Its Plans — Invasion of Canada — Fight at Ridgeway — Fenians Escape — Prescott and Cornwall Menaced — Eastern Frontiers Crossed — The Raids Suppressed — Last Parliament of Old Canada — Monroe Doctrine — Fenian Trials, 469 CHAPTER XL. NOVA SCOTIA, 1755 - 1834, Organization of Government, 1758 — The Revolutionary War — United Empire Loyalists — The War of 1812 - 15 — Cape Breton — Quit-rent Claims, . 482 CHAPTER XLI. NOVA SCOTIA, 1834-1867. The "Family Compact" — Joseph Howe — Constitutional Struggle — Respon- sible Government Granted, 1848 — Railway Agitation — Confederation Con- ferences — Anti-Confederate Re-action, 490 CHAPTER XLII. NEW BRUNSWICK, 1784 - 1831. Organization of Government — Col. Tlionias Carleton — Political Strife — Timber Trade — Miramichi Fire — Disputed Territories — Baltic Timber Dues, 499 CHAPTER XLIII. NEW BRUNSWICK, 1831-1867. Sir Alexander Campbell — Crown -land Grievance- Lemuel Allan Wilmot — Struggle for Responsible Government — The Boundary Dispute — The Ash- burtou Treaty — Coxifederatiou Negotiations, 505 coxTEyrs. 13 CHAPTER XLIV. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. Early History — Divided by Lottery — Organization of Government — Quit- rent Claims — Evils of Absenteeism — Arbitration Scheme — Confederation Rejected — Railway Question — Enters Dominion — Land Question Set- tled, ... 513 CHAPTER XLV. CONFEDERATION ACCOMPXISHED. British North America Act — Its Provisions — Inauguration of New Constitu- tion — Titles of Honour — First Cabinet — Sir John Young — Anti-Confeder- ation Agitation — " Better Terms " Granted Nova Scotia, . . . 520 CHAPTER XLVI. RIVAL FUR COMPANIES — RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. Hudson's Bay Company — French Fur Company — North-west Company — — Fort William — Red River Settlement Planted — Fierce Rivalries,, and Con- flicts — Privations and Disasters — Prosperity and Development — Council of Assiniboia, 528 CHAPTER XLVIL THE RED RIVER REBELLION. Cession of North-west Territory — Hon. William Macdougall, Lieut-Governor — Riel's Insurrection — Insurgants Seize Fort Garry — Imprisonment of Can- adian Loyalists — Execution of Thomas Scott — Manitoba Act — The Wolseley Expedition — Collapse of the Rebellion — Last Fenian Raid — British Columbia Enters Dominion — Its Previous History, . . . 537 CHAPTER XLVIIL CLOSE OF THE MACDONALD ADMINISTRATION. The Washington Treaty — Ontario Legislation — Lord Dufferin, Governor- General — Geneva Award — Canada Pacific Railway — Mr. Huntington's Charges — Investigation Committee — Royal Commission — Debate on the Report — Resignation of the Ministry, 547 CHAPTER XLIX. THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. Constitution of New Government — Dissolution of Parliament — Simultaneous Elections — New Pacific Railway Act — Qu -"Appelle Treaty — Religious Riots — New Brunswick Schoot Law Troubles — Canada at Centennial Ex- hibition — St. John Fire — Fishery Award — Dismissal of De Boucherville Ministry — The Joly Ministry — Party Riots in Montreal — Boundary Award — The Marquis of Lome — General Elections, 558 CHAPTER L. EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS OF CANADA. Primary, and Higher Education in Quebec — •Ontario — Nova Scotia — New Bruuswick — Prince Edward Island — Manitoba — British Columbia 592 14 ILLUSTRATIONS. ILLUSTRATIONS. STEEL PORTRAITS. Her Majesty the Qceen. (Frontispiece.) His Excellency, the Earl of Dufferin, K. P., G. C. M. G., K. C. B. The Hon. S. L. Tilley, C. B. ; C. Z. Earle, Esq. ; John Boyd, Esq. ; Alexander Gibson, Esq. Map of Canada. WOOD ENGRAVINGS. Page Dighton Rock Inscription 19 Old To-sver at Newport, 19 Cliristopher Columbus 21 Fleet of Columbus, 22 Amerigo Vespucci 24 Sebastian Cabot 25 Jacques Cartier, 28 La Grande Hermine 29 Piunning a Rapid 39 Making a Portage 39 Sir Humphrey Gilbert 46 Sir Walter Raleigh 4' Henry Hudson, 48 Samuel Champlain, 50 Sieur de Monts 51 View near Orillia, 61 View on Lake Simcoe, 62 Captain John Smith, 70 Smith and his Captors VI Frontier Block-house 97 Oliver Cromwell 109 Colbert Ill Sault Ste. Marie Rapids, 126 Old Stone Towers, Montreal 153 Ancient Halbcrt, Montreal, 154 Old Frontier Block-house, 156 Frontier Village Palisade, 173 Old City Wall, Montreal 179 Pere Charlevoix 181 Rasles' Monument at Norridgewock 184 Sir William Peppercll 188 Siege of Louisburg, 1745 1S9 Benjamin Franklin ^ 198 ILLUSTRATIONS. I5 Page Sir William Joliiisoti, I99 General Braddock 199 Fort Du Quesne 200 Lake George 203 William Pitt 219 General Abercrombie, 223 General Wolfe 229 Fort Niagara, 230 Lord Amherst 232 Ruins of Ticonderoga, 235 City of Quebec 238 Siege of Quebec, 1759 241 Old St. John's Gate, Quebec, 247 St. Louis Gate, Quebec 249 Wolfe's Old Monument 249 Wolfe's New Monument, 250 Marquis de Montcalm, 251 Wolfe's and Montcalm's Monument, 252 Ste. Foye Monument, 254 Richard Montgomery, 276 Benedict Arnold 277 Walls of Quebec ■ .... 278 Face of Citadel Cliff, Quebec, 279 Marquis de La Fayette, 283 Washington's Cabinet 285 Hope Gate, Quebec 288 Joseph Brant, 298 Prescott Gate, Quebec 300 Niagara Frontier, 306 Colonel De Salaberry, 324 Battle of New Orleans 337 Hon. Louis J. Papineau, 344 Sir John Beverly Robinson, 35O Palace Gate, Quebec 364 City of Kingston 397 Sir L. H. Lafontaine 400 Sir Francis Hincks, 401 SirE. P. Tache 432 Sir John A. Macdonald, 433 Hon. George Brown 436 SirA. T. Gait 44I Sir George E. Cartier, 442 Montreal from the Mountain 448 Sir William Fenwick Williams 447 Hon. Antoine A. Dorion, 456 Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, 468 The • Great Eastern " Steamship, 480 Hon. Joseph Howe 490 Sir R. Graves MacDonnell, 496 Hon. Dr. Tupper, 497 Christ Church Cathedral, Fredericton, N. B., 510 Sir N. F. Belleau, 524 Lord Lisgar 526 McKay's Mountain, Fort William, 630 Kakabekah Falls, 641 Hon. A. G. Archibald 542 Sir Hugh Allan, 652 Hon. Alex. Mackenzie 658 IQ ILLUSTRATIONS. Page Thunder Cape, Lake Superior, _ 561 Po8t-Office and Bank, Montreal 573 New Custom-IIouse, Toronto, 674 PoBt-Office, Toronto, 674 Young Men's Christian Association Building, Montreal 575 Union Station, Toronto, , 576 St. James' Cathedral, Toronto, • . . 576 Metropolitan Church, Toronto, 577 Jarvis Street Baptist Church, Toronto, 677 Market Block, St. John, N. B., 682 The Marquis of Lome 590 Toronto University 592 Normal School, Toronto 598 €follege Avenue, Toronto, 598 Knox College, Toronto, . . . ' 599 Seminary, Yarmouth, N. S 602 University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, 604 ^, 'if^i a^' '-'~&r, ^ 0-'' ' -* oj NO' THREE RIVERSyTf^'rR E ' "•of* \ ^^''- U'''^',,0'''^N Of -%^ c;-k^^^«.^^^5oH°^^^fm.*''i _y^^V.SXlfM'(fA CRat/l 7 J rjn;^. West Jram Greeivwioh. 70 HISTORY OF CANADA. CHAPTER I. THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. Ancient Traditions — Irish and Welsh Claims — The Norsemen Colonize Green- laud and Discover America in the Tenth Century — Trade with India — Diaz Discovers the Cape of Good Hope, 148fi — Columbus Discovers San Salvador, 1492 — His further Discoveries, Misfortunes, and Death — Vespucci — Da Gama. FROM very ancient times there were traditions of the exist- ence of a Western World. Hesiod sang of the fabled gardens of the Hesperides, and Plato wrote of the vast island of Atlantis, far beyond the Pillars of Hercules, or Straits of Gibraltar. Phoenician and Carthaginian explorers reported the discovery of a fair and fertile country beyond the Western wave. These strange lands, however, were probal)ly the Canary, Cape Verde, or Azores islands, or possibly even the famed Tin Islands of Great Britain. The Thule mentioned by Pytheas, a Greek mariner of about the time of Alexander the Great, was probably the island of Iceland, which, there is rea- son to believe, was known at a very early period. The Irish and the Welsh have also laid claim to the discovery of the continent of America. Madoc, a legendary Welsh prince of the twelfth century, is recorded by the bards to have returned from a voyage of exploration with marvellous accounts of strange lands beyond the sunset. Many vessels, it is said, were fitted out to accompany him upon a second voyage, but they were never heard of again. The non-maritime character of the Welsh of that period, however, invalidates the veracity of this story. 3 [17] 13 HISTORY OF CANADA. Upon milch better grounds rest the claims of the Norsemen, of having, first of the European race, visited this Western ■\Yorkl. These brave old sea-kings, swarming out of the stormy North, early subdued a large part of England, Belgium, and Normandy ; and, under Eobert Guiscard, in the eleventh century, made themselves masters of Sicily and Southern Italy. In the year 874, a strong colony of these adventurous spirits emiixrated from Norway to Iceland, six hundred miles distant in the wild northern sea; and in the year 1874 was celebrated the millennial anniversary of the colony then planted. It is only one hundred and sixty miles from the west coast of Iceland to the east coast of Greenland, and this distance was soon traversed by the adventurous barks* of the Norsemen. Icelandic sagas record, that in the year 985, Erik the Eed, with twenty-five vessels, set sail for Greenland. With only fourteen of these he doubled Cape Farewell, and planted a settlement at Eriksfiord, on the west coast. For four hundred years Green- land continued to be a See of Rome, with a succession of seven- teen Christian bishops. At one time there were more than three hundred farms and villages in this now inhospitable region. The sagas further record, that in the year 996, Biarne Her- julfson, a Norse navigator, sailing from Iceland to Greenland, was driven by a storm as far west as Newfoundland or Labra- dor. No landing was effected upon the low-lying, forest-clad shores ; but the news of their discovery created a deep interest among the adventurous Icelanders. In the year 1000, there- fore, Leif Erikson, with a company of five and thirty men, set sail from Greenland to follow up the discovery of Herjulfson. They first reached an island, supposed to be Newfoundland, to which they gave the name of Helluland,- and next, a wooded coast, probably Nova Scotia, which they called Markland. Sail- ing southward for two days, they again sighted land about the * Some of these Norse vessels were not inadequate to standing a rough sea. The keel of King Olafs "Long Serpent" was one hundred and forty feet in length. He had two vessels, capable of carrying two hundred men each. DISCOVERT OF AMERICA. 19 latitude of jSIassacliusetts. To this pleasant country, mild as compared with their snowy Greenland, they gave the name, on account of the abundance of wild-grape vines, of Vinland. Here they wintered, and, in the sj^ring, bore back to Greenland the tidings of their discovery. The following year, 1002, Thorwald, the brother of Leif Erikson, w^ith a crew of thirty men, came to Vinland, and after three years, was killed in a skirmish with the natives, the first victim of the long and bloody contest between the red race and the white for the possession of the continent.* In the year 1007, the sagas record, Thorfinn Karlscfne, a rich Icelander, with his wife, Gudrid, and a company of one hundred and fifty-one men and seven wo- men, planted a colony in Vinland. A num- dighton rock inscription. ber of cattle and sheep were brought from Greenland, and efforts were made to establish a permanent settlement. Hos- tilities with the natives, however, compelled the abandonment * In 1831, there was found, near Fall Eiver, Massachusetts, a skeleton, encased in rust-corroded armour. This skeleton, sanguine antiquarians have thought to be possibly a relic of Thorwald Erikson. Associating it with the old round tower at Newport, shown in the engraving, for which a Norse origin is claimed, the poet Longfellow has made it the subject of one of his most delightful ballads : — " Three weeks we westward bore, And when the storm was o'er, Cloud-like we saw the shore Stretching to leewaixl ; There for my lady's bower Built I the lofty tower, Which to this very hour. Stands looking seaward." old tower at NEWPORT. 20 HISTORY OF CANADA. of the effort at the end of three years.* From a son of Thor- finn, born in Vinland, Danish genealogists trace the lineal de- scent of the celebrated sculptor, Bertel Thorwaldsen. The planting of subsequent colonies is recorded by the sagas, but they were all eventually expelled by the natives, or wasted' by famine or disease. The credibility of these documents is ad- mitted l)y competent critics, and is confirmed by the contem- porary authority of Adam of Bremen, who records, from the testimony of the Danes, the discovery and settlement of Vinland, beyond the Atlantic Ocean. f Several causes consj^ired to obliterate the memory of those Norse colonies in Vinland and Greenland. Conflicts with the natives, and the attacks of pirate fleets, destroyed the organiza- tion of the colonies, and caused the abandonment of the see of Greenland in 1409. The awful pestilence, known as the Black Death, which, in the fourteenth century, desolated Europe, so greatly reduced the population of the Scandinavian countries, and interrupted commercial intercourse, that those remote col- onies could no longer be recruited, and eventually passed out of mind. But the forgotten discoveries of the Norsemen do not lessen the glory of Columbus for his re-discovery of the Western Con- ,tinent. His was no less the commanding genius that wrested its secret from the bosom of the sea, and revealed to the aston- ished eyes of Europe a new world. He was not the first to believe that the earth was round. Ptolemy had long before * The remarkable Digliton Eock Inscription iu Massachusetts, shown in the engraving, is considered by some archteologists to be the record, in runic characters, of the colony of Thorfinn Karlsefne. The rock is eleven feet in length by four feet and a half high, and consists of a mass of gray granite lyiuo- on the sands of the Taunton Eiver, which partly covers it at every tide. The figures are rudely carved, and partially obliterated near the base by the action of the water. Professor Eafn, of Copenhagen, interprets these thus : "Thorfinn, TVith one hundred and fifty-one Norse seafaring men, took posses- sion of this land." t There is also evidence extant which indicates, that about the year 1390, Nicolo Zeno, a Venetian navigator, visited Greenland, and there learned the existence of lands to the southwest, supposed to be Newfoundland and the main-land of America. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 21 demonstrated this and had measured the length of a degree on its surface ; and in the first English book ever written, Sir John Mandeville repeats the demonstration, and approximately cal- culates the circumference of the earth *. These truths, however, led to no important discovery till a great mind arose to put them to a practical test. Columbus lived in a period of remark- able maritime adventure. The rich commerce w^ith the East in gold and silver and precious stones, in ivory, silks, and costly spices, had stimulated the desire to find a shorter way of access to India — the land of those coveted treasures — than the tedious caravan route through the Syrian deserts. The invention of the mariner's compass, and the increased knowledge o'f astron- omy and navigation encouraged the efforts to seek this distant land by sea. With this design the Portuguese had extended their voyages along the African coast, till at length, in 1486, Bartolomeo Diaz reached the southern point of that continent, which was named, as an augury of the long-sought discovery, the Cape of Good Hope. Christopher Columbus now en- deavoured to solve, by a new method, the great maritime problem of the age. He was mistaken, however, concerning the size of the earth, but not with regard to its shape. He be- lieved it to be not more than ten or twelve thousand miles in circumfer- ence. He therefore concluded that by sailing westward about three thousand miles he would reach the golden strand of India. To accom- plish this became the absorbing purpose of his life. Columbus was born in that cradle of maritime adventure, the port of Genoa. His ot\ti inclination led him early to follow the sea. ' For twenty years he traversed the Mediterranean and and Atlantic seaboard, and even made a voyage as far as dis- * The Yoiage aud Travaile of Sir John Manndeville, Kt., a. d. 1356. 22 HISTORY OF CANADA. tant Iceland. Here he prol^ably heard traditions of the former discovery of a land beyond the Western Sea. He was con- firmed in his convictions by the w^'itings of learned geographers and travellers, and by the strange products of unknown countries cast by western gales upon the shores of Europe. For twenty years he cherished his grand design, and for ten years he went from court to court — to Genoa, Portugal, and Spain — seeking to inspire confidence like his own, and to obtain an outfit for liis cherished enterprise. After many disheartening rebufis, delays, and disappointments from bigot monks and faithless monarchs, when impoverished and almost despairing, the gen- erous Isabella of Castile became his patroness, pledging even her crown jewels for the support of his project. But the means thus furnished were strange- ly inadequate to the magni- tude of the task under- taken — only three small vessels and one hundred and twenty men. "With an unfaltering faith in what he believed to be his provi- dential mission Columbus claimed, and was promised by the Sovereigns of Spain, the office of Admiral of all the lands to be discovered, and one-tenth of the profit of all their merchandise. After solemn religious rites, on Friday, August 3d, 1492, Columbus and his companions set forth on their memorable voyage. Leaving the Canary Islands on the 6th of Septem- ber, they sailed steadily westward for five and thirty days. The mysterious trade-winds seemed to the sailors to waft them remorselessly onward to some dread unknown. The appalling distance they had travelled, the alarming variations of the com- pass which occurred, the strange portents of a sea of weeds that almost impeded their progress, and of a fierce storm that fol- lowed, aroused in the disafiected crews dark conspiracies and turbulent mutinies. But, with the majesty of a great spirit full of fiiith, Columbus overruled their coward minds. But FLEET OF COLUMBUS. DISCOVERT OF AMERICA. 23 even his courage at length proved unavailing against their tur- bulent fears, and he was compelled to promise that if land were not discovered in three days, he would abandon his life-project. But Avithin the allotted time, on the night of October the 11th, lights were seen by the eager watchers, moving amid the darkness, and the joyous cry of " Land ! land ! " rang from ves- sel to vessel. , With the dawn of the morning, the New World lay revealed to European eyes. The discoverers eagerly dis- embarked upon the virgin strand, and, with tears and thanks to Heaven, kissed the ground. With devout prayers and hymns of praise, Columbus took possession of the new-found regions in the name of God, and of his sovereign mistress, Isabella of Castile. The land proved to be one of the Bahama Islands, and was reverently named San Salvador. After visiting several of the neiglibouring islands, designated, in accordance with his erro- neous geographical theory, the West Indies, Columbus returned to Spain, to proudly lay at his sovereigns' feet the dominion of a new world. He Avas crowned with the highest honours, and the naval resources of the kingdom were placed at his disposal. With seventeen ships and fifteen hundred men, he speedily sailed again to prosecute his discoveries in these unknown lands. In successive voyages he explored the West Indian archipelago and the adjacent main-land. But calumny, envy, and malice pursued his steps, and the discoverer of a new world was dis- possessed of his authority, and sent back in chains to the ungrateful country which, beyond the dreams of avarice, he had enriched. Broken in health, bowed in spirit, impoverished in estate, stricken with the weight of seventy years, neglected by the soverign whom he had so faithfully served — his noble benefactress, Isabella, no longer lived to protect him — this great man died at Seville, May 20th, 1506. As if his remains could find a fit resting-place only in the new lands which he had discovered, they were conveyed in 1536 to the island of Santo Domingo, and in 1796, with great popp, to Havana, within whose cathedral they now repose. But the greatest wrong done to Columbus was that which 24 HISTORY OF CANADA. defrauded him of the honour of giving the name to that new world which he had found. Of this he was deprived by one of the least worthy of the numerous adventurers who followed the path of exploration which he revealed. Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine navigator, gave to the world the first written narrative of the wonderful discoveries in the western seas. It is claimed, though erroneously, that he, first of European navigators, VESPUCCI. reached the main-land ; hence his name is identified forever with the "Western Continent.* The coast of India, the chief object of the adventurous voyages of discovery of this period, was first reached by the Portuguese navigator, Vasco da Gama, in 1498. Eounding the stormy south- ern promontory of Africa, the superstitious mariner imagined that he beheld the awful Spirit of the Cape hovering in the air. Boldly pressing onward through unknown seas, discovering strange lands and islands, he at length reached the long-sought strand of India. The revolution in commerce thus brought about led to the commercial decline of the maritime republics of the Mediterranean, which had previously been the chief agents of the lucrative oriental trade. The adventures of Da Gama are commemorated by the poet Camoens, in the " Lusiad," the earliest epic of modern Europe. * lie did not reach Brazil till 1501. on the main-laud of North America. Cabot had previously, 1497, disembarked EARLY EXPLORATION. £5 CHAPTER II. EARLY EXPLORATION. John Cabot discovers Labrador and Newfoundland, 1497 — Sebastian Cabot's explorations — Cortercal — De L^ry — Verrazzani — Jacques Cartier discovers tbe St. Lawrence, 1534 — Visits Stadacona and Hocbelaga — Names Mont Royal — Winters at Stadacona — Sufferings from Scurvy — Roberval, Viceroy, 1541 — Cartier bis Lieutenant — Founds Cbarlesbourg — Roberval winters at Cape Rouge — Mutiny and Scurvy — Tbe Robervals founder at sea, 1549. THE discovery of America was the beginning of a new era in the world. It led to the development of great mari- time enterprise. The western nations of Europe were eager to take possession of the new-found continent. Numerous voy- ages of exploration were projected by adventurous spirits under the patronage of their respective sovereigns. England was even then lay- ing the foundations of her subsequent maritime supremacy. Merchants of for- eign countries were welcomed to her shores and found both protection and pa- tronage. Among these were John Cal)ot and his sons, a Venetian family doing business in the ancient seaport town of Bristol. Henry VII., king of England, sebastian cabot. eager to share the advantage of the wonderful discoveries that were startling the world, in 1496 gave a commission of explo- ration to John Cabot, on the condition that one-fifth of all the 1497. profits accruing should go to the crown. The following year, with his son Sebastian, afterwards a famous mariner, he sailed from the port of Bristol for the purpose of reaching, by a western voyage, the kingdom of Cathay, or China. Having sailed seven hundred leagues, he sighted the coast of Labra- dor, which he concluded to be part of the dominions of the Grand Cham. He landed, planted in the soil of the New 26 BISTORT OF CANADA. World the banner of England, and named the country Prima Yista. He was thus the first discoverer of the Continent of America, fourteen months before Columbus, in his third voy- age, beheld the main-land. Ttvo days afterward, he reached a large island, probably Newfoundland, which, in honour of the day, he called St. John's Island. Having sailed along the coast of North America for three hundred leagues, he returned to Bristol. His discovery awakened great interest. He was awarded a liberal pension, and the king gave him authority to impress six English ships and to enlist volunteers, " and theym convey and lede to the londe and ilcs of late founde by the seid John." For some unknown reason this expedition did not take place, and John Cabot disappears from the records of the times. "He gave England a continent, and no one knows his burial-place."* The following year, however, his son Sebastian, with two 1498. vessels, endeavoured to reach China and Japan by a northwest passage. He sailed as far north as Hudson's Straits, the daylight in the early part of July being there continuous. Prevented by icebergs from proceeding further, he sailed south- ward, skirting the coast of North America as far as Chesapeake Bay. He landed at several places, and partially explored the fertile country he had discovered, with its strange inhabitants, clad in skins and using barbaric weapons of stone and copper, but he was greatly disappointed to find that he had not reached the wealthy and populous countries of the Asiatic Continent. It was in virtue of these discoveries that Great Britain laid claim to the jDossession of the greater part of North America. In a subsequent voyage in 1517, under the patronage of Henry VIIL, Cabot penetrated the bay to which, a hundred years later, Hudson gave his name. Afterwards, in the service of the Emperor Charles V. , he explored the coast of South Amer- ica as far as the La Plata. In the early part of the sixteenth century the Portuguese sent an expedition to explore, and take possession of, a portion * This account of John Cabot, -which differs from that generally given, is based upon the latest and best authorities. EARLY EXPLORATION. 27 of the ne-\v-found continent. In 1501, Gaspard Corterdal, with two vessels, sailed from Lisbon. He skirted the rock-bound coast of Korth America, o])serving the fine harbours, the excel- lent shipbuilding material of the forests, and the finny wealth of the ocean. The name Labrador — Terra Lahorador, land which may be cultivated — is a memorial of this visit. With a perfidy that disgraced the Christian name, he carried off fifty-seven of the natives on his own vessel and his consort, for the purpose of selling them as slaves. But a terrible retribution soon over- took him. He, himself, with his ship and crew and fifty of the unhappy victims of his treachery, sank in mid-ocean, and were never heard of again. His consort alone escaped to tell the dreadful story. The rich fisheries of the Banks of Newfoundland were soon visited by the hardy Breton, Basque, and Norman fishermen. The name of Cape Breton, found on the oldest maps, is a memorial of those early voyages. Denys and Aubert, French sailors, explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the years 1506 and 1508. Li 1518, Baron De Lery, with a company of colo- nists, landed on Sable Island, ofi" the coast of Nova Scotia, but were compelled by its inhospitable climate to abandon it. The cattle that he left, however, multiplied remarkably, and their progeny have frequently furnished subsistence to shipwrecked mariners. After the discovery of the rich harvest of the sea that might be gathered on the Banks of Newfoundland, those valuable fish- eries were never abandoned. As early as 1517, no less than fifty French, Spanish, and Poiiuguese vessels were engaged in this industry. The spoils of ocean from the fisheries of the New World formed an agreeable addition to the scanty Lenten fare of the Eoman Catholic countries of Europe. France had as yet done little in exploring or occupying any portion of the boundless continent, whose wealth was enriching its European rivals. Francis I. resolved to claim a portion of the prize. " Shall the kings of Spain and Portugal," he ex- claimed, " divide all America between them, without allowing me any share ? I would like to see the clause in Father Adam's BISTORT OF CANADA, will that bequeaths that vast inheritance to them." He, there- fore, iu the year 1523, dispatched Verrazzani, a Florentine nav- igator, on a voyage of discovery. Skirting the American sea- board northward from the Chesapeake, he laid claim to the entire region previously explored by the Cabots, for Francis L, under the designation of New France. The rival claims arising from these explorations were the grounds of the long and bloody conflict between Great Britain and France for the possession of a broad continent.* The failure to discover gold or silver, and the military disasters of France, prevented for some time fur- ther exploration beyond the Atlantic. The real discov- "" ~-~ erer of Canada was Jacques Cartier, a na- tive of the ancient seaport of St. Malo, for centuries the nurs- ery of a hardy race of mariners. In 1534, when France had somewhat rallied from its disasters, fresh enterprises in the New World were un- dertaken. On the 20th of April in that year, Cartier sailed from St. Malo with two small vessels of about sixty tons each, and a company, in all, of one hundred and twenty-two men. JACQUES cAKTiEB. In twcuty daj'S he * The name NoremLega was given to tlio River Penobscot and the regions adjacent. It was fabled that a stately city of the same name was situated some twenty leagues up the river. Champlain, seventy years after, eagerly sought it, hut found nothing hut an old and moss-grown cross in the depths of the wilderness. ^%S'"l"!irr.7iim EARLY EXPLORATION. 29 reached the coast of Newfoundlaiid, where he was detained ten days by the ice. Sailing through the Straits of Belle Isle, he scanned the barren coast of Labrador, and almost circum- navigated the island of Xewfoundland. Turning southwest- ward, he passed the jNIagdalen Islands, abounding in birds, flowers, and berries. On a resplendent day in July, he entered the large bay to which, on account of the intense heat, he gave the name Des Chaleurs. Landing at the rocky headland of Gaspe, he erected a large cross bearing tholily shield of France, and took possession of the country in the name of his sover- eign, Francis I. He inspired such confidence in the natives, that one of the chiefs allowed his two sons to return with him to France. Learning from these the existence of a great river, leading so for into the interior that " no man had ever traced it to its source," he sailed up the Gulf of St. Lawrence till he could see the land on either side. The season being advanced, he resolved to return, postponing further exploration till the folloAving summer. The successful voyage very favourably impressed the king, and three vessels,* better equipped and manned than the first, were furnished, for the purpose, as the commission ran, " of forming settlements in the country and of opening traffic with the native tribes." Several of the young nobility of France joined "the expedition. On Whit-Sunday, 1535, Cartier and his ^^ ^^^"^^^^ iiermine. companions reverently attended high mass in the venerable cathedral of St. Malo. In the religious spirit of the age, they 'received the Holy Sacrament, and the benediction of the l)ishop upon their undertaking. The little squadron, dispersed by ad- verse winds, did not reach the mouth of the St. Lawrence till the middle of July. On the 10th of August, the festival 1535. of St. Lawrence, Cartier entered a small bay, to which he gave *ia Grande Iiermine, of one hundred, and twenty ton&, La Fefite Hcrmine, of sixty tons, and L'ErmeriUon, a smaller vessel, with a company of one hundred and ten men. 30 BISTORT OF ay AD A. the name of the saint, since extended to the entire gulf and river. Passing the gloomy gorge of the Saguenay, and sailing on beneath lofty bluffs jutting out into the broad river, on the 7th of September he reached the Island of Orleans, covered with wild grapes, which he therefore named Isle of Bacchus. Here he received a friendly visit from Donnacona, an Algon- quin chief, with five hundred of his followers. Seven days after, having resolved to winter in the country, the little squad- ron dropped anchor at the mouth of the St. Charles, where stood the Indian town of Stadacona, beneath the bold cliff now crowned with the ramparts of Quebec. Eager to explore the noble river, Cartier advanced with fifty men in his smallest vessel. Arrested by a sand-bar at Lake St. Peter, he took to his boats, with thirty of his companions, and pressed onward, watching with delight the ever-shifting landscape of primeval forest, now gorgeous with autumnal foliage, and the stately banks of the broad, swift river. On the 2d of October, he reached the populous Indian town of Hochelaga, nestling beneath the wood-crowned height, to which he gave the name of Mont Royal, now Montreal. The friendly natives thronged the shore by hundreds, and received the pale-faced strangers with manifestations of the utmost de- light. With lavish hospitality they heaped their boats with presents of fish and maize. An Indian chief, or as Cartier quaintly describes him, " one of the principal lords of the said city,"* with several of his braves, came forth to courteously receive the strangers and conduct them to the town. This was a circular enclosure, situated amid fields of ripened corn. A triple row of wooden palisades surrounded it. On the inside were galleries for the defenders, with stores of stones ready to be hurled on the heads of any assailants. In the centre was an open square, "a stone's throw in width." Around it were some fifty large dwellings, about fifty feet wide by one hundred and fifty feet in length, fi\amed with saplings and covered with bark, each accommodating several families. The inmates '*• "... lu'n des principaulx seigneurs de la dicte ville." EARLY EXPLORATION. ^i swarmed around the new comers, gazing with wonder at their bearded faces, glittering armour and strange attire. Soon an ample feast was provided for the white guests. After this an aged and crippled chief, and a crowd of blind and maimed and sick persons were brought to the perplexed com- mander, "as if," he says, "a God had come down to save them." Moved with pity he read from the Gospel the story of the passion of the Saviour, made the sign of the cross, and offered a prayer for the souls as well as the bodies of the savages. With a flourish of trumpets and a liberal gift of knives, beads, and trinkets, the strange scene came to a close. Having ascended the neighbouring mountain, Cartier and his companions surveyed the magnificent panorama of forest and river stretching to the far horizon ; a scene now studded with towns and spires, farms and villages, and busy with the thousand activities of civilized life. From the natives he learned the existence, far to the west and south, of inland seas, broad lands, and mighty rivers — an almost unbroken solitude, yet destined to become the abode of great nations. After three days' agreeable intercourse with the friendly red- men, Cartier returned to Stadacona, which he reached on the eleventh of the month. Having protected their vessels by a stockaded enclosure, mounted with cannon, the French pre- pared, as best they could, for the winter, which proved of un- usual severity. They were neither adequately clothed nor pro- visioned. Scurvy of a malignant type appeared. Eeligious processions, vows and litanies were unavailing to stay the plague. By the month of April, twenty-six of the little com- pany had died and were buried in the snow. The neighbouring Indians, who, " hardy as so many beasts," prowled half-naked round the fort, prescribed for the recovery of the sick an infu- sion of spruce boughs, to whose efficacy Cartier attributed their restoration to health. The cruel w'inter slowly wore away, and when the returning spring released the imprisoned ships, the energetic commander prepared to return to France. Before his departure he was guilty of an act of perfidy that ill requited the kindness of the natives. Donnacona and nine of his chiefs 32 HISTORY OF CANADA. being lured on board his vessels, thej were made prisoners and carried as trophies of the exiDcdition to France.* The kid- nai:)13ed Indians never again saw their native land, all of them dying before another expedition returned, having been previ- ously baptized into the Eoman Catholic faith, with great pomp, in the grand old cathedral of Eouen. The religious wars with Charles Y. now for four years absorbed the attention and exhausted the treasury of Francis I. At length, in 1540, the Sieur De Roberval, a wealthy noble of Picardy, obtained the appointment of Viceroy of New France, and organized a colonizing expedition. Cartier, as his lieu- tenant, sailed with five ships the following spring, and reached 1541. Stadacona in the month of August. The natives, at first friendly, became less so on finding that Donnacona and his companions had not returned. Cartier therefore removed to Cape Rouge, three leagues up the river, laid up three of his vessels, sent two liack to France for reinforcements, built a fort, to which he gave the name of Charlesbourg, and began to cultivate the soil. He again visited Hoclielaga, and explored the country for gold and precious- stones, but found only some glistening scales of mica, and some quartz crystals on the cliif still known as Cape Diamond. After a gloomy winter, having 1543. heard nothing from Roberval, and the Indians proving unfriendly, without waiting for orders, he sailed for France.* At St. John's, Newfoundland, he met Roberval, with three ships and two hundred colonists, of both sexes. Cartier and his com pany were commanded to return, but, disheartened by their disasters and suiTerings, they refused to do so, and, escaping under cover of night, continued their homeward voyage. Roberval proceeded on his course and landed his little colony at Cape Rouge. A capacious structure, "half barrack, half castle," was soon built for their accommodation and de- fence. The winter was a time of suffering and disaster. Over sixty men perished by cold, by famine, or by scurvy. The * In 1843, a portion of one of Cartier's vessels ^xa.9 discovered in tlie bed of tlie St. Charles Elver, "SN-here it had been abandoned three hundred and seven years before. EARLY EXPLORATION. 33 Indians, too, were unfriendlj'^ ; and the colonists, most of ■whom were convicts, proved so insubordinate, that the Gov- ernor had to hang some, and scourge or imprison others. In the spring, with seventy men, Eoberval attempted to J543. explore the interior, but without beneficial results, and with the loss of eight men by drowning. In the fall of this year, Cartier was again sent to Canada, to order Eoberval's return. He wintered for the third time in the country, and finally left it in May, 1544, conveying with him the remains of the ill- fated colony, and his name henceforth disappears from history. Five years later, on the return of peace, Eoberval and his brother organized another colonizing expedition to Canada, but the fleet was never heard of after it sailed, and probably foun- dered by encounter with icebergs. Thus ended in disastrous failure all the early expeditious to New France. 5 34 HISTORY OF CANADA, CHAPTER in. THE INDIAN TRIBES. The Mouml-Builders — Their Superior Art, Manufactures, and Social Organiza- tion — Their probable Origin and Fate — The Modern Indians, probably an intrusive Asiatic Race — Their Physical Aspect — Their Agriculture, Art, Dress, and Ornaments — Their Wars, Craft, Cruelty, and Stoicism — Their Councils, Oratory, and Treaties — Wampum Belts — Their Religious Beliefs — Their Alliances — The Fur-Trade — Tribal Divisions — Present Condition. THE name Indians, given to the native races of America, commemorates the mistaken idea of its discoverers, that they had reached the shores of the Asiatic continent. A short account of these races, and of their character, customs, and tribal divisions, is necessary, in order to understand the long and cruel convict between the white man and the red for the pos- session of the New World. All over the North American continent, from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico, from the Alleghanies to the Rocky Mountains, are found the remains of an extinct and pre-historic people. These remains consist, for the most part, of earthen mounds, often of vast extent and almost countless numbers. Hence their unknown creators are called the Mound-Builders. These strange structures may be divided into two classes : En- closures and Mounds proper. The chief purpose of the En- closures seems to have been for defence, — the formation, as it were, of a fortified camp. They were sometimes of great size, covering many hundreds of acres. They were surrounded by parapets of earth, in the form of circles, octagons, or similar figures. They were evidently designed for protection against an intrusive race, and formed a line of forts from the Alle- ghanies to the Ohio. Another striking form of enclosure, is that designated Animal Mounds. These are outlines in earth- work, of low relief, of sacred animals — probably the totems of INDIAN TRIBES. 35 clifTerent tribes, as the turtle, lizard, serpent, alligator, eagle, bulMo, and the like.* The mounds proper are of much less extent, but of greater elevation. Some, there is reason to believe, from the presence of charred bones, charcoal, trinkets, etc., were used as altars for the burning of sacrifice, and perhaps for the offering of human victims. Others are kno^vn as Temple Mounds. These were chiefly truncated pyramids, with graded approaches to their tops, which are always level, and are sometimes fifty feet in height. In Mexico and Central America this class is repre- sented by the Teocallis, — vast structures, faced with flights of steps, and surmounted by temples of stone. More numerous than any are the Sepulchral Mounds. They always contain the remains of one or more bodies, accompanied by trinkets, cups, and vases, probably once containing food pro- vided by living hands, for the departed spirit faring forth, as was fondly believed, on its unknown journey to the happy hunting-grounds beyond the sky. The size of these is gener- ally inconsiderable ; but they sometimes attain great magnitude, in which case they probably cover the remains of some distin- guished chief, f Sometimes earthen vessels are found, contain- ing charred human remains, indicating the practice of crema- tion among the Mound-Builders. But there are other evidences of the comparatively high state of civilization of those remarkable people. There are numer- ous remains of their art and manufactures. Among these are flint arrow-heads and axes ; pestles and mortars for grinding corn ; and pipes, frequently elaborately carved with consider- able artistic skill. These last often occur in the form of animal or human figures, sometimes exhibiting much grotesque humour, and frequently executed in very intractable material. Remains of closely woven textile fabrics have also been found, together * They are especially numerous in the valley of the Wisconsin. The "Great Serpent " of Adams County, Ohio, ia over a thousand feet long, and the " Alli- gator " of Licking County is two hundred and fifty feet long and fifty feet broad. t One of these, known as Grave Creek Mound, in Virginia, is seventy feet ia height and nine hundred feet in circumference. 36 HISTORY OF CANADA. with implements used in tlie spinning of the thread and manu- facture of the cloth. The pottery and other fictile wares of the Mound-Builders exhibit graceful forms, elegant ornamenta- tion, and much skill in manufacture. On some of these the human face and form are delineated with much fidelity and grace, and the features differ widely from those of the present race of Indians. Copper implements, the work of this strange jDCople, are also found in considerable quantities. Among these are knives, chisels, axes, spear and arrow heads, bracelets, and ]3ersonal ornaments. Many of these implements exhibit on their surface the unmistakable traces of the moulds in which they were cast, showing that their manufacturers understood the art of reducing or, at least, of fusing metals. But the most striking proof of the mechanical skill of the Mound-Builders is their extensive mining operations on the south shore of Lake Superior. Here are a series of mines and drifts, sometimes fifty feet deep, extending for many miles along the shore.* In one of these was found, at the depth of eighteen feet, resting on oaken sleepers, a mass of native cop- per weighing over six tons, which had been raised five feet from its original bed. Numerous props, levers, ladders, and shovels employed in mining operations were also found. These old miners had become extinct long before the dis- covery of America, for the present race of Indians had no knowledge of copper when first visited by white men ; and trees, whose concentric rings indicated an age of four hundred years, have been found growing upon the accumulated rubbish that filled the shafts. The commerce of the Mound-Builders was also quite exten- sive. Copper from these northern mines is found widely dis- tributed through eighteen degrees of latitude, from Lake Su- perior to the Gulf of INIexico. Iron was also brought from Missouri, mica from North Carolina, and obsidian from Mexico. An examination of the crania of those pre-historic people scattered over a wide area, indicates, together with other evi- * At Ontonagon and Keweenaw Point, and at Isle Koyal, off the nortli shore. IXDIAy TRIBES. 37 dcnccs, that they were a mild, unwarlikc race, contented to toil like the Egyptian serfs in the vast and profitless labours of mound-building. Agriculture must have received among them a high degree of development, in order to the maintenance of the populous communities by which the huge mounds were con- structed. Their principal food was probably maize, the most prolific cereal in the world. The question, "Who were the Mound-Builderg ? " only in- volves the investigator in the mazes of conjecture. They seem to have been of the same race with the ancient people of Mexico, Central America, and Peru. They probably came, by way of Behring's Strait, from the great central Asiatic plateau, which has been, through the ages, the fruitful birth-place of nations. As they advanced towards the tropical and equatorial regions of the continent, they seem to have developed the civilization which met the astonished eyes of Cortes and Pizarro. Successive waves of Asiatic emigration of a fierce and barbarous race, apparently expelled them from the Mis- sissippi valley and drove them south of the Rio Grande. Prob- ably little will ever be known of their history unless some new Champollion shall arise to decipher the strange hieroglyphs which cover the rocky tablets of the ruined cities of Yucatan and Guatemala. Dr. Daniel Wilson expresses the opinion, founded largely on the evidence of language and architectural remains, that the earliest current of New World population * ' spread through the islands of the Pacific, and reached the South American conti- nent long before an excess of Asiatic population had diffused itself into its own inhospitable steppes." * He also thinks that another wave of population reached Central America and Brazil by the Canaries and Antilles, and that then the intrusive race, from which our Indians have sprung, arrived by way of Behring's Strait, driving the Mound-Builders before them.f This intruding race was of a fierce and warlike character, and, continuing its nomad life, never attained to a degree of civilization at all comparable to that of the race which they * Pre-historic Mau, pp. 604-605. t lb. jJassim. 38 HISTORY OF CANADA. dispossessed. They have certain common characteristics, though with numerous minor tribal distinctions of aspect, language, and customs. They were, for the most part, a tall, athletic people, with sinewy forms, regular features, cheek- bones prominent, but less angular than in the Mongolian, straight black hair, sometimes shaven, scanty beard, dark eyes, which, except when the passions are roused, are rather sluggish in exjDression, and copper-coloured skin. In some tribes, as the Flatheads, the artificial moulding of the skull, by means of pressure applied in infancy, was common. They were capable of much endm-ance of cold, hunger, and fatigue ; were haughty, taciturn, and stoical in their manners ; were active, cunning, and stealthy in war ; but in camp were sluggish, and addicted to gluttonous feasts. The women, in youth, were of agreeable form and feature, but through severe drudgery soon became withered and coarse. The hi2:h de^^ree of health and vio^our of the race, was jDrobabl}'' due to the large mortality of weak or sickly children, through the hardships of savage life. The agTiculture of the native tribes, with slight exception, was of the scantiest character — a little patch of Indian corn or tobacco rudely cultivated near their summer cabins. Their chief subsistence was derived from hunting and fishing, in which they became very ex]3ert. ^Yith flint-headed arrows and spears, and stone axes and knives, they Avould attack and kill the deer, elk, or buiFalo. The necessity of following these objects of their pursuit to their often distant feeding-grounds, precluded social or political organization except within very narrow limits. The same cause also prevented the construction, with a few exceptions, of any but the rudest and simplest dwellings — conical wigwams of skins or birch-bark, sjDread over a framework of poles. Some of the more settled and agricultural communities had, however, large lodges for public assemblies or feasts, and even for the joint accommodation of several families. Groups of these lodges were sometimes sur- rounded by palisades, and even by strong defensive works, with heaps of stones to repel attack, and reservoirs of water to ex- tinguish fires kindled by the enemy. IXDIAN TRIBES. 39 The triumph of Indian skill and ingenuity was the bark-canoe — a marvel of beauty, lightness, and strength. It was con- structed of birch-bark, severed in large sheets from the trees, KUXN'ING A EAPID. stretched over a slender framework of ribs bent into the de- sired form, and well gummed at the seams with pine resin. Kneeling in these fragile barks, and wielding a short strong paddle, the Indian or his squaw would navigate for hundreds of miles the inland waters, shooting the arrowy rapids, and MAKING A PORTAGE. even boldly launching upon the stormy lake. TVTiere rocks or cataracts interrupted the progress, the light canoe could easily be carried over the ' ' portage " to the navigable waters beyond. 40 HISTORY OF CANADA. The Indian dress consisted of skins of wild animals, often ornamented with shells, porcupine qnills, and brilliant pigments. In summer, little clothing was worn, but the body was tattooed and painted, or smeared with oil. When on a war expedition, the face and figure were bedaubed with startling contrasts of colour, as black, white, red, yellow, and blue. The hair was often elaborately decorated with dyed plumes or crests of feathers. Sometimes the head was shaved, all but the scalp- lock on the crown. The women seldom dressed their hair, and, except in youth, wore little adornment. Their life after mar- riage was one of perpetual drudgery. They tilled the fields, gathered fuel, bore the burdens on the march, and performed all the domestic duties in camp. The Indian wars were frequent and fierce, generally spring- ing out of hereditary blood-feuds between tribes, or from the purpose to avenge real or fancied insults or wrongs. After a war-feast and war-dance, in which the plumed and painted "braves" wrought themselves into a phrensy of excitement, they set out on the war-path against the ol)ject of their resent- ment. Stealthily gliding like snakes through the forest, they would lie in wait, sometimes for days, for an opportunity of surprising the enemy. "With a wild whoop they would burst upon a sleeping village and involve in indiscriminate massacre every age and either sex. Firing the inflammable huts and dragging off" their prisoners, they would make a hasty retreat with their victims. Some of these were frequently adopted by the tribe in place of its fallen warriors ; others were reserved for fiendish tortures by fire or knife. One trophy they never neglected, if possible, to secure — the reeking scalp-lock of their enemy. Torn with dreadful dexterity from the skull, and dried in the smoke of the hut, it was worn as the hideous proof of the prowess of the savage warrior. When captured, they exhibited the utmost stoicism in the endurance of pain. Amid agonies of torture they calmly sang their death-song, hurling defiance at the foe. Their councils for deliberation were conducted with great gravity and decorum. The speakers often exhibited much INDIAN TRIBES. 41 eloquence, wit, vigour of tbouglit, and lively imagination. Their oratory abounded in bold and striking metaphors, and was characterized by great practical shrewdness. They were without a written language, but their treaties were ratified hy the exchange of wampum-belts of variegated beads, having definite significations. These served also as memorials of the transac- tion, and w^ere cherished as the historic records of the tribe. The Indians were deeply superstitious. Some tril^es had an idea of a Great Spirit or Manitou, whose dwelling-place was the sky, where he had provided happy hunting-grounds for his red children after death. Hence they were often buried with their, weapons, pipes, ornaments, and a supply of food for their subsistence on their journey to the spirit-world. Others ob- served a sort of fetichism — the worship of stones, plants, waterfalls, and the like ; and in the thunder, UghtniAg, and tempest, they recognized the influence of good or evil spirits. The " medicine man " or conjurer, cajoled or terrified them by their superstitious hopes or fears. They attached great impor- tance to dreams and omens, and observed rigorous fasts, Avhen they starved themselves to emaciation ; and glutton feasts, when they gorged themselves to repletion. They were inveterate and infatuated gamblers, and have been known to stake their lives upon a cast of the dice, and then bend their heads for the stroke of the victor's tomahawk. In the unhappy conflicts between the English and the French for the possession of the continent, the Indians were the cov- eted allies of the respective combatants. They were supplied witli knives, guns, and ammunition, and the atrocities of savage were added to those of civilized warfare. The profitable trade in peltries early became an object of ambition to the rival na- tions, and immense private fortunes and public revenue were derived from this source. The white man's " fire-water " and the loathsome small-pox wasted the native tribes. The prog- ress of settlement drove them from their ancient hunting- grounds. A chronic warfare between civilization and barbar- ism raged along the frontier, and dreadful scenes of massacre and reprisal stained with blood the annals of the time. 42 HISTORY OF CANADA. The great Algonquin nation occupied tlie larger part of the Atlantic slope, the valley of the St. Lawrence, and the country around the great lakes. It embraced the Pequods and Narra- gansetts of New England, the Micmacs of Nova Scotia, the Abenaquis of New Brunswick, the Montagnais and Ottawas of Quebec, the Ojibways or Chippeways on the great lakes, and the Crees and Sioux of the far west. The Ilurons and Iroquois were allied races, though for ages the most deadly enemies. They were more addicted to agri- culture than the Algonquins, and dwelt in better houses, but they were equally fierce and implaca])le. The Hurons chiefly occupied the county between Lakes Erie, Ontario, and Huron, and the northern bank of the St. Lawrence. Their principal settlement, till well-nigh exterminated by the Iroquois, was between Lake Simcoe and the Georgian Bay. The Iroquois or Five Nations occupied northern New York, from the Mohawk Eiver to the Genesee. The confederacy embraced the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, and was afterwards joined by the Tuscaroras from South Carolina. Each tribe, however, asserted its independ- ence, and made war or peace on its own account, as was shown by many a cruel raid upon Montreal or Quebec in a time of nominal truce with the confederacy. They were the most cruel and blood-thirsty of all the savage tribes — skilful in war, cunning in policy, and ruthless in slaughter. They were chiefly the allies of the British, and proved a thorn in the side of the French for a hundred and fifty years. The latter, through their missions, early acquired an ascendency over the Algonquin and Huron tribes. Several of the Indian children were educated in Catholic schools, and some of the girls even became nuns. After the British conquest of Canada, the Indians were gathered into reserves under military superintendents at Caugh- nawaga, the Bay of Quints, Grand River, Credit Eiver, Kice Lake, Eiver Thames, Manitoulin and TTalpole Islands, and elsewhere. They were supplied with annual presents of knives, guns, ammunition, blankets, trinkets, grain, implements, and INDIAN TRIBES. 43 the like. Special efforts have been made, with marked success, for their education in religion, agricultural industry, and secu- lar learning. Many tribes have been raised from barbarism to Christian civilization, although a few of the old men cling to the faith of their fathers, and worship the Great Spirit, beat the conjurer's drum, and sacrifice the white dog. The reserves are under the charge of an Indian agent, who watches over the interests of the tribe, and prevents the alienation of its prop- erty. The Indians seem contented with their lot, though their natural apathy prevents the growth of industrial enterprise, and many of the men leave home for months on hunting or trapping excursions. They profess deep loyalty to the Crown and to their great ' ' White ISIother " beyond the sea. In the new provinces of Manitoba and Keewatin, and in the North-w^est Territory are numerous tribes of plain or forest Indians, for whom civilization has as yet done little. They sub- sist chiefly by buffalo-hunting, fishing, and collecting peltries for the Hudson's Bay Company and other great fur traders. Mis- sionaries, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, have, wath self- denying zeal, laboured for their spiritual welfare, and in many cases with very considerable success. Treaties have been made with many of these tribes, and liberal land reserves secured to them. The Indian tribes in the Pacific province of British Columbia are, for the most part, pagan and savage. Those on the sea- coast live principally by fishing, in which they exhibit great dexterity. They hollow out, with much patient labour, huge canoes from a single tree-trunk.* They also build large framed and bark-covered lodges, which will accommodate several fam- ilies. In front of these they will often erect a lofty tree-trunk, carved into hideous, grotesque representations of the human fiice and figure, bedaubed with bright, crude pigments, f * One, at the American Centennial Exhibition, was sixty feet long, t Some of these are over thirty feet high, elaborately carved from top to bottom. 44 HISTORY OF CANADA. CHAPTER IV. EARLY COLONIZATION— FOUNDING OF PORT ROYAL. Spanish and English Colonization — Frobisher explores the Arctic Seas, 1576 — Magellan — Drake — Sir Humphrey Gilbert — Raleigh's unsuccessful Colony at Roanoke, 1585 — Gosnold — Hudson — De la Roche lands Convicts at Sable Island — Their tragic fate — Chauvin plants a Trading Post at Tadousac, 1600 — Champlain's first Voyage to Canada, 1603 — The Tragedy of St. Croix — Poutrincourt founds Port Royal, 1605 — Lescharbot — The "Order of the Good Time " — Charter cancelled — Discord at Port Royal — Mount Desert — Captain Argall. FOR fifty years after the failure of Roberval, there was no further attempt to colonize Canada. France, engaged in her prolonged struggle with Spain and Austria, and convulsed by the civil wars of religion, had neither men nor means to spare for foreign settlement. Spain had early claimed the whole continent, from the Gulf 1513. of Mexico to Labrador. Balboa, from the mountains of Darien, had descried the Pacific, and dispelled the illusion that 15S1. America was a part of Asia. Cortez, with a handful of followers, had taken and sacked the populous city of Mexico.* Ponce de Leon had sought amid the everglades of Florida a fountain of youth, and found an early grave. Ferdinand de 1543. Soto had discovered the mighty Mississippi, and been buried beneath its waters. In 1565 was founded St. Augus- tine, the oldest town in America, f Admiral Coligny, the leader of the French Protestants, had already planted a private Hu- * In 1530, Spanish valour, led by Pizarro, conquered the kingdom of Peru, and Spanish cruelty well nigh exterminated the inhabitants. t The dates of the earliest settlements are as follows : — St. Augustine, 1565 ; Port Royal, 1605 ; Jamestown, 1607 ; Quebec, 1608 ; Albany, 1615 ; Plymouth, 1620; New York, 1623, Boston, 1630; Montreal, 1642; Frontenac (Kingston), 1672; Philadelphia, 1683; Detroit, 1702; New Orleans, 1718; Halifax, 1749; St. John, 1783} Toronto, 1795. EARLY COLONIZATION. 45 guenot colony in Florida ; but through the jealousy of iscs. the Spaniards at St. Augustine, it was utterly destroyed, with the atrocious murder of eight hundred Frenchmen. Their countryman, De Gourges, terribly avenged their death. The hope of finding a northwest passage to the Indies con- tinued to be a strong incentive to North American exploration. In 1553, Sir Hugh Willoughby, in attempting a northwest pas- sage to China, perished of cold in a harbour in Lapland. The following year, he, with his crew, were found frozen to marble in their oak-ribbed sepulchre. In 1576, Martin Frobisher, an English mariner, again essayed the task, " as the only thing in the world yet left undone, by which a notable minde might be made famous and fortunate." In a vessel of only fivo«ind twenty tons, he reached the straits still known by his name. He took possession of a barren island in the name of Queen Elizabeth, and found in its soil some gi-ains of gold or what resembled it. A gold mania ensued. Two successive fleets, one of fifteen vessels, were despatched to the arctic El Dorado. Several of the vessels were wrecked or driven from their course ; the others returned, laden with hundreds of tons of glittering mica. The discoveiy of its worthlessness ended the attempt at arctic colonization, but the dream of a northwest passage is still a potent spell. A Portuguese sailor was the first to circumnavigate the globe, and left his name stamped forever upon the 1521. geography of the earth, and emblazoned in the constellations of the skies.* The gallant Drake, an Englishman, pillaged the , Spanish settlements of the Pacific, explored the northwest coast of America as far as Oregon, and followed in ists. Magellan's wake around the world. From early in the century the maritime nations of Europe pursued the whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and fished for cod on the banks of Newfoundland. The latter industry became of gi'eat importance, to supply the demand for fish, of Roman Catholic countries. In 1578, four hundred vessels * Magellan's Straits and the Magellanic Clouds. 46 HISTORY OF CANADA. gathered the harvest of the sea upon those fertile banks. One hundred and fifty of these were French, but the English, we read in contemporary records, "were commonly lords in the harbours." A profitable trade in peltry with the natives along the seaboard and far up the St. Lawrence, had also sprung up. Codfish and whale oil, beaver-skins and walrus-tusks proved treasures scarce less valuable than the gold and silver that the Spaniards wrung, by the unrequited toil of the conquered inhabitants, from the mines of Mexico and Peru. In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, half-brother of Sir Walter Ealeigh, re- asserted England's claim, by right of discovery, to Newfoundland, by tak- ing possession of the island, with feudal cere- mony, in the name of Queen Elizabeth. The crews became insubor- dinate, and went gold- hunting and pillaging the Spanish and Portuguese SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT. sliips lu the neighbouring waters ; and Gilbert's colonization scheme was abandoned. On its return, the little fleet was shattered by a tempest. The pious admiral, in the tiny pinnace, *' Squirrel," of only ten tons burden, foundered in mid-ocean. Before night fell, as he sat in the stern of the doomed vessel, with the Bible in his hand, he called aloud to the crew of his consort, the " Hind," " Fear not, comrades ; heaven is as near by sea as by land." Undeterred by the fate of his gallant kinsman. Sir Walter Ealeigh, the flower of Queen Elizabeth's court and friend of 1585. Edmund Spenser, planted the first English coloiij in America — named, in honour of the maiden queen, Virginia — on Koanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina. The colony consisted of one hundred and eight persons, among whom were EARLY COLONIZATION. 47 several of gentle blood and scholarly training. But disaster, imprudence, and conflicts with the natives led, within a year, to the abandonment of the country. Nevertheless, the glowing account given of its stately forests, its remarkable productions — the escu- lent potato, the prolific maize, the soothing tobacco — and the rumours of its mineral wealth, awakened a deep interest in Great Britain. raleigh. The following year, another colony was sent out, but it also was overtaken by disaster. " If America had no Eng- isst. lish town, it soon had English graves." But Life went hand in hand with Death, and the birth of Virginia Dare, the first- born of English children in the New World, seemed an omen of good for the future of the colony. The threatened Spanish invasion of the mother country, however, absorbed every energy of the nation, and for three years no succour could be sent the infant colony. At the end of that thne, the island was found deserted, the houses in ruins, and human bones 1590. strewed the neighbouring fields. Falling under royal censure, bankrupt in fortune,* and broken in health, Raleigh languished for thirteen years in prison, solacing his solitude by writing his eloquent " History of the World." Released, but not pardoned, he sought to retrieve his credit and fortunes by the search for a fabled city of gold on the banks of the Orinoco, amid the tropical forests of Guiana. Defeated by the Spaniards, his eldest son slain, his vessels wrecked, his body smitten with palsy, Raleigh returned a heart-broken man to his native country, which he had impoverished himself to serve. The unjust sentence which had slumbered fifteen years was revived, and the heroic veteran perished on the scaffold, a memorable example of the " He had expended two hundred thousand dollars of his private fortune, an immense sum in those days, in this enterprise. 48 HISTORY or C Ay AD A. ingratitude of kings, 1618. His fair fame has been vindicated by time, and his name is commemorated by the city of Ealeigh, the capital of North Carolina. English expeditions now became frequent. In 1602, aban- doning the southern route previously followed by way of the Canaries and Azores, Bartholomew Gosnold, in a small bark, sailed due west boldly across the Atlantic. He reached Massa- chusetts Bay, and rounding Cape Cod, built a fort and began a settlement on an island in Buzzard's Bay, which, however, was soon forsaken. In 1603 and 1605, Martin Pring and George Weymouth opened a traffic with the natives of what is now New England, Weymouth perfidiously kidnapping several of the inhabitants. In 1609, Henry Hudson, an English navigator in the employ of the Dutch East India Company, in a small vessel, the "Half Moon," discovered, and explored as far as the site of Troy, the river to which he gave his name. The following year, seeking a northwest passage to China, he penetrated the depths of Hudson's Bay, and wintered amid its icy regions. In the spring, with his son and seven others, he was turned adrift by a mutinous crew and never heard of again. The noble bay which became his grave perpetuates his memory. We now return to the narrative of early French colonization. The very year that Henry IV., by the edict of Nantes, gave ., religious toleration to his Protestant sulyects, he granted to the Marquis de la Roche a commission, as Viceroy of New France — a designation which included the whole noi*them part of the continent. That nobleman was promised a monopoly of trade, and received a profusion of empty titles and feudal privileges. He fitted out an expedition strangely inadequate to the task of colonizing the vast territory assigned to hinj. He ransacked the prisons for pioneers of Christianity and civilization in the New World. The vessel in which they sailed was so small, that HENRY UUDSOX. EARLY COLONIZATION. 49 the crew, leaning over her sides, could wash their hands in the sea. De la Roche landed his forty convicts on the desolate sand-dunes of Sal)le Island, about one hundred and fifty miles off the rocky coast of Nova Scotia, apparently fearing that they would desert as soon as they reached the main-land, and sailed away to select a site for his colony. But a western gale drove his frail vessel back to France. Here he came under the power of enemies, and was thrown into prison. For five years the wretched convicts were abandoned to their fate. They subsisted on fish and on wild cattle, the progeny of those left liy De Lery eighty years before. They clothed themselves in the skins of wild beasts, and obtained shelter in a cabin, built out of a wreck. Their savage natures found vent in violence and murder. When a vessel was sent for their release, only twelve remained alive. In shaggy attire and unkempt hair and beards — "rough with the salt of the sea, and brown with the brand of the sun" — they were brought before the generous-hearted king, and received a liberal bounty from his hands. The marquis was utterly ruined, and soon after, died of chagrin, on account of his broken fortunes. Meanwhile the forfeited patent of De la Eoche was granted to Pontgrave, a merchant of St. Malo, and Chauvin, a 1599. captain of the marine, who undertook to plant a colony of five hundred persons in Canada. Their chief object, however, was the fur trade. In order to prosecute this the more successfully, they established a trading-post at Tadousac, at the entrance to the gloomy gorge of the Saguenay. Of the sixteen men left to gather the rich harvest of furs, before winter was over sev- eral had died, and the rest were dependent for food on the charity of the Indians. After two more imsuccessful attempts at colonization, Chauvin died, and the patent again lapsed. Now appears upon the scene one of the most remarkable of the many able men who have aided in moulding the fortunes and destiny of Canada. Samuel de Champlain, a gentleman of Saintonge, was born in 1567, at Brouage, a small seaport in the Bay of Biscay. From youth he was familiar with the sea, and had reached the position of captain of the royal marine. 7 50 HISTORY OF CAXADA. He had also served as a soldier, and fought durmg the wars of the League, under Hemy of Navarre. He was a hero of the 6AMU£1. CHAMPLAd, mediaeval type of chivalric courage, fond of romantic enter- prise, and inspired hy religious enthusiasm, " the zeal of the missionary tempered the fire of the soldier." He observed acutely and described vividly the wonders of the new countries that he visited.* On the restoration of peace, weary of dally- ing at court, he sought adventure in a voyage to the West Indies and Mexico. Aymar de Chastes, Governor of Dieppe, and commander of the Order of St. John, received authority from the Kmg to plant the cross and the Jleur de lis in the New 1603. World, and to extend the religion and commerce of France among its savage tribes. Discerning the commanding qualities * His journal, with rude drawings of the strange animals and scenes that he beheld, is still extant in MS. EARLY COLONIZATION. 51 of Champlain, De Cliastes commissioned him to join Pontgrave in this pious enterprise. Two small barks, of twelve and fifteen tons burden, bore the adventurers across the stormy deep. Gliding up the vast and solitary St. Lawrence, past the deserted post of Tadousac, past the tenantless rock of Quebec, and the ruined fort of Cape Rouge, they reached the Island of Montreal and the rapids of St. Louis. But not a vestige of the Indian towns of Stadacona or Hochelaga, nor of their friendly population, described by Cartier sixty-eight j^ears be- fore, remained. Returning to France with a cargo of furs, they found that De Chastes, the generous patron of the enterprise, was dead. A successor in the work of colonization was soon found. Pierre du Guast, Sieur de Monts, a Calvinist nobleman, obtained a patent of the vice royalty of La Cadio or Acadie,* a terri- tory described as ex- tending from the for- tieth to the forty- sixth degree of north latitude, from the par- allel of Philadelphi to that of Louisburg. Protestantism was to be freely tolerated, but the Roman Catho- lic religion alone might be taught to the na- sieur de monts. * The name is said to be derived from the Indian Aquoddie, i.e., a fish like a pollock. 52 HISTORY OF CANADA. 1604- tives. The new colony was composed of strangely incongruous materials. In the crowded ships were assembled some of the best blood, and some of the worst criminals of France, — the Baron de Poutrincourt, the Sieur de Monts, Champlain, soldiers, artisans and convicts. Catholic priest and Calvinist minister carried their polemics, says Champlain, from words to blows. Entering a harbour on the southern shore of Nova Scotia, they found a fur-trading vessel. This De ^lonts forthwith confiscated for invasion of his monopoly, and commemorated the circumstance by giving the name of the owner to the harbour, Rossignol, now Liverpool. Rounding Cape Sable, De jMonts entered the narrow harbour of St. ISIary's. Here M. Aubry, a young priest from Paris, explor- ing through the woods, disappeared. After diligent search, he was given up as dead, not without suspicion of having met with foul play from the Calvinist minister, with whom he had been engaged in much vigorous controversy. After sixteen days wandering, the missing priest was discovered by a fishing party, nearly famished with hunger. The reputation of his clerical antagonist was thereby re-established. Sailing up the Bay of Fundy, the voyagers entered a narrow inlet, which exjDanded into a noble land-locked basin. Delighted with the beauty of the scene, Poutrincourt asked a grant of the place, as the site for a settlement. This was gi-anted, and the Baron gave to his new domain the name, destined to be- come historical, of Port Royal. De Monts and Champlain explored, to its extremity, the Bay of Fundy, named Bale Francaise, at times imperilled by its dense fogs and swirling tides. On the 24th of June, they en- tered a spacious harbour which, in honour of the day, they named St. John, a designation which it still bears. A sandy island in a river, which he named the St. Croix, now the boundary between New Brunswick and Maine, was selected by De IMonts as the site of a fort and settlement. It was an un- fortunate choice. The island, though easy of defence, was barren, bleak, and desolate ; and became the scene of a dread- ful tragedy. The whole colony, however, set to work, — gen- EARL T ■ COL OXIZATION. 53 tlemen, soldiers, sailors, and convicts. Before winter a spa- cious quadrangle was surrounded by barracks, storehouses, workshops, lodgings, chapel, and Governor's house, the whole surrounded by a palisade. Poutrincourt now returned to France for recruits for his domain of Port Koyal. From the Spanish settlement of St. Augustine to the arctic waste, from the surging tides of the Atlantic to the waters of the Pacific, the only habitation of civilized man, was this outpost of Christendom on the edge of the boundless and savage wilderness. The winter set in early, and the cold was intense. The bleak winds howled around the wooden houses, drifting the snow through their crevices. Even the wine froze in the casks. As the hap- less Frenchmen shivered over their scanty fires, they fell into deepest dejection, and became the easy prey of disease. Of the seventy-nine exiles, thirty-five, before the spring, fell vic- tims to the loathsome scurvy, and many others were brought to the very door of death. Amid such sufierings were laid the foundations of New France. One heart, hoAvever, struggled against despair. By his indomitable spirit, Champlain sustained the courage of the wi-etched colonists. In the spring, Pontgrave arrived Avith succours from France, and was hailed as bringing deliverance from death. De iocs. Monts and Champlain explored the coast of Maine and INIassa- chusetts, but found no place of settlement so eligible as the land-locked harbour of Port Royal. They therefore removed thither, carrying even the timljers of the buildings for the con- struction of a new fort. Here the little colony braved the rigours' of another winter, while De Monts returned to France to defend his commercial prerogatives against the machinations of jealous rivals. With a company of artisans and labourers, Poutrincourt re- enforced the colony the following spring. With him came looe. a man of considerable note, as the future historian of New France — a "briefless barrister" and poet of some skill, Marc Lescarbot. The new comers Avere hailed Avith joy by the col- onists who were again reduced to extremities. While Cham- 54 HISTORY OF CAXADA. plain explored the Atlantic seaboard for a milder place of settlement, Lescarbot remained in charge of the fort. He in- fused his own energy into his subordinates, and spent the sum- mer in busy industry ; planting, tilling, building, and, with all, finding time to write his rhymes. Champlain's return was wel- comed by a theatrical masque, Neptune and his Tritons greeting them in verses composed for the occasion by the ingenious poet. The dreary winter was enlivened by the establishment of the "Order of the Good Time," the duties of which were, with the aid of Indian allies, to prepare good cheer for the daily 1607. banquet. In the spring came a vessel from France, bear- ing; the tidinsrs of the revocation of the charter, and orders to abandon the settlement. With heavy hearts these pioneers of empire in the New World, forsook the little fort and clearing, the pleasant bay, and engirdling hills of Port Eoj^al ; and took leave of the friendly Indians, from whom they had received no small kindness. Undeterred by this disaster, Baron Poutrincourt returned to 1610. Port Royal three years after, the King having confirmed the patent granted by De Monts. He found the buildings un- injured, and even the furniture in the deserted chambers un- touched. The Indians welcomed the return of their former friends witli delight. The aged chief, Membertou, a patriarch of over a hundred years, with many of his tribe, consented to receive Christian baptism from the hands of Father La Fleche, a zealous priest who accompanied the colonists. This rite was performed with the utmost pomp, accompanied by the chanting of the Te Deumy and the roar of cannon, the savage neophytes receiving the names of the King, the Queen, the Dauphin, the Pope, and of members of princely or noble houses. Biencourt, the son of Baron Poutrincourt, was dispatched to Paris with the baptismal registry of the new proselytes, as a proof that the spiritual interests of the natives had not been neglected, as alleged by the enemies of the Baron. On reaching France, Biencourt found that Henry IV., the lil)eral-minded patron of the colony, had been treacherously assassinated by the fanatical Ravaillac, and that Jesuit influence EARLY COLONIZATION. 55 was in the ascendant at the court. A zeal for the conversion of the Indians became a fashion among the great ladies of the time. Prominent among these, was INIadame de Guercheville, who purchased, in the interests of the Jesuits, a controlling share in the colony, and despatched thither Fathers Biard and Masse, the first members of this energetic and aggressive or- der who visited New France. Dissension soon broke out be- tM^een the temporal and spiritual powers at Port Eoyal. The Jesuits excommunicated the civil rulers, and refused, for months, to celel^rate mass or perform other functions of their office. The religious strifes of the Old World were renewed in the Acadian wilderness. Famine and anarchy succeeded to the thrift and concord of the settlement of Champlain and Les- carbot. At length the Jesuits abandoned Port Eoyal, and, under au- thority of a royal patent, with a number of colonists, at- leis. tempted to plant a settlement on the island of Mount Desert, in the picturesque inlet on the coast of Maine, which still bears the name of Frenchman's Bay. While they were ploughing and building, a strange vessel, flying the flag of Great Britain, ap- peared in the offing. The French hastened on board their vessel, and made an inefiectual resistance. The English broad- sides soon reduced it to a WTcck, and strewed its gory deck with the dying and the dead, among whom w^as the Jesuit, Du Thet. Argall, the piratical English adventurer from the new colony of Virginia, landed and pillaged the French settlement, and stole their commission of colonization from the King. Fifteen of their prisoners he inhumanely turned adrift in an open boat. They were, however, providentially rescued, and found their way to France. The rest of the Frenchmen, Argall conveyed to Virginia, where the Governor threatened to have them executed for piratical invasion of British territory, and was only deterred by Argall's production of the stolen commis- sion. This w^as the first outbreak of the long strife of one hundred and fifty years, between the English and the French, for the possession of the broad continent. Each country, though occupying only a few acres of an almost boundless do- 56 HISTORY OF CANADA. main, was insanely jealous of the possession of a single foot of it by the other. The following year, Argall again set forth on a career of pillage 1614. and havoc. He completed the destruction of the French settlements at Mount Desert and St. Croix. The Jesuit, Biard, it is said, to gratify his ancient grudge against his countryman, Biencourt, betrayed the existence of the French colony of Port Royal. Sweeping down upon the little settlement, Argall plundered it, even to the locks upon the doors, and razed the fort to the very foundation. Poutrincourt abandoned the un- happy colony in despair, and the following year, fell fighting, sword in hand, at the siege of Mery, in his. native land. CHAMPLAIN'S ADMINISTRATION. 57 CHAPTER V. CHAMPLAIN'S ADMINISTRATION. Champlain Founds Quebec, 1608 — Sufferings of the Colony — Iroquois War — Place Royal (Montreal) — The Imxiostor, Vignan — Champlain Discovers Lakes Huron, Simcoe, and Ontario — Seneca War — The Do Caens — The Company of the Hundred Associates Organized, 1627— Sir William Alexan- der Obtains Grant of Acadia — The Knights-Baronets of Nova Scotia — Kirk's Conquest of Quebec, 1629 — Quebec Restored by the Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, 1632 — The La Tours in Acadia — Death of Champlain, 1635 — His Character. BAFFLED in his efforts to plant a colony in Acadia, De Monts resolved to attempt a settlement on the St. Law- rence. By tracing its mighty stream, it was thought that a nearer way to China might be discovered; and that a single, well-placed fort would command the fur trade of the vast in- terior, while faithful missionaries might preach to countless savage tribes, the gospel of Mary and her Divine Son. Ob- taining, for a year, a renewal of his monopoly, De Monts de- spatched Pontgrave and Champlain to the St. Lawrence, bearing the fortunes of Canada in their frail vessels. At Tadousac, a choleric Basque captain defied De Monts' claim to a monopoly of the fur trade, and fired on Pontgrave's ship, killing one man and wounding three others. On the 3d of July, Champlain reached the narrows of the river, where frown the craggy heights of Quebec. Here, be- leos. neath the tall cliff of Cape Diamond, he laid the foundations of one of the most famous cities of the New World.* A wooden fort was erected, on the site of the present market-place of the lower town, and was surrounded by a palisade, loop-holed for * The name Quebec, Champlain positively asserts, was the Indian designation of the narrows of the St. Lawrence at this point, the word signifying a strait. Canada is the Indian word for a collection of huts, and enters into the com- position of several native names. 58 BISTORT OF CANADA. musketry. The whole was enclosed by a moat, and three small cannon guarded the river-front. The colonists were soon comfortably housed, and land was cleared for tillage. The firm discipline maintained by Champlain, provoked a conspiracy for his murder. It was discovered, the ring-leader was hanged, and his fellow-conspirators shipped in chains to France. Cham- plain was left with twenty-eight men to hold a continent. His nearest civilized neighbours were the few English colonists at Jamestown, Virginia. The long and cruel winter was a season of tragical disaster and suffering. Before spring, of that little company, only eight remained alive. The rest had all miser- 1609. ably perished by the loathsome scurvy. The timely arrival of succours from France saved the little colony from extinction. The neighbouring Algonquins were anxious to secure, as an ally, the pale-faced chief, who was able, like the thunder-god, to destroy his enemy at a distance, by a flash of flame. Eager to explore the interior, Champlain yielded to their solicitations to join a war-party in an attack upon their hereditary foes, the Iroquois, who occupied the lake region of central New York. After wild war-dances, and a gluttonous feast, the forest ex- pedition set forth, accompanied by Champlain and eleven white men. A hundred canoes, paddled by sinewy arms, glided up the St. Lawrence, crossed Lake St. Peter, and ascended the tor- tuous current of the Richelieu. Here, three-fourths of the war- party, after the fickle manner of the natives, returned, and a tiny fleet of twenty-four canoes, bearing sixty Indian warriors and three white men, held on its way. They soon glided forth on the beautiful lake, to which Champlain has given his name ; the shores of which were so often to re-echo the strife of savage or civilized warfare. Amid the summer loveliness of Lake St. Sacrament, long after memorable as Lake George, they came upon the foe. Before the death-dealing fire of the European weapons, the savages fled, howling with dismay. In spite of his vehement remonstrance, Champlain was compelled to wit- ness the torture of twelve of the enemy, captured by the Al- gonquins. This was an unfortunate expedition, as the Iroquois CIIAMPLAIX'S ADMLXISTRATIOX. 59 became, for one hundred and fifty years, the imphicublc foes of the French, and terribly avenged, by many a murder and am- buscade, the death of every Indian slain in this battle. The following spring they entrenched themselves at the mouth of the Richelieu, and were routed only after a fierce struggle, in which Champlain himself received an arrow in his neck. After the assassination, in this year, of Henry IV., the patron of De jNIonts, the latter was obliged to admit private ad- leio. venturers to share the profits of the fur trade, oK condition of their promoting his schemes of colonization. The powerful Prince of Conde, Admiral INIontmorency, and the Duke of Ventadour, became successively Viceroys of Canada ; but the valour and fidelity and zeal of Champlain commanded the confidence of them all. Twice, in successive j^ears, he visited the court of France in the interests of the colony, and through successive changes of patrons, he continued to administer its afiairs as their agent, yet bearing the commission of the new King, Louis XIII. With the prescience of a founder of em- pire, he selected the Island of Montreal as the site of a leii. fort, protecting the fur trade, and commanding the two great vrater-ways of the country, the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa. The commercial prosperity of the great city which now covers so large a portion of the island, is an ample vindication of his choice. He erected storehouses at Lachine, which he named Sault St. Louis, and gave the designation it still bears to St. Helen's Island, opposite the city, after the name of his youthful wife, whom he had just espoused. In order to verify the story of a coasting adventurer, as to the existence of a great northern sea, Avhich would prob- 1612. ably give access to China and India, Champlain, with a native^ interpreter, and a few companions, penetrated up the pictur- esque and rapid Ottawa, over rugged portages, and through tangled forests, past the boiling Chaudiere, and the stately cliff now the site of the capital of Canada, as far as the distant Isle of Allumettes, a region which is to this day a solitude. When even the Indians refused to escort him further on his perilous way, and he discovered the falsehood of his guide, having first 60 mSTORT OF CANADA. planted the emblems of the faith in this primeval wilderness, he retm-ned, disappointed but undaunted, to Quebec, and thence to France, to urge the fortunes of the colony. With a desire for gain, and for extending the dominions of France in the New World, was blended also, in the purposes of successive Viceroys of the colony, a zeal for the conversion of the savages to the Catholic faith. In this purpose they were 1615. seconded by the piety of Champlain. On his return to Canada, he brought, with the new company of colonists, four Eecollet friars, the first of an heroic band of missionaries, who toiled amid the wilderness to win the wandering pagans to the doctrines of the Cross. Clad in coarse serge garments, with girdles of knotted cord, and sandals of wood, the "apostolic mendicants" kneeled on the bare earth, and, amid salvos of cannon from the fort and shij?, celebrated the first mass ever said in Canada. Scorning the pleasures of civilized life, they cheerfully espoused privations and sufierings, for the glory of God and the spiritual welfare of the native tribes. On his arrival at Montreal, Champlain found a large council of Algonquin and Huron Indians, discussing the project of an attack upon the Iroquois. Desirous of cementing an alliance with these friendly tribes, he agreed to join the expedition, the savages undertaking to raise a force of tAventy-five hundred warriors for the purpose. While Champlain went to Quebec for supplies, his Indian allies, not waiting his return, proceeded with Father Caron and twelve Frenchmen, to the place of ren- dezvous in the Huron country. Accompanied by a small party of Indian canoemen, Champlain followed them. Stemming the rapid current of the Ottawa, and toiling over almost count- less portages ; subsisting on wild berries, and camping on the naked rocks ; crossing Lake Nipissing, and gliding down the rapids of the French Eiver, he gained, at last, the waters of the Georgian Bay, and beheld, stretching to the west, seemingly boundless as the ocean, the blue heaving billows of Lake Huron, to which he gave the name Mer Douce, — the Fresh- water Sea. Coasting down its rugged eastern shore, and through its many thousands of rocky islands, a hundred miles CHAMrLAIN'S ADMINISTRATION. 61 or more, lie reached the inlet of the Matchedash Bay, where Penctanguishcne now stands. This region, now the northern part of the county of Simcoe, contained the chief settlements of the Huron Indians, a nation variously estimated at from ten to thirty thousand souls, dwelling in palisaded towns, wdth large and well-built houses, and subsisting by agriculture as well as by the chase. Over a forest trail, Champlain and his companions i^assed to the appointed place of gathering of the forest trilies, Cahiagua, on the narrows of Lake Couchiching, near where the pretty village of Orillia now stands. Here he W - - r_^_ -=^-^ VIEW NEAR ORILLIA. was met by Le Caron, the Kecollet friar ; and here, in the soli- tude of the primeval forest, were chanted the Te Deum, and offered the sacrifice of the mass. At Cahiagua, a war-party of two thousand plumed and painted braves were assembled, and several days were spent in feasting, war-dances, and other savage pastimes. At length sailing, with several hundred canoes, through Lake Simcoe and up the Talbot Eiver, and traversing the picturesque Balsam, Sturgeon, Pigeon, and Rice lakes, with their intervening port- ages, they glided down the devious windings of the Otonabee and Trent rivers, and reached the beautiful Bay of Quinte, with 62 HISTORY OF CANADA. its columned forests and verdure-clad, gently* undulating slopes, now adorned with smiling villages and cheerful farms. Emerg- VIEW ON LAKE SIMCOE. ing from the placid bay, the Huron fleet entered the broad and blue Ontario, dimpling in the autumnal sunlight. To this Champlain gave the name, which it long retained, of Lac St. Louis. Having boldly crossed the lake, the war-party reached the country of the Iroquois. Hiding their canoes in the forest, they pressed onward some thirty leagues, to the Seneca towns near Lake Canandaigua. The Iroquois, attacked in the corn- fields, — for it was the time of the maize harvest, — retired to their town, which was defended with four rows of palisades. On the inside, galleries were constructed, on which were pre- pared magazines of stones and other missiles, and a supply of water to extinguish any fire that might be kindled beneath the walls. The tumultuous attack of the Hurons was ineffective. Under Champlain's direction, a wooden tower was constructed, after the manner of mediaeval warfare, and dragged forward so as to overlook the walls. Huge shields or mantlets were also prepared to cover the persons of the warriors advancing to the attack, while from the top of the tower skilled marksmen raked the galleries, crowded with naked Iroquois. But the impetu- CHAMP LAIN' S ADMINISTRATION. g3 ous zcfil of the Hurons brooked no restraint. They rushed tumultuously against the walls, and were soon thrown into con- fusion, in spite of the efforts of Champlain, who w^as himself seriously wounded, to maintain order. Thus, this "forest paladin " sought to wage war in the heart of the wilderness, after the manner of a European campaign. After an misuccess- ful attempt to fire the town, the Hurons fell back on their rudely fortified camp. After the manner of their tribe, when bafiled in a first attempt, they could not be induced to repeat the attack, but resolved to retreat. This movement was con- ducted with greater skill than the assault. The wounded — among whom was Champlain, chafing with chagrin and pain — were bound on rude litters and carried in the centre, while armed warriors formed front, rear, and flanking guards, Champlain had been promised an escort down the St. Law- rence to Quebec, but, daunted by their defeat, the Hurons refused to keep their engagement. He was, therefore, com- pelled to return with his savage allies. They encamped for thirty-eight days near Mud Lake, northwest of Kingston, waiting for the frost to bridge the rivers and oozy marshes. For four days, he was lost in the woods and well-nigh ex- hausted by hunger, cold, and fatigue. For nineteen days, he traversed on snow-shoes the wintry forest, beneath a crushing load, through what are now the counties of Hastings, Peter- borough, and Victoria ; and on Christmas eve, the bafiled war- j)arty reached Cahiagua. Champlain remained four months with his Huron hosts, sharing in their councils, their feasts, and their hunts, and hearing strange tales of the vast lakes and rivers of the Far West. His arrival at Quebec, after a leie. year's absence, was greeted almost as a resurrection from the dead. Champlain now devoted himself to fostering the gro\\i:h of the infant colony. Quebec was as yet only surrounded by wooden walls. To strengthen its defences, the energetic Gov- ernor built a stone fort in the lower town, and on the magnifi- cent heights overlooking the broad St. LawTence, one of the noblest sites in the world, he began the erection of the Castle 64 HISTORY OF CANADA. of St. Louis, the residence of successive Governors of Canada down to 1834, when it was destroyed by fire. The associated company of merchants were averse to colo- nization, and were anxious only to prosecute the fur trade, and to retain the monopoly exclusively in their own hands. Cham- plain went every year to France to urge the interests of the colony. His patron, the Prince of Conde, disgraced and im- prisoned for his share in the political disturbances during the 1620. minority of Louis XIII. , sold the vice-royalty of New France to the Duke of Montmorency, for the sum of eleven thousand crowns. The same year, Champlain brought out his youthful wife, who was received by the Indians with reverential homage, as a being of superior race. Amid the rude surround- ings of her exile, during the four years she remained, the lady devoted herself with enthusiasm to the religious instruction of the Indian children, and won all hearts by her beauty, her kindness, and her piety. The impolicy of Champlain's Indian w^ars was soon manifested by the first of those Iroquois inva- sions, which so often afterwards harassed the colony. For the present, however, the terror of the French cannon and mus- ketry frustrated the threatened attack. In consequence of disputes in the Trading Company of New France, and its neglect to furnish supplies for the colony, its 1621. charter was suspended, and its privileges transferred to the Sieurs De Caen, uncle and nephew, zealous Huguenots. The elder De Caen soon arrived at Quebec, and attempted to seize the vessels of the old company, then in the river. Many resident traders left the country in disgust, so that, although eighteen emigrants had arrived, the population was reduced to forty-eight persons. Montmorency soon surrendered his vice-royalty to the Duke 1625. de Ventadour, a nobleman who, wearied* of the follies of the court, had entered a monastic order, and was full of zeal for the extension of the Roman Catholic faith in the New World. He suppressed the Protestant worship in De Caen's ships, especially the singing of psalms, which seems to have been particularly obnoxious, and sent out three Jesuit Fathers, CnAMPLAIX'S ADMINISTRATION. 65 P^res Breljeuf, and Lalemant, who were afterwards martyred by the Iroquois, and Le Masse, who had survived the disasters of Port Eoyal. The Jesuits, coldly repulsed by De Caen, were hospitably received by the Recollets, in their convent on the St. Charles, till they had built one of their own. Amid the religious and commercial rivalries by which it was distracted, the infant colony languished. The Iroquois, grown insolent from a knowledge of its weakness, became more bold in their attacks, and even cruelly tortured a French prisoner. The De Caens furnished inadequate supplies of food, clothing, and ammunition, so that at times the colony was reduced to great extremities. Everything seemed to wither under their monopoly. Cardinal Richelieu, one of the greatest statesman who ever swayed the destinies of France, was now in power. A 1627. part of his comprehensive policy for the aggrandizement of his sovereign and country was, the development of the French navy and colonies, and the suppression of the Huguenots. He straightway annulled the charter of the De Caens, and organ- ized the Company of the Hundred Associates, with the abso- lute sovereignty of the whole of New France, from Florida to Hudson's Bay, and with the complete monopoly of trade, except the whale and cod fisheries. It was required to settle four thousand Catholic colonists within fifteen years, and to maintain and permanently endoAV the Roman Catholic Church in New France ; and all Huguenots were banished from the country. But before this comprehensive, and, but for its religious intolerance, wise scheme could be carried into efiect, a new disaster assailed the colony. Before describing this, we must briefly recount the recent fortunes of Acadia. The pirat- ical expedition of Argall in 1614 had furnished the English with an excuse for the occupation of that country, where the French, represented by Biencourt, had again planted a strug- gling colony. In that year, the *' Grand Council of Plymouth," an association of English merchants, received from King James a patent, covering all the territory from the fortieth to the 66 HISTORY OF CANADA. forty-eighth degree of north latitude, that is, from the parallel of Philadelphia to that of the Bay of Chaleur, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This comprehended the greater part of Canada and Acadia. Among the members of this ' ' Grand Council" was Sir William Alexander, a Scottish gentleman of considerable political influence and of enterprising patriotism. He obtained from King James the concession of the Acadian peninsula (1621, renewed 1625), and undertook the found- ing of a New Scotland, after the analogy of the New France and New England, already planted or projected. Under his authority, a Scottish colon}" was established, and a fort built at Port Royal, near the previous settlement of the French. King Charles I. renewed the patent of Sir William Alexander, and created a minor order of nobility, called the "Knights-Baro- nets of Nova Scotia." It was composed of one hundred and fifty members, who received that title, together with liberal land grants, on conditions of settling a certain number of immi- grants on their new domains. What is now the province of New Brunswick received the name 'of Alexandria, and the present peninsula of Nova Scotia, that of Caledonia. It was intended to transfer thither the feudal institutions of the Old World, and to build up a great Scottish province on this rocky outpost of British civilization. At this time Charles I. made an ineffectual attempt to relieve 1688. the Huguenots besieged in Rochelle, and declared war against France. Sir William Alexander thought the moment op- portune to secure the conquest of the extensive country, to most of which he had as yet only a paper claim. Through his influ- ence, David Kirk, a Huguenot refugee, received a royal com- mission to seize the French forts in Acadia and on the St. Lawrence. He organized an expedition of a dozen ships, and, overcoming the small French force at Port Royal, took posses- sion of the country for Sir William Alexander. Later in the summer Kirk entered the St. Lawrence, burned Tadousac, and sent a summons to Champlain, at Quebec, to surrender that post. The commandant ostentatiously feasted the messengers — although the town was on an allowance of only CHAMPLAIN'S ADMINISTRATION. 67 seven ounces of bread per day, and the magazine contained but fifty pounds of powder — and returned a gallant defiance to Kirk. The latter, adopting the policy of delay, cruised in the Gulf, and captured the transports of the new company, laden with the winter's provision for the colony. In consequence of this disaster, the sufferings of the French were intense. The crops of their few arable acres were unusually scanty. With the early spring the famishing population burrowed in leao. the forests for edible roots. But the heroic spirit of Cham- plain sustained their courage. Still, the summer wore away, and the expected provision ships from France came not. At length, towards the end of July, hungry eyes discovered from the Castle of St. Louis three vessels rounding the headland of Point Levi. They brought not, however, the much needed succours ; they were English ships of war, commanded by two brothers of Admiral Kirk. The little garrison of sixteen famine-wasted men surrendered with the honours of war, and Louis Kirk, installed as Governor, saved from starvation the conquered inhabitants, less than one hundred in all. As peace had been concluded before the surrender of Quebec, Champlain urged the apathetic French court to demand its restoration. This demand was made, and, by the treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, signed March 27th, 1632, the whole of Canada, Cape Breton and Acadia, was restored to the French. De Caen was granted a monopoly of the fur trade for one year, to indemnify him for losses during the war ; and the red-cross banner of England, after waving for three years from the Castle of St. Louis, gave place to the lilied flag of France. Meanwhile, the Nova Scotia colonization scheme of Sir Wil- liam Alexander had proved an utter failure. The grand titles of his knight-baronets had not attracted settlers to those rugged shores. He sought, therefore, to detach the French settled within the limits of his grant from their rightful alle- giance. To this end, Claude La Tour, who had held a fort for his king at the mouth of the St. Croix, was won by the flat- teries of Sir William to become a knight-baronet of Nova Scotia, and married an English court lady. He undertook also 68 BISTORT OF CANADA. to bring over his son to the interests of the British, and received a grant of the southern part of the peninsula of Nova Scotia. Young La Tour, however, who held a fort for the French at Cape Sable, proved faithful to his country, and resisted alike the solicitations and the armed assault of his sire, who, with two English ships, attacked the post, which was gallantly defended l)y his son. Despised by his own country- men, and not venturing to return to either France or England, the renegade La Tour was compelled to accept the protection and hospitality of his son, who would not, however, allow him to enter the fort, but built him a lodging without its walls. By the treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, Nova Scotia was ceded to the French, and Isaac de Eazille was appointed its commandant. It was not till the year after the surrender of 1633. Quebec to the De Caens that Champlain returned to Canada. He was accompanied by two hundred immigrants and soldiers, and brought an abundant supply of provisions, mer- chandise, and munitions of Avar. With characteristic energ}', he established forts at Three Rivers, and at the mouth of the Eichelieu,* to protect the fur trade and check the inroads of the Iroquois, and gi-eatly promoted the prosperity of the colony and the christianizing of the native tribes. The presence of the Jesuits secured the grave decorum of the towa, which was more like a mission than a garrison, and their apostolic zeal carried the Gospel to the distant shores of Lake Huron. But the labours of Champlain's busy life, spent in the service of his native or adopted country, were drawing to a close. In October, 1635, being then in the sixty-eighth year of his age, he w^as smitten with his mortal illness. For ten weeks he lay in the Castle of St. Louis, unable even to sign his name, but awaiting with resignation the Divine will. On Christmas Day, the brave soul passed away. The body of the honoured founder of Quebec was buried beneath the lofty cliff which overlooks the scene of his patriotic toil. The character of Champlain was more like that of the knight-errant of mediaeval * This ancient highway, by -which the bark fleets of these enemies of Ne-w France invaded the colony, was long known as the Eiver of the IrocLUois. CHAMPLAIX'S ADMINISTRATION. (59 romance than that of a soldier of the practical seventeenth cen- tury in which he lived. He had greater virtues and fewer faults than most men of his age. In a time of universal license his life was pure. With singular magnanimity, he devoted himself to the interests of his patrons. Although traffic with the natives was very lucrative, he carefully refrained from engaging in it. His sense of justice was stern, yet his conduct was tempered with mercy. He won the unfaltering confidence of the Indian tribes ; suspicious of others, in him they had boundless trust. His zeal for the spread of Christianity was intense. The salvation of one soul, he was wont to declare, was of more importance than the founding of an empire. His epitaph is written in the record of his busy life. For well- nigh thirty years, he laboured without stint and against almost insuperable difficulties, for the struggling colony. A score of times he crossed the Atlantic in the tardy, incommodious, and often scurvy-smitten vessels of the period, in order to advance its interests. His name is embalmed in the history of his adopted country, and still lives in the memory of a grateful people, and in the designation of the beautiful lake on which he, first of white men, sailed. His widow, originally a Hugue- not, espoused her husband's faith, and died a nun at Meaux in 1654. His account of his voyage to Mexico, and his history of New France, bear witness to his literary skill and powers of observation ; and his summary of Christian doctrine, written for the native tribes, is a touching monument of his piety. HISTORY OF CANADA. CHAPTEK VT. ENGLISH COLONIZATION — CANADA UNDER THE HUNDRED ASSO- CIATES. Jamestown Founded, 1607 — Indian Massacre — Maryland and New England Colonies — Moutmagny, Governor of Canada, 1637 — Madame de la Peltrie — Marie de I'Incarnatiou — Founding of Ville Marie (Montreal), 1642 — In- dian Wars and Treaties — The Jesuit Missionaries — Isaac Jogues — Bres- sani. IN order to understand the prolonged conflict between France and Great Britain, for the possession of the North Ameri- can continent, it will be necessary to trace briefly the progress of English colonization. It was not till the year 1607, one hundred and ten years after the discovery of America by Cabot, that a permanent English settlement was made in the New World. It consisted of one hundred and five emigrants, of whom forty-eight Avere " gentlemen," and only twelve labourers and four carpenters, sent out by a company of London mer- chants, incorporated under royal charter. They entered the magnifi- cent Chesapeake Bay, and began their settlement at Jamestown, on the James Eiver. Indolence, strife, and jealousy plunged the colony into anarchy and despair. Before autumn half of its number had died, and the rest were enfeebled with hunger and disease. They were only saved from destruction by the energy and ability of Captain John Smith, the romantic story of whose rescue from death by Pocahontas is one of the most pleasing legends of CAETaur JOHS SMITH. early colonization. AVith the com- E.VGLISn COLONIZATION. 71 mantling influence of a great spirit, Smith asserted his authority over even his Indian captors. By exhibiting his watch and compass, and explaining some of the wonders of as- v , ^'^ tronomy, he overawed the * ^ — • •• minds of the savages, and not only escaped tortm*e but acquired great influence among them. Successive re-enforcements of the Virginia colony, con- sisting chiefly of broken- down gentlemen, bankrupt tradesmen, and idle and dissolute fugitives from jus- tice, increased the number in three years to four hun- dred and ninety persons, when John Smith, injured by an explosion of gunpowder, was compelled to return to England. In six months vice and famine had reduced the colony to sixty persons, who prepared to abandon the country. Lord Delaware opportunely arrived with supplies ; but in twelve 3'-ears, after the expenditure of $400,000, it numbered only six hundred persons. At length, re-enforced by a supe- rior class of immigrants, its population rapidly increased. In the spring of the year 1622, occurred the first of those Indian massacres, which so often crimsoned the hearths of the English settlements, and inaugurated a bitter war of extermi- nation against the red race. It was planned with the iitmost secrecy and treachery. *' Sooner," said the Indians, " shall the sky fall, than peace be violated on our part." At noon, on the 22d of March, throughout an extent of one hundred and forty miles, they fell upon the unsuspecting white population, and in an hour three hundred and forty-seven persons sank beneath the tomahawk, or scalping-knife. The colony at first was par- alyzed with fear, but soon a fierce retaliation ensued. In 1644, • SMITH AND HIS CAPTORS. 72 HISTORY OF CANADA. similar scenes were renewed. They became of gad frequency during the early colonial days, and gave the name of the Dark and Bloody Ground to the scenes of these sanguinary conflicts. Still the colony throve amain, and at Christmas, 1648, thirty- one ships were in Chesapeake Bay, twenty thousand inhabi- tants were dwelling on its shores, and so greatly had their families increased, that "the huts in the wilderness were as full as the birds' nests of the woods." In 1632, Lord Baltimore, a Iloman Catholic nobleman, re- ceived a grant of the territory which, in honour of Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I. , he called Maryland. This he held by feudal tenure, paying only a yearly rent of two Indian arrows, and a fifth of all the gold and silver found. Catholics and Protestants alike enjoj^ed religious toleration, and by 1660 its population had increased to ten thousand souls. Plymouth colony was the offspring of religious impulse. A company of English Puritans had sought, in the republic of Holland, that liberty of worship which they were denied in their own land. " Moved by a hope and inward zeal of ad- vancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ, in the remote parts of the New World," as they devoutly declared, they fitted out two small vessels, the " Speedwell" and the " May- flower," of immortal memory, for the purpose of planting a colony in New England. After disaster and delays, the " Mayflower" alone proceeded on her voyage, on the 6th of September, 1620, bearing into self-sought exile for conscience' sake, one hundred and one persons. They landed first on the barren sand-dunes of Cape Cod, and afterward, on Christmas Day, on Plymouth Eock. The winter was long and severe. Before spring, half of their number had died, and the survivors were scarcely able to bury the dead. Yet, when the vessel that brought them returned to England, " O strong hearts and true ! not one went back with the Mayflower. ^^ At the beginning of the following winter, came a new arrival of immigrants, but no supplies of food. For four months they lived on clams, mussels, ground-nuts, and acoms. The third EXGLlSn COLONIZATION. 73 year ^vas also a time of pinching want, but prosperity at length gradually dawned upon the town of Plymouth. Amid such suf- ferings and privations are the foundations of empire laid. In the year 1G28, a Puritan colony, from the shires of Dor- set and Lincoln, England, numbering about a hundred per- sons, animated by intense religious zeal, formed a settlement at Salem, in INIassachusetts Bay. The following year, tAvo hun- dred more arrived. But the infant colony was cradled in suf- fering. This year eighty persons died from disease and un- wonted exposure. The next year fifteen hundred arrived, leso. but before December two hundred had died, and another hun- dred, disheartened by disaster, returned to England. The following year only ninety persons arrived. But, amid sickness and suffering, no trace of repining appears in the lesi. records of the colony. The early settlements were chiefly at Salem, Charlestown, and Boston. Notwithstanding temporary reverses, the population continued to increase, as many as three thousand immigrants arriving in a single year. leas. Among the citizens of the new religious commonwealth, were such distinguished divines as Cotton and Hooker ; and Eliot and Mayhew, the apostles to the Indians, who, laying aside the pride of learning, instructed the savage neophytes of the forest in the doctrines of the Gospel ; and such laymen as Governor Winthrop, the sturdy Endicott, the younger Vane, friend of Milton and martyr of liberty, and others of honoured memory. One of these, Eoger Williams, became the founder of the province of Rhode Island. Of enlarged and liberal mind, he entertained views on religious toleration, far in advance of his time. Exiled for these opinions from ISlassachusetts colony, he wandered, in the bitter winter of 1635-36, for fourteen weeks through the pathless forests ; and in the following June, Avith five companions, planted, " as a shelter for persons distressed in conscience," the settlement, to which, in expression of his confidence in God, he gave the name of Providence. This same year, a ISlassachusetts colony of one hundred per- sons, settled in the beautiful Connecticut valley, under the 10 74 HISTORY OF CANADA. guidance of the pious divine, Thomas Hooker, and two years 1C3 after, another, led by John Davenport, its pastor, in New Haven. The previous year (1637) the first New England In- dian war broke out. The outrages of the Pequods compelled the Connecticut settlers to resort to arms. About sixty men, one-third of the whole colony, attacked a fort garrisoned by ten times their number, which they consumed, with its inmates, and utterly exterminated the Pequod nation, a community of over two thousand souls — an act of extreme and unjustifiable severity. Political unity was given to these scattered colonies by a 1643. confederacy, formed by mutual agreement,' for defence against the Indians, the French, and the Dutch. The growth of the colonial trade was rapid, and began to awaken the jeal- ousy of the English merchants ; and by the Navigation Act of 1G51, extended in 1672, the colonies were excluded from coast- wise and transatlantic commerce, which could only be prosecuted in English vessels. The increase in population also excited the hostility of the native tribes, who were already outnumbered on their own soil,* and were destined to be pushed ever backward before the advancing tide of white immigration and expansion, f "We return, to follow more minutely the varying fortunes of 1636. New France. M. De Montmagny,| the successor of Champlain, arrived in Canada in 1636. He was a member of the military-religious order of the Knights of Malta. He en- tered, with hearty sympathy, into the pious enthusiasm of the Jesuits. As with his train of officers and gentlemen he climbed the cliff of Quebec, he prostrated himself before a * In 1675, the white population of New England was estimated at 55,000, and the Indian population at 30,000. t As early as 1G15, the Dutch had a trading post at Alhany. In 1623, they founded New Amsterdam, now New York. In 1633, the Swedes colonized Dela- ware, but were compelled to cede their territory to the Dutch in 1655. The Dutch, in turn, were obliged, in 1664, to yield their possessions to the English, now supreme from Acadia to Florida, which last, in 1764, the Si^auiards ceded in exchange for Havana and Louisiana. \ From this Governor is derived the name Onontio, applied by the Indians, to all his successors. It is the translation into their language of his name, and signifies " Great Mountain." THE HUNDRED ASSOCIATES. 75 cnicifix by the pathway, followed by all his attendants. He stood as godfather at the baptism of a savage jDroselyte. He held a burning taper at the funeral of another. Side by side with an Indian neophyte, he bore tho canopy of the host. The very atmosphere of Quebec was one of religious observ- ance. Morning, noon, and night the sweet clangour of the bells rang out the call to prayer. Soldiers, artisans, and labourers daily thronged the church for mass and vespers. Ab- sence from service, or the sin of blasphemy, was punished by exposure in a pillory at the church door. Yet, amid this spiritual prosperity, the temporal affairs of the colony were much depressed. The Company of the Hun- dred Associates, from which so much had been expected, did little but send a few vessels annually to traffic with the natives. Instead of transporting four thousand colonists in fifteen years, in the thirty-five years of its existence it did not send out one thousand. At Champlain's death, there were only two hundred and fifty Europeans in the colony. In five years more, scarce a hundred were added. In 1648, the European population was only eight hundred, and in 1662, when the company's charter was annulled, it was legs than two thousand, most of whom had come out without its aid. So slowly, as compared with that of Virginia and New England, did the population of New France increase. Nevertheless, an intense interest in the colony was kindled in the mother country. For forty years, from 1632 to 1672, the Jesuit Fathers sent home to the Superior of the Order, annual " Relations " of the progress of the Indian missions, which cir- culated widely throughout France.* Several families of rank and fortune were induced to immigrate with their servants and dependants, and received grants of land on seigneurial tenure, to be hereafter described Many persons devoted to religion, also, both priests and nuns, eager to engage in missionary toil among the savages, came to Canada. * These were collected and published in three large 8vo volumes by the Ca- nadian Government in 1858. They are a perfect mine of information on early Canadian history. 76 HISTORY OF CANADA. In the Church of Montmartre perpetual prayer was offered for the mission, by a succession of nuns lying prostrate, day and night, before the altar. In many a convent cell, gentle hearts glowed with inextinguishable longings, to teach the dusky children of the Avilderness the story of the love of ]\Iary and of Christ. One of the most remarkable of these fair devotees was Madame de la Peltrie, a lady of wealth and noble birth, who, left a childless widow at the age of twenty-two, burned with an ardent passion to found a seminary for Indian girls in Canada. With her came Marie Guyart, better known by her conventual name of Marie de I'lncarnation, who had also been left a widow at the age of twenty. With several companions, they arrived at Quebec in 1639. As they landed from their floating prison, they kissed the soil that was to be the scene of their pious labours, and were received with enthusiasm by the inhabitants, and with firing of cannon, and the best military parade of the little garrison. The intense religious enthusiasm of the nuns soon found employment in nursing the victims of the loathsome sraall-pox, which had broken out with extreme virulence in the foul cabins of the natives. In three years, the massive stone convent, on the site still occupied by the Ursuline nuns, was reared, and beneath the shade of the tall ash-tree yet standing, Mary of the Incarnation instructed the Indian children in the truths of salvation. For thirty-two years, she and Madame de la Peltrie lived and laboured among these savage tribes, and then, almost at the same time, ceased from their pious toil. The Hotel Dieu, a hospital for the sick, was also endowed by the celebrated Duchesse d'Aiguillon, niece of Cardinal Eiche- lieu. The Marquis de Silleri, a Knight of ISIalta, who had renounced the world and devoted his immense wealth to the service of the Church, had founded, in the little cove four miles above Quebec which still bears his name, a mission, which was early baptized in blood. Le Jcune collected some Indian children, taught thorn the Lord's Prayer and Creed in Latin, and declared that he would not exchange his position THE HUNDRED ASSOCIATES. 77 for a chair in the first university of Europe. Thus, almost before there were inhabitants in Quebec, were provided the charities and institutions of Christian civilization. A notable event now took place, of strange and romantic interest. The annual " Relations" of the Jesuits created, as we have seen, in religious circles in France an intense enthu- siasm to share the honours and celestial rewards of toil for the salvation of the savages. It is asserted that M. de la Dauver- sicre, a receiver of taxes, and Father Olier, a young priest, simultaneously conceived the idea, or rather, as they i64o. believed, the Divine suggestion of establishing on the island of Montreal, although it was yet without inhabitants, a seminary, a hospital, and a college. The zeal of pious ladies and wealthy devotees was kindled ; the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars was raised, and the Association of Notre Dame de Montreal was formed, consisting of forty-five persons. A grant of the island was obtained, and Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maison- neuve, a devout and valiant soldier, received the appointment of Governor. In the venerable cathedral of Notre Dame, by a solemn ceremonial, the mission was consecrated to the Holy Family, under the title of VzUe Marie de Montreal. Commer- cial speculation had no part in the undertaking, for the asso- ciates had pledged themselves to refrain from the lucrative fur trade. The inevitable attacks by the savages had no terrors, although the site of the mission was a most perilous outpost — " a hand thrust into a wolf s den." The new settlement was the offspring solely of religious enthusiasm. Jealous probably of a prospective rival, or ai3prehensive of the dangers which must be incurred, Montmagny endeavoured to induce Maisonneuve to remain at the Island of Orleans, but the latter resolved to brave the perils of the frontier post. " I have come not to deliberate, but to act," he exclaimed, " and I will go to Montreal, though every tree were an Iroquois." In the spring of 1642, the little flotilla bearing the founders of the new mission glided up the river — Montmagny, as repre- senting the Hundred Associates, Maisonneuve, the Jesuit Vi- mont, Madame de la Peltrie, Mademoiselle Jeanne Mance, and 78 HISTORT OF CAXADA. about forty soldiers, artisans and labourers. As they landed (May 17th), they fell upon their knees and sang a hymn of thanksgiving. An altar was soon erected and decked Avith flowers, and, in that magnificent amphitheatre of nature. Father Vimont celebrated mass and invoked the blessing of Heaven on the new colonists. ' ' You are a grain of mustard-seed," he said, " that shall rise and grow till its branches overshadow the earth. God's smile is upon you, and your children shall fill the land." Thus piously were laid the foundations of Ville Marie de IMon- treal, the future commercial metropolis of Canada. With the early dawn, the little colony was alert. There was hard work to be done before the settlement could be regarded as at all safe. Seizing an axe, and wielding it as dextrously as he had often wielded his good sword in battle, Maisonneuve felled the first tree. The outline of a little fort was traced, the Governor himself working with spade and mattock in digging the trench. The scene revived in the classic mind of Vimont the traditions of the founding of the storied City of the Seven Hills. But here, his prescient vision beheld the founding of a new Rome, a mother city of the faith, which should nourish and bring up children in the wilderness, extending her power over savage races and her protection to far-oflf missions. In a short time a strong palisade was erected, enclosing a spot of ground situated in a meadow between the river and the present Place d'Armes, near the site of the stately church of Notre Dame. The little fort was daily strengthened, a few cannon were mounted, and loop-holes were made for musketry. 1C43. The following year the mission was re-enforced, and con- tinued gradually to increase, notwithstanding the frequent attacks of the ferocious Iroquois, by which several of the settlers were slain. The terror of the savages at the firearms of the French was largely overcome by their familiarity with those weapons. Indeed, many of them had obtained carbines from the Dutch traders at Fort Orange (Albany), and had learned to use them with fatal efiect. Growing more audacious with success, they formed a concerted plan for the extermina- THE HUNDRED ASSOCIATES. 79 tion of the French. Seven hundred savage warriors attacked the fort, planted by INIontmagny, at the mouth of the Richelieu. They swarmed up to the palisades, thrust their guns through the loop-holes, fought with desperate courage, and were with great difficulty repulsed. Beneath the very guns of Quebec, Three Eivers, and IMontreal, they lay in wait for their human prey. No man could hunt, or fish, or fell a tree, or cultivate the meagre lauds around the settlements, without the risk of his life. A sudden volley, a fiendish yell, a swift rush, and the naked savages vanished into the wood with their booty of bleeding scalp, leaving their mangled victim dead or dying on the ground. The audacious Iroquois threatened to exterminate the Huron and Algonquin allies of the French. These wretched beings were wasted by famine and pestilence, and were thoroughly cowed b}' fear. Their hunting-grounds were invaded by their ruthless foe, and they were reduced at times to subsist on the bark of trees and the raw-hide thongs of their snow-shoes. Let one example of the atrocities of savage warfare suffice. A band of Algonquins retreated in midwinter to the forest recesses far up the Ottawa to hunt moose. They were tracked by the stealthy and persistent Iroquois, who burst at midnight upon the encampment. Many of the sleepers were slain on the spot. The survivors were dragged twenty days' journey to the Mohawk towns. On these their captors wreaked their utmost rage. They hacked their bodies with knives and shells, scorched them with burning brands, and after exhausting every mode of inflicting suflering, in their unhallowed frenzy they devoured the quivering flesh. " They are not men but wolves," said a wretched squaw, who, escaping their tortures, found her way to Quebec. A temporary peace was at length concluded with the Iro- quois. The kindly treatment by the French of some Mohawk prisoners, whom they had ransomed from their Algonquin allies — an act as politic as it was Christian — touched with grati- tude even the savage nature of those warriors, who had expected nothing but torture and death. One of these was 80 HISTORY OF CANADA. sent home to his tribe, with the promise that the others would be liberated if the Iroquois would make a treaty of peace. 1645. Mohawk envoys accordingly appeared the following summer at Three Eivers, and after much feasting, speech-mak- ing, and many songs, dances, and gifts of wampum, the war- hatchet was buried and the peace-pipe was smoked. *' Let the clouds be dispersed ; let the sun shine on all the land between us," said the Iroquois. " We have thrown the hatchet so high in the air, that no arm on earth can reach to bring it down. The spirits of our braves that have been slain in war have gone so deep into the earth that they can never be heard calling for vengeance." *' I place a stone on the graves," replied an Algonquin chief, '* that no one may move their bones." The following year this treaty was solemnly ratified, with 1646. many more speeches and wampum-belts. But before long the peace concluded with such imposing ceremony was wantonly broken by the caprice of the Iroquois. Soon the hunters of men were again on the war-path, pursuing their human prey. 1617. The tragic scenes of massacre and burning and cannibal feasting were repeated, with all their sickening atrocities. The fort at the mouth of the Kichelieu was pillaged and destroyed, and the settlements on the St. Lawrence were threatened with extermination. Upon the Jesuit missionaries and their Indian converts fell the cruel brunt of this savage war. That subtle and sinister system, which, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had belted the world with its missions, and won renown and execra- tion in almost every land, gained some of its grandest triumphs and exhibited its most heroic spirit in the wilderness of Canada. The Jesuits had numbered as converts hundreds of thousands of baptized pagans in India and the Moluccas, in China and Japan, in Brazil and Paraguay. They almost entirely controlled the religious education of youth in Europe ; and kept the con- sciences of kings, nobles, and great ladies, who sought at their feet spiritual guidance and counsel. They had won well-merited fame for attainments in ancient learning, for modem sci- ence, for pulpit eloquence, and for subtle statecraft. Under THE nUXDRED ASSOCIATES. 81 the disguise of a Brahmin, a mandarin, an astrologer, a peas- ant, a scholar, they had compassed the world to make prose- Mes to Eome. Deciphering ancient manuscripts or inscriptions, sweeping the heavens with the telescope, or digging the earth with a mattock, editing the classics or ancient Fathers, or teaching naked savages the Ave or Credo, they were alike the obedient and zealous servants of their Order, to whose ad- vancement their whole being was devoted. They were at once among the greatest friends of human learning and the most deadly enemies of civil liberty. But nowhere did the Jesuit missionaries exhibit grander moral heroism, or sublimer self-sacrifice ; nowhere did they encounter greater sufferings, with more pious fortitude, or meet with a more tragical fate, than in the wilderness-missions of New France. They were the pioneers of civilization, the pathfinders of empire on this continent. With breviary and crucifix, at the command of the Superior of the Order at Quebec, they wandered all over the vast country stretcliing from the rocky shores of Nova Scotia to the distant prairies of the Far West, from the regions around Hudson's Bay to the mouth of the Mississippi River. Paddling all day in their bark canoes ; sleeping at night on the naked rock ; toiling over rug- ged portages, or through pathless forests ; pinched by hunger, gnawed to the bone by cold, often dependent for subsistence on acorns, the bark of trees, or the bitter moss to which they have given their name ; * lodging in Indian wigwams, whose acrid smoke blinded their eyes, and whose obscene riot was unutter- ably loathsome to every sense ; braving peril and persecution, and death itself, they persevered in their path of self-sacrifice, for the glory of God,f the salvation of souls, the advancement of their Order, and the extension of New France. "Not a cape was turned, not a river was entered," writes Bancroft, " but a Jesuit led the way." * "Jesuits' moss," — fripe de rodie — a coarse, edible lichen ^vhich abounds in tlie nortliern wastes, t Ad majorem gloriam Dei, is the motto of the Order of Jesus. 11 82 HISTORY OF CAXADA. As early as 1626, Jean de Brebeuf established a mission among the Hurons on the shores of the Georgian Bay. In 1641, Peres Jogues and RajTnbault told the story of the Cross to a wondering assembly of two thousand red men beside the rushing rapids of St. Marie, at the outlet of Lake Superior, five years before Eliot had preached the Gospel to the Indians within gunshot of Boston town. The story of Jogues' subsequent adventures is one of tragic 1642. interest. The following summer, returning from Quebec with supplies for the Huron Mission, his party were surprised by^the Iroquois on Lake St. Peter, and carried prisoners to the Mohawk towns. Every indignity and torture that the human frame can endure, were wreaked upon the wretched priest, — a man of gentle birth, delicate culture, and scholarly training, — and his companions. With mangled hands, and bruised and bleeding body, he was dragged, in savage triumph, from to^-n to town, the sport of wanton boys and cruel squaws. His companions, having been murdered or burned at the stake, Jogues wandered through the wintry woods ; carved the cross and the name of Jesus on the trees, and lifted his voice in a litany of sorrow. But his soul was' sustained by visions of his Divine Master, and by the holy joy of being enabled to ])ap- tize by stealth, no less than seventy Mohawk children, and thus, as he fondly believed, to snatch their souls from eternal per- dition. After a series of hair-breadth escapes, he was rescued by the Dutch at Fort Orange, and was restored to France. Feted and caressed by the Queen of Louis XIIL, and by the ladies of the court, he longed to engage once more in his self-sacrificing missionary toils, and, with the early sf>ring, took ship again for Canada. Undaunted by the agonies he had endured, he returned to the scene of his sufierings, to establish among the Mohawks the Mission of the ]Martyrs, as it was prophetically named. *'/6o et 7ion redibo, — I shall go, but I shall not return," he said, with a just presentiment of his fate, as he parted from his friends. He was soon barbarously murdered, and thus received the martyr's starry and unwithering crown (1644). THE HUNDRED ASSOCIATES. 83 Similar was the fate of Bressani, an Italian Jesuit. Taken prisoner like Jogues, while on his way to the Huron Mission, scarred, scourged, beaten, mangled, burned, and tortured, with hungry dogs fed off his naked body, he still continued to live. " I could not have believed," he wrote, " that a man was so hard to kill." "I do not know," he says, in his letter to the General of the Order at Rome, "if your Paternity will recognize the writing of one whom you once knew very well. The letter is soiled and ill-written, because the writer has only one finger of his right hand left entire, and cannot prevent the blood from his wounds, which are still open, from staining the paper. His ink is gunpowder niixed with water, and his table is the ground." He, too, was rescued by the Dutch at Fort Orange, returned to France, but eagerly hastened, as if in love with death, back to the scene of his sufierings and his toils.* * Of tlie Jesuit missionaries in Canada not a few earned the honoured title of martyrs and confessors of the faith. Among these were Peres Daniel, Brebeuf, Lalemant, Garnier, Garreau, Jogues, Buteux and Chahanet ; and Gou- pil, Brul^ and Lalande, lay lahourers ; who died by violence in the service of the mission. De Noue was frozen to death in the snow ; and Bressani, Chatelaine, Chaumouot, Couture, and others, endured tortures far worse than death. 84 HISTORY OF CANADA. CHAPTER Vn. THE WILDERNESS MISSIONS. The Huron Mission — Br^beuf, Lalemant, Daniel, Davost — Trials and Triumphs of the Missionaries — The Mission of Ste. Marie — Iroquois Massacre and Christian Martyrdom — A Winter of Horrors — Destruction of the Huron Mis- sion, 1648-1649 — Iroquois Ravages — The Onondaga Mission planted, 1656 — A menaced Massacre — Mission abandoned, 1658 — A masterly Ruse — Dulac des Ormeaux — A brave Defence — The Thermopylaj of Canada — D'Ailleboust, Do Lauson, D'Argensou, D'Avaugour, successive Governors — The Abb^ Laval, first Vicar Apostolic — The Liquor Traffic — Charter of the Hundred Associates annulled, 1663 — Earthquakes. THE region between Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe, which is now a rich agricultural district, was, two centuries and a half ago, the home of the numerous and powerful Huron nation of Indians. Much of this region is still covered with what seems to be a virgin forest, yet the plough and the axe of the pioneer often bring to light the relics of a former population, concern- ing whom local tradition is silent, and of whom the lingering red men of the present know nothing Yet in the pages of history live the records of this lost race, written with a fidelity and vigour that rehabilitate the past, and bring us face to face with this extinct nation. The forty annual volumes of Bela- tions des Jesuiles contain a minute and graphic account by men of scholastic training, keen insight, and cultivated powers of observation, of the daily life, the wars and conflicts, the social, and especially the religious condition, of this strange people. As we read these quaint old pages, we are present at the fire- sides and the festivals of the Huron nation ; we witness their superstitious rites and usages, their war and medicine dances, and their funeral customs ; and, at length, as the result of the pious zeal of the Jesuit missionaries, their general adoption of Christianity and their celebration of Christian worship. In the region between the Georgian Bay, Lake Simcoe, and TEE WILDERNESS MISSIONS. 85 the river Severn, in the year 1639, were no less than thirty- two Huron villages, with an estimated population of about thirty thousand. These villages were not mere squalid collec- tions of wigwams, but consisted of well-built dwellings, about thirty or thirty-five feet high, as many wide, and sometimes thirty and even a hundred yards long. They were generally well fortified by a ditch, rampart, and three or four rows of palisades, and sometimes had flanking bastions which covered the front with a cross-fire. The inhabitants were not mere hunting nomads, but an agricultural people, who laid up ample stores of jDro visions, chiefly Indian corn, for their maintenance during the winter. As early as 1626, Jean de Brebeuf, the apostle of the Hurons, had visited, and for three years remained among these savage tribes. On Kirk's conquest of Quebec he was recalled, but in 1634, accompanied by Peres Daniel and Davost, he returned under a savage escort to the temporarily abandoned mission. By a tortuous route of nine hundred miles up the Ottawa, and through Lake Nipissing, French River, and the Georgian Bay, they reached the Bay of Penetanguishene. Over five-and-thirty portages, sometimes several miles long, often steep and rugged, through tangled forests and over sharp rocks that lacerated their naked feet, the missionary pioneers helped to bear their bark canoes and their contents. Fifty times they had to plunge into rapids, and, wading or stumbling over bowlders in the rocky channel, to drag the laden boats against an arrowy stream. With drenched and tattered gar- ments, with weary and fasting frames, with bruised and man- gled feet, stung by mosquitoes and venomous insects, they had to sleep on the damp earth o^r naked rock. " But amid it all," writes Brebeuf, " my soul enjoyed a sublime contentment, knowing that all I suflered was for God."* Separated from his companions and abandoned by his perfidious escort, Brebeuf ofibred himself and all his labours to God for the salvation of * "Mon dme ressentoit de tr^s-grands contentmens, consid^rant que ie suflfrois pour Dieu."— Brebeuf, Relation des Hiirons, 1G35, i). 26. 86 HISTORY OF CAY AD A. these poor savages,* and pressed through the woods to the scene of his former toil. He found that Brule, a fellow-countryman, had been cruelly murdered in his absence, and, with prophetic instinct, anticipated the same fate for himself, but desired only that it might be in advancing the glory of God. Davost and Daniel soon after arrived, a mission house and chapel were built, and the latter decorated with a few pictures, images, and sacred vessels, brought with much trouble over the long and difficult route from Quebec. Here the Christian altar was reared, surpliced priests chanted the ancient litanies of the Church, whose unwonted sounds awoke strange echoes in the forest aisles, and savage tribes were besought by the death of Christ and love of Mary to seek the salvation of the Cross. But, by weary years of hope deferred, the missionaries' faith was sorely tried. They toiled and preached and prayed and fasted, without any apparent reward of their labour; the ram- parts of error seemed impregnable.. The hosts of hell seemed leagued against them. The Indian " sorcerers," as the Jesuits called the medicine men, whom they believed to be the imps of Satan, if not, indeed, his human impersonation, stirred up the passions of their tribes against the mystic medicine men of the pale-faces. These were the cause, they alleged, of the fearful drought that parched the land, of the dread pestilence that consumed the people ; the malign spell of their presence neu- tralized the skill of the hunter and the valour of the bravest warrior. The chanting of their sacred litanies was mistaken for a magic incantation, and the mysterious ceremonies of the mass for a malignant conjury. The cross was a charm of evil potency, blasting the crops and afirighting the thunder-bird that brought the refreshing rain. The missionaries walked in the shadow of a perpetual peril. Often, the tomahawk gleamed above their heads or a deadly ambush lurked for their lives. But beneath the protection of St. Mary and St. Joseph, as they devoutly believed, they * " M'offris a nostre Seigneur, avec tous nos petits travaux, pour le salut de ces pauvres peuples." — Br6beuf, Relation des Hurons, 1635, p. 23. THE WILDERNESS MISSIONS. 37 walked unhurt. The murderous hand was restrained, the death-winged arrow was turned aside ; undismayed by their danger, undeterred by lowering looks and muttered curses, tlic}^ calmly went on their w\ay of mercy. In winter storms and summer heat, from plague-smitten town to town, they jour- neyed through the dreary forest, to administer their homely , simples to the victims of the loathsome small-pox, to exhoi-t the dying, to absolve the penitent, and, where possible, to hallow with Christian rites the burial of the dead. The wail of a sick child, faintly heard through the bark walls of an in- fected cabin, was an irresistible appeal to the missionaries' heart. Heedless of the scowling glance or rude insult, they would enter the dwelling, and, by stealth or guile, they would administer the sacred rite which snatched an infant soul from endless perdition, — from the jaAvs of the ''Infernal Wolf."* They shared the privations and discomforts of savage life. They endured the torments of filth and vermin, of stifling, acrid smoke, parching the throat and inflaming the eyes till the letters of the breviaiy seemed written in blood. Often they had no privacy for devotion save in the dim crypts of the forest, where, carving a cross upon a tree, they chanted their solemn litanies till, gnawed to the bone by the piercing cold, they returned to the reeldng hut and the foul orgies of pagan superstition. Yet the hearts of the missionaries quailed not ; they were sustained by a lofty enthusiasm that courted danger as a con- dition of success. The gentle Lalemant prayed that if the blood of the martyrs were the necessary seed of the Church, its efiusion should not be wanting. Nor did the mission lack in time that dread baptism. The pious Fathers believed that jDowers supernal and infernal fought for them or against them in their assault upon the kingdom of Satan. On the side of Christ, His Virgin Mother, and the blessed Gospel were legions * " Ce loup infernal." Tliiis, as they phrased it, the dying infants were changed "from little savages to little angels." Of a thousand baptisms in 1G39, all hilt twenty -were baptized in immediate danger of death. Two hundred and sixty were infants, and many more quite young. 88 HISTORY OF CANADA. of angels and the swordcd seraphim. Opposed to them were all the powers of darkness, aided by those imps of the pit, the dteaded " sorcerers," whom Satan clothed with vicarious skill to baffle the efforts of the missionaries and the prayers of the holy saints. Foul fiends haunted the air, and their demoniac shrieks or blood-curdling laughter could be heard in the wailing night-wind, or in the howling of the wolves down the dim forest-aisles. More dreadful still, assuming lovely siren forms, they assailed the missionary on the side of his human weak- ness ; but at the holy sign of the cross the baneful spell was broken — the tempting presence melted into air. * Yet, with these intensely realistic conceptions of their ghostly foes, the Jesuits shrank not from the conflict with Hell itself. Emparadised in beatific vision, they beheld the glorious palace of the skies prepared, a heavenly voice assured them, for those who dwelt in savage hovels for the cause of God on earth. Angelic visitants, in visions of the night, cheered their lonely vigils, and enbraved their souls for living martjrrdom.f Such enthusiasm as that of these impassioned devotees was not without its unfailing reward. Inveterate prejudice was overcome, bitter hostility was changed to tender affection, and the worn and fiided black cassock, the cross and rosary hanging from the girdle, and the wide-brimmed hat of the Jesuit mis- sionary became the objects of loving regard instead of the symbols of a dreaded spiritual power. The Indians abandoned their cruel and cannibal practices. Many of them received Christian baptism. In the rude forest sanctuary Avas broken to savage neophytes the sacred bread which the crowned monarchs of Europe received from the hands of mitred priests beneath cathedral domes. The little children were taught to repeat the Ave, the Credo, and the Pater Ifoster. Rude natures were touched to human * Eagueneau, Eelatlon dcs Harons, 1649, p. 24. One chapter of the Eclations is headed Bii regne de Satan en ces contrees, which the simple Fathers designated the very fortress and donjon-lceep of demons — une des principales forteresses, et comme tin donjon des Demons. t ReUilon, 1G49, p. 24. THE WILDERNESS MISSIONS. 89 tenderness and pity by the pathetic story of a Saviour's love ; and lawless passions were restrained by the dread menace of eternal flames. Savage maimers and miholy pagan rites gave way to Christian decorum and pious devotion, and the implac- able red men learned to pray for their enemies.* The scattered missionaries were reinforced by pious recruits drawn across the sea by an impassioned zeal that knew no abatement, even unto death. At almost every Indian town Avas a mission established and consecrated by some holy name. Thus in the northern half of what is now the county of Simcoe, were the missions of St. Michel, St. Joseph, St. Jean, St. Jean Baptiste, St. Louis, St. Denys, St. Antoine, St. Charles, St. Ignace,f St. Francois Xavier, Ste. Marie, Ste. Anne, Ste. Agnes, Ste. Catherine, Ste. Cecile, St. Genevieve, Ste. Made- leine, Ste. Therese, and several others. The most important of these was that of Ste. Marie, established in 1640, on a small stream, now known as the river IVye, which flows into Glouces- ter Bay, itself an inlet of the Georgian Bay, not far from the present town of Penetanguishene. The outlines of the fortifi- cation, for it was both fort and mission, may still be traced amid the forest, which has long since overgrown the spot. A wall of combined masonry and palisades, flanked by bastions at the angles, enclosed a space of some thirty by sixty yards, con- taining a church, a mission residence, a kitchen, and a refectory. "Without the walls were a large house for Indian visitors, a hospital for the sick, and a cemetery for the dead. Sometimes as many as sixty white men were assembled at the mission, * That, in some instances at least, tlie conversion of the Indians "was not a merely nominal one, bnt a radical change of disposition, is evidenced by the follo-sviug prayer of a Huron tribe for their hereditary foes, the cruel Iroquois: "Pardon, O Lord, those who jiursue us with fury, who destroy us with such rage. Open their blind eyes ; malce them to know Thee and to love Thee, and then, being Thy friends, they will also be ours, and we shall together be Thy children." Vincent, Belatlon, 1645, p. 16. A more signal triumph of grace over the implacable hate of the Indian nature it is difficult to conceive. " Let us strive," exclaimed another convert, " to make the whole world embrace the faith in Jesi:s." t The frequency of this designation, throughout the whole of Xew France, attests the veneration in which the founder of the Society of Jesus was held. 12 90 HISTORY OF CANADA. among whom were eight or ten soldiers, as many hired labom*- ers, about a score of men serving without pay, and as many j)riests ; most of the latter, however, were generally engaged in the various out-missions. The demands upon the hospitality of Ste. Marie were very great. As many as six thousand Christian Indians were lodged and fed in a single year. But the Fathers bestowed such care on agriculture, sometimes them- selves working with spade and mattock, that in 1648 they had provisions laid up sufficient for three years. They had also a considerable quantity of live-stock, including fowls, swine, and even horned cattle, brought with infinite trouble through the wilderness. But this prosperit}' was destined to be rudely interrupted, and to have a tragic close. The terrible Iroquois waged periDctual war against their hereditary foes, the Hurons. Urged by implacable hate, large war parties would travel on snow-shoes through a pathless forest for hundreds of miles, to burn and destroy the Huron villages, and indiscriminately massacre their inhabitants, not merely the warriors, but the old men, the women, the little children. No distance was too great, no perils too formidable, if they might only glut their thirst for Huron blood. Even single individuals lurked for weeks near the walls of Quebec or Montreal, for the opportunity to win a Huron scalp. The ubiquitous and blood-thirsty wretches infested the forest, lay in ambush at the portages of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence, and sprang, like a tiger on his prey, on the straggling parties of their foes. This tempest of heathen rage, in 1648 was let loose on the Christian missions. The storm burst on the frontier village of St. Joseph, situated not far from the present town of Barrie, on the morning of July 4th. This village had two thousand inhabitants, and was well fortified, but most of the warriors were absent at the hunt, or on distant journeys. Pere Daniel, who for fourteen years had here laboured in the Gospel, arrayed in the vestments of his olEce had just finished the celebration of the mass in the crowded mission chapel, when the dread THE WILDERXESS MISSIONS. 91 wanvlioop of the Iroquois was heard. The painted savages rushed through the unprotected openings in the palisade, mur- dering all Avhom they met. Unable to baptize separately the multitude who, hitherto impenitent, now sought this ordinance, Pere Daniel dipped his handkerchief in water and, shaking it over the terrified crowd, exclaimed: "My brethren, to-day we shall be in Heaven." * Absolving the dying, and baptizing the penitent, he refused to escape. " Fly, brothers," he cried to his flock. "I will die here. AVe shall meet again in Heaven." f Boldly fronting the foe, he received in his bosom a sheaf of arrows, and a ball from a deadly arquebuse. " He fell," says the contemporary chronicler, " murmuring the name of Jesus, and yielding, joyously, his soul to God, — truly a good shepherd, who gave his life for his sheep." % Seven hundred persons, mostly women or children, were captured or killed. The body of the proto-martyr of the Huron jNIission was burned to ashes, but his intrepid spirit, it was believed, appeared again among the living, animating their hearts to endure unto the bitter end. And not for one moment did they quail. "We cannot hope," writes Ragueneau, his companion in toil and tribulation, ' ' but to follow in the burning path wliich he has trod, but we will gladly suffer for the glory of the Master whom we serve." The next act of this tragedy opens eight months later, in the early spring of 1649. A thousand Iroquois warriors had, dur- ing the winter, made their way from near the Hudson Eiver, round the head of Lake Ontario, and across the western penin- sula to the Huron country. The object of attack was the vil- lage of St. Ignace, situated about ten miles -northwest of the present town of Orillia. It was completely surprised in the early dawn of March 16th, and taken almost without a blow.§ * "Mes Frferes, nous serons aujourdliuy clans le Ciel." — Ragueneau, Eelation dcs Uurons, 1G49, p. 3. t " Fiiycz, mes Frferes. Potir moy, ie dois mourir icy; nous nous reverrons dans le Ciel." — Ih., p. 4. X " II tomba pronongant, le nom de Jdsus, en reudaut lieureusement son time a Dieu, vraymeut un Ibon Pasteur, qui expose et son ame et sa vie pour le salut de son troupeau." — Ih., p. 4. $ " Quasi sans coup ferir." — Ih., p. 10. 92 HISTORY OF CAXADA. All the inhabitants were massacred, or reserved for cruelties more terrible than death, save three fugitives, who tied, half- naked, across the snow to the neighbouring town of St. Louis, about three piiles off. Most of the inhabitants of St. Louis had time to escape before the attack of the Iroquois, but about eighty Huron warriors made a stand for the defence of their homes. With them remained the two Jesuit missionaries, Jean de Brebeuf and Gabriel Lalemant, who, scorning to fly, cliose the point of danger among their flock, standing in the breach, the one baptizing the catechumens, the other absolving the neopliytes.* The toT\Ti was speedily taken and burned. The Jesuits, however, were not immediately killed, "being re- served for a more glorious crown,"! but were, with the other captives, driven before their exulting conquerors back to St. Ignace. Now began a scene of fiendish torture. The missionaries, stripped naked, were compelled to run the gauntlet through a savage mob, frenzied with cruelty, drunk with blood. They received a perfect storm of blows on every part of the body. " Children," said Brebeuf to his fellow captives, " let us look to God. Let us remember that He is the witness of our suffer- ings, that He will be our exceeding great reward. I feel for you more than for myself. But endure with courage the little that remains of these torments. They will end with our lives, but the glory that follows shall continue forever." The Iroquois, maddened to fury, tore off the nails of their victims, pierced their hands, lacerated their flesh. Brebeuf, of brawny frame, and iron thews, and dauntless bearing — the Ajax of the Huron Mission — was the especial object of their rage. On him they wi'cakcd their most exquisite tortures. They cut off his lips, they seared his throat and bleeding gums, they hung a collar of red-hot hatchets around his neck. But he stood like a rock, unflinching to the last, without a murmur or a groan, his soul even then reposing on God, an object of * "L'un 6stoit a la brtclie baxrtisant les catecliumfenes, I'autre dormant I'abso- lutiou aux ndopliytes." — Ragueueau, Eelation des Hurons, 1649, p. 11. t " Dieu les r&seruoit a des couronnes bien plus grandes." — II). THE WILDERNESS MISSIONS. 93 amazement to even savage stoicism.* The gentle and delicate Lalemant they enveloped in bark saturated with pitch, which they lired, seaming his body with livid scars. As the stifling wreaths of smoke arose, he cried, " We are made a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men." They then tore out his eyes, and seared the sockets with burning coals. In derision of the rite of baptism, which the missionaries had so often adminis- tered to others, their savage tormentors poured boiling water on their heads. The dying martyrs freely pardoned their foes, praying God to lay not these things to their charge. After nameless tor- tures, the human hyenas scalped Brebeuf while yet alive, hacked off his feet, tore out his quivering heart, and drank his blood. Lalemant endured his sufferings for seventeen hours, and died by the welcome stroke of a tomahawk. Brebeuf's stronger frame succumbed to his more deadly wounds in less than four hours. The skull and other relics of Brebeuf are preserved at the Hotel Dieu at Quebec, and are said to have wrought miracles of healing, as well as the conversion of most obstinate heretics ; but a more potent spell is that of his lofty spirit, his noble life, and his heroic death. The night which followed this deed of blood was a night of terror at Ste. Marie, situated only six miles distant from St. Ignace. All day long the smoke of the burning village of St. Louis Avas visible, and Iroquois scouts prowled, wolf-like, near the mission walls. All that night and the night following, the little garrison of forty Frenchmen stood at arms. In the chapel, vows and prayers, Avithout ceasing, were offered up. The Hurons rallied, and attacked the Iroquois in furious battle. But their valour was unavailing ; they were, almost to a man, cut off. The Iroquois in turn, panic-stricken, fled in haste, but not without a last act of damning cruelty. Tying to the stake at St. Ignace, the prisoners whom they had not time to * " Souifroit comme un rocher. Sans pousser aucun cry, estonnoit scs bour- reaux mesmes ; saas doute que sou cceur reposoit alors en son Dieu." — Rague- neau, Melation des Hurons, 1649, p. 14. 94 HISTORY OF CANADA. torture, they fired the town, retreating to the music, delightful to the savage ear, of the shrieks of human agony of mothers and their children, husbands and their wives, old age and in- fancy, writhing in the fierce flames' torturing embrace. * The site of the hapless town may still be traced in the blackened embers, preserved beneath the forest growth of over two centuries. The mission was wrecked. The Hurons were scattered. Their towns were abandoned, burnt, or destroyed, and them- selves fugitives from a wrathful foe. " "We are counted as sheep for the slaughter," writes the pious Eagueneau. The Fathers resolved to transfer the missions to the Grand Manitoulin, where they might gather again their scattered flock, free from the attacks of their enemies. They unhappily changed their destination to Isle St. Joseph, now kno^^Ti as Christian Island (probably from tradition of its Jesuit occupation), situated about twenty miles from Ste. Marie, and two or three miles from the mainland. They set fire to the mission buildings, and, with sinking hearts, saw in an hour the labours of ten years destroyed. On a rude raft, near sunset, on the 14th of June, they embarked, about forty whites in all, with all their household goods and treasures, and, after several days, reached Isle St. Joseph. They built a new mission-fortress, the remains of which may still be seen. Here, by winter, were assembled six or eight thousand wretched Hurons, dependent upon the charity of the mission. The Fathers had collected five or six hundred bushels of acorns, which were served out to the perishing Indians, and boiled with ashes to take away their bitter taste. But the good priests found compensation in the thought that man shall not live by bread alone ; and they sought unweariedly to break unto the multitude the bread of life. In their extremity the famishing creatures were fain to eat the carrion remains of dogs and foxes, and, more horrible still, even the bodies of the dead. * " Prenans plaisir a leiir depart, de S9 repaistre des cris espouuantaLles que poiissoieut ces pauvres victimes au milieu de ces flammes, ou des enfans gril. loient ^ cost^s de leurs nitires, ou uu mary voyoit sa femme rostir aupr^a de soy," — Eagueneau, Relation dcs Hurons, 1649, p. 13. THE WILDERNESS MISSIONS. 95 Before spring, harassed by attacks of the Iroquois and wasted by pestilence, half of the number had died. Day by day the foithful missionaries visited the sick, exhorted the liv- ing, absolved the dying, and celebrated the sacraments in the crowded chapel, which was daily filled ten or twelve times. Night by night, in frost and snow and bitter storm, through the livelong hours the sentry paced his weary round. During the winter the Iroquois ravaged the mainland, burn- ing villages and slaughtering the inhabitants. St. Jean, a town of some six hundred families, which had hitherto resisted attack amid the fastnesses of the Blue Mountains, not far from the present town of Collingwood, was taken and destroyed. Here Pere Gamier, the scion of a- noble family of Paris, shared the heroic fate of Daniel, the first martyr of the mission. He was slain in the act of absolving a dying Indian. "With the opening spring, the pinchings of hunger drove the starving Hurons from Isle St. Joseph to the mainland. The relentless Iroquois were awaiting them. Of the large party who crossed, but one man escaped to tell the tale of blood. The whole country was a land of horror, a place of massacre.* There was nothing but despair on every side. More than ten thousand Hurons had already perished. Famine, or an enemy more cruel still, everywhere confronted them. They resolved to forsake their country, and to fly to some distant region, in order to escape extermination by their foes. Many of them besought the Jesuits to lead them to an asylum beneath the guns of Quebec, where they might worship God in peace. The Fathers consulted much together, but more with God,-f- and engaged in prayer for forty consecutive hours. They resolved to abandon the mission. Dread of the Iroquois has- tened their retreat. *« It was not without tears," writes Ragueneau, " that we left the country of our hearts and hoijes, which, already rod with the blood of our brethren, promised us a like happiness, opened * " N'estoit plus qn'iiue terre d' liorreur, et uii lieu do massacre." — Rague- neau, Eclation dcs Hurons, 1650, p. 22. t " Nous cousultious ensemble, mais plus eucore avec Dieu." — Ih. 96 niSTORY OF CANADA. for us the gate of heaven."* The pious toils of fifteen years seemed frustrated, but, with devout submission, the Father Superior writes, " Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth." They were accompanied in their retreat, by way of French Kiver, Lake Nipissing, and the Ottawa, by three hundred Christian Hurons, the sad relics of a nation once so populous, f Along the shores where had recently dwelt eight or ten thou- sand of their countrymen not one remained. | The little band of fugitives sought refuge on the Island of Orleans, near Quebec. But even here they were pursued by the undying hate of the Iroquois, who again and again attacked the mission beneath the very guns of the fort. The remaining Hurons were dispersed in scattered groups far over the bleak northern wastes from the Saguenay to the Mississippi, and eventually dis- a]3peared as a distinct race. One band sought the aid of the powerful Ojibways, and confronted their merciless foe on the shores of Lake Superior, where a great battle was fought on the spot still known as Iroquois Point, otherwise " the place of Iroquois bones." A few families, the remnant of the once powerful Huron nation, still linger at Lorette, near Quebec. After these sanguinary triumphs, the incursions of the Iro- quois on the St. Lawrence settlements incr-eased in frequency and audacity. From 1650 to 1660, a perfect reign of terror prevailed. Not a year, and scarce a month, passed without an attack. The Iroquois swarmed in the forests and on the rivers. They lay in wait, at times for weeks, near the forts, thirsting for French or Huron blood. They entered the settlements, and killed and scalped the inhabitants on their own thresholds. Every man carried his life in his hand. The peasants could not work in the fields unless strongly armed and in a numerous body. The inhabitants of the frontier settlements were fre- quently obliged to take refuge in strong block-houses, like that shown in the engraving. Ville Marie lost in one month by these incursions over one hundred men, two-thirds of whom * Belations, 1650, p. 26. t " Tristes reliqiies d'uue nation autrefois si peupl6e." — Ih. t " II n'en restoit pas mesme un seul.'' — Ih. THE WILDERNESS MISSIONS. 97 were French, the rest Algouquins. Mademoiselle Mance and the nuns of the Hotel Dieu found abundant employment iu FRONTIER lU.ULK-IlOUSE, BUILT ABOUT 1645. mirsing the wounded defenders of the mission. These ladies, well boru and delicately nurtured, espoused poverty and toil and suffering for the glory of God and the spiritual welfare of the thankless savages. So bleak was their chamber that their coarse bread froze on the table before them, and the snow, after a storm, Avas removed from the floor by shovelfuls. The savages were known to crouch in the garden all night for a chance to tomahawk the " white girls," as they came forth in the morning to attend to their pigs and fowls. When an alarm of attack was given, one would climb the belfry to ring the tocsin, calling together the defenders of the mission. Others Knelt before the altar in prayer, or hid in their cells, exi^ecting that their last hour had come. Le INIaitre, a Sulpitian priest, went out with the labourers to watch for the enemy while they worked in the fields. Seeing no danger, he took out his breviary to read the prayers for the day. Absorbed in his pious office, he walked into an ambus- cade of Iroquois. Scorning to fly, he shouted the alarm to the 13 98 HISTORY OF CAXADA. labourers, and, to give them time to escape, himself alone con- fronted the savage crew. The wretches hacked off his head, and carried it as a trophy to their distant villages. Vignal, a fellow-priest, two months later, with thirteen men, went to bring stone from the Isle a la Pierre, nearly opposite Montreal, for the convent they were building at the mission. As they landed, they were surprised by Iroquois. The priest was killed and cooked and eaten in the presence of his companions, who were dragged off to death or torture in the INIohawk towns. Tlie Onondagas, Senecas, Cayugas, and Oneidas, having engaged in war with the Eries, a tribe situated on the borders of the lake whose name they bore, sought the alliance of the French, and demanded the jjlanting of a mission within their borders. To grant or to refuse their request was almost equally perilous. The Governor held a council on the subject. The Jesuits, full of zeal, gave their voice for the establishment of 1656. the mission. " The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church," exclaimed one of them, " and, if we die by the fires of the Iroquois, we shall have won eternal life by snatching souls from the fires of hell." They, therefore, decided to plant a mission among the Onondagas, in the heart of the Iroquois country, with the threefold o1)ject of curbing tlieir hostile dis- position, of winning new converts to the Cross, and of securing the fur trade from the growing interference of the Dutch. In a temporary lull of hostilities, Pere Lo Moyne and three other priests were selected to tread the pathway already reddened by the blood of Jogues, the previous envoy. They were accom- panied by ten soldiers and forty settlers. The Mohawks, jeal- ous of the increased influence with the French which the mission would give the other tribes of the confederacy, tried to intercept the party, failing in which they ravaged the banks of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence, and prowled around the very walls of Montreal and Quebec. From the Island of Orleans they carried off eighty Ilurons, who were under- the protection of the French, and, in contempt of the latter, made their prisoners dance and sing as they paddled their bark canoes beneath the very guns of the Castle of St. Louis. THE WILDERXESS MISSIOXS. 99 The Onoudaga Mission was planted on the shores of the beautiful lake from which it took its name. Amid salvos of their miniature cannon, the chanting of the Te Deu7n, and the celebration of the mass, the Jesuits, full of faith, took posses- sion of the country, in which they held their lives on the suf- ferance of treacherous savages. They prosecuted with zeal their evangelistic work ; preaching, exhorting, and catechising and baptizing the children, or professed converts, throughout the Iroquois towns. Forest sanctuaries were erected, 1657. the sweet sounds of the Angelus rang from their tiny belfries, the images of Christ and His Virgin Mother were displayed on the rustic altars to crowds of wondering spectators. With a profound dissimulation, the savages were contemplating, all the while, the massacre of the entire mission, and an overwhelming invasion of Canada by the whole of the confederate tribes. The Jesuits were warned of their danger by the dying confes- sion of a converted Iroquois. They hastily called in the priests from the outlying missions, and held an anxious council in their mission-house by the lake, where the whole colony, fifty-three in number, were assembled. On every side were encamped their watchful and truculent enemy, on the alert both day and night. Escape seemed impossible. But the Jesuits, with a dissimulation even deeper than that of their wily foe, but which, under the circumstances, the sternest moralist could scarce condemn, devised a plan to outwit the wretches who were thirsting for their blood. First, two light batteaux were secretly constructed in the loft of the mission-house, for the transport of the entire party on the neighbouring lake and river. Then the Indians less. were invited to one of the glutton feasts at which, under the influence of a disgusting superstition, they devour everything placed before them unless absolved from that duty by their hosts. The Fathers killed their hogs, and prepared a banquet of unusual piquancy. Amid the shouting and din of the feast, the batteaux were conveyed by stealth to the lake-side. When the Indians, gorged to repletion, had fallen into a heavy sleei?, or semi-torpor, their hosts silently and swiftly withdrew, — 100 HISTORY OF CANADA. priests, soldiers, and settlers, abandoning everything, — and be- fore morning were far down the Oswego Eiver, on their way to Lake Ontario. When the baffled Iroquois awoke from their torpor, the strange silence of the mission surprised them. A light March snow that had fallen, covered the traces of the escape of their intended victims. They concluded that the black-robed sorcerers must have flown off through the air. Pursuit was in vain, and the fugitives, gliding down the St. Lawrence, with the loss of three men in the rapids, in due course reached Montreal and Quebec. In 1660, the confederate Iroquois menaced with a fatal blow the very existence of the colony. Twelve hundred plumed and painted warriors were on the way to attack successively the three military jJosts of Montreal, Three Rivers, and Quebec. Behind their loop-holed palisades, the tremi51ing . inhabitants gathered, their hearts ftiiling them for fear. The colony was saved from extermination by an act of valour and devotion, as heroic as any recorded on the page of history. Dulac des Ormeaux, a youth of twenty-two, with sixteen others, youth- ful like himself, — all of Montreal, — resolved to save their country, though they perished in the act. They made their wills, confessed, received the sacrament, and bade a solemn farewell to their friends, like men about to march to death. And so they were. Not one returned alive. Stemming the swift current of Ste. Anne, they crossed the Lake of Two Moun- tains, and took their stand at the Long Sault rapid, near Caril- lon, on the Ottawa. Here they were joined by forty Christian Hurons and four Algonquins. They took possession of an old redoubt, a mere breastwork of logs, and awaited the approach of the Iroquois. A force of two hundred soon appeared. The French and their red allies strengthened their scanty defence with sod and earth, leaving twenty loop-holes through which to fire, and prepared for a death-struggle with their foe. For five long days and nights the Iroquois swarmed around that frail redoubt, repulsed again and again by its brave defenders, who, though worn by hunger, thirst, and want of sleep, fought, and prayed, and watched by turns. Iroquois re-enforcements now THE WILDERXESS MISSIOXS. 101 arrived. The Iluroiis, dismayed at tlie inevitable result of the unequal contest, deserted to the enemy. For three days longer seven hundred ferocious savages be- leaguered the crumbling redoubt, defied by the score of brave men who, reeling with weariness, kept their lone post with the courage of despair. The Iroquois, having made huge wooden shields, rushed at .the palisades, and, crouching below the fire of the loop-holes, hacked furiously at the posts to cut their way through. They fired through the loop-holes on their penned up victims, tore open a breach in the walls, and swarmed within the redoubt. The French fought with desperation, selling their lives as dearly as possible. Four men alone were found alive. Three of these were mortally wounded, and were burned upon the spot. The other was reserved to glut the rage of his cap- tors with future torture. The renegade Ilurons paid the pen- alty of their treachery by their death, except five, who escaped to tell the tale of horror. But these brave men died not in vain. The colony was saved. The bafiled Iroquois retired to their forests to nurse their wrath for a future day of slaughter. The pass of the Long Sault was the Thermopylae of Canada. We return to trace briefly the political administration of New France during this period. In 1G45, the company of the Hun- dred Associates had surrendered to the people of the colony the monopoly of the fur trade, but retaining its scigneurial rights, on certain conditions ; viz., the colonists were to assume the debts and responsibilities of the Company ; to man, equip, and maintain the forts and other means of defence ; ^to defray the costs of civil government, as the salary of the Governor and other officials ; and to pay the Company the annual equiva- lent of a thousand pounds of beaver-skins. In 1647, in consequence of the centralizing- policy of the young sovereign, restricting the term of service of colonial Governors to three years, Montmagny was re-called, although ho had administered the afl'airs of the colony with distinguished ability, and M. D'Ailleboust was appointed his successor. The new Governor had already been five years commandant at Three Rivers, and understood the wants of the country, al- 102 HISTORY OF CANADA. though deficient in the energy that characterized his two predecessors. The Governor was assisted in his official duties by a council, in which the Superior of the Jesuits and the Governor of Mon- treal were associated with himself. This council was invested with supreme authority, judicial, executive, and legislative. During D'Ailleboust's administration, an envoy arrived from New England with the proposal of a treaty of commerce and amity between the British, French, and Dutch colonies, and especially providing for their neutrality in all quarrels of the mother countries. The French eagerly accepted the sugges- tion, and dispatched Father Druilletes to arrange the terms of the treaty. The Jesuit, crossing with infinite toil the broken country between the St. Lawrence and the headwaters of the Kennebec, sailed down that river to the sea, and reaching Bos- ton by an English vessel, became the guest of the INIassachusetts Colony where, by law, his life was under ban. In Eliot, the apostle of the New England Indians, he found a kindred spirit ; their common missionary zeal reconciling, for the time, their antagonistic creeds. The French urged, through their envoy, a mutual alliance against the Iroquois ; but as these were the friends of the Eng- lish, this stipulation unhappily frustrated the project, and em- bittered the hostility of tlie Iroquois, who, supplied in increas- ing quantities with fire-arms from Fort Orange, continued to wreak their rage upon the French. In 1651, M. De Lauson, a leading member of the Hundred Associates, succeeded to the government of the distracted country. His timid and vacillating administration encouraged the audacity of the Iroquois, and, as we have seen, reduced the colony to the verge of destruction. In 1658, he quitted his post in disgust, and was succeeded by the Viscount D'Argenson. The following year, the Abbe Laval, a member of the 1659. princely house of IMontmorency, who afterwards (in 1670) became the first bishop of the colony, arrived in Canada as Vicar Apostolic. He was a man of intense zeal and devo- tion to the welfare of his Church. For thirty years he swayed THE WILDERNESS MISSIONS. 103 tho religious destiny of the colony. His memory is greatly revered by his countrymen, and the noble collegiate pile which crowns the heights of Quebec perpetuates his name. Laval had been tho nominee of the Jesuit party, and zealously pro- moted the interests of that Order. He was soon involved in a conflict with the Abbe Queylus, Vicar-General of Canada, and bead of the Seminary of St. Sulpice at Montreal, which led to the expulsion of the latter from Canada. Acrimonious disputes soon arose, also, between the bishop and successive Governors, on matters of precedence, and other expressions of ecclesias- tical dignity. His controversy with the bishop, the virtual independence of Montreal, its jealousy of Quebec, and the insubordination of Maisouneuve, its Governor, so disgusted D'Argensou that he gladly accepted his recall. He was succeeded by the Baron D'Avaugour, a brave soldier, who had served with distinction in Hungary, but who was leei. a man of a hasty and obstinate disposition. Resolved on ener- getic measures of colonial defence, he asked for three thousand regular troops. The king tardily sent out four hundred, and meanwhile the country was laid waste, and the military posts were practically in a state of siege. The bluif soldier and the aggressive bishop were involved in a continual discord. On one subject of controversy the latter was unquestionably in the right. The white man's ' ' fire-water " had a fatal ftiscina- tion for the red man's unrestrained appetite. The bishop and the Jesuit missionaries fought earnestly against the liquor traffic . It was denounced from the pulpit as hurtful to body and soul, and its agents threatened with excommunication, and, indeed, with death. Two men were shot for selling brandy to the Indians, and a woman was imprisoned for the same crime. A Jesuit missionary, interceding strongly for her pardon, D'Avaugour, probably opposed to this extreme severity, de- clared that if she went unpunished no one else should sufier for the like offence, and to this decision he obstinately adhered. A period of general license now ensued, An indulgence in liquor, restrained only by the ability to procure it, led to a 104 HISTORY OF C AX AD A. frightful demoralization of the mission, and inaugurated an era of vice and crime, both among the Indians and the French. Laval, unable to restrain the flood of evil, sailed to France to appeal to the power of the sovereign, and demand the recall of the obstinate Governor. Now ensued signs and wonders in the sky and on the earth, which were regarded as the menace of Divine wrath. *' Blazing serpents," writes one of the Jesuit Fathers, " flew through the air, borne on wings of fire." A great globe of flame w^as seen, at Montreal, to issue from the moon, with a noise as loud as thunder, and to disappear behind the shaggy crest of the mountain, — probably a meteorite of unusual size. But these were but the prelude to a more awful visitation. On the 5th of February, 1663, the whole country was shaken by a terrible earthquake. Dense darkness filled the air, the thick- ribbed ice on the rivers was broken, springs were dried up, the church bells pealed with the rocking motion, buildings tottered, the forest trembled, and portentous noises were heard. Shocks were repeated at intervals from February to August. The ut- most consternation prevailed, but happily no loss of life oc- curred. The end of the world was thought to be at hand, and a great reformation in morals, we are assured, took place. In this year, the obnoxious Governor, D'Avaugour, was re- called, and soon after died, fighting bravely against the Turks in Croatia. This date closes the administration of the Hundred Associates, which had been characterized by greed, weakness, and inefficiency on the part of the Company; by cruel and bloody invasion, wasting, and massacre by the Iroquois ; by the enthusiastic zeal, devotion, and heroic martyrdom of the Jesuit missionaries ; and by the unparalleled sufi'eriugs of the colonists. 105 CHAPTER Vni. ACADIA. La Tour and D'Aulnay, Lientenants under RazilM — Their Feuds— La Tour and Wife Besieged at St. John — They Seek Aid from Boston — Madame La Tour's Heroic Defence of St. John— Its Capture, 1667 — Perfidy of D'Aulnay — His Death — La Tour Marries his Widow — Le Borgne — Ee-couquest of Acadia by the English, 1654 — It is Restored to the French, 1667. WE HOW return to trace briefly the history of Acadia, or Nova Scotia, as it now began to be called — a history full of romantic interest. By the treaty of St. Germain-en- Laye, Acadia was restored to the French Crown, and the less. country was portioned out into provinces, under proprietary Governors, whose chief revenue was derived from the fur trade and fisheries. Eazille, the commandant-in-chief, received a grant of the southern portion of the peninsula, and the region contig- uous to the river and bay of St. Croix. Struck with the beauty and commodious harbour of La Hove, on the southeast coast, he there fixed his residence, built a fort, and planted a consid- erable settlement. Under him, as lieutenants, were Charles la Tour, to whom was assigned the rest of the peninsula, as far as Causeau ; and the Seigneur D'Aulnay Charnisy, who controlled the country north and east of the Bay of Fundy, to Gaspe, and the Kennebec River. On the death of Razille, Nicolas Denys, Sieur de Fronsac, who had previously been associated with him in trade, suc- ceeded him as commandant. Bitter strife now arose between the lieutenants, D'Aulnay and La Tour, rendered the more in- tense by their trading jealousies, and by the disputed limits of their several domains. Though neither could occupy a tenth of his own territory, each seemed in mortal dread of the en- croachments of the other. This jealousy was increased by the fact that each held possession of certain trading-posts within the country, under the nominal jurisdiction of the other. 106 HISTORY OF CANADA. D'Auluay, an unscrupulous and ambitious man, attempted to assume control over the entire country. La Tour's Huguenot antecedents, and his commercial relations with Rochelle, the stronghold of French Protestantism, were calculated to preju- dice his interests at the French court. D'Aulnay, therefore, managed, through the powerful influence of his patron, Riche- lieu, to procure an order for the arrest of La Tour, and for his return to France to answer certain charges of malversation alleged against him. The King revoked the commission of La Tour, and fixed, as a limit between the rival jurisdictions, the Bay of Fundy, and the line joining the head of the bay and CapeCanseau. La Tour, denying the allegations of D'Aulnay, refused to submit to arrest, and fortified himself at his trading- post at St. John. * After the manner of a medieval feudal potentate, D'Aulnay raised a force of five hundred men, and, in the spring of 1643, appeared off the* mouth of the St. John River, and closely blockaded La Tour in his fort. The position of the latter was one of great peril. A ship was daily expected from Rochelle with supplies for the fort, together with a company of a hun- dred and forty immigrants. These were in danger of fiilling into the hands of the blockading fleet. The expected vessel, however, received intimation of the danger, and under cover of night La Tour and his intrepid wife were conveyed on board. They sailed for Boston to seek the aid of the Colony of Massa- chusetts in defence of their rights. A council was held at Boston, and, after the manner of the Puritans, recourse was had to the Bible, for direction. Two very apposite passages were adduced in opposition to intermeddling in foreign strife. f Governor Winthrop, therefore, though not ill pleased to see the French weakening each other in Acadia by their intestine strife, did not venture to commit any overt act that would violate the peace then existing between France and Great Britain. He permitted La Tour, however, to raise and equip * We use this name by anticipation, for the purpose of giving a local defini- tion to the events here described. t 2 Chron. xix., 2, and Prov. xxvi., 17. ACADIA. 107 a small naval and military force. ^The latter, therefore, char- tered five vessels, mounting some forty pieces of cannon of small size, and procured the services of eighty volunteers for land service, and fifty sailors. This force, though still less than that of D'Aulnay, was handled with such skill that the latter at once raised the blockade and sought refuge under the guns of his own fort at Port Eoyal. Here two of his vessels were wrecked, and La Tour, who followed in hot pursuit, would probably have reduced the fort, but that the New Eng- land volunteers, who had only engaged to serve for sixty days, after a short conflict, in which each party lost three men, re- turned, before their period of service had expired, to Boston. D'Aulnay, intensely chagrined, protested against the violation of neutrality by the New Euglanders, and sent an agent to Boston, bearing his commission from the King, and a copy of the warrant for the arrest of La Tour. A treaty of peace was therefore agreed upon between D'Aulnay, representing the King of France, and the New England colonies, 1644. Madame La Tour, a woman of heroic mould, was meantime urging the fortunes of her husband, and obtaining supplies for his fort, in England. On the return voyage, the captain of the vessel, instead of conveying her, as agreed, to St. John, after trading for some time in the St. Lawrence, landed her at Boston. The indomitable lady, who had narrowly escaped capture by D'Aulnay, brought a civil action against the captain of the vessel for violation of his charter, and recovered a ver- dict of £2,000. Expending this sum in supplies and muni- tions, she sailed for the St. John, and placed the fort in a con- dition for vigourous defence. Learning the temporary absence of La Tour, D'Aulnay promptly laid siege to the fort. The intrepid lady, however, ofiered a most effective resistance. The cannon were so well served that D'Aulnay's frigate soon became unmanageable, and twenty of the attacking party were killed and thirteen wounded, and the baffled commander was obliged to desist from his attempt to reduce the fort. La Tour, in the meanwhile, continued to receive stores and munitions of war from New England, notwithstanding the treaty of neutral- 108 HISTORY OF CAXADA. ity. In reprisal, D'Aulnay seized and confiscated a Boston vessel. This had the effect'of cutting off La Tour's source of supplies, and leaving him comparatively at the mercy of his powerful enemy. The crisis of this prolonged conflict was approaching. In the spring of 1647, the unchivalric D'Aulnay, learning that La Tour, with most of his men, was engaged at a distance in procuring supplies, again attacked the fort at St. John. La Tour's heroic wife, an Acadian Jean d'Arc, determined to hold out to the last extremity. For three days the assailants were effectively repulsed. On the fourth, which was Easter Sunday, through the treachery of a mutinous Swiss sentry, the enemy gained entrance to the outer works. The gallant lady rushed to the ramparts at the head of her little handful of soldiers. D'Aulnay, taught by exijerience her indomitable energy, and fearing the disgrace of a second defeat at the hands of a woman, offered terms of capitulation. Anxious to save the lives of the brave men who had defended the fort iigainst a much superior force, Madame La Tour accepted the offered terms. When D'Aulnay beheld the weakness of the little garrison, he treacherously broke his plighted word. Every man of them was condemned to be hanged save one, who had the baseness to become the executioner of his comrades. As a crowning atrocity, the titled ruffian compelled the twice be- trayed lady to witness the cruel spectacle, as an additional in- dignity wearing a halter around her neck. The fort was pil- laged of all its stores, furs, and merchandise, to the value of fifty thousand dollars, and D'Aulnay retreated to Port Royal with his ill-gotten booty. La Tour was a ruined man, a wander- ing exile on the bleak shores of Newfoundland, or on the sterile wastes around Hudson's Bay. The disasters of her husband broke the wife's heart, and soon after the brave soul passed away. D'Aulnay for a time kept feudal state in his fortress at Port Royal, as the supreme authority in all Acadia. In four years he died, deeply involved in debt and disgrace. His rival now came back from the wilderness, vindicated his character to his ACADIA. J 09 sovereign, was confirmed in his office as Lieutenant-Governor of Acadia, and received again his fort at St. John. As lesi. the acme of his extraordinary fortunes, he married the widow of his rival, and inherited 'his estate. That estate, however, was much encumbered. Its chief creditor, Le Borgne, a merchant of Rochelle, obtained permission to take possession of Acadia as security for the satisfaction of his claims. He accordingly attacked M. Denys, who had acquired great wealth by the fur trade and fishing, at Cape Breton, and sent him a prisoner to Port Eo3^al, which place he had seized. He also burned La Heve, and prepared for the capture of La Tour's fort at St. John. A new power now appeared In the field. Oliver Cromwell,' the stout-hearted Protector of England, was at this time i654. at war with the Dutch, and sent a force for the capture of Manhattan settlement at the mouth of the Hudson. Peace, however, was concluded before that pur- pose was effected. The re-conquest of Acadia was then determined. The res- toration of that country to the French had always been displeasing to the New England colonists, as it would lay their commerce open to the depredations of CROMWELL. French privateers in time of war. A secret expedition was therefore organized under Colonel Sedg- wick for the reduction of the French forts. Those of the Penobscot and St. John speedily surrendered. Le Borgne was strongly posted at Port Royal with a force of one hundred and fifty men. After a pusillanimous defence he yielded at discretion. La Hcve was also shortly reduced, and Acadia was oilce more in the possession of the English. La Tour now claimed extensive territorial rights by virtue of Sir Wil- liam Alexander's grant to his father, which had so long lain dormant. That claim was recognized, and he was confirmed in his so called rights. These he soon sold to Sir lese. Thomas Temple, and shortly after ended his checkered career in obscurity at St. John. ' 110 HISTORY OF CANADA. The English now held the country jointly with the French for eleven years. Sir Thomas Temple governed the English portion in the name of King Charles 11. , and expended £16,000 in repairing the forts under his control, deriving, also, large revenues from the fur trade ; while Le Borgne represented the authority of Louis XIV. The whole of Acadia was ceded to the French by the Treaty of Breda, in 1667, they claiming, under that name, not only the peninsula, but also the extensive region from the Kennebec River to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Sir Thomas Temple de- clined to admit this claim, and asserted that Acadia comprised only part of the peninsula, not- including the forts on which he had expended so much money. The king, however, denied this distinction as frivolous, and ordered the surrender of the forts, promising indemnity to Sir Thomas Temple for the ex- pense he had incurred. The transfer accordingly took place, 1670, but the king's promise, like many another that he made, was never fulfilled. ROYAL GOVERXMEXT. Ill CHAPTER IX. ROYAL GOVERNMENT. Constitution of the Supreme Council — De Mezy, Governor, 1663 — Civic Dis- putes — The Great Company of the West — De Tracy, Viceroy — Talou, lu- tendaut — Do Courcelles, Governor — Mid-winter Attacks on the Iroquois, 1666 — Do Tracy Conquers the Mohawks — Eighteen Years' Truce — Talon's Wise Administration — Internal Development — Seigneurial Tenure of Laud — The Fur Trade — The Small-Pox and Liquor Traffic Waste tlie Native Tribes — Jesuit Explorations — Ths Mission of Sault Ste. Marie — The French on Hudson's Bay — In Newfoundland. THE influence of the Abbe Laval, the newly appointed Vicar Apostolic, with the king and ministry of Erauce, { il!J,!ll[ll procured an entire change in the relations of the colony to the mother country. The charter of the Hundred Associates was rescind- ed by a royal edict, February, 1663, and ^i the government of New France became vested directly in the Crown. The fiiilure of the Com- pany, now reduced to half its original num- ber, to meet its engage- ments, and the depress- ed condition of the col- ony, were an ample vindication of this step. Jean Baptiste Colbert, the new minister of Louis XIY., a man of 112 niSTORT OF C AX AD A. comprehensive views, aud of great energy and integrity of character, continued for a score of years to be the tried and true friend of Canada. He endeavoured to restrain the corrup- tion and extravagance at home, in order that aid might be given for the development of the colony, but with only very partial success. As Cardinal Mazarin lay upon his death-bed, he said to his royal master, Louis XIV. : " Sire, I am indebted to you for all that I possess ; but I think I am requiting all 3'our majesty's favours l)y giving you Colbert." The great minister raised France to the zenith of her fame. In a few years he increased her navy fourfold. He was the generous patron of literature, science, and art. By wise legislation he extended the com- merce and developed the resources of the country. He opposed the war policy of Louis XIV., by which the resources of the kingdom were wasted. But the royal ambition frustrated his wise counsels, and plunged France into disastrous wars. "Would that I had served my God as faithfully as I have served my king ! " * bitterly exclaimed the fallen minister upon his death-bed. To protect his funeral against the attacks of the mob, it took place at night, guarded by a military escort. Such is the proverbial ingratitude of nations to their most faithful servants. Laval had procured the appointment of M. de Mezy, com- mandant of Caen, as Governor of Canada, on account of his an- ticipated subserviency to himself. A royal commissioner, M. Gaudais Dupont, was also sent out to inquire into the state of the colony, and to report to the home ministry. The new gov- ernment was administered by a Supreme Council, composed of the Governor, the Bishop, f and the royal Intendant, assisted by four councillors, — a number afterwards raised to twelve, — who held office for one year, and were jointly appointed by the Governor and Bishop. The Bishop had jurisdiction over * Compare tbe similar exclamation of Cardinal Wolsey in Shakespeare's Henry VIII., Act III.,vScene ii. t We use this title for convenience, although Laval did not receive it till 1670. ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 113 ecclesiastical affairs, and had much influence in the civil admin- istration. The Governor was the military representative of the king, and was generally of noble rank. The Intendant was the king's representative in legal matters, and was generally a member of the legal profession. He controlled all expenditure of public money, and his ordinances had all the force of law. These ordinances were generally proclaimed at the church door, or from tho pulpit, and, besides dealing with more important subjects, descended to such minor matters as pew-rents,- stray hogs, mad dogs, fast driving, matrimonial quarrels, fairs and markets, weights and measures, and all the complex details of colonial life. The respective duties and authority of the Governor and In- tendant were not clearly defined, and from their peculiar rela- tions it was impossible but that jealousies should arise between them. The Governor frequently, and with justice, regarded the Intendant as a spy upon his conduct, and a check upon his influence ; and each made frequent voluminous and often con- flicting reports to the king. The Council met every Monday, at first at the vice-regal chateau of St. Louis, and afterwards in an old brewery, fitted up as a "Palace of Justice." Its jurisdiction covered every department of government, — legis- lative, judicial, executive, — from declaring war or peace to trivial municipal regulations, and the settlement of petty dis- putes, of which there seems to have been a great many. Many of the laws, like those of the New England Colonies, had ref- erence to moral observances, and were enforced with inquisito- rial rigour. The penalty for profane swearing, for instance, varied from a fine up to branding, the pillory, and, in obstinate cases, the excision of the offending tongue. Subordinate courts were afterwards establislied at Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal ; and the seigneurs were empow- ered to settle disputes, " involving not more than sixty sous, or offences of which the fine was not more than ten sous." In a few instances, however, their jurisdiction was allowed to ex- tend beyond these narrow limits. The code of laws of the 114 HISTORY OF CANADA. mother country, known as the '* Coutume de Paris," or custom of Paris, became the recognized colonial standard. M. de Mezy, the new Governor, failed to manifest that sub- serviency to the Bishop that the latter had expected. Eaised from the control of the little garrison of Caen to that of a country as large as the whole of France, he soon gave evidence that he had a mind of his own. He found that the influence of the Jesuits was supreme in the colony, and was soon involved in disputes with their Order. This brought him into collision with Laval, who sustained the influence of the Fathers, Avho, by their toils and sufierings, were considered to have a title to a large share of political as well as spiritual influence. The meetings of the Council proved of a very stormy character. De Mezy proceeded to the violent exercise of his authority by expelling from the board two of its members, nominees of Laval, — Sieur Villeray and M. Bourdon, the latter an officer corresponding to the attorney-general of later times, — and compelled them to return to France. It is even asserted that the Governor proceeded with a band of soldiers to the church where Laval was saying mass, as if for his arrest. The repre- sentations of the Bishop, and of the banished councillors, led to an order for the recall of the choleric De Mezy ; but he died, seemingly of chagrin and annoyance, before the summons reached Canada. Among the vast and towering schemes of the great minister, Colbert, for the extension of the commerce and influence of France, was the creation of the Company of the West, a giant monopoly, to which was granted the trade of half a world. It was invested with the absolute control, so far as the King of France could give it, of the commerce of western Africa from the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Yerde, of South America between the Orinoco and the Amazon, of the An- tilles, and of the whole of New France, from the frozen shores of Hudson's Bay to the Spanish settlements of Florida, and the British seaboard colonies. For forty years it was to hold the monopoly of traffic in the furs of Canada, the sugar of the West Indies and Cayenne, and the slaves of the Guinea coast, ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 115 in consideration of defraying the expenses of government and administration of justice, of promulgating the Catholic faith, and of excluding teachers of false doctrine from the colonies under its protection. But instead of fostering, it but tended to strangle, by its restrictions, the infant commerce of the colonies, and to extinguish the enterprise of colonial traders. The new system was inaugurated with considerable energy. A hundred families of emigrants arrived, and the prospects of the colony seemed to brighten ; but the inevitable consequence of vicious commercial restrictions was soon apparent in the lan- guor and lethargy that characterized the trade of New France. Simultaneous with these events was another, which was des- tined to affect the entire future history of the North loe*. American continent. The English sovereign, Charles 11. , had granted to his brother, the Duke of York, the country adjacent to the Hudson River, which for fifty years had been in the peaceable possession of the Dutch. Four English ships anchored before New Amsterdam, and demanded its surrender. The sturdy Dutch Governor, Peter Stuyvesaut, tore into shreds the cartel of the British commander, and would fain have re- plied by the mouth of his cannon. The thrifty burgomasters, however, urged a capitulation, and after a short parley, the white flag was raised, and the Dutch settlers became British subjects. Out of compliment to the Duke of York, the place was re-named New York, and Fort Orange became Albany. The English strove steadily to divert the fur trade from the St. Lawrence to the Hudson, offering in barter better goods at lower prices than their French rivals. The Iroquois became their frequent allies, and for years held the balance of power between the hostile nations. These astute forest politicians soon saw that it was their interest to prevent either the French or English from conquering the other. When fortune favoured the English, their savage allies would break t)ff their allegiance to them and make a separate peace with the French. Out of the commercial greed of these formidable rivals sprang the cruel wars which long desolated the frontiers of New England and New France. 116 HISTORY OF CANADA. In consequence of the representations of Laval and his par- tisans, as we have seen, De Mezy was superseded as Governor of New France. In order to settle certain disorders in the Antilles, to reorganize the government of Canada, and 'to so effectually reduce the Iroquois, as to prevent the recurrence of their murderous invasions, the Marquis de Tracy, a veteran 1665. military officer, was commissioned by the king as his Lieutenant-General and Viceroy of all the French possessions in the New World. After accomplishing his mission in the West Indies, he reached Quebec in June, 1665. He was soon followed by the new Governor who had been appointed to suc- ceed De Mezy, — Daniel de Remy, Sieur de Courcelles, — and by the first Intendant, Jean Baptiste Talon, a man of notable abilities, who was destined to exert a potent and benefi- cent influence on the future of Canada. With these distin- guished persons came, also, a numerous body of soldiers and settlers, both men and women, together with horses, sheep, cattle, implements, and military stores. The soldiers were that splendid body of troops known as the royal Carignan regi- ment, which had won glory in Hungary, fighting against the Turks. The scanty population of Quebec gazed with pride, and the Indian scouts with amazement, on the solid phalanx of these mail-clad warriors, as with roll of drums and peal of trumpets they climbed the steep ascent to the citadel. The mounted officers especially struck terror to the savage breast, as they were deemed inseparable from the horses they bestrode, the first the Indians had ever seen. The addition to the pop- ulation during the season was two thousand persons, about thirteen hundred of whom were veteran troops. " It was a company," says the chronicler, "greater than that which it came to re-enforce." The colony was now strong enough to wage an aggressive warfare against the Iroquois, a warfiire which was regarded as a sacred crusade against the enemies of God, and was conse- crated with prayer and religious devotions. To check the inroads of the savages, by way of Lake Cham- plain and the Richelieu, forts were built at Chambly and Sorel, ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 117 wliich places received their names from the officers in command of the works. Ahirmed at the preparations for war, the Onon- dagas, Cayugas, and Senecas sent an embassy to make a treaty of peace with the French. The Mohawks and Oncidas re- mained hostile. De Courcelles, the Governor, a rash but gallant soldier, obtained permission from De Tracy, who, as Viceroy, was bis superior, to lead an expedition against the enemy. It was midwinter, January 9th, when, after icee. solemn religious service, a brigade of five hundred men set out from Quebec for the distant Mohawk towns. Their course lay along the icy and difficult floor of the St. Lawrence. Each man bore, besides bis accoutrements and blanket, a pair of snowshoes and twenty pounds of biscuit. The keen wind swept over the frozen river and chilled them to the marrow. They ascended the tortuous Eichelieu, and traversed the solid surface of lakes Champlaiu and St. Sacrament (Lake George), encamping in the deep snow, gnawed to the bone by the bit- ing frost, and sufiering severely from the unaccustomed mode of travel ou snowshoes beneath heavy burdens. Reaching the borders of the Mohawk country, a detachment of troops fell into an ambuscade, and eleven were slain and seven wounded. Finding that he was trespassing on the territory recently ceded by the Dutch to the English, and conquered by the elements rather than by the savage foe, De Courcelles began a precipitate retreat. Sixty of his men perished by cold before he reached the frontier forts, and after a march of fifteen hundred miles, the worn and weary battalions regained Quebec. " Surely," exclaims the contemporary English chron- icler, " so bould and hardy an attempt hath not hapnecl in any age ! " The expedition, disastrous as it proved in its issue, struck terror into the hearts of the Iroquois. The Mohawks alone continued their depredations. They attacked a hunting-party of the French, and killed a nephew of De Tracy, De Chasy by name. At Quebec were several Iroquois ambassadors, all anxious, as they professed, to make a treaty of peace. Not- withstanding the murder, negotiations were still going on, 118 HISTORY OF CANADA. ■when two Mohawk chiefs arrived ou the same ostensible errand. Being invited to dine with De Tracy, on reference being made to the death of young De Chasy, one of the Mohawl^s, raising his arm, boastfully exclaimed, "This is the hand that split that young man's head." De Tracy, in an outburst of indignation, declared that he should never kill anybody else, and ordered him to be hanged forthwith. This put an end to the negotiations for peace, and preparations were made for inflicting a crushing blow on the confederate tribes. During the following autumn De Tracy, then a veteran of nearly seventy years, organized an expedition for the su1)juga- tion of the Iroquois. In three hundred boats, in the bright October weather, thirteen hundred men, including a hundred Indian allies and six hundred Carignan soldiers, threaded the mazes of the Eichelieu, and the lovely lakes, Champlain and St. Sacrament. Accompanied by a brilliant suite of officers, and with as much of the pomp and circumstance of European war as was practicable, De Tracy led the van. He was inop- portunely attacked by gout, and had to be carried on a litter. A hundred miles march through tangled woods, on short allow- ance of food, severely taxed the endurance of the troops. They were saved from starvation by finding a grove of chestnut- trees, filled with nuts. Coming on the Mohawk stockades, twenty drums sounded the charge, and two small cannon, which had been dragged through the woods, were brought into posi- tion. Terrified at the unaccustomed din, and at the seemingly endless files of the French debouching from the forest, the Mo- hawks abandoned town after town. At one stronghold they seemed determined to make a stand. It was defended by a triple palisade, twenty feet high, and was further protected by four flanking bastions. Magazines of stones were collected, and large vessels filled with water for the purpose of frustrating any attempt to fire the palisades. Some of the houses were a hundred and twenty feet long, with fires for eight or ten fami- lies, after the communal system of the Iroquois. Immense quantities of Indian corn were concealed in subterranean gran- aries, and everything gave evidence of a higher grade of social EOYAL GOVERNMENT. 119 development than was usual with the red race. But for the present, their fears of the invaders overcame their courage, and they all fled for refuge to the neighbouring forest. Unop- posed, the French took possession of all the towns ; the Te Deum was sung ; the mass was said ; the cross was planted, and De Tracy claimed the whole Mohawk country in the name of his royal master, Louis XIV. That night the forest was reddened with the flames of the burning Indian villages, with all their winter stores of maize, and soon naught remained but heaps of smouldering embers. With the early morning the little army was in full retreat, and, after many hardships, at length reached Quebec before winter fell. The British Governor of New York, hearing of De Tracy's invasion of what he considered English territory, endeavoured to organize, in concert with the New England colonies, an ex- pedition to cut ofi" his retreat. But the project, through tardi- ness or indifierence on the part of the colonial authorities, proved abortive. The poAver of the Mohawks was now broken. Before spring, four hundred are said to have perished. The survivors learned to dread the strength of that arm which, at such a distance, could strike such a blow, and a treaty of peace was made, which gave rest to the long harassed colony for eighteen years. Several Jesuit missionaries went to live and labour among the conquered tribes, and by their influence the ferocity of the savage nature was sensibly modified, and many became, at least nominal converts t9 Christianity. A band of Mohawk neophytes exhibited such religious devotion, that the Superior, fearing the diminution of their zeal through the influence of their still pagan tribesmen, ti'ansferred them to the Mission of Prairie de la Madelaine, opposite Montreal. It was thought, also, that they would thus serve as a check to the invasion of the Iroquois should war break out. Certain it is that the wars of a later period were not characterized by the atrocious cruelties of those which we have already described. While the savages did not altogether cease to torture their prisoners, it was no longer with that fiendish ingenuity that wreaked its rage on 120. HISTORY OF CANADA. the bodies of Jogiies and Bressani, or Brebeiif and Lalemant, nor were they guilty of the disgusting cannibalism of the former period. Under the able administration of De Courcelles and Talon, after the departure of Tracy in 1667, the affairs of the colony greatly prospered. The Intendant especially laboured to de- veloiJ the natural resources of the field, the forest, and the mine, as well as the fisheries, and the fur trade. He endeav- oured to promote manufacturing, shipbuilding, and trade with the West Indies. He began the construction of an interco- lonial road to Acadia, and extended explorations towards Hud- son's Bay, the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi. Many of his enlightened schemes are only being carried into effect two centuries after his death. He procured the disbandment of the Carignan regiment in the colony, with grants of land to the 'officers and men. Thus several hundred able-bodied sol- diers were retained in the country, to develop its resources and defend its frontier. In order to procure wives for the disbanded troops and un- married colonists. Talon, in conjunction with the home authori- ties, procured a large immigration of marriageable young women of good character, to whom a handsome dowry, — " an ox, a cow, a pair of swine, a pair of fowls, two barrels of salted moat, and eleven crowns in money," — was paid. A fine was imposed on celibacy, bounties were ofiered for early marriages, and on the arrival of the annual ship-load of candidates for matrimony, " couples were wedded," says the contemporary chronicle, " by thirties at a time." The pater- nal solicitude of the government went still further, and boun- ties were ofiered for the largest families, — a pension of three hundred livres a year for a fimiily of ten children, and one of four hundred livres a year for a family of twelve children, born in lawful wedlock. The tenure of land in New France was a modification of the feudal system. Large blocks, of two or three leagues square, more or less, were granted to seigneurs, generally military officers, or scions of noble houses. These grants they held on ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 121 condition of paying fealty to the king, or his representative, the Governor. This ceremony was annually observed in the Chateau of St. Louis at Quebec. The seigneurs were obliged to pay to the royal or colonial treasury, when any sale of their land was made, a fifth of the purchase-money, hence^ called a quint ; and were required to administer justice and maintain order within their domain. They were expected, if need were, to erect a log or stone fortress for the protection of their ten- ants during the frequent Indian wars, and to construct a mill for the grinding of their corn. This last served often as a loop-holed fortress and rallying point for defence. The military settlers became the tenants or censitaires of the seigneurs, often their former officers, to whom extensive do- mains had been assigned. The land grants of the disbanded soldiers, and others, were situated chiefly on the St. Lawrence and Kichelieu, and were generally a hundred arpents or French acres in size, having a narrow frontage on the river, and run- ning back about a mile and a half. These farms often became subdivided by inheritance into mere ribands of land, some of which have continued in the same family to the present time. Li the absence of roads the proximity to the river furnished facilities for travel, and also for mutual protection. The Sul- pitian Fathers of Montreal, who were, in efiect, the feudal lords of the island, surrounded their domain with a border of hardy settlers in fief, who formed an efi'ective defence in the Indian attacks, to which the settlement was exposed. The censitaires paid to the seigneur a nominal rent ; but they were required also to pay a small annual tribute in kind, as a goose, a pair of fowls, or the like ; to labour for his benefit a cer- tain number of days in the year ; to get their corn ground at his mill, paying a fixed toll therefor ; to give him one fish in every eleven caught ; and, in case of a sale of their lands, to pay him one-twelfth of the price received. This, when the value of the property was increased by buildings, or improve- ments, gi-ew to be an intolerable tax. This system of seign- eurial tenure was only entirely abolished in 1854. The rents were often absurdly low. At Montreal, at this period, a com- 16 122 HISTORY OF CANADA. moil annual rate was half a sou and half a pint of wheat per acre. The purchasing power of money was very great. Fuel sold at Quebec for one and threepence per cord, the amount of a day's wages. Eels were sold in the market at one shilling per hundred. Notwithstanding the patriotic efforts of Talon, the condition of Canada was anything but satisfactory. Trade, strangled by artificial restrictions, languished, and the West India Company grew rich at the expense of the colony. Almost the sole traffic was that in furs, which was unduly stimulated, to the great in- jury of the agricultural interests of the country. The wild forest life had an irresistible fascination to the adventurous spirits of the time. Hundreds of the young men, disdaining the dull routine of labour, became coureurs de hois, — "run- ners of the woods," — and roamed like savage nomads upon the distant shores of lakes Superior and Michigan. Meanwhile the fields languished for lack of tillage ; poverty and famine wasted the land. The commercial monopoly of the Company was the cause of intense dissatisfaction. It possessed the exclusive right of importation, and was therefore enabled to fix the price, both of the necessary supplies of life, and of the furs, fish, and other products of the country, with reference solely to its own inter- ests, without regard to the rights of the people. On the re- monstrance of Talon with Colbert, the Company was compelled, in 1671, to relinquish a part of its monopoly. The people were permitted to import goods on their own account, and also to purchase peltries from the trappers and hunters, both white and red. But they were compelled to pay to the Company a duty of one-fourth of the beaver-skins, and one-twelfth of all the buffalo-robes. At length, in 1674, the charter of the West India Company was rescinded, and the trade reverted directly to the Crown. The collection of the government tax of one-fourth and one- twelfth of all the beaver-skins and buffalo-skins respectively, was leased out to " Farmers-General," who bought up the re- mainder at a fixed price. The coureurs de hois, lawless and ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 123 reckless, set at defiance the royal edicts issued for their re- straint, and glutted the market with furs for which there was no remunerative demand. In the year 1700, three-fourths of the stock at jSIontreal was burned, to make the rest worth exportation. A considerable number of Algonquin Indians, and the rem- nant of the Huron nation, had been gathered into mission com- munities by the Jesuit Fathers, and brought under at least the partial restraint of Christianity and civilization. But the white man's diseases, and the white man's vices, were more easily acquired than the white man's virtues. The deadly small- pox wasted the native tribes, in some cases almost to extinc- tion. Of fifteen hundred Indians at Sillery, nearly all were swept away by this dreadful plague. Tadousac and Three Elvers, where hundreds of Indians had annually assembled to barter their rich furs, the spoils of half a continent, became al- most deserted. As we have already seen, the efiects of the white man's " fire-water" was still more disastrous in demoral- izing and corrupting the native tribes. An act of vigour, on the part of Courcelles, prevented a threatened rupture of the peace, and indeed cemented its bonds all the more firmly. A Mohawk chief had been mur- dered for his furs by three French soldiers, and his tribesmen, of course, were eager for revenge. The Governor, hastening to Montreal, had the soldiers tried, and, on conviction, exe- cuted in the presence of a large assemblage of Iroquois depu- ties. At the same time, he declared that similar justice would be meted out to all violators of the public peace, whether red or white. This vindication of the majesty of law, made a pro- found impression on the Indian mind of the justice of the French, and confirmed them in their allegiance. As another barrier against the inroads of the Iroquois, in the event of war with that restless race, which the French felt was j)retty sure to take place, the fertile mind of Courcelles conceived the project of building a fort at the foot of Lake Ontario, or Lac St. Louis, as it was then called. By com- manding the entrance to the St. Lawrence, he would control at 124 HISTORY OF CANADA. least one of the great avenues of approach from the Iroquois towns to the French settlements. But how should he build such a fort without awaking the hostility of those jealous tribes by what might seem to them a menace to their liberties ? He resolved to appeal to their cupidity. He invited the assembly of a council of Iroquois chiefs at Catarqui, the site of the pro- loosed fort. A great feast was held, the jDcace-pipe was passed, many speeches were made, and the politic gifts of the French presented. The Governor then announced that, out of his great regard for his Iroquois allies, he had determined on building a fort on the spot where they were assembled, in order that the men of the forest cantons might more conveniently trade with their white brethren, than by making the long and perilous voyage down the rapids of the St. Lawrence to oMontreal or Quebec. The project was hailed with delight, and the Indian deputies were eager for the early completion of the works that would place in the hands of the French the key of the naviga- tion of the St. Lawrence. The accomplishment of this wise design, however, was reserved, as we shall see, for the suc- cessor of Courcelles. M. Talon, the energetic Intendant of New France, was the rival of its Governor in efforts to advance its interests. Among his far-reaching schemes, was one which he laid before Colbert, the French minister of finance, for obtaining possession of New York, either by treaty or by conquest. The British col- onies on the Atlantic seaboard being thus divided, it was con- ceived that the subsequent reduction of the New England and Virginian settlements, would be comparatively easy. This astute policy failing, Talon zealously devoted himself to the exploration of the interior. The hope of finding a passage, by means of the great lakes and rivers of the far AYest, across the continent to the Pacific Ocean, and the golden shores of China and India beyond, had not yet been abandoned. At all events, it was possible, by descending the great Father of Waters, of which he had heard, to find an outlet to the ocean, and by securing a southern seaport, to hold the Spaniards m EOYAL GOVERNMENT. 125 check, and obtain a share of those vast regions to which they laid exclusive claim. The lutendant found in the Jesuit missionaries and adventur- ous fur traders, admirable agents for carrying out this policy. As we have seen, the missionary Fathers were the pathfinders of empire in the for West. Lured by their love of souls, they early penetrated the remotest wilderness to preach the Gospel to the wandering tribes of the forest. In 1615, within seven years after the founding of Quebec, and five years before the settlement of Plymouth Colony, a Catholic missionary had planted the cross and chanted the mass on the shores of the great inland sea, Lake Huron. From 1626 to 1649, except during the three years of British rule at Quebec, devoted bands of missionaries laboured and pra^^ed and died in that rugged wilderness, for the salvation of souls. In 1640, Brebeuf and Chaumonot explored the southern shore of Lake Erie. In 1641, as we have seen, Jogues and Raymbault jireached to two thousand red men at the Sault Ste. Marie. In 1646, Pere de Quen threaded the gloomy passes of the Saguenay to teach the way of redemption to savage northern hordes. In 1660, Ren6 INIesnard, though aged and infirm, set out for Lake Superior, reached Keweenaw Bay, and perished in the wilderness. The zeal of Laval burned to tread in the same path of trial and glory. In 1665, Pere AUotiez paddled his frail canoe over the crystal waters of Superior, beneath the pictured rocks, the columned palisades, the rolling sand-dunes of its southern shore, to its furthest extremity, and heard of the vast prairies and great rivers beyond. After dwelling two years on its shores, and having preached the Gospel to twenty tribes who came from afar to hear the wondrous story, he returned to Quebec for re- cruits for his mission. Such was his zeal, that after a single day's sojourn in the precincts of civilization, he was on his way back to the wilderness with another priest, Louis Nicolas, as his companion in holy toil. In 1670, Claude Dablou and James Marquette established a permanent mission at the rapids of St. Mary, a fiivouritc fish- ing ground for all the neighbouring Indians. The following 126 niSTORT OF CANADA. year, by the invitation of Talon, a great council of northwest tribes was assembled at this mission. Here was St. Lusson, the secular representative of Talon and the king, and his fifteen companions, in their most brilliant military dress. Here, in the vestments of their ofSce, were four Jesuit priests. Here, also, were the envoys of many a tribe, from forest and prairie, far and near. The background of the strange scene was the interminable forest, and in the foreground was the rapid river, where the waters of an inland sea, rushing down the steep in- cline, lash themselves to snowy foam. A large cross was 8AULT STE. MAKIE RAPIDS. raised, and the whole company of the French, bowing low be- fore the sacred symbol, chanted the ancient hymn, — Vexilla Regis prodennt ; Fulget crucis mysterium. The banners of Heaven's King advance ; The mystery of the Cross shines forth. To a cedar post beside the cross was affixed a metal plate, en- graved with the royal arms of France. In feudal ceremonial, St. Lusson, raising a sod of earth in one hand and his sword in the other, took possession of the whole vast region in the name of his sovereign lord, Louis XIV. Of the proud do- minion so vauntingly proclaimed, naught now remains save the ROYAL GOVERXMEXT. 127 name of some French Saint or Sieur given to lake or river, — this and nothing more. The further exploration of the far AYest, which Talon had already projected, and for the accomplishment of which he had already selected the agents, was to be the crowning glory of a succeeding administration. In the desolate regions around Hudson's Bay, the indefati- gable Intendant also asserted the sovereignty of France against the claims of the British. Trading-posts had been established by the English at the mouth of the lonely arctic rivers, whose names, Eupert, Albany, and Churchill, commemorate the aus- pices under which they were founded. In 1671, the Jesuit Albanel, with two civil commissioners, penetrated the gloomy gorge of the Saguenay, to Lake St. John. Wintering here, in the following spring they crossed the water- shed between the St. Lawrence and the Arctic Ocean, and on the shores of the vast and lonely Hudson's Bay, in the presence of delegates a from dozen savage tribes, took jDOssession of the country in the name of the King of France. Even on the bleak coasts of Newfoundland the authority of of France was maintained. These shores were early visited by the shipping of almost every European nation, engaged in gathering the rich harvest of the sea upon its foggy banks. The English had made a few fishing settlements, as St. John's, and at Conception Bay, where the London and Bristol Com- pany, of which Lord Bacon was a member, had planted a col- ony as early as 1616. The jurisdiction of the coast was given to a British officer, Captain Whitburn, — "the first of those « Fishing Admirals,' as they were called, who governed the island from their vessel's deck." In 1622, Lord Baltimore or- ganized, upon the south and east coast of the island, the province of Avalon, but soon forsook it for the more genial climate and fertile soil of JMarylaud. The French had formed a settlement at the Bay of Plaisance, or Placeutia, which, however, had remained in the hands of private parties ; but during the period of which we write, the 128 HISTORY OF CANADA. king sent out a militaiy officer, Sieur de Pojps, to hold it for the crown. In the midst of the great exploits and vast schemes just described, the government of Canada passed from the hands of Courcelles and Talon into those of successors well adapted to carry out their designs. In 1672, on the plea of ill-health, the Governor sought permission to return, and Talon, doubtless foreseeing the probability of collision with the fiery Frontenac, also requested his own recall. DISCOVERT OF THE GREAT WEST. 129 CHAPTER X. DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST. Frontonac, Governor, 1672 — Joliet and Marquette Discover the Mississippi, 1673 — La Salle — Founding of Fort Frontenac — La Sallo's Explorations — Launch of the "Griffin," 1679 — Cr5vecoeur — La Salle's Winter March to Canada — Mutiny — Tonti — Hennepin Explores the Upper Mississippi — La Salle Reaches the Mouth of Mississippi, 1682 — Visits France — Attempts to Colonize Louisiana — Loss of the " Aimable " and " Belle" — Disasters at Fort St. Louis — Futile Attempts to Reach Canada — Assassination of La Salle, 1687 — Tragic Fate of the Texan Colony. IN the year 1672, Louis de Buade, Count de Frontenac, was appointed Governor, and M. Duchesneau, Intendant of Canada. Frontenac was a gallant soldier, of old and noble family, and characterized in a remarkable degree by both the virtues and vices of the haughty race from which he sprang. He was alternately condescending and overbearing, generous and jealous, magnanimous and irascible, pious and vindictive. He was already a lieutenant-general, had shone in courts, and was versed in books. He proved no less a successful leader in savage than in civilized warfare, and was more than a match in political cunning for the Machiavellis of the forest. His im- perious temper soon involved him in disputes with both Bishop and Intendant, and rendered his whole administration one of tumult and strife. The chief glory of Frontenac's administration, was the spirit of daring exploration and discovery, by which it was character- ized. In this respect it but followed out the wise principles and projects of Talon. That able administrator had already, before his resignation ot office, committed to zealous asfents the task of discovering the great river of the West, described by the Indian neophytes of the mission of Sault Ste. Marie, as flowing through a vast and fertile region, from north to south, and by them named the Mechasepe, or, as some called it, the 17 130 HISTORY OF CANADA. Mississippi. To the adventures of Louis Joliet and James Marquette, in solving this important problem, we must devote a few paragraphs. Joliet was the first native Canadian whose name was to be- come conspicuous in the annals of his country. He was born in Quebec, in 1645. He was educated by the Jesuits, and, while very young, resolved to become a priest. At the age of seventeen, he received the tonsure and the minor orders. He soon, however, abandoned thought of the priesthood and be- came a fur trader. He was selected by Talon to explore the copper mines of Lake Superior in 1669, and afterwards to join Marquette in the search for the Mississippi. Marquette, as w^e have seen, was one of the devoted band of Jesuit missionaries who toiled among the Indians on the shores of lakes Superior and Michigan. He was joined by Joliet at the mission of St. Ignace, on the Straits of Michillimackinac. On the 17th of iNIay, 1673, in two bark canoes, with five men, they set out on their eventful journey. Coasting the shores of Green Bay, they reached the Fox River. Ascending this stream for many miles, they crossed a difficult portage to the Wisconsin River, and glided dow^n its gentle current to the mighty Father of "Waters. Day after day they sailed down the solitary stream for over a thousand miles, past the rushing Mis- souri, the turbid Ohio, and the sluggish Arkansas. Learning that the mighty river flowed onward to the Gulf of Mexico, and fearing that they would fall into the hands of the Spaniards, — more to be feared than the pagan of the wilderness, — they toilfully retraced their way to the mouth of the Illinois. Threading that stream they reached the site of Chicago, and sailed up Lake Michigan. Joliet hastened to Quebec to tell the story of the fair and virgin lands of the Far West, while Mar- quette remained to preach the Gospel to his beloved Miamis. Two years later, while on a preaching excursion, feeling his end to be near, though only in his thirty-eighth year, Marquette built a small booth of branches, and, requesting to be left to his devo- tions, died, like the heroic missionary explorer, Livingstone, while hoidins: communion with his Maker. The beautiful river DISCOVERT OF THE GREAT WEST. 131 and the busy town that bear his name perpetuate the memory of the discoverer of the Great West. Joliet's tidings excited a profound interest in Canada. His dauntless enterprise led him subsequently to make an overland journey to Hudson's Bay, and to explore the coasts of Labra- dor. He received a grant of the Island of Anticosti, M-here he died in 1701. A county in his native province, and a mountain and cit}'' in Illinois, commemorate his fame. Still another name was destined to be forever identified with the early exploration of the ^Mississippi, — that of La Salle. Rol)ert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, was the heir of a wealth}- burgher of Rouen, but he had forfeited his inheritance by en- tering a Jesuit seminary. His active spirit, however, was ill- adapted for scholastic life, and, leavin* the seminary, he sailed for Canada, to seek his fortune in the wilderness. He received from the Sulpitian Fathers of Montreal, a grant of land at the head of the rapids above the city. Here he planted a trading- post, to which was subsequently given the name, either seri- ously or in derision, of La Chine, as if it were the first stage on the way to China, in allusion to La Salle's idea that that country could be reached by following, westward, the water- ways across the continent. Impelled by this idea. La Salle longed to explore the Far "West, of which, even before Joliet's revelation, such exciting rumours had reached his eager ears. Having re-sold to the Seminary of St. Sulpice his seigneury at La Chine, he joined, in the summer of 1669, a company of Sulpitian priests who had resolved to emulate in the wilderness, the missionary zeal of their rivals, the Jesuits. With four and twenty men, in seven canoes, they left La Chine on the 6th of July. A month of arduous toil was consumed in overcoming the rapids of the St. Lawrence, and reaching Lake Ontario. Failing to procure a guide in the Seneca country, the adventurers pressed on to the head of Lake Ontario. Here they were met by Joliet on his return from his Lake Superior exploration, and the Sulpitian Fathers decided to visit the tribes on that gi-eat " unsaltedsea." following the route shown on a map given them by Joliet. La 132 HISTORY OF CANADA. Salle, on the contrary, determined to solve the geographical problem of the West, and feigned sickness in order to part company from the Sulpitians without an open rupture. The latter pressed on by way of the Grand Eiver, lakes Erie and Huron, to Sault Ste. Marie, wintering near Long Point, on 1670. Lake Erie, and taking i^ossession of the country in the name of the King of France. Having apparently lost their missionary zeal, they returned, after three days sojourn at the Sault, by way of French River, Lake Nipissing, and the Ottawa, to Montreal. The movements of La Salle during this time are involved in obscurity. It appears that he reached the Ohio, and, possibly, the following season. Lake Michigan and the Wisconsin ; but it is not certain that at that time he discovered the Mississippi, although it has been claimed that he did. One of the first acts of Frontenac, the new Governor, in pur- suance of the design ©f Courcelles, was the planting of a fort and trading-post at the foot of Lake Ontario,* both long known l)y his name, in order to check the interference of the English from Albany and New York with the fur-trade of the Indian allies of the French, and to prevent the inroads of the Iroquois in the event of war. The merchants of Montreal, Three Rivers, and Quebec were exceedingly jealous of the establish- ment of the fort, from a well-grounded apprehension that it would seriously aflfect their profits, by intercepting no small share of the lucrative fur-trade. Frontenac, however, by an imperious exercise of the royal authority, commanded the inhabitants of these settlements to furnish, at their own cost, a number of armed men and canoes for that very purpose. In 1673. the month of June, he collected, at Montreal, a force of four hundred men, including mission Indians, with a hundred and twenty canoes, and two large flat-boats. These last he caused to be painted with glaring devices of red and blue, in order to dazzle the Iroquois by a display of unaccustomed magnificence. Frontenac infused his own indomitable energy into his little •■ * Where KiujistoD now stands. DISCOVERT OF THE GREAT WEST. 133 army. In tw^o Aveeks they had overcome, with incredible toil, the difficulties of the rapids and, threading the lovely mazes of the Thousand Islands, reached the waters of Lake Ontario. Frontenac had previously dispatched La Salle, who had re- turned from his first expedition to the West, and in whom he discerned a spirit kindred to his own, to summon deputies from the Iroquois towns to meet him at Cataraqui, the destined site of the new fort. A large number of Iroquois were already en- camped when Frontenac approached. Forming his little flotilla in battle array, he advanced with much military jDomp, and landed near the site of the present city of Kingston.* Bivouac fires were soon lighted, guards set, and the " qui vive" of the French sentry was heard on the shores of Lake Ontario. The next morning, with roll of drums and much presenting of arms, the Iroquois deputies were conducted, between glit- tering files of soldiers, to the presence of the Governor and his staff, who were arrayed in their most brilliant uniforms. The stately manners and masterful address of Frontenac, — a born ruler of men, by turns haughty and condescending, impe- rious, and winning, — impressed the savages with respect, con- fidence, and good-will no less than did the splendour of his appearance and retinue. " Children ! " he said, — not " brothers," as the French had previously called them, — " I am glad to see you. You did well to obey the command of your Father. Take courage ; you shall hear his word, which is full of peace and tenderness." He then magnified the power of the French, and, pointing to the cannon of his brilliantly painted flat-boats, admonished them of the consequences of disobeying his commands. He set forth the advantages of his friendship, and of the establish- ment of the new trading-post, and urged the claims of the Christian religion, both by its terrors and its rewards. The speech was accompanied by politic presents, — " six fathoms of tobacco," guns for the men, and prunes and raisins for the women and children, and generous feasts for all. * On the point to the west of the Cataraqui Bridge, at present occupied by the barracks. 134 IIISTCRY OF CAN'ADA. Meanwhile the construction of the fort went rapidly forward. Trees were felled, trenches dug, and palisades planted, with a speed that astonished the indolent Indians. In ten days the fort was nearly completed, and leaving a sufficient force for its defence, by the 1st of August Frontenac reached IMontreal. The grasp of a master's hand was felt. France held the key of the great lakes. The royal treasury was low, and the pleasure-loving sover- eign preferred to lavish its resources in court dissipations rather than in maintaining a fort in the heart of the wilderness. The 1674. proposal of La Salle, who had gone to France to urge his suit, to re-imburse the cost of building Fort Frontenac, and to maintain it at his own expense, in consideration of ob- taining the privilege of the fur trade, was therefore accepted. He accordingly received the seigneury of Fort Frontenac, with its adjacent lands, and was soon able to raise .large sums of money for the accomplishment of his designs. He rebuilt the wooden fort of Frontenac in stone, and constructed, for the prosecution of his fur trade, four small decked vessels, the first that ever floated on the waters of Ontario. But he nursed a nobler ambition in his soul than that of l)e- ing a successful fur trader, an ambition which was fanned to a still more ardent flame by the glory of Joliet's discovery. Again visiting France, in 1678, he obtained, through the in- fluence of Colbert, a royal commission for exploration in the Far West, with authority to erect forts, and a monopoly of the traffic in buffiilo-skins. Having engaged some thirty followers, and procured a supply of anchors, cables, rigging, tools, and merchandise, he sailed for Canada. Among his followers was one who proved of vast service in the execution of his bold designs, — Henri de Tonti, an ItaUan officer, of dauntless daring and miflinching fidelity. He had lost a hand by the ex^Dlosion of a grenade, and wore an iron substitute, which he sometimes used with striking efiect upon the astonished Indians. Another of La Salle's companions in exploration, was Father Hennepin, a Recollet friar, a man of great courage, but also of intense vanity, and, in the narration of his exploits, of DISCOVERT OF THE GREAT WEST. 135 unl)lusliing exaggeration, not to say mendacity. The Sicur do la IMotte, an intelligent Frenchman, was also an efficient ally. On the 18th of November, a cold and gusty day, La ]\Iotte, Hennepin, and sixteen others, left Fort Frontenac in a little vessel of ten tons for the Niagara River. Plugging the northern shore of Lake Ontario, in ten days they reached an Indian town, not far from the site of Toronto, and took refuge in the mouth of the Ilumljer, where they were frozen in. Cutting their way out of the ice, on the 5th of December, they crossed the win- try lake to the Niagara, which they ascended as far as the rapids at Queenston. Skirting the cliff above the rugged gorge, the explorers beheld, amid its setting of sombre forest, the virgin loveliness of the great cataract. Hennepin's account and sketch of the Falls are graphic, though exaggerated. The party returned to the mouth of the river, and began the con- struction of a fort. So intense was the cold, that they had to thaw the frozen ground with hot water, before they could plant the palisades. Li order to conciliate the Seneca Licliaus, who controlled the portage, and to obtain permission to maintain the fort, La Motte and Hennepin set out on a journey to the chief town of the tribe, beyond the Genesee River, which they reached on the last day of the year. The Senecas accepted their gifts, but gave evasive answers to their petition, icto. and the disappointed ambassadors returned, foot-worn and weary, to the Niagara. La Salle had set sail a few days after La Motte. Already misfortune began to dog his footsteps, and his vessel was wrecked some thirty miles west of the Niagara River, with the loss of all his provisions and merchandise. During the winter. La Salle, with two companions, returned, on foot, through the snow-encumbered woods, to Fort Frontenac, for additional naval supplies. Their bag of parched corn foiled them on the way, and for two clays they journeyed fasting. An essential part of the enterprise, was the construction of a vessel above the Falls. All the ropes and rigging rescued from the wreck, -were therefore carried over the steep and rugged portage, extending from Lewiston to Cayuga Creek, a 136 HISTORY OF CANADA. distance of twelve miles, Hennepin carrying on his shoulders his portable altar and its furniture. Here, amid short allowance of food and many other priva- tions, which were not compensated by the frequent masses and homilies of Hennepin, the little company toiled at the construc- tion of a vessel. Its huge ribs so j^rovoked at once the aston- ishment and jealousy of the neighbouring Indians that, as a squaw informed the French, they determined to burn it on the stocks. In the spring, however, it was sufficiently advanced for launching, which ceremony took place amid the chanting of the Te Deum and salvos of miniature artillery. The armament of five small cannon made the vessel an effective floating fort. It received the name of the " Griffin," from the armorial bear- ings of Frontenac, and bore, carved upon the prow, the effigy of that fabulous creature. Not till the month of August did La Salle return to Niagara. Incited by his enemies, his creditors had seized his property lor debts, which his seigneury would amply have discharged. But his great enterprise might not brook delay, and with his usual fortitude, he submitted to the blow. On the 7th of August, the "Griffin," a goodly craft, of forty-five tons burden, spread her wings to the breeze, and, stemming the rapid current, entered Lake Erie. In three weeks, the pioneer mariners of the inland seas, thirty-four in all, reached the Michillimackinac mission, at the entrance to Lake Michigan, having escaped a violent storm on Lake Hu- ron. The strange apparition of the winged vessel, and boom- ing cannon, everywhere produced surprise and consternation. La Salle freighted the " Griffin" with a cargo of furs in order to appease the clamours of his creditors, and sent her back to Niagara. She must have foundered in an autumnal storm, as she was never heard of again. Weary of waiting her return, he resolved to explore the in- terior. With Hennepm, Tonti, and thirty men, by the end of December, after many privations and adventures, he reached Lake Peoria, in the heart of the populous country of the Illi- nois. Here, amid the despondency, mutiny, and desertion of DISCOVERT OF THE GREAT WEST. 137 his men, he built a fort, to "svhich, in alhision to his disfistcrs and disappointments, he gave the name of Crevecoeur, — Heart- break. Despatching Hennepin to explore the upper igso. waters of the Mississippi, and having seen well advanced the construction of a vessel of forty tons burden, in which he pur- posed descending the great river to the Gulf of Mexico, and sailing to the AVest Indies, the intrepid pioneer set out, on the 3d of ]\Iarch, with five companions, through wintry snows and pathless woods, to Fort Frontenac, more than a thousand miles distant, in order to procure stores, anchors, and rigging for his new vessel. The hardships of that terrible journey were almost unpar- alleled. The streams were impeded with floating ice, and the travellers had frequently to break a way for their canoe with axes, or to drag it for leagues through marsh or forest encmn- bered with melting snow. They were at length compelled to abandon it altogether, and laden with arms, ammunition, blanket, and kettle, to wade, knee-deep, through slush, or inundated meadows. Game was scarce, and the pangs of hunger were added to the sufferings of fatigue. The Indians, too, were hostile. For days. La Salle and his companions were dogged by a war-party, and dared not light a fire at night to dry their saturated clothes. Snow, sleet, and rain, piercing winds and bitter cold, and weary marches through the woods, . wore down their failing strength. Fever, cold, and spitting of blood attacked several of the Frenchmen, and even the Indian guide. On Easter Monday, they reached the fort on the Niagara, where the " Griffin" had been launched. La Salle alone, sustained by his indomitable energy, was capable of a further journey. But it was necessary for him to hasten on to Fort Frontenac. Tidings of disaster awaited him. Besides the confirmation of the loss of the " Griffin," with her valuable lading, he learned that a ship from France, freighted with his goods, valued at over twenty-two thousand livres, had baen totally wrecked in the St. Lawrence. His agents had plundered him, his property had been seized for debt, and several of his canoes, with rich lading of furs, had been lost in 18 138 HISTORY OF CANADA. the rapids. Still his unconquerable will overcame every obstacle. He obtained in Montreal, the needed supplies and recruits for his great expedition, and "was on the eve of setting out from Fort Frontenac on his return to Crevecoeur, -when a more crushing blow fell upon him than any he had yet re- ceived. Two yoyageurs arrived, bringing a letter from Tonti, his faithful Italian lieutenant, which stated that, shortly after La Salle's departure, the turbulent garrison of Crevecoeur had mutinied, plundered the stores, destroyed the fort, and thrown into the river the arms and goods they could not carry off. They also seized, at Michillimackinac, a quantity of furs belong- ing to La Salle, and plundered his forts on Lake jMichlgan, and at Niagara. Part of the rascal crew then fled to the English at Albany, and the rest, twelve in number, were advancing to Fort Frontenac to murder its seigneur. La Salle only braced himself for fresh energies. With nine trusty men, he pro- ceeded to intercept the mutineers. After a sharp resistance, in which two were slain, the survivors were captured and conveyed to Fort Frontenac, therato await their trial. La Salle's cherished enterprise seemed now utterly wrecked. Yet, he did not despair. On the 10th of August, he again set out for the country of the Ilhnois, with a company of twenty- five men. This time, he went by a new route. He ascended the Humber, from Lake Ontario, and, crossing a portage to the Holland Elver, reached Lake Simcoe, and then descended the Severn to Lake Huron. Skirting the IManitouliu Islands, he hastened on with seven men, by way of Lake INIichigan and the Joseph, Kankeekee, and Illinois rivers to Crevecoeur, leaving the rest of his force to follow. Here a scene of horror awaited him. The great Illinois town of seven or eight thou- sand inhal)itants, near which the fort was built, was a desolation of blackened embers, hideous with charred bodies, rifled from the Indian graves, and half devoured by wolves and buzzards, — on every side was evidence of massacre and havoc. The fort was utterl}^ demolished, although the vessel still lay upon the stocks ; but no signs of Tonti, or of his companions, could DISCOVERT OF THE GREAT WEST. 139 be found. La Salle, therefore, disheartened, but not despair- ing, retraced his steps to his fort of St. Joseph, where he gath- ered his men about him and awaited intelligence of* his lost lieutenant. The story of that hero's adventures is one of tragic interest. After the flight of the mutineers, he, with his little band of Frenchmen, seven in all, removed to the Indian town, in order to conciliate its inhabitants. An unexpected storm of savage fury l)urst upon this forest community. The ferocious Iroquois, havins: well-nio-h exterminated the Hurons, Erics, and An- dastes, sought new tribes to conquer. Five hundred painted warriors made their way through pathless forests, from the lovely lakes of central New York, to the fertile prairies of the Illinois. They burst like a hurricane upon the hapless town and soon made of a populous country a solitude. Having con- Cjuered the Illinois warriors, the Iroquois completed their vic- tory by the wanton butchery of women and children, and the desecration of the graves. Tonti, after futile efforts to medi- ate, in which he was nearly slain, was only able to save his little company by retreat to Green Bay. Indeed, even retreat did not save them all, for Father Ribourde, the only heir of a rich Burgundian house, retiring to the forest to recite the office of his breviary, was cut off by a band of prowling savages. But what, meanwhile, had become of Father Hennepin, whom, as we have seen, La Salle had sent to explore the Upper Mississippi? The unquestioned courage and energy of that distinguished pioneer, were unhappily equalled by his vanity and mendacity. Bating all exaggerations, however, it appears that he, with his two companions, followed the course of the mighty river almost to its source, fiir beyond the beautiful Falls of jNIinnehaha, which he named after St. Anthony of Padua. The daring explorers were captured by the Sioux, who mani- fested the same intractaljle spirit that still characterizes that tribe. After many hardships, they made their escape, and returned, by way of the Wisconsin and the lakes, to Canada, to tell their remarkable story. AVith consummate tact and eloquence and skill in the man- 140 HISTORY OF CANADA. agement of the red race, La Salle organized a confederacy of western tribes, as a bulwark against the invading Iroquois, and as the allies of the colony and trading-post, which he purposed 1681. planting on the Illinois. To appease his creditors, and to collect means for carrying out his project, he must again visit Canada. Paddling a thousand miles in a frail canoe, he reached Fort Frontenac. Obtaining fresh supplies of goods, arms, and ammunition, by mortgaging his already heavily en- cumbered seigneury, he returned to the country of the Illinois. 1683. With his faithful lieutenant, Tonti, twenty-three French- men, and eighteen Indians with their squaws, he started upon his eventful voyage of discovery. Having abandoned, for a time, the idea of building a vessel, he resolved to trust to canoes. It was midwinter, and the canoes and stores had to be dragged for some distance on sledges over the snow. At length, after floating down the tranquil waters of the Illinois, on the 6th of February the frail barks were launched on the broad bosom of the Mississippi. For sixty days they glided down the giant stream, leaving behind the icy realm of winter, and entering the genial domain of spring. Savage tribes were awed by displays of pov/er, or conciliated by the bestowment of gifts. On the 6th of April, the broad, blue, heaving billows of the Gulf of Mexico burst upon their view. With feudal pomp and religious ceremony. La Salle proclaimed the sovereignty of Louis le Grand over the vast country of Louisiana, — a country emliracing the whole mid-continent, from the sources of the Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico ; from the Alleghanies to the Eocky Mountains. The gallant explorer joined in the grand Te Deum and Vexilla Regis, and volleys of musketry, and shouts of Vive le Roi, confirmed the annexation of half a con- tinent to the domain of France.* La Salle now set his face northward, eager to dispatch the nev>^s of his discovery to Canada, and to France. But an in- vasion of the Illinois country by the Iroquois was imminent. He therefore tarried to build, with vast toil, a new fort, St. * The Ohio and the Mississipiii received the names respectively of River St. Louis and Eiver Colbert. DISCOVERT OF THE GREAT WEST. 141 Louis, at " Starved Rock," * an isolated cliff, with steep escarp- ments, overhanging the Illinois River. But Frontenac had been re-called from the government of Canada, and the in- trigues of La Salle's enemies, led by La Barre, the new Gov- ernor, were unrestrained. His discoveries were discredited, his character was maligned, his scigneury was seized, his authority was superseded, he was summoned to Quebec, and an officer was sent to assume command of his new fort, St. Louis. La Salle hastened to France to defend himself against the accusations of his enemies, and to solicit the aid of the Crown in carrying out the grand emprise, in which he had exhausted his private fortune. In his memorial to the King, he modestly sets forth his claims for assistance. "To acquit himself of the commission with which he was charged," he says, writing of himself in the third person, " he had neglected all his pri- vate affairs, because they were alien to his enterprise ; he had omitted nothing that was needful to its success, notwithstand- ing dangerous illness, heavy losses, and all the other evils he had suffered. During five years, he had made five journeys of more, in all, than five thousand leagues, for the most part on foot, with extreme fatigue, through snow and through water, without escort, without provisions, without bread, without wine, without recreation, and without repose. He had trav- ersed more than six hundred leagues of country, hitherto un- known, among savage and cannibal nations, against whom he must daily make fight, though accompanied by only thirty-six men, and consoled only by the hope of succeeding in an enter- prise which he thought would be agreeable to his majesty." f Nor were these statements, as we have seen, exaggerations. He had expended on this enterprise one hundred and fifty thou- sand crowns, and was now so impoverished that, unless subsi- dized by the King, his lofty projects for the glory of France, and extension of her dominion, must fail. He therefore asked * So named from being the last refuge of a party of Illinois, who were starved to death by their enemies. t Quoted from a contemporary document by Parkman, " Discovery of the Great West," p. 302, iwte. 142 HISTORY OF CANADA. for one vessel and two hundred men for one year, in which time he proposed to fortify the mouth of the River Colbert or Mississippi, thus controlling eight hundred leagues of inland navigation ; to organize a force of fifteen thousand savages ; 1684. and to attack the Spaniards and seize the rich mines of Mexico. Dazzled by this gigantic scheme, which La Salle must have known, greatly transcended his ability to execute, the King placed at his disposal four vessels, with a military force, and re-instated him in possession of his Canadian seign- eury, which, it will, be remembered, had been seized by La Barre. On the 1st of August, the ill-fated expedition, numbering, including soldiers, sailors, and settlers, two hundred and eighty in all, set sail from Rochelle. Beaujeu, who was invested with the naval command, entertained an intense jealousy of La Salle, and did all in his power to thwart his designs. Many of the recruits for the colony were beggars and vagabonds from the streets of Rochelle and Rochefort, and proved turbulent and mutinous. When the fleet reached St. Domingo, fifty men, on board the " Joly," the principal vessel, were sick. La Salle among the number. Tossing in the delirium of fever, in a wretched garret, under a tropical sun, he well-nigh lost his life. The control of his firm hand removed, the turbulent col- onists became utterly demoralized ; and the carping, mousing, inefficient Beaujeu employed himself in writing censorious letters to the minister of marine, maligning the sick man, whose true greatness he was incapable of comprehending. After a month's delay, pale and haggard and weak. La Salle was able to sail again. By a fatal mistake, the little fleet missed the mouth of the Mississippi, and sailed some two hun- dred miles to the west of it. In attempting to enter Matagorda Bay, on the Texan coast, the " Aimable," his principal store- ship, was wrecked. La Salle thought by design, on a sand-bar, with the loss of nearly all the provisions, arms, ammunition, tools, medicines, baggage, and other goods — a blow of crushing calamity to the infant colony. The base-souled and treacherous Beaujeu, to whose machinations the disaster was probably due. DISCOVERT OF THE GREAT WEST. 143 now set sail and abandoned the disheartened settlers to their fate. A rude redoubt and a few hovels were built of drift- wood and fragments of the wreck upon the wild, inhospitable shore, named, in feudal fealty, St. Louis, The neighbouring Indians j)roved hostile, prowled around the frail fort, and stole some of the goods rescued from the wreck. In attempting to recover them, two of the Frenchmen were shiin. Another was bitten by a snake and died. Two men, preferring the risk of starving on the prairie to the hard- ships of the camp, deserted. Others attempted to escape, but were caught, and one was hanged. La Salle set out to explore the country. A conspiracy to murder Joutel, his lieutenant, was discovered and crushed. La Salle returned to report the disastrous intelligence that they were far from the INIississippi, the goal of their hopes. Gloom, and almost despair, settled upon every soul but that of the unconquerable commander. During the summer, more than thirty of the colonists died, and many of the survivors were smitten with mortal illness. It was absolutely necessary to find the Mississippi. La Salle, therefore, on the 1st of November, set out in quest of that "fatal river." Five weary months dragged on, when, one day, seven or eight travel-worn men, with patched and tattered clothing, appeared before the fort. They were La Salle lese. and his companions in misfortune. He had failed in the object of his search, and the " Belle," a little vessel on which he had depended for the transport of his colony to the ]\Iississippi, was -vvTecked, with the loss of many lives, and of all his papers, and the bulk of the stores, ammunition, and tools rescued from the " Aimable." La Salle now made the desperate resolve to attempt an over- land journey to Canada, for succours for his ill-starred colony. Having patched their ragged clotliing with deer or buffalo^kins, after mass and prayers, the forlorn hope, each man bearing his pack and weapons, set forth on their long and perilous route. Six months more dragged their weary length along, when La Salle once more appeared at his Texan fort, wasted with fever, worn with fatigue, and again baffled in his attempt to reach the 144 HISTORY OF CANADA. " fatal river," as by common consent the Mississippi was called. Of twenty men who had gone out with him, but eight returned. Four had deserted, the"* rest had succumbed to the perils of the journey. The condition of the colony was now desperate. Of over two hundred settlers only forty remained alive, several of whom were women and children, and most of the men were com- pletely demoralized by treachery, mutiny, vice, or disease. La Salle alone, by his unconquerable will and audacity of hope, curbed their turbulent spirits and saved them from despair. A dreary Christmas and Twelfth Xight, were celebrated with fes- 1687. tive cups filled with water instead of wine. A journey to Canada was clearly the only resort. The sails of the "Belle" were cut up to make clothing for the travellers, and after midnight mass, and bitter parting of sighs and tears, and last, long embraces. La Salle and twenty men started on the fatal journey, soon to end, for him and others, in disaster and death. Among his followers, were some turbulent spirits, — ex-buc- caneers, and the like, — who ill-brooked the restraints of his rigorous discipline, and resented his stern and haughty manner. A nephew of the great explorer, a hot-headed youth, also pro- voked their malice by his imperious and inconsiderate conduct. It was resolved by the mutineers to murder both uncle and nephew, and their most attached followers ; and, throwing off the restraints of civilization, to join some Indian tribe, and share their savage life. La Salle seemed to have a presentiment of his fate. " On the day of his death," writes the Recollet friar, who witnessed his assassination, "he spoke to me of nothing but matters of piety, grace, and predestination ; enlarging on the debt he owed to God, who had saved him from so many perils during more than twenty years of travel in America." His nephew and two faithful servants had been already murdered while out hunting, and he, proceeding to ascertain their fate, walked into an ambuscade and was treacherously slain by a musket-shot. " There thou liest, great bashaw ! " cried one of the murderers DISCOVERT OF THE GREAT WEST. 145 in cruel exultation over his corpse. With unuttera1)le baseness, they stripped the body naked, and left it unburied on the prairie, to be devoured by buzzards and wolves. The animating spirit of La Salle was not the religious enthusiasm of the Jesuit missionaries, nor the patriotic devotion of Champlain, but rather a vast ambition, a passion for dis- covery, an intense energy of character, which courted difSculty and defied danger. The story of his life is one almost unbroken Iliad of disaster. He failed in that magic gift of successful leadership, that disarms jealousy and inspires enthu- siasm equal to its own. He was the victim of unscrupulous rivals, and of craven-hearted traitors. His splendid services to France and civilization merited a better fate than his tragic and treacherous death, at the early age of forty-thi-ee, upon the Texan plains. The assassins soon quarrelled among themselves, and, for the most part, perished by mutual slaughter, or were murdered by the Indians. The Recollet friar, Jean Cavelier, a Sulpitian priest, and elder brother of La Salle, with five others, made their way, with incredible hardship, by route of the Mississippi and Illinois, the great lakes, and the French and Ottawa rivers, to Canada, and proceeded to France, where the tragic story awoke much commiseration. The brave Tonti, La Salle's faithful lieutenant, set out from Fort St. Louis, on the Illinois, to succour the wretched rem- nant of the Texan colony. The mutiny and desertion of his followers, floods, fever, and semi-starvation prevented the accomplishment of his generous purpose ; and he subsequently died in obscurity, more fortunate in this than nis unhappy chief. Two years later, a Spanish force from Mexico, sent to ex- terminate the French intruders, discovered the ill-starred Texan fort. But no sentry challenged their approach, no banner waved above the frail redoubt, the silence of death reigned over all. They entered, and beheld a scene of ravage and ruin. On the prairie without lay three dead bodies, one that of a woman. From a painted and wandering savage, once a French- 19 146 HISTORY OF CANADA. man, and follower of La Salle, now lapsed to barbarism, they learned the massacre of the ^v^Tetched remnant of the colonists, wasted by small-pox, sick at heart of hope deferred, and per- chance welcoming death, as a release from their sufferings. Thus ended, in disappointment, disaster, and death. La Salle's vast and towering schemes of conquest and commerce and colo- nization. TILE AGONY OF CANADA. 147 CHAPTER XI. "THE AGONY OF CANADA." Civil Disputes— "Frontenac's Conflict with Perrot and Laval — Frontenac re. called — La Barre, Viceroy, 1G82 — Iroquois War Renewed — Disaster of Famine Cove, 1684 — Deuonville, Viceroy — Seizes Iroquois Chiefs — Defeats Senecas — Plants Western Forts — Iroquois Eavage Frontier — Treachery of Le Rat (Koudiaronk) — Massacre of LacMne, the "brain-blow" of Canada, 1689. WE must now return to trace the internal history of Can- ada, from which we have been diverted by the consid- eration of La Salle's eventful career. During the ten years of Frontenac's first colonial administra- tion, his haughty and overbearing manners involved him in perpetual disputes with the Bishop, the Intendant, the Council, the Jesuits, — in fact, with all who opposed his often arbitrary will. M. Perrot, the Governor of Montreal, being accused of traffic with the Indians, contrary to the ordinances of the King, he was summoned to Quebec by Frontenac, and by a violent exercise of power, imprisoned in the Castle of St. Louis. Perrot, who held his commission from the King, declined to recognize the authority of Frontenac, and remained in durance for a whole year. The Abbe Fenelon, parish priest of Montreal, and brother of the celebrated Archbishop of Cambray, in his Easter sermon, strongly inveighed against the arrest of Perrot, and Avas cited before the choleric Count for this breach of priv- ilege, as it was considered. He denied, as an ecclesiastic, the jurisdiction of the Council, and wore his hat in the presence of the Governor. He, also, was imprisoned, and with Perrot was, shortly after, sent under arrest to France. They were both, however, reinstated by the King, to the intense chagrin of Frontenac. The Governor shared all the despotic instincts of his sover- eign, and sought to centre hi himself all authority. The In- 148 HISTORY OF C AX ADA. tendant, Duchcsneau, as fond of power as Frontenac, claimed the presidency of the Council, and did his utmost to thwart the policy of the Governor. Through these rivalries, the council chamber became the scene of unseemly dissension and bicker- ings. The fiery Count was also involved in bitter controversy with Laval and the Jesuits. Both the latter strenuously opposed the liquor traffic as demoralizing to both Indians and white men. The Governor considered it necessary for the successful prose- cution of the fur trade, and asserted that its evils were greatly exaggerated. But the cause of justice and humanity triumphed over that of selfish policy, and the King prohibited the sale of liquor to the Indians. Frontenac, however, continued to main- tain his positioa chiefly through his relationship to Madame de Maintenon, and through the influence of his wife, a reigning beauty, at the court of Louis XIV. At length, wearied with complaints, the Iving re-called both Governor and Intendant, in 1682, and appointed ]\I. de la Barre and M. de Meules as their successors.* La Barre was a naval officer of considerable reputation, but lacking the prompt decision and energy of character that the exigencies of the times demanded. On his arrival in Can- ada, he found the country threatened with the outbreak of an- other Iroquois war. The English colonists had increased to tenfold the number of the French, and then- fur traders were everywhere endeavouring, by intrigue, by persuasion, by un- derselling their rivals in the luxuries of savage life, to divert the profitable traffic in peltries from Montreal and Quebec to Albany and New York. Colonel Dongan, the Governor of New York, notwithstand- ing the friendly relations between his sovereign, Charles 11., and Louis XIV., fomented the ancient antipathy of the Iro- quois to the French. These astute forest politicians, courted and flattered by the English, were not slow to perceive the ad- vantage to be derived from alliance with this growing power, * In tbis year, a disastrous fire, the first of several such, destroyed a large part of Quebec. THE AGONY OF CANADA. 149 which they seem to have foreseen, was destined to be the victor in the conflict with the French for the mastery of the less. continent. It was their policy, however, to prolong the con- test. For they could not but perceive that the supremacy of cither would be followed by the subjugation of themselves. This was the explanation of the seemingly strange vacillations of the Iroquois, — now fighting in the interest of the English, and then, in the very horn: when victory seemed within their grasp, making peace with the French. La Barre assembled a council of the principal men of note in Canada, military and civilian, clerical and lay, to take measures for the defence of the country. The Iroquois had recently, as we have seeuy invaded the territory of the Illinois, then allies of the French, and massacred or captured several hundreds of victims. A Seneca war-party had also waylaid and plundered a company of French traders. An appeal was therefore made to the King for a re-enforcement of three hun- dred soldiers, and thirteen hundred labourers to cultivate the fields, that the Canadians,, accustomed to bush-fighting, might be organized for active service. Only two hundred troops could be spared, and of agricultural immigrants, none. Al- though thousands of intelligent and industrious Huguenots were being driven out of France by persecution, to enrich with their skilled labour the rival countries of England and Holland, they were not allowed to pollute Avith their heresy the soil of Canada, jealously guarded by the King as a preserve for Cath- olic orthodoxy. The English Governor at New York, though interdicted by his sovereign from the commission of any overt hostility, and maintaining courteous correspondence with La Barre, did not scruple secretly to stimulate the outrages of the Iroquois. The French first attempted to weaken the confederacy of the Five Nations, by making separate treaties with the Cayugas, Oneidas, and Onondagas, who amused the credulous Governor with promises which they had no intention of keeping. The attacks of the Iroquois on the French forts in the west, now compelled La Barre to assume the ofiensive. But instead of 150 HISTORY OF CAXADA. striking a sudden blow, he wasted time i'l attempting to pro- cure the co-operation of Dongan, the last thing he was likely to get. At length, mustering a force of a thousand militia-men and 1684. Indians, with a few regulars, he set out from Montreal to invade the Seneca country, by way of the Niagara Tliver. Two weeks had been spent in negotiations with Dongan ; as much more was consumed at Fort Frontenac. The provisions were fast being consumed. Through the incompetence and delays of La Barre, his command endured extreme privations for want of food. Disease and death wasted them away while lingering at Famine Cove, near Oswego, — so named on account of their sutierings. Here a deputation from the con- federate tribes haughtily dictated terms of peace with the French, on the promise of their immediate evacuation of the Iroquois territory. To the demand of La Barre, that the peace should also include the Illinois, live hundred of Avhom were within a day's march, on their way to help the French, the Iroquois scornfully replied, "Not "jvhile a warrior of either tribe remains alive ! " Intensely chagi'ined, the luckless commander accepted the disgraceful terms. On reaching Quebec, he was more morti- fied to find that a re-enforcement of soldiers had arrived. De- spatches also awaited him, urging the utter extirpation or severe chastisement of the revolted tribes; and, "as the Iroquois were stout and strong, and would be useful in the King"'s gal- leys," that the Governor should make prisoners of a large num- ber and have them shipped to France as galley slaves. La Barre was not in a position to comply with either of these 1685. requests, and was shortly after recalled in disgrace. He was succeeded by the Marquis de Denonville, a dashing cavalry officer. The Chevalier de Callieres, also a brave soldier, was, at the same time, appointed Governor of Montreal. Denonville, who was shortly followed by six hundred regu- lars, after a few hours' rest at Quebec, pushed on to Fort Fron- tenac. This place he greatly strengthened, and proposed the establishment of a fort and garrison of five hundred men at TBE AGONT OF CANADA. 151 Niagara, as a check to the interference of the British in the Northwest fur trade. His lucid reports on the state of the country, sent to the King, are valuable historical documents. Colonel Dongan meanwhile, alarmed at this vigorous policy, assembled the principal Iroquois chiefs at Albany, and lese. urged them to break entirely w^ith the French, to expel their priests and receive English Jesuit missionaries, and, above all, to extend the English fur trade to the Northwest tribes. He, for his part, pledged his assistance if they should be attacked by the French. Without entirely committing themselves to these plans, the politic chiefs strengthened their alliance with the English. Denonville, deeply incensed, determined on a vigorous war- policy toward the Five Nations, notwithstanding the iost. promised aid of their English allies. He was guilty, however, of an act of treachery, which left a stain upon his name, and greatly embittered the Iroquois. Through the influence of the Jesuit missionaries, he induced fifty of their chiefs to meet him for a conference at Fort Frontenac. To gratify the whim of the King, he seized their persons, and shipped them in irons to France, to toil in the royal galleys. Though deeply incensed, the Iroquois, with a magnanimity shaming the perfidy of the Frenchman, spared the lives of the unwitting instruments of this cruelty, the Jesuit priests, and sent them unharmed out of the country. In June, 1687, with eight hundred regulars, a thousand militia, and three hundred Indian allies, in two hundred bat- teaux, Denonville left Montreal to attack the Senecas. At the mouth of the Genesee River he was joined by four hundred Illinois Indians. The advance guard fell into an ambuscade, but with the aid of their red allies, the French defeated the Senecas with great loss. Denonville spent ten days in ravaging the country, burning the villages, and destroying an immense stock of maize, — over a million bushels, says one account, — and a prodigious number of hogs. Proceeding to the Niagara, he rebuilt La Salle's fort and garrisoned it with a hundred men. He also planted palisaded posts at Toronto, Detroit, Sault Ste. 152 HISTORY OF CANADA. Marie, Michillimackinac, and on the Illinois Eiver, as a barrier against the encroachments of the English or their Iroquois allies. The whole Five Nations now united to avenge the slaughter 1688. of the Senecas. They attacked and razed Fort Niagara, whose garrison, reduced by famine and disease to ten men, fled. They prowled like famished wolves all along the frontier. They lay in wait near every settlement, thirsting for Christian blood. They ravaged the country, killed the cattle, burned the stacks and houses with flaming arrows, and menaced the river seigneuries, and even the garrison of Fort Frontenac. During this fatal year, over a thousand of the colonists fell by the scalping-knife or tomahawk of their relentless foe, and as many more by the dreadful small-pox which devastated the country. In this extremity, negotiations for peace were opened under the menace of a thousand Iroquois warriors, assembled in force at Lake St. Francis. These, under the malign influence of the English, demanded the restoration of their betrayed chiefs, now toiling in the royal galleys in France, and the destruction of forts Frontenac and Niagara. While the negotiations were pending, a crafty Huron chief, Kondiaronk, or " The Eat," a forest Machiavelli, ofiended at the prospect of a treaty with his hered- itary foe, by a deed of double treachery, efiectually "killed the peace," as he boasted, and revived, with intense violence, the horrors of savage war. Learning that an Iroquois embassy would descend the Oswego River, he placed an ambuscade at a portage, which they would have to pass, and killed or captured the entire party. "When his prisoners indignantly remonstrated at this violation of the truce, the crafty Kondiaronk, with well- feigned surprise, declared that he was unaware of the nature of their mission, and that he had been set on by the French in making the attack. He expressed extreme regi-et and abhor- rence at the act of treachery of which, he avowed, he had been made the unwilling agent. As a pledge of his sincerity, he set his prisoners free, with the exception of one, whom he retained for adoption, in place of a Huron who had been killed. With this destined victim of his cruel cunning, he hastened to MichilUmackinac and delivered his prisoner up as a captive, THE AGONY OF CAXADA. 153 taken in war. The French commandant, nnaware of the truce "which had been proclaimed, ordered, after the savage custom of the time, tlie execution of the Iroquois. In vain the un- happy man asserted his character as an ambassador of peace, and appealed for confirmation to Kondiaronk. That crafty and cruel wretch shook his head, and declared that the man's mortal terror must have turned his brain. No sooner was the hapless victim slain than Lc Rat, with envenomed tongue, protested to an old Iroquois chief, held in bondage, his indignation at the outrage committed in the murder of an envoy of peace ; and loosing his bonds, he bade him to fly and warn his tribesmen of the treachery of the French. Such double-dyed duplicity can hardly be matched in all the annals of crime. The cidminating act in this bloody drama, was the massacre of Lachine, in 1689. On the night of August 5th, twelve hun- dred painted warriors landed, amid a shower of hail, on the Island of Montreal. Before daybreak they lay in wait around every dwelUng in the doomed village. At a given signal, the dreadful war-whoop awoke the sleepers to a death-wrestle with a pitiless foe. Men, women, and children were dragged from their beds and indiscriminately butchered with atrocious cruelty. OLD STONE TOWERS, MONTREAL. The houses were fired, and two hundred persons perished in the flames. As many more were carried off for the nameless hoiTors of deliberate torture. For two months the victors ravaged the island, the besieged inhaljitants of Ville Marie 20 154 HISTORY OF CANADA. cowering in mortal fear behind tlieir palisades.* On the first assault, ]M de Robeyre, a gallant officer, threw himself, with a small body of soldiers, into Fort Roland, an exposed post. ' He continued to hold it, against fearful odds, till his last man was slain, and he himself was mortally wounded, — a deed of valour rivalling the heroic achievement of Dulac dcs Ormaux. This "brain-blow" seems to have staggered the colony. Fort Frontenac was blown up and abandoned. The dominion of France in the New World, was practically reduced to the forts of Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal. At this hour of its deepest depression, Denonville was recalled, and the fiery Frontenac was re-appointed Governor. * Among the most interesting relics of tlie early history of Montreal are the two old etone towera shown on the preceding page. They date hack to the period of the Indian wars above described, and were erected as defences against the attacks of the savages. One of them was long used as a chapel, and contains an altar and several interesting mortuary inscriptions. One of these commemorates a Huron chief, baptized by Brdbeuf, who died, aged about a hundred years, in 1690. " II fut," says his epitaph, " par sa piet6 et par sa probit<5 I'example des Christiens et I'admiratiou des infidels." We visited the tower Ln May, 1878. The ancient halbert shown in the engraving is another relic of the old regime. It was found while excavating in one of the old suburbs, and may have done doughty service against the Indian assailants of the mission for- tress. FROXTENAC'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 1-55 CHAPTER Xn. FEONTENAC'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. Frontenac Re-appointed Governor, 1689 — Abenaquis Ravages — French Inva- sion of New England — Massacres of Corlaer, Salmon Falls, and Casco Bay, 1690 — First American Congress at New York — Sir Wm. PMps Captures Port Royal — Is Repulsed at Quebec — Iroquois Ravages — Bounty on Scalps — Frontenac Burns Iroquois Towns — St. Castine — Fall of Fort Pemaqnid — Col. Church Attacks Villebon on the St. John — Is Repulsed — D'Iberville in Newfoundland and Hudson's Bay — Treaty of Ryswick Restores Respective Possessions of France and England, 1697 — Death of Frontenac, in his Sev- enty-eighth Year, 1698. THE veteran soldier, now near seventy years of age, was hailed as the deliverer of Canada. His fiiults were for- gotten or forgiven, and his chivalric valour was remembered as the bulwark of the country. He arrived at a critical period. The jieril of the colony was increased by the declaration of war between France and England, in consequence of the Revolution of 1688, whereby James II. was driven from his throne by his son-in-law, William III., Prince of Orange. The Governor had brought with him the chiefs so treacherously captured by Denonville ; and having won their good-will during the voj'agc, he sent them to their tribes, to conciliate, if possible, their favour. M. de CalMeres, the Governor of ISIontreal, had already urged an attack upon the English colonists, whom he accused, and not without reason, of inciting the Iroquois to war. He proposed making an attack, with a strong body of troops, by way of the Richelieu and Lake Champlain, on Albany, a town of about two hundred and fifty houses, which was defended only by an earthen fort with wooden palisades, and garrisoned l)y a hundred and fifty soldiers. He further designed, after reducing Albany, to descend the Hudson and attack New York. This was then an open town of some two hundred houses, defended by about four hundred men, which, it was thought, would sue- 15G HISTORY OF CANADA. cumb to a sudden assault. The British possessions in Hud- son's Bay were also to be simultaneously attacked. This plausible, but perilous enterprise, however, was set aside in favour of a naval attack on New York. Two large war-ships, with several smaller vessels, were equipped and i:)laced under the command of INI. do la Caffiniere, who was to blockade the harbour and bombard the town. But naval de- lays, boisterous weather, and then dense fogs, frustrated the design, and caused its abandonment. The Abenaquis Indians, on the Maine frontier, were the allies of the French, and among them were several Jesuit mis- sions. In retaliation for the massacre of Lachine, they at- tacked the New England fort at Pemaquid, on the seacoast, between the Penobscot and the Kennebec, and other frontier posts. All the horrors of Lachine were renewed. • Some two hundred jDersons are said to have been slaughtered. The blow struck terror to the heart of every New England frontier vil- OLD FRONTIER BLOCK - HOUSE. lage. The inhabitants were compelled to take refuge in strong block-houses, such as shown in the engraving, around which deadly fights were often waged. FEONTEXAC'S SECOXD ADMINISTRATION. 157 In midwinter, Frontcnac organized three expeditions to rav- age, with lire and SAvord, the British colonies. Early in Feb- ruary, two hundred men, half French and half Indians, leoo. under the command of Lieutenants Mantel and Sainte Hclcne, left Montreal. For two-and-twenty days, they traversed the wintry, snow-encumbered woods, crossing morasses and swollen streams, till they reached the vicinity of Albany. Deterred from attacking that place in their exhausted condition, they turned aside to the neighbouring village of Corlaer, now Schen- ectady, containing some eighty wooden houses. At midnight, in a bitter storm, the brigands entered stealthily the little ham- let, sleeping in fancied security, with open and itnguarded gates. Each house was invested by grisly figures, bearing murder in their hearts, and muffled weapons in their hands. Commands were given in whispered tones, and the human hyenas awaited, in silence, the signal for slaughter. The wild war-whoop was raised, the terrible tomahawk gleamed in the lurid flames of the burning buildings, and in two hours, sixty men, women, and children were wantonly butchered, their blood crimsoning the snowy ground. Twenty-eight were taken pris- oners, and every house was reduced to ashes. It was not war ; it was midnight murder. A few half-naked wretches escaped through the blinding snow-storm, to Albany. The French rapidly retreated, pursued by the English from Albany, and by a band of IVIohawks, who cut off twenty-five of their number, and chased the way-worn survivors almost to the gates of Montreal. The second expedition was led l)y Lieutenant Hertel, who, when a boy, had been captured and tortured by the Iroquois. He now bitterly avenged his wrongs on their English allies. Setting out with fifty men from Three Elvers, after two months' weary march over a rugged countr}% he fell on the little village of Salmon Falls, in New Hampshire, and after a bloody en- gagement, gave it to the flames, burning houses, barns, and cattle in their stalls, and carried off fifty-four prisoners. The country was now roused, and two hundred men, thirsting for revenge, were in hot pursuit. Taking his post, sword in hand, at the bridge of Wooster Eivcr, Hertel, with a valour worthy 153 HISTORY OF CAXADA. of a better cause, held the pursuers in check, and covered the retreat of his comrades. The sufferings of the captives were intense. They were compelled to carry through the wilderness tlie spoils of their own homes. One of them, rejecting his Lurden, was left by the Indians to perish over a slow fire. Mary Ferguson, a ghd of fifteen years, bursting into tears through grief and fatigue, was scalped forthwith. Suckling infants were thrown into the river, or abandoned in the forest, that they might not embarrass the retreat. But although there might be* no delay for mercy, there was for slaughter. AMiilc returning, Hertel joined a third party from Quebec, in an attack on the British fort at Casco Bay. For three days the fort held out, till its palisades were fired, when a crowd of prisoners were handed over to the tender mercies of l)lood-thirsty savages. The works were razed to the ground, and every house burned for two leagues around. Four vessels, that were sent from Boston to relieve the fort, came in sight, only to behold the flag of the Bourbons waving upon its ruins. In retaliation for these attacks on their English allies, the Iroquois ravaged the Canadian frontier, burst from the forest on solitary outposts and lonely hamlets, shot down the peasant in his field, and destroyed the growing crops ; and then disap- peared as suddenly as they came. The record of these ruthless deeds is a dark and dreadful page in the annals of our country. Cruel wrongs were in- flicted on either side, often upon the helpless and the innocent, and a heritage of hatred was handed down from sire to son, that embittered for generations the ruthless conflicts of neighbour- ing Christian peoples, who rivalled in deeds of pitiless savagery their pagan allies. Eager to secure the allegiance of the Indian tribes of th NortliAvest, and to retain the fur trade, Frontenac dispatched a strong convoy of goods to Michillimackinac. The arrival at Quebec of three hundred western warriors, in one hundred and ten canoes, with one hundred thousand crowns' worth of furs, demonstrated the success of the movementr FROXTENAC'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. Iq'J 111 the month of May, the British colonists, who were now thoroughly aroused, sent deputies to a congress at Xcw York, the first ever held in America, to concert a scheme for com- bined action against the French. In the struggle for very existence of the French power in America, the province of Acadia had been almost entirely neglected. The inhabitants devoted themselves chiefly to the fur trade and the cultivation of the rich marsh-lands on the Bay of Fundy, defended from the sea by dykes. The trading- posts were not mifrequently attacked and pillaged by maraud- ing pirates. The country was destined again to pass into the possession of the English. Sir AVilliam Phips, the agent of this transfer, is a sufficiently noteworthy character to detain our attention for a little. He was born of humble parents, on the l)anks of the Kennebec, and is said to have been one of twenty-six children, all of the same mother. Till he was eighteen years old he was employed in keeping sheep. , He then came to Boston and learned the trade of ship- carpenter, and the rudiments of reading and writing. He con- ceived, at length, the project of recovering the treasure of a Spanish galleon, wrecked fifty years before, in the West Indian seas. Interesting others in his scheme, he procured a vessel for the purpose, but was for a long time misuccessful. At length he succeeded in obtaining from the bottom of the sea gold, silver, and jewels to the amount of £300,000 sterling, his own share of which was £16,000. He also -received, what he valued perhaps more, the honour of a baronetcy. In the spring of ,1690, Sir "William Phips was sent by the Colony of Massachusetts to reduce the Province of Acadia. With a force of seven hundred men, in eight small vessels, ho appeared before Port Royal, w^iose dilapidated fort was gar- risoned by only eighty men. Menneval, the Governor, stoutly demanded, and obtained, honourable terms of surrender. Phips, however, considering himself over-reached, found a pretext for breaking his word, plundered the merchants, pillaged the church, and carried the garrison prisoners to Boston. The IQQ HISTORY OF CAXADA. other forts were speedily reduced, and the suhj ligation of Acadia completed. A combined attack, both naval and military, on Canada, had been devised by the New York Colonial Congi-ess. Thirty- four trading and fishing vessels were collected, and provisioned for four months, and twenty-two hundred sailors and militia-men hired or jiressed for the service. Colonel Winthrop of Con- necticut, with eight hundred militia-men, was to advance from Albany on ]\Iontreal. But an outbreak of small-pox in Winthrop's camp, on Lake Champlain, which carried oiT, it is said, three hundred of his Indian allies, together with a defi- ciency of canoes and supplies, compelled his retreat to Albany. Captain Schuyler, with a hundred and fifty men, whites and Indians, pressed on to La Prairie, near Montreal. Falling on the settlement, he killed or captured twenty-five persons, sev- eral of whom were women, and then beat a hasty retreat. Frontenac had heard, at INIontreal, of the menaced invasion. Grasping, himself, the tomahawk, and chanting the war-song, he animated his twelve hundred Indian allies to the conflict. He was now startled at learning that an English fleet was care- fully sounding its way up the St. Lawrence. Hastening to Quebec, he mustered his forces, with the neighbouring seigneurs and their censiiairesy and his Indian allies, to the number of three thousand men. The ramparts had been greatly strength- ened, and stout barricades of beams and casks of earth were constructed at all the gates. Early in the morning of October 5th, the snowy sails of Phips' fleet were seen by the anxious eyes upon the ramparts, slowly rounding the headland of Point Levi. The fleet had been delayed at Boston, awaiting expected assistance from England, which, however, never came. Hav- ing no pilot, Phips lost much time in ascending the St. Law- rence, and was detained three weeks by head- winds at Tadousac. Instead of finding any disposition among the Inhabitants to ac- cept British rule, he encountered, wherever he attempted to land, the most spirited opposition. The day after he reached Quebec, Phips sent an officer with a peremptory summon3 for its surrender, iu the name of their FEOXTEXAC'S SECOXD ADMIXISTRATIOX. Id majesties, AVilliam and Mary, King and Queen of England. The messenger was blindfolded, and conducted by a round- about way, over barricades, amid the bubbuli of warlike prep- aration, the hustling of a noisy crowd, and the laughter of women, who called him Colin Maillard, — the name of the chief plaj'er in blind-man's-buff, — to the council chamber in the Chateau of St. Louis. When the bandage was removed, the envoy beheld a brilliant assembly of officers, bedecked with gold and silver lace, and all the ''martial foppery" of the period. Presenting his summons, he laid his watch upon the table and demanded an answer in an hour. "I will not keep you waiting so long," said the haughty Frontenac. ' ' Tell your general that I acknowledge no King of England but King James. The Prince of Orange, Avho crdls himself such, is a usurper. I will answer your general by the mouth of my cannon," and the discomfited envoy was led back the way he came. Phips determined to land his troops at Beauport, ford the St. Charles at low water, and get to the rear of the town, while his fleet bombarded the front. But that night, Callieres arrived from Montreal with strons; re-enforcements, who sang; and shouted defiantly as they filed into the besieged fortress. The next day was stormy, but the day after, Major Walley, with thirteen hundred New England militia-men landed, through mud and water, in the face of a galling fire, at Beauport. The ground was boggy and miry, which made the work of dragging their cannon one of extreme difficulty. Meanwhile, Phips opened a furious fire on the town, which he kept up for two days, liut his guns were of light weight and ill-served, and did little damage. The French, on the con- trary, replied with such effect, that the larger vessels of the fleet were badly cut up, and rendered almost unmanageable. "\Yalley's men suffered intensely from rain and frost, hunger and exposure, and many sickened of small-pox. Struggling in the marshes of the St. Charles, and galled by the fire of the French and Indian sharp-shooters, concealed behind coverts and breast- works, they were repulsed with loss. They hastily embarked 21 162 niSTORT OF CANADA. at night, amid a violent storm, leaving five of tlieir cannon behind. Phips now felt that his two thousand raw fishermen and farmers, and his shattered fleet, were unable to reduce the almost impregnable fortress of Quebec, — one of the strongest natural positions in the world, — garrisoned by three thousand men, and commanded by a skilled and veteran soldier. Drop- ping down the river, l)ehind the Island of Orleans, he refitted his damaged vessels, himself working with the sailors at his old trade of ship-carpenter. Late in November, he reached Boston, crest-fallen and chagrined. Several vessels of his squadron were wrecked, and the ill-starred expedition proved a total failure.* The rejoicing of the French at this signal deliverance ^vas very great. It was commemorated by a medal bearing the in- scrij^tion Francia ix Novo Orbe Yicteix, Kebeca Liberata, A. D. MDCXC, and 1)y the erection of a church dedicated to " Xotre Dame de la Victoire," still standing in the lower town. All along the extended Canadian border the cruel warfare raged. The entire pojDulation of New France was only eleven thousand. That of New England was at least ten times as many. The Iroquois, who kept both nations in terror, were less than seven thousand, about two thousand of whom were fighting men. The plucky Frenchmen continued to wage the unequal conflict. With their Abenaquis allies, they ravaged the New England frontier, and French corsairs swept the sea- board, and even cut out vessels in Boston harbour. The Eng- lish cut the clj^kes, flooded the land, and slaughtered the cattle of the French settlements of Acadia. With the aid of their L'oquois allies, they made another dash at Montreal, and the remorseless savages infested the French settlements along the Eichelieu, the St. Lawrence, and the Ottawa. A reign of terror and sorrow, of desolation and death pre- * Two years later, Sir William Phips Tvas made Governor of Massachusetts. His sailor habits, however, followed him, and he was recalled to England for assaulting, with his cane, the Collector of Customs of the port of Boston, and a Captain of the Eoyal Navy. Death ended his stormy career iu 1G93. FRONTEXAC'S SECOXD ADMIXISTRATIOX. 163 vailed iu Canada. "No Frcnclimaii shall have leave to cut a stick," threatened the revengeful Mohawks; "they shall find no quiet even in their graves," — and to a fearful degree thej made good their threats. Along the frontier every house was a fortress, and every household was an armed garrison. Many were tlie deeds of daring done l)y lone women in defence of their hearths and babes, and pitiful were the sufferings they endured. The wife of Thomas Drew, captured in the massacre of a New Hampshire village, "in midwinter, in the open air, dur- ing a storm of snow," gave birth to her first-born son, which was doomed to instant death by the Abenaquis savages. Han- nah Dustin of Haverhill, with her nurse and a boy, grimly avenged the murder of her week-old babe hy the slaughter of ten out of twelve of her slumbering captors, and escaped to the British settlements. The footprints of civilization were marked with blood. The deadly ambush lurked on every side, and the death-dealing bullet from the unerring marksman lurking in the thicket, menaced the starving peasant if he attempted to sow or reap his scanty acres. The culture of the soil was impossible, and famine threatened the land. In both New England and New France, a lavish paper currency was issued, and crippled trade languished almost to extinction. Society was returning to a state of savagery. Christian men, despising the vast heritage of virgin soil with which the great All-Father had dowered His chiklren, red or white, in their mutual jealousy and hatred and unhallowed greed for gain, hounded their savage allies at each others' throats, and — crowning atrocity of shame ! — a tariff of i^rizes was offered for human scalps ; from ten to twenty louis by the French, from ten to fifty louis by the English. Amid such horrors were the foundations of the Canadian nationality laid. The British government resolved on striking another blow at the colonial possessions of the French. A secret naval expe- 1093. dition was fitted out in the British dockyards for the capture of Martinique, and a subsequent attack on Quebec. It sailed' for 164 ISTORY OF C AX ADA. the Antilles, but was repulsed at Martinique, with the loss of nine hundred men. Sailing for Boston, yellow fever broke out in the fleet, causing a frightful mortality, — two-thirds, say the records, of the five thousand on board died of that disease. The attack on Quebec, which, in the meantime, had been greatly strengthened,* was therefore abandoned. During this year, French privateers captured three hundred British vessels, and the latter only sixty-nine of their enemy's. To put an end to this reign of terror, Frontenac resolved on 1695. a supreme eflbrt. He despatched a force of six hundred men to Cataraqui, where, despite the protest of the English Governor of New York, he rebuilt the fort abandoned by Den- onville, in order to curb and menace the Iroquois. These sav- ages retaliated by another attack, in force, on Montreal, but the inliabitants, being forewarned of their approach, gave them such a warm reception, that they retreated to their forest fast- nesses to nourish their wrath for a future day of vengeance. The following year, in the month of July, the veteran Fron- 1696. tenac organized an expedition of eight hundred white men, and as many Indians, for the punishment of the Iroquois. Overcoming the rapids of the St. Lawrence, and crossing Lake Ontario, in a fleet of batteaux and canoes, they sailed up the Oswego River. Arriving at night-fall at a cataract, hundreds of torches were lighted, casting their lurid glare on the flash- ing waters, the waving foliage, the bronze figures of the In- dians, and the various uniforms of the French. Plunging into the rapids, the savage and civilized warriors dragged and forced the batteaux beyond the obstruction, to the placid stream above. Hanging from a tree they found two bundles of reeds, indicating that fourteen hundred and thirty-four warriors, — such was the number of the reeds, — bade them defiance. The gallant commander, now in his seventy-sixth year, his hair white with age, but his eyes flashing with martial fire, was borne on a litter in the midst. As the invaders ap- proached the fortified town of the Onondagas, the savages, * In 1854, in an old redoubt, at Quebec, a brass plate was found witli a Latin inscription, commemorating its construction by Frontenac, in 1693. FROXTEXAC'S SECOND ADMIXISTBATIOX. 165 having fired the combustible wigwams, fled to the forest, leav- ing the smoking brands the profitless booty of the conqueror. To his lasting disgrace, Frontenac permitted the torture of a forest stoic of nearly a hundred years, from whom no suficrings could extort a single groan. The Oneidas were also subdued, and, their stores of grain being destroyed, were abandoned to the wasting of famine and pestilence. The western cantons, however, continued unsubjugated, and bitterly avenged their allies l)y the murder of many a Frenchman. During these stormy years, M. DTberville, a native of ]\Ion- treal, who had risen to a captaincy in the French navy, was maintaining the supremacy of the French arms. In 1685, with j\ni. Troyes and Ste. Helene, and eighty Canadians, he had traversed on snow-shoes, six hundred miles of mountain, marsh, and forest to Hudson's Bay, and with many brave but bloody exploits, had captured the British trading-posts on that frozen sea. Shortly after the capture of Port Eoyal by Phips, the garri- son established there hy the government of JNIassachusetts was withdrawn, and xVcadia passed again into the possession of the French. INI. Villebon, the newly appointed Governor at Port Royal, being greatly exposed to the attacks of Xew England privateers, removed his headquarters to the River St. John, some distance above its mouth, at its junction with the Nashwaak. Here he had a strongly palisaded fort, and not the least im- portant part of his garrison was a number of powerful and well-trained watch-dogs, whose deep bay gave the alarm on the approach of danger, Indian runners kept up communication with Quebec, and gave intelligence of the movement of Eng- lish ships in the Bay of Fundy. Phips had destroyed the fort at the mouth of the St. John, but French privateers, which swept the New England coast, continued to bring their prizes into the river, and place their prisoners and spoils in Yillebon's fort. In 1G92, Sir William Phips had built at Pemaquid, at the cost of a hundred thousand dollars, — an immense sum for those days, — for the protection of Xew England against the French, 16(3 mSTORY OF C AX AD A. a strong stone fort. It was of quadrangular shape, with four flanking towers. It mounted eighteen cannon, and was garri- soned by sixty men. The French regarded it as a menace, and determined on its destruction. Two frigates and a land force were to co-operate in the enterprise, but it was found to he defended by an English man-of-war, and to be too strong to l)e successfully attacked. It remained for Villebon and D'Iberville to accomplish the 1697. task of its reduction. They left the St. John in two frigates, with a body of soldiers and^ siege-material. At Pen- obscot Bay, they were joined by the Baron St. Castine, with a force of two hundred Indians. The story of St. Castine is one of romantic interest. He was born at Beam, in the Pyrenees, the heir of a noble house, and came to Canada as an officer of the Carignan regiment, in 1G65. He had settled among the Abenaquis, and married the daughter of jMadockawando, the great sagamore, or head chief of these tribes. He acquired a remarkable ascendancy among the savages, and kept a sort of semi-feudal state at his seigneury of Castine, at the mouth of the Penobscot. He gave liberal presents to his Indian followers, and received rich furs of triple their value in return. In this way, he accumulated a fortune of three hundred thousand crowns. He had several daughters, who were all well married to Frenchmen, and received handsome do'UT.'ies. Captain Chubb, a man peculiarily obnoxious to the Indians, on account of complicity in the murder of two of their chiefs, was in command at Fort Pemaquid, with a garrison of nearly a hundred men. When summoned to surrender, he returned a spirited defiance. D'Ibervillc's cannon and mortars were soon in position, and the explosion of the shells within the quad- rangle of the fort, filled the hearts of the little garrison with terror. St. Castine, who was a humane man, conveyed a message to Chubb that, if the works were carried by assault, he would not be able to restrain the Indians from the massacre of the English. The white flag was soon raised, and the place surrendered, but the guaranteed protection of St. Castine was only partially enjoyed, — several lives being lost by acts of FROXTEXAC S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 107 savage violence. The walls and towers of the fort were levelled to the ground, and the French sailed away, D'Iberville's frigate narrowly escaping capture by an English fleet sent to relieve the fort. In prompt retaliation for the loss of Fort Pemaquid, Colonel Church, with five hundred men in a flotilla of whale-boats, ravaged the shores of the Bay of Fundy, as far as Beau-ljassin, cutting the dykeS and burning the houses. Church, on his return, was met by three vessels from Boston, on their way to attack Villebon, at his fort on the St. John, and was ordered to join the expedition. Carefully sounding their way up the river, they approached at last the forest fortress. The watch-dogs bayed, the alarm-gun was fired, and Villebon's Indian scouts kept up a ceaseless fusilade. The English threw up a battery of three cannon landed from the vessels, and opened fire on the fort. In two days the guns were dismounted, five-and-twenty men were slain by the fire of the French, and the rest of the assailants were suffering severely from camping without shelter in the chill October air. The English aban- doned the attack, and retreated crestfallen to Massachusetts. The following winter was one of intense severity, and many Indians, French, and English iDerishcd of cold and hunger. The atrocities of man were added to the inclemencies of nature ; and in many a lonely hamlet, the shuddering ear of night was pierced by the deadly yell of the savage war-whoop. Along the frontier no man could leave his house without the risk of being shot and scalped. One Indian warrior boasted that he had killed or captured one hundred and fifty men, women, and children. On the reduction of Fort Pemaquid, DTberville sailed to Quebec for re-enforcements, and thence proceeded to pillage the British settlements of Newfoundland. Brouillan, the Gov- ernor of the French settlement of Placentia, with nine priva- teers, chased an English man-of-war into the Bay of Bulls. The British captain placed all his cannon on his exposed broadside, and fought till his ship was wrapped in flamesi The French captured thirty English vessels, and sacked several minor posts. 1(38 HISTORY OF CANADA. Being joined by D'Iberville, they attacked the to-UTi of St. John by land and sea. After a stout resistance, the town surren- dered, and was burned to ashes, and its inhabitants shipped to EngLand, or to Bonavista. In midwinter, D'Iberville, with one hundred and twenty Canadians on snow-shoes, ravaged the British settlements, killing or capturing the inhabitants, and burning their houses. A British fur-trading company had planted several strong- bastioncd forts in Hudson's Bay, and sent thither annual ships to collect the valuable stores of furs. In successive years, D'Iberville attacked and captured several of these forts, which were afterwards re-captured by the British. He also brought several British prizes to Quebec. He now, in 1697, under- took the reduction of the entire region surrounding Hudson's Bay. One of his vessels got crushed in the ice, the others be- came separated, and he reached Fort Nelson with a single vessel of fifty guns. He boldly attacked three British ships, mounting one hundred and twenty-four guns, and sent one to the bottom with all sail set, with the loss of every man on board. He shortly after reduced the fort, and conquered the whole territory for France. Thus the icebergs and rocky shores of this wild northern sea echoed with the international strife which was deluging the plains of Europe with blood, and carry- ing terror to every hamlet in New England and New France. The treaty of Ryswick, signed Sept. 20, 1697, put an end to the war in the Old World and the New, and restored to France and England the respective possessions held at its outbreak. The bloodshed and pillage, the wretchedness and ruin of eight long years, counted for nothing; and the irrepressible conflict for the possession of a continent, had to be fought over again and again. Frontcnac soon after died, at Quebec, in the seventy-eighth 1698. year of his age. He was respected or admired by his friends, for his energy and daring of character ; and feared or hated by his enemies, — and he had many, — for his stern and haughty manners, and cruel temper in war. His lot was cast in troublous times, and he had at least the merit of preserving to FIWXTEXAC'S SECOXD ADMINISTRATION: JGO France, the colony -which he had found on the very verge of ruin. On the declaration of peace, Dlberville, the hero of Hud- son's Bay, obtained a commission to colonize Louisiana. Ex- ploring, planting, building from 1699 to 1702 in the hot, un- wholesome bayous and lagoons of the Gulf coast, he founded Boloxi and IMobile. Smitten with yellow fever, he returned to France. Scarce convalescent, he captured from the British, Nevis, one of their West India possessions, and died of a second attack of yellow fever, in 1706, aged forty-four. Thus passed away one of the restless spirits of a stormy age, whose deeds of valour were unhappily also deeds of blood. 170 EISTORY OF CAXADA, CHAPTER Xm. "QUEEN AISTs^E'S WAR." De Calli^res Succeeds Frontenac — Treaty -witli tlie Iroquois, 1700 — Detroit Founded — AVar of tlie Spanish. Succession, 1702 — Yaudreuil, Ticeroy — The Abeuaquis Ravage New England — Massacres of Deerlield and Haver- hill — Tragic Scenes — Port Royal Capttired, Re-named Annapolis, 1710 — Sir Hovenden Walker's Disastrous Attempt against Quebec, 1711 — The Treaty of Utrecht gives England Acadia, Newfoundland, and Hudson's Bay, 1713 — Internal Development — Fur Trade — Manufactures — Law Reforms — Charlevoix Visits Canada, 1720 — Father Rasles at Norridgewock — His Cruel Murder — The Abenaquis Burn Brunswick — Death of Vaudreuil — Forts Oswego and Frederic Planted — Explorations of the Y6rendryes, in the Northwest. THE Chevalier de Callieres, who had been for some time the commandant of Montreal, was appointed successor of 1699. Frontenac. One of his first acts was the conclusion of a peace between the Iroquois and the French. Governor Bella- mont of New York, in arranging the exchange of prisoners after the war, had endeavoured to procure the recognition of the confederate Five Nations as the subjects of Great Britain ; but the senators of this forest republic, strongly asserted their independence, and negotiated a separate treaty with the French. In retaliation, and to restrain the influence of the Jesuits among the Iroquois, the legislature of New York passed an odious decree, which declared that every " Popish priest," entering the cantons of the confederate tribes, should be hanged. In vindi- cation of this Draconic law, it was alleged, and not without reason, that the Jesuits stirred up the innate ferocity of the savages to the slaughter of the English.* * It was even asserted that the mysteries of the Gospel of peace, were made the means of inculcating the duty of massacre and revenge. " The Indians are taught," said Bomaseen, an Abenaquis sachem, to AVilliamsou, the English clergyman, at Boston, " that the Virgin Mary was a French lady ; that her son, Jesus Christ, was murdered by the English ; that he was risen from the dead, and gone to heaven ; and that all who would gain his favour must avenge his blood." » QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. 171 The Iroquois, in 1700, sent envoys to Canada "to mourn over tlie French killed in the war," and to bury the hatchet for- ever. This treaty was ratified the following year before the walls of Montreal, with feudal pageantry, amid the chanting of the Te Deuniy and salvos of artillery, in an assembly of thirteen hundred plumed and painted savages, gathered from the wide region drained by the St. Lawrence and the Mississii:)pi. The forest plenipotentiaries exchanged belts of wampum, and smoked the pipe of peace with the civic and military dignitaries of Kew France, and signed their respective totems, — the beaver, deer, or hare, — to the treaty, which, for several years, they faithfully kept. The beauty and fashion of the frontier court lent the charm of their presence to the scene, and to the subsequent feast. The veteran and perfidious Indian states- man, Le Eat, after an eloquent oration, fell fainting to the ground. lie died the next day, and was buried with much military pomp in the parish church. To maintain their grasp of the great West, the French sent INI. de Cadillac, with a hundred men, to build a fort at Detroit, the key of the upper lakes. The wise choice of position is vindicated to-day by the stately " City of the Straits," which occupies the site of the rude fortress of 1702. Having, for four years and a half, administered the affairs of the colony with great prudence, De Callieres died in 1703, and was suc- ceeded by the Marquis de Vaudreuil, commandant of Montreal. During this year, that malignant scourge, the small-pox, again ravaged the country, and carried ofi", it is aflirmed, one-fourth of the population of Quebec. The war of the Spanish Succession had now broken out be- tween England and her continental allies, and France and Spain (May 15, 1702), and all Europe and America were again in- volved in a bloody strife for the maintenance of a visionary balance of power. By the victories of Eamilies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet, Marlborough and Eugene won name and fame, and the power of France was broken at the cost of a sea of blood. Again the "dogs of war" slipped their leash amid the forests of the New World, ap.d on its virgin soil the 172 HISTORY OF CANADA. atrocities of human slaughter were repeated with aggravated horrors. The English had endeavoured to secure the neutrality of their 1703. ferocious neighbours, the Abenaquis. A congress of chiefs met the Governor of Massachusetts at Casco, to ratify a treaty of peace. " The sun," they solemnly declared, " is not more distant from the earth than our thoughts from war " • and belts of wampum were given as the pledge of fidelity. Yet, within six weeks, on one and the same day, they burst upon every hamlet, lonely farmstead, or forest fastness, from the Kennebec to the Piscataqua, sparing neither hoary age, nor childing mother, nor tender infancy. Like human hyenas, they lay in wait for their prey, thirsting for blood, and, after the savage spring, skulked off into the forest with the victims who were not slain upon the spot. Blood-stained and smoul- dering embers were all that marked the site of many a happy horqe. Death hovered upon the frontier. Within many a village palisade, such as is shown in the engraving, the sentinel watched the live-long night away. Every house was a fortress. No mother lulled her babe to rest but knew that before morn- ing, the roof-tree above her head might be in flames, or her infant's life dashed out by the blow of a tomahawk ; and often, in shuddering dreams, the terrible war-whoop rang like a death- peal in her tinglhig ears. No man might go abroad in safety. As ho held the plough, or reaped the scanty harvest, the bullet of a lurking foe, perchance, would whistle through the air, and the scalpless bod}' would be left lying on the ground. Even little children, gathering flowers, and mothers going to the well, or cooking the midday meal by their own hearth-stone, were startled by the apparition of a dusky form, the glare of fiendish eyes, the gleam of a glittering kinfe, and were slain on the spot, or dragged oflf prisoners, to a doom still worse than death. And Christian men surpassed, in these deeds of slaughter, the cruel pagan of the woods. In the midwinter of 1703- 1704, Hcrtcl de Rouville, with two hundred French and one hundred and fifty Indians, marched two hundred miles on snow- QUEEX ANXKS WAIi. 173 shoes to the little town of Deerfield, in Massachusetts. They laid it in ashes, and of its inhabitants, forty-seven bedabbled with their blood the snow, and one hundred and twelve were dragged, with inhuman torture, through the wintry woods, to Canada. Among the prisoners was Eunice AVilliams, the wife of the village pastor. As the dreary procession halted in the snow, she nerved her soul for suffering by reading the holy 174 niSTORY OF CANADA. words of her Bible, with which she would not part. AVeak from recent child-birth pangs, she soon faltered by the way. "With a mother's dying prayer, she committed her five captive children to the care of their Father in Heaven, when the blow of a tomahavrk ended her life. *' She rests in peace," said her stricken husband, " and in joy unspeakable, and full of glor}^'* ; more happy in this than those who still toiled through the wintry wilderness. Two men perished of cold and hunger. Did an infant's feeble wail disturb the savage warriors, or did a mother totter beneath her load, the babe was tossed into the snow, or the agonized mother was brained upon the spot. The child of Pastor Williams was adopted by the Caughnawaga In- dians, and became a proselyte to the Catholic faith. No money could procure her ransom. She married an Indian chief, and years after, clad in Indian dress, she visited her kin at Deer- field ; Ijiit not the fasting nor the j)rayers of the village congre- gation could win her back to the faith of her fathers. She re- turned to her wigwam in the forest, and to the care of her dusky babes. In these border raids, the worst passions of human nature were let loose. Aimless butchery ravaged the frontier, unre- lieved, save by the heroism of brave men dying for their hearth- stones ; and of even weak women avenging the murder of their mangled babes, or with unwearying mother-love escaping with their orphaned children through the trackless wilderness. Again, in 1708, De Eouville, not yet weary of slaughter, with a hundred j)icked Canadians, and a troop of savages, set out from JNIontreal to ravage the New England villages. They ascended the St. Francis and penetrated the passes of the "White Mountains, traversing six hundred miles of tangled forest or rugged rocks, and reached the little town of Haver- hill, l)cside the placid Mcrrimac. At day-break they fell upon the sleeping hamlet. The tragedy of Deerfield was repeated. Before the dew was dry upon the grass, those happy homes were a heap of smouldering ruins, and the village green was sodden with the blood of the fiiithful pastor and his wife, of brave men, and fair women, and manirled babes. The loud noise of the QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. I75 firing, and the smoke of tlie burning houses, aroused the country far and wide. Snatching from their support, alcove the fire-place, the gun and powder-horn, the sturdy farmers hasted to avenge or rescue their killed or captured neigh- bours. Though but a handful, they hung upon the rear of the flying foe, and many of the French returned from their hunting of human l^rey no more. The English mourned the dead, sought to ransom the living, and to avert the recurrence of such wanton massacre. " I hold it my duty towards God and man," remonstrated honest Peter Schuyler of Albany, to the Marquis de Vaudreuil, the French Governor, "to prevent, if possible, these barbarous and heathen cruelties. My heart swells with indignation, when I behold a war between Christian princes, degenerating into a savage and boundless butchery." The French had again made Port Poyal the capital of Acadia. The fort was re-built, and strengthened with earthwork Ijas- tions, faced with sods, — a very eflTective defence against cannon- balls. Bruillan, the Governor of Placentia, had succeeded Villebon in command, but his choleric and despotic disposition provoked the jealousy and animosity of his subordinates. He commissioned privateers to prey upon the commerce of New England. Indeed, La Hcve became little better than a nest of pirates, of astonishing audacity. They even dashed into Boston harbour, and cut out vessels Ij'ing at anchor. With the goods thus plundered, they instigated the savages in their murderous raids upon the English settlements. In retaliation. Colonel Church resumed his old work of de- struction. With fifteen transports and thirty whale- 1704. boats, filled with armed men, he ravaged the shores of the Bay of Fundy, breaking the dykes, killing the cattle, burning the houses, and plundering the inhabitants. Three years later, a licet of five-and-twenty vessels, conveying a force of nearly two thousand New Englanders, appeared l^efore Port Eoyal. The garrison, re-enforced by St. Castine with sixty Indians, strengthened the works under the fire of the enemy, and offered such a spirited resistance that, after an unsuccessful assault, on 176 HISTORY OF CANADA. the sixth day, the attacldng force sailed away completely baffled. A second attack, the same year, fared no better. The following year, the British were almost entirely driven out of Newfoundland, — their sole remaining possession being Car- bonear. The New England colonists now determined on the conquest 1709. of Canada, and appealed for help to the mother country. A fleet and army, it was arranged, were to be sent from Eng- land for the reduction of Quebec, while a colonial force was to co-operate by land. Colonel Nicholson, with a force of two thousand men, advanced, by way of Albany, to Lake Cham- plain. The Iroquois had promised to make war against the French, but failed to keep their engagement, unwilling that the English should gain a dangerous preponderance. A serious epidemic broke out in Nicholson's camp, caused, it was thought, by the treacherous Iroquois poisoning the stream that supplied the army, by throwing into it raw hides. He learned, also, that the English fleet and army, instead of co-operating with the movement, had been despatched to Lisbon to aid the Portu- guese against Spain. He therefore burned his block-houses, and, with sadly diminished numbers, made a hasty retreat to Albany. The following year, the long-delayed succours arrived, and 1710. Queen Anne defrayed, from her private purse, the cost of equipping four New England regiments. Too late to act against Canada, a fleet of fifty vessels, with three thousand five hundred colonial militia, under command of General Nicholson, sailed from Boston for the cajoture of Port Eoyal. After a vigorous resistance, M. Subercase, its commandant, obtained favourable terms of capitulation, and, with his famished gar- rison of one hundred and fifty-six men, marched out with the honours of war ; and ever since the red-cross flag has waved over the noble harbour, then named, in honour of the reigning sovereign, Annapolis. The inhabitants were conveyed to Eo- chelle. Colonel Vetch, with four hundred and fifty men, occupied the fort. Vaudreuil, the Governor of Canada, com- missioned the younger St. Castine, son of the old Baron, to QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. 177 hold Acadia for the French, and if possible, to drive out the English. He carried on a harassing, petty war, cutting off detached parties, and even attacking the fort. General Nicholson again proceeded to England, to urge the conquest of Canada. The legislature of New York deputed Colonel Schuyler of Albany, to present the same request. He was accompanied by five Iroquois chiefs, who, dressed in a court costume, were presented in state to Queen Anne. Giving her belts of wampum, as pledges of their fidelity, they engaged that their tribesmen would grasp the hatchet and fight, on behalf of the English, j[or the conquest of Canada. The plan of the campaign was devised by the brilliant Boling- broke, who expressed " a paternal concern for its success"; but in the choice of leaders, he was hampered by court favour- itism and back-stairs influence. The command of the military forces was given to General Sir John Hill, brother of Mrs. J^Iasham, the confidante of the Queen. The naval command was assigned to Sir Hovenden Walker, — an utterly incompe- tent ofiicer. On the 30th of July, the fleet, numbering over eighty ships of war and transports, with five of Marlborough's 1711. veteran regiments, and two regiments of colonial militia, sailed from Boston for the attack on Quebec. Four thousand militia and six hundred Iroquois, under General Nicholson, advanced simultaneously from Albany to Lake George. The colonies created a large issue of paper money to meet the expenses of the expedition. Behind the walls of Quebec, which mounted a hundred guns, five thousand French, chiefly militia, awaited the attack ; and at Chambly, three thousand men, under De Lon- gueuil, guarded Montreal. Walker sailed slowly up the St. Lawrence, intending to winter in the river, and wondering how he would protect his ships when it shoidd be frozen to the bottom ; he thought he would place them in cradles on the shore ! On the 23d of August, the fleet was enveloped in a fog, and amid the darkness drifted upon the reefs of the Egg Islands. Before morning, eight of his vessels were shattered, and eight hundred drowned sailors and soldiers were strewn upon the 178 HISTORY OF CANADA. shores, together with broken bales and boxes, ana fragments of the wrecks. Yet Sir Hovenden found compensations even in this disaster. " Had we arrived safe at Quebec," he wrote, " ten or twelve thousand men must have been left to perish of cold and hunger. By the loss of part. Providence has saved all the rest." He tranquilly abandoned the enterprise, subsequently so heroically achieved by Wolfe, against greater difficulties, and sailed for Great Britain. General Nicholson was compelled, by this dis- aster, to retreat from Lake George, and the beleaguered fortress had another respite from conquest. The following year, the infant settlement of Detroit, garri- 1712. soned by only a score of men, was attacked by six hundred of the Fox tribe of Indians, instigated by the English. The Indian allies of the French, however, rallied for its de- fence, and the besiegers, taking refuge in an entrenched camp which they had constructed, were themselves besieged in turn. Dej^rived of water and of food, they were reduced to the utmost extremity, and were almost exterminated by their ruth- less foe. On the 13th of March, 1713, in the Dutch town of Utrecht, the treaty was signed which gave peace, not only to the war- worn nations of Europe, but also to the scattered colonists in the wilds of the New World. England obtained Acadia and Newfoundland, the two seaward bulwarks of the French, to- gether with the unexplored regions around Hudson's Bay, and the protectorate of the Iroquois nation. France, of all her vast colonial possessions, retained only Canada, Cape Breton, the small islands of St. Pierre and Lliquelon, and certain fish- ing rights on the shores of Newfoundland, together with the undefined territory of Louisiana. The i^eace between Great Britain and France continued for over thirty years, and gave an opportunity for the development of the natural resources of the colonies. Vaudreuil began forthwith, in anticipation of the final struggle, to strengthen the defences of New France, and to extend the chain of forest forts, connecting it with the Mississii3pi valley. A town was QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. 179 begun at Louisburg, Cape Breton, now called Royal Islantl, which became the home of many French refugees, from the ceded provinces of Acadia and Newfoundland ; and a fortress of immense strength was constructed as the seaward bulwark of the St. Lawrence, at the cost, when complete, of five millions of dollars. A system of defensive works was constructed at Quel^ec, and INIontrcal was surrounded by a stone wall. Ee- OLD CITT WALL, MONTREAL. mains of both of these are still visible. Fort Frontenac was strengthened, and, notwithstanding the remonstrance of Gov- ernor Burnet of New York, a new stone fort was erected at Niagara, controlling the navigation of Lake Erie. But the growth of peaceful industry was a surer means of promoting national prosperity. The fur trade, the chief in- dustry of the country, was relieved of some of its hampering restrictions, and an annual fair was established at Montreal. The English, however, drew off much of the trade to Albany and New York, offering for peltries three times the price given by the !French. English goods, in consequence, were largely smuggled into the country. Ship-building was encouraged, and Quebec laid the foundation of her distinguished reputation for this industry. Iron was manufactured at St. Maurice, and salt at Kamouraska. The interdiction was removed from the manufacture of woollen and linen cloth. Besides furs, — timber, staves, tar, tobacco, flour, pease, and pork were exported in increasing quantities to France and the West Indies. The 180 , BISTORT OF CAyADA. cliief imports were manufactured goods, sugar, rum, and mo- lasses. A considerable trade, in one year amounting to half a million of francs, sprang up with China, in ginseng root, to which the Chinese attributed marvellous medicinal virtues. Tea was also introduced from that country. After the infusion was drunk, the leaves were eaten, in order that nothing might be lost. Judicial reforms were also introduced, tending to repress the litigious disposition of tlie people. A letter-post was estab- lished, the country was divided into eighty-two parishes, and roads were made between the settlements to supplement the water communication. The absence of a local legislature, and the lack of secular education, left the general population in a torpid intellectual condition. At the same time, the lack of capital prevented the growth of manufactures ; and the seign- eurial tenure of the land, and its minute subdivision, through inheritance, by diminishing the stimulus to effort, tended to perpetuate poverty, and prevented the growth of that intelli- gent industrial population, which became the strength of New England. The fascinations of the adventurous fur trade were also especially unfavorable to agricultural prosperity. This trade, successive edicts , in vain attempted to repress, for with it every family in the colony was in some way connected. The English colonists, on the contrary, devoted themselves almost exclusively to agriculture, conquering yearly a broad domain of forest, and extending the frontiers of civilization ; the fur trade was only a very subordinate industry. The coureur de hois had no English comiterpart, although he maj^ have had a few English imitators. In 1720-1722, Pere Charlevoix, the learned and accom- plished Jesuit missionary, traversed Canada and Louisiana, and wrote a voluminous and valuable history of the country. Quebec had then a population of seven thousand. Its society, which was largely military, he describes as very agreeable, and much more brilliant than that of Boston. " The English," he said, "knew better how to accumulate wealth, but the French had the more elegant manner of spending it." But QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. 181 l)oncalh this gay exterior, tlie reflex of the salons of Fon- taiiicbleaii, was concealed a general poverty. Montreal had about two thousand inhabitants, and the entire Province about PtRE CHARLEVOIX. twenty-five thousand. Proceeding westward, he found the whole country a wilderness, whose solitude was relieved only by a few fortified stations, — Cataraqui, Niagara, and Detroit, — and a few missions or trading-posts, on the upper lakes and in the country of the Illinois, — a region now populous with life, and l^usy with active industries. Tv^ith their increase of population, the New England Colonies extended their settlements along the Atlantic sea-coast, toward the St. Croix, and into the adjacent interior. The Abenaquis had long claimed this region as an ancestral possession, under the 2)rotectorate of the French. For more than a quarter of a century. Father Rasles, a Jesuit priest, had maintained a mis- sion at Norridgewock, on the banks of the Kennebec. He had a well-cultured mind, and wrote Latin with classical purity. 182 niSTORT OF CANADA. A rigorous ascetic, he used little food but pounded maize ; his only drink was water. With his own hands, he built his cabin, and erected a forest sanctuary of more than wonted magniii- cence, hewed his wood and tilled his garden. In order to at- tract the attention of his savage catechumens by an appeal to their senses, he exhausted his artistic skill, which was not small, in painting sacred pictures on the walls of his chapel, and carving an image of the Virgin. He trained, also, a choir of forty Indian neophytes, arrayed in cassock and surplice, to chant the hymns and assist in the daily religious service. To counteract the religions influence of Easles, the English of Massachusetts sent a Puritan minister among the Abenaquis ; but the system of Calvin presented less attraction to the savage mind than that of Loyola. The English, by stratagem, seized several Abenaquis chiefs and held them as hostages, even after the payment of a stipulated ransom. The tribesmen of the captives demanded their release, and the evacuation of the Abenaquis territory, under threat of active reprisals. A border war, with all its inhuman atrocities, now broke out. The English seized the young Baron St. Castine, who, by descent, on his mother's side, was an Indian war-chief, and held also a commission as a French officer. They raised a formidable force of a thousand fighting men, and urged the Abenaquis to surrender Father Easles, who was especially obnoxious as the directing spirit of the tribe. The Indians were hunted like wolves ; and the mercenary revenge of private individuals, was stimulated by the bounty of a hundred pounds ojffered for each scalp.* The Abenaquis, in retaliation, burned the town of Bruns- wick, and overshadowed, with a cloud of terror, the entire frontier. Father Easles clearly foresaw the inevitable result. Ho was urged to take refuge in Canada, but, although a price of a thousand pounds was placed upon his head, the brave * In February, 1725, Jolin LoveweU, with, forty men, surprised, a camp of sleeping Indians. At one volley every one was slain. For their ten scalps, the victors received, in Boston, the substantial reward of £1,000 sterling. — Di-alcc's Book of tlie Indians, iii., 121. QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. 183 soul replied, "I count not my life dear unto myself, so that I may finish with joy the ministry which I have received." An armed expedition penetrated the Penobscot as far as the site of Bangor. Here was a stockaded fort, seventy yards by fifty, with a large chapel, and a score of well-built houses. The in- habitants had fled, and the whole was given to the flames. In August, 1724, a force of two hundred English ascended the Kennebec, and, unperceived, reached the Norridgewock mission. A deadly volley, poured into the unarmed village, was the first announcement of the presence of the foe. Fifty warriors seized their arms, not to fight, but to protect the flight of their wives and children. Eighty were slain or drowned while seeking, beneath a shower of bullets, to swim the rapid stream. The chapel and houses were first pillaged and then burned, and the invaders returned from their work of blood. The surviving Indians, groping amid the ashes of their homes, found the scalped and mangled body of their beloved missionary, his skull and the bones of his legs broken, his mouth and eyes filled with mud. With tears and kisses, and bitter lamenta- tions, they washed his body and buried it beneath the altar, at which he had so often ministered. His countrymen regarded him as a blessed martyr ; the English considered him the incen- diary of a savage war. More than two hundred years after his death, in 1833, a monument was erected to the memory of the murdered missionary, on the scene of his apostolic toil. It is a plain granite obelisk, surmounted by an iron cross, as shown in the accompanying engraving. For three long years of horror and bloodshed, the hideous border war went on, when, by a treaty signed at Boston, the Indians east of the Kennebec owned the sovereignty of Great Britain. In 1725, after a skilful and prudent administration, for nearly a quarter of a century, of colonial aflfairs, Vaudreuil died, beloved and regretted by those over whom he ruled. The same year, another serious disaster happened to Canada. Tlie ship "Le Chameau," of the royal navy, conveying M. Chazel, the newly appointed Intendant, together with the Gov- 184 HISTORY OF CANADA. ernor of Three Hi vers, and a company of military officers and ecclesiastics, was "wrecked on the coast of Cape Breton, and not one of the passengers or crew escaped alive. For days RASLES' MONUMENT AT NORRIDGEWOCK. afterwards, broken bales of merchandise, and drowned bodies, were strewn along the inhospitable shore. Yaudreuil was succeeded, as Governor of Canada, by the Marquis de Bcauharnois, a natural son of Louis XIV. Gov- ernor Burnet of New York, a son of the distinguished Bishop of Sarum, jealous of the existence of Fort Niagara, established a fort, in defiance of the remonstrance of Bcauharnois, at Oswego, in order to divert the Indian trade, by way of the Mohawk and Hudson, to New York. The French, in retalia- tion, greatly strengthened Fort Niagara, and shortly after built Fort Frederic, at Crown Point, on Lake Champlain, near the 1731. British frontier, — a position of great strategic impor- tance, commanding the "gate-way" of Canada, and destined to be the scene of many a bloody conflict. An Indian outbreak in Blinois was suppressed liy an expedi- tion from Montreal, by way of the Ottawa and Nipissing, — an QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. 185 exiiibition of vigour wliich increased tiie authority of France among the western tribes. A long period of peace now ensued. The population of Canada slowly increased, and its internal development made considerable progress. The cultivation of the soil was, how- ever, greatly neglected for the seductive fiu' trade,* which pos- sessed for the adventurous voyageur and coureur de bois a strange fiiscination. Assuming the garb, these often assumed, also, the social habits of the red men, — living in their wigwams, marrying their daughters, and rearing a dusky brood of half- breeds, in whom the savage predominated over the civilized nature. The daring spirit of exploration was not yet extinct. As early as 1717, a trading-post and fort had been planted at the mouth of the Kamanistiquia, in Thunder Bay, Lake Superior, where Fort William was afterwards built. In 1731, ]\I. Ycren- drye, having formed a partnership with a company of JMontreal merchants, for the purpose of trade in the great Northwest, set out, with Pcre Messagcr, a missionary priest, and a party of attendants, to take possession of those vast regions for the King of France, and with the object of ultimately reaching the Pacific Ocean overland. They proceeded by way of the Kamanistiquia and Eainy Lake and Kiver, and Lake of the Woods, — these latter names are but translations of those given by the original French explorer, — to Lake Winnipeg. They then ascended the Saskatchewan as far as the forks of that river. At the junction of the Assinil)oine and Ecd rivers, where Fort Gariy was afterwards erected, and at other important points, forti- fied posts were planted. In one of their expeditions, on an island in the Lake of the Woods, in 1736, a son of ]\I. Veren- drye, with the Jesuit, Pere Anncau, and twenty others were slain by a band of Sioux. In 1742, the explorers reached the upper waters of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, and on * The profits of tlio fur trade were enormoiis. It is stated, that in 1754, at a vrestern post, beaver-skius "were bonglit at fonr grains of popper eac!i; and eiglit hundred francs were realized from selling a poun'& of vermilion, which was in. great request for -war-paint. 24 186 BISTORT OF C AX ADA. Jan. 1, 1743, the brothers Yerendrye, sons of the veteran pioneer, reached the foot of the Eocky Mountains. That giant barrier prevented their further progress, and not till sixty years after, 1805, did those daring travellers, Lewis and Clarke, pen- etrate its passes, and, dcscendhig the Columbia Elver, reach the Pacilic Ocean. LOVISBURG — DU QUESNE. 187 CHAPTER XIV. LOUISBUEG — DU QUESNE. War of the Anstrian Succession, 1744 — Pepperell's Conquest of Louisburg, 1745 — The Disastrous Attempt of the French at its Recapture, 1746 — Death of D'Auville aud D'Estouruelle — The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle restores Louis- burg to France, 1748 — Franco claims the Ohio Valley — Halifax Founded, 1749 — The Acadian " Neutrals "— The Abb6 de Loutre — Blood Shed at Beau S(Sjour — Jonqui^re's Avarice and Bigot's Fraud — Fort Du Quesne Phmted — Collision in the Ohio Valley, 1754 — The Death of JumouTille " kindles the World into a Flame." THDE question of the Austrian succession now involved both Europe and America in the throes of war. The emperor Charles VI., by ample cessions of territory to several princes, procured a general acknowledgment of the ' ' Pragmatic Sanc- tion," whereby his daughter, Maria Theresa, was guaranteed the succession to the crown. Upon the death of the emperor, in 1740, Spain, Prussia, and Bavaria laid claim to a portion of the inheritance. Charles Albert, of Bavaria, was elected emperor, and the heroic and beautiful Maria Theresa placed herself and her infant son under the protection of her Hun- garian nobles, whose enthusiasm soon procured a re-action in her behalf. England, Sardinia, Austria, Holland, and Saxony declared in her behalf. France espoused the cause of Charles Albert, and proclaimed war against England. The 1744. Stuart Pretender deemed the moment opportune for raising a Scottish revolt. The conflict soon extended to America. Louisburg became a rendezvous for French privateers, which preyed upon the commerce of New England. Du Quesne, the Governor of Cape Breton, organized a strong force for the capture of the British settlements at Canso and Annapolis. The former was burned, and its garrison and settlers made prisoners of war. The latter oiFered a stout resistance, notwithstanding the dilapi- dated condition of its fortifications and the reduced state of its 188 HISTORY OF CANADA. garrison, and completely baffled every effort of the French to reduce it, l)y stratagem or by assault. Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, now resolved to attempt the daring feat of the capture of Louisburg, which was a stand- ing menace to Ncav England. He appealed for help to Great Britain, and to the neighbouring colonies. In a few weeks, four thousand colonial militia were collected, and William Pep- perell, a merchant and militia colonel of Maine, who had 1)cen an active spirit in organizing the exjDedition, and who was afterwards knighted for its success, was appointed to its command. The celebrated George Whitefield, the elo- quent Methodist preacher, who was then in New Eng- land, was asked to furnish a motto for the regimental flag, and gave the inscription, " Kil desperandum, Christo duce." Indeed, in the eyes of the more zealous Puritans, the SIR WILLIAM PEPPERELL. expedition possessed quite the character of a crusade against the image-worship of the Catholic faith. On the 29th of April, 1745, a hundred vessels, large and small, among them ten large ships of the royal navy, carrying five hundred guns, under Commodore Warren, having been detained many days by the thick-ribbed ice off Canso, sailed into the capacious harbour of Louisburg. This was one of the strongest fortresses in the world. It was surrounded by a wall forty feet thick at the base, and from twenty to thirty feet high, and by a ditch eighty feet wide. It mounted nearly two hun- dred guns, and had a garrison of two thousand men. The assailants had only eighteen cannon and three mortars. With a rush and a cheer, they charged through the surf, and repulsed the French, who lined the steep and rugged shore. A detach- L O UISB URG — DUQ UESXE. 189 ment of troops fired a num1)cr of warehouses filled with naval stores — pitch, tar, and tiirpeiitmc. The dense smoke, driven })y the wind, so stifled and terrified the garrison of a detached battery, that they spiked their guns, and fled into the main fortress. The battery was promptly seized, the touch-holes of the cannon drilled out, and a damag- ing lire opened on the town. During fourteen nights, — the only time they dared attempt the task, — the English sail- ors dragged their siege guns and am- munition on sledges through a marsh, and thus gained the land- ward and weakci' side of the fort. CAPTURE OF LOUISBURG, 1745. Trenches and parallels were opened and pushed within two hundred yards of the walls. Great breaches were made, which were as promptly repaired by the garrison. It was intended that the fleet should bombard the town, w^hile the land force should attempt to enter it by assault. In the meantime, a French man-of-war, " La Vigilante," of seventy-four guns, with five hundred and sixty men, was captured by the English fleet in sight of the beleagured town. Her rich freight of military stores was a great gain to the besiegers, and a great loss to the besieged, as they were much needed by both. This disaster, together with the erection of new batteries by the British, and the preparations for a general assault, so disheartened Ducham- bon, the French commander, that on the IGth of June, after a gallant resistance for six weeks, he yielded to a simnnons to surrender, and the New England militia marched into the works. As they beheld their extent, they exclaimed, " God alone has delivered this stronghold into our hand," and a seiinon of thanksgiving was preached in the French chapel. The garrison of two thousand veteran troops and militia, and 190 HISTORY OF CANADA. the inhabitants of the town, as many more, were conveyed to France. Two French East Indiamen, and a South American spice-ship, were decoyed into the harbour and captured, and their cargoes, worth one million pounds, confiscated. The weather, which, during the siege, had been fair, now became very stormy, and, but for the surrender, would have inevitalily produced a great mortality among the civilian soldiers, who were very imperfectly sheltered, and were quite unaccustomed to military service. The fall of the strongest fortress iu the New World — the Dunkirk of America — before a little army of New England farmers and fishermen, caused the wildest delight at Boston, and the deepest chagrin at Versailles. Beau- harnois was recalled, and the Marquis do la Jonquiere was appointed Governor-General of Canada. Shirley and Pepperell now determined on attempting a still greater enterprise, — no less than the conquest of Canada — and sought the assistance of the mother country in the undertak- ing. But an imminent danger threatened New England itself. 1746. A great fleet of fifteen ships of the line, twenty-four frigates, and thirty transports and fire-ships, with a military force of three thousand men, was assembled in the harbour of Kochelle, for the purpose of recapturing Louisburg and Anna- polis, ravaging the New England coast, and destroying the town of Boston. "When the news of this formidable fleet reached New England, solemn services were held in the churches, to pray for deliverance from the danger. The French fleet was followed by disaster from the very out- set. It was scattered by storms, two ships were captured by the English, some were wrecked, others driven back to France, audit was three months before the Due D'Anville, the admiral of the fleet, with onl}'' two ships, reached the place of rendez- vous, Chebucto (now Halifax) harbour, to find only a solitary vessel awaiting him. His disappointment was intense, and, in a few days, he died suddenly, apparently from apoplexy, al- though it was whispered that he had taken poison. On the day of D'Anville's death, arrived Vice- Admiral D'Estournelle, with three ships. He urged the abandonment of the enterx^rise, as LOUISBURG — DU QUESNE. 191 most of the soldiers were on board the missing ships. This, Governor Jonquiere, who was on his way to Canada, opposed, and a council of war decided on attacking Annapolis. D'Es- tournelle fell into a fever, attended with delirium, the result, it was thought, of mental excitement, and, falling upon his sword, he was found in his cabin, weltering in his blood. Other vessels of the fleet continued daily to arrive, but the long confinement on shipboard produced an epidemic of scui-vy and dysentery among the soldiers and sailors, attended with frightful mortality. They were, therefore, put on shore to recruit, but, in a month, eleven hundred were buried. The infection spread also to the Indian allies of the French, the Micmacs, of Nova Scotia, one-third of which tribe are said to have perished. In the middle of October, the camp was broken up, and the fleet, now consisting of less than forty vessels, sailed for Anna- polis, to attempt the capture of that fort. It encountered, however, such a severe tempest off Caj)e Sable, that Jonquiere, now chief in command, ordered a return to France. This frus- tration of the threatened invasion by the power of the elements rather than by that of man, was the occasion in New England of devout thanksgiving for what was considered a signal inter- position of Providence. Undeterred by disaster, the French, the next year, fitted out two squadrons, one against the British East Indies, the other to recover Louisburg. Admirals Anson and Warren, however, intercepted and defeated both off Cape Finisterre, capturing many vessels, five thousand men, and a great quantity of booty. Among the prisoners was Jonqui6re, thus again prevented from assuming the government of Canada. The Count de la Galis- soniere was appointed acting Governor till Jonqui6re could be exchanged. In the autumn of the same year, a convoy of ten French men-of-war was encountered off Belle Isle by Sir Edward Hawke, with fourteen sail of the line and five smaller vessels. Six of the largest of the French ships were captured, but the merchant fleet escaped. For two years longer, a cruel border warfare continued to 192 BISTORT OF CANADA. rage. The French and their Indian allies, in no less than twenty-seven snccessive raids, ravaged the New England fron- tier, and cajitured several fortified posts. From Boston to Albany, a wide region was abandoned by its inhabitants, flying from the tomahawk and torch of the midnight assassin and incendiary. At length, the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle put an end to Hostil- 1T48. ities, and restored to each nation the possessions held before the war. To the intense chagiin of the New England colonists, the fortress of Louisburg, conquered by their valour, was restored to France, in exchange for her East Indian con- quest of Madras. Great Britain reimbursed the expenses of the colonies, but the control of Louisburg by the French, made it again a standing menace to their commerce and their ■ prosperity. The peace was only accepted hy both nations as a breathing- spell to prejiare for the coming struggle for the possession of the continent. The gi-eat want of Canada was population. This essential element of prosperity numbered only al^out sixty thousand, while that of the English colonies was twenty-fold greater, and their realized wealth was still more disproportion- ate. The French laid claim, on the plea of first discovery, to the vast interior of the continent, and sought to restrict the British to the Atlantic seaboard; and Galissonicre, the acting Governor of Canada, a man of intrepid spirit though of de- formed person, urged the immigration of ten thousand French peasants to occupy the valley of the Ohio, and thus prevent the threatened intrusion of British settlements. The home-loving instincts of the Gallic race, however, were averse to coloniza- tion. The active Governor, therefore, took measures to form- ally assert the sovereignty of France over those vast regions. He despatched an officer with three hundred soldiers, to de- l^osit in the earth, at the foot of certain marked trees, at inter- vals along a line reaching from Detroit to the Alleghanies, leaden plates, on which were engraved the ai-morial bearings of the King of France. He officially notified the Governor of Pennsylvania of this fact, and forbade the English traders to louisbuhg — du quesne. 193 trespass on the territoiy tliiis claimed by the Frencli, iindcr pain of confiscation of their goods. He also jn-ojected and partly established a chain of forts from Montreal to the Ohio and the Mississippi, — as at La Presentation (Ogdcnsburg), one of stone at Toronto, one at Detroit, and others further •west Nearly half a century had passed since the cession of Acadia to Great Britain l)y the peace of Utrecht, ^''et not a step had l)een taken towards its settlement. Two small garrisons were main- tained at Annapolis and Canso, — this, and nothing more. An energetic movement was now made for the colonization 1749. of the country, under the auspices of the Board of Trade and Plantations, of which Lord Halifax was the President. The close of the late war set at liberty a largo number of persons who had been engaged in military or semi-military occupations. Liberal inducements were offered intending settlers. A free passage, maintenance for a year, and grants of land, varying from fifty to six hundred acres, according to rank, were guar- anteed. The Imperial Government voted the sum of £40,000 to defray these exjienses. In five years this was increased to the enormous sum of over £400,000. On account of its mag- nificent harbour, one of the finest in the world, Chebucto, or Halifax, as it was henceforth to be called, in honour of the chief projector of the entei-prise, was selected as the site of the new settlement. The Honourable Edward Cornwallis was appointed Governor, and the protection of British law and representative institutions was promised. In the month of July, 1749, Governor Cornwallis, in H. M. ship " Sphynx," followed by a fleet of thii-teen transports, con- veying nearly three thousand settlers, — disbanded soldiers, re- tired officers, mechanics, labourers, and persons of various rank, — reached Chebucto Bay. A civil government was promptly organized, the first meeting of the Council being held on ship- board in the harbour. On a rising ground, overlooking the noble bay, the woods were cleared and the streets of a town laid out. In busy emulation, the whole company was soon at work, and before winter three hundred log-houses were con- 25 194 HISTORY OF CANADA. structed, besides a fort, store-houses, and residence for the Governor, — the whole surrounded by a palisade. Tlie Governor and Council took prompt measures to proclaim the sovereignty of Great Britain over the entire province. Deputies were summoned from the French settlements, and commanded to take the oath of allegiance to King George , as the condition of enjoying the protection of his government. The deputies wished to make the resei-vation, that they should not be compelled to bear arms against the King of France ; but the Governor insisted that the oath should be one of absolute and unconditional allegiance. These vigorous measures soon aroused the jealousy of the French in Canada, and led to serious acts of insubordination on the part of some of the old Acadian colonists. The Abbe de Loutre especially, a violent partisan of the French, alnised his authority and influence as a priest to prevent his country- men from submitting to the King of England. He is also accused of having instigated the IMicmac Indians, and certain restless spirits among the Acadians, to attack the inftmt settle- ments of Halifax, Dartmouth, on the opposite side of the har- bour, and the new German settlement of Lunenburg. These marauders even attacked the English vessels in Chebucto Ba}', and killed or wounded part of their crews. Over these, the Governor of Louisburg — to whom remonstrance was made on account of these outrages — disavowed any control, as the aggressors w^ere living w^ithin British territor3% General Corn- wallis, Governor of Halifax, was therefore obliged to reduce the marauders by force. They refused to take the oath of allegiance, and claimed a position of political neutrality. The Chevalier de la Corne, an impetuous officer, was de- spatched from Quebec with eleven hundred French and Indians to guard the ill-defined frontier. He built a fort at Beau S^jour, commanding the isthmus which connects Nova Scotia with the main-land, on ground which he claimed as a portion of Canada, and made it a rendezvous for malcontent and refugee Acadians. Cornwallis sent Colonel LawTcnce, with four hun- dred men, from Halifax to watch his movements. On his LOUISBURG — DU QUESNE. I95 approach the Acadian "neutrals," at the instigation of their priests, burned the settlement of Beaubassin, within 1750. the British territory, and retired to the protection of the French fort. Lawrence returned for re-enforcements, and later in the season landed, though stoutly opposed, and built a fort in close proximity to Beau Sejour, on the opposite side of the Messagouche, which was, for the time, accepted as the boundary line. This was the first blood shed between France and England after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. La Jonquiere, liberated by the peace, had superseded Galis- soniere as Governor,* and timidly followed the policy of his predecessor. He was consumed by an ignoble avarice, and used every means to enrich himself at the expense of the colony ; yet even in his last hours, he denied himself the com- forts of life. Fraud and peculation impoverished the people, who demanded his recall ; but he died before the arrival of his successor, Du Quesne. Bigot, his Litendant, was, 1752. if possible, even more corrupt than the miserly Governor, and added the vices of licentiousness and extravagance to those of meanness and avarice. He mocked the misery of the people by his ostentatious profligacy, and aped the sensualism of the court of Louis XV. at his palace in Quebec, and at his chateau at Beauport. By his extortion and peculation as a civil admin- istrator, he had already won an evil reputation in Louisiana and Cape Breton, but was destined to reach the culmination of his infamy in Canada, Do Quesne, the new Governor, entered upon a vigorous aggressive policy. He organized and drilled the militia, gar- risoned the western forts, and established new posts at Presque Isle, on Lake Erie, and at Le Beuf and Venango, in the Ohio valley. Dinwiddle, the Governor of Virginia, sent, as 1733. an envoy, to warn the French from the occupation of territory claimed by the British, George Washington, then in his twenty- fii'st year. The youthful ambassador found the intruders * Galissoui^re returned to France, sen'ed on the Boundaries Commission, rejoined the navy, and, after defeating the unhappy Admiral Byng at Minorca, died in 1756. 196 HISTORY OF CANADA. strongly entrenched at Venango and Le Beuf. "I am here," said the French commandant, "by the orders of my general, to which I shall conform with exactness and resolution. He has instructed me to seize every Englishman in the Ohio valley, and I shall do it." Through wintry weather and pathless woods, Washington returned over the mountains to Virginia. Twice on the route he nearly lost his life, once by the point-blank fire of a lurking Indian, and once by the swollen and ice-burdened torrent of the Alleghany River. The " Ohio Company," composed of London and Virginia mer- 1754. chants, now began a settlement and fort at the junction of the Monongahela and Alleghany rivers, where Pittsburg now stands. A strong force of French, under M. Contrecoeur, seized the fort, and having completed its defences, gave it the name of Du Quesne. Governor Dinwiddle had, meanwhile, despatched a force, under George Washington, now a lieutenant- colonel, to hold the fort for the English. Contrecceur sent M. Jumonville, with a small party of soldiers, to warn him off what was claimed as French territory. Washington, aware of their approach, apprehending that their purpose was hostile, and eager to distinguish himself, surprised them, at break of day, encamped in a narrow valley. The French sprang to arms. "Fire ! " cried Washington. '* That word," says Ban- croft, "kindled the world into a flame." It precipitated the earth-shaking conflict on the plains of India, on the waters of the Mediterranean and the Spanish Main, on the Gold Coast of Africa, on the ramparts of Louisburg, on the heights of Quebec, and here in the valley of the Ohio, which led to the utter de- feat of the French, and the destruction of their sovereignty on this continent, and prepared the way for the independence of the United States. In the very beginning, as well as at the end, Washington was a prominent actor in the eventful drama, which became the epoch of a great nation. A shai*p engagement of a few minutes ensued, in which Jumonville and ten Frenchmen fell, and twenty-one were captured. The French denounced the attack on Jumonville, while in the character of an envoy, as LOUISBURG — DU QUESNE. 197 miircler ; but there is no evidence that "Washington was aware of his commission. "Washington threw up entrenchments at Great Meadows, which he named Fort Necessity, and with four hundred men held his ground for a month. Attacked by a force of nine hundred French and Indians, commanded by a brother of the slain Jumonville, and occupying an untenable position between two hills, he capitulated, after ten hours' resistance, leaving the entke Ohio valley in the possession of the French, 198 BISTORT OF CANADA. CHAPTER XV. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1755. Convention of British Colonists at Albany — William Jolinson — British Naval Victories — Braddock, Commander-in-Chief — His Arbitrary Character — His Defeat at the Monongahcla — The Expedition against Fort Niagara a Failure — Johnson Defeats Dieskau at Lake George — Capture of Beau S^jour — The Acadian Neutrals — Micmac Outrages — The Tragedy of Grand Pre — Expulsion of the Acadians. IT was now felt that war was inevitable. A convention of deputies of the English colonies was forthwith held at Albany, to concert measures of defence. The astute Franklin proposed a federal union, after the manner of the league of the Six Nations. *'It would be a strange thing," said that philosophical poli- tician, *' if a community of ignorant savages should be capable of forming such a union, and maintaining it un- broken for ages, and yet, if a similar ^ union should be impracticable for ten or a dozen English colonies, to whom it is more necessary, and must be more advantageous." The mutual jealousies of the different colonies, and of the mother country, however, prevented its consummation. It was only at a later day, and as the result of a fierce struggle, that the political organization was formed, which has had such an eventful and prosperous history during the last century. A prominent character in colonial history comes now into view. William Johnson, afterwards knighted for his services, was the younger son of an Irish gentleman of good family. Crossed in a love affair, he came to America in his nineteenth year, and assumed the charge of a large tract of laud in the FRANKLIX, CAMPAIGX OF 1755. 199 SIR \riLLIAM JOHNSON. province of New York, the property of his imcle, Admiral Sir Peter "Warren. He settled ill the Mohawk valley, and lived in a sort of feudal state, alternately at Johnson Castle and Johnson Hall, two strongly forti- fied buildings, the latter of which is still standing. He carried on a prosperous trade with the Indians, and by his integrity of character gained a remarkable influence over them. This he increased by marrying, after the forest manner, Molly Brant, a sister of the celebrated Mohawk chief, Tyendenaga, or Joseph Brant, afterwards famous in border warfare. Johnson was adopted by the Mohawks as a member of their tribe, and chosen as one of their great sachems. The French endeavoured to detach the Iroquois from their allegiance to the English. For this purpose, they founded a mission and school at La Presentation, and acquired over them a remarkable influence. They purposed, also, to establish a mission at Lake Onondaga; but Johnson purchased the lake and all the land for two miles around it, and continued, during the war, the bulwark of British authority upon the troubled frontier. The British ministry, on hearing of the collision in the Ohio valley, determined on a vigorous campaign, and de- 1735. spatched General Braddock, with two royal regiments, to assume supreme military com- mand in the colonies. The choice was an unfortunate one. Braddock was a brave sol- dier, but a martinet, — arrogant, perverse, obstinate. The Duke of Cumberland, the British commander-in-chief, estranged the sympathy of the colonists. "He had no confidence," he declared, " except in regular troops ; " and ordered that the generals and field-officers of the provincial forces, should have no rank when serving with officers bear- ing the royal commission. Colonel Washington, resenting this indignity, retired from the service, and his regiment was GENERAL BRADDOCK. 200 HISTORY OF CANADA. disbanded ; but even Braddock's perversity did not prevent him from perceiving the impolicy of this order^ and several of the colonial officers received appointments on his stajff. The French also strengthened their forces in Canada by sending out Baron Dieskau, an officer of distinction, who had served under Marshal Saxe, with several veteran battalions, numbering in all about three thousand men. Admiral Bos- cawen, with eleven ships of the line, intercepted a portion of the fleet bearing Dieskau's forces, oif the Banks of Newfound- land. *' Are we at peace or war? " inquired the French com- mander. A broadside from the Englishman was the answer, and the French frigates, "Alcide" and "Lys," soon struck their colours. Under cover of a fog, Dieskau, with the rest of his squadron escaped, and safely reached Quebec. British privateers now swept the seas, and during the year, captured three hundred French vessels and eight thousand sailors. With the fleet that brought Dieskau and his soldiers, came also the new Governor of Canada, the Marquis de Vaudreuil- Cavagnac. He was a native of Quebec, being the son of the former Governor, De Vaudrueil, whose memory was cherished with respect, and for whose sake his son received a cordial welcome. The Marquis Du Quesne, preferring the French naval service, had already resigned the vice-royalty. The plan of the campaign of 1755, as devised by the British ministry, comprehended a simultaneous attack on the French, at Fort Du Quesne, in the Ohio valley, at Niagara, at Fort Frederic or Crown Point, and at Fort Beau Sejour, in Acadia. The main enterprise, that against Fort Du Quesne, was assigned to General Braddock. He attempted to wage war amid the wilds of America after the manner of a European cam- paign. He treated with disdain the provincial troops, and rejected the counsels of Washing- ton and other backwoods fighters. He was full of confidence as to his easy success in this unfamiliar forest warfare. "Fort Du Quesne," he said, to Franklin, *' can hardly detain me above three or four days, and then I CAMPAIOy OF 1753. 201 sec nothing that can obstruct my march to Niagara." "The Indians are dexterous in laying and executing ambuscades," Franklin replied. *'The savages maybe formidable to your raw American militia," Braddock haughtily answered; *'but upon the King's regulars and disciplined troops, it is impossible that they should make any impression." He was destined to be soon undeceived. Twenty-seven days were consumed in the march from Alex- andria, on the Potomac, to Fort Cumberland, on the head- waters of that river. Here several weeks were spent in camp, drilling a contingent of raw militia, and preparing a wagon- train. Early in June, the little army of twenty-three hundred men left Fort Cumberland. A hundred expert axe-men went ahead, and the crash of falling trees heralded the advance of the expedition. With infinite toil a path was hewed through the wilderness, and over the mountains, and every creek was bridged. An unwieldly baggage and artillery train, extending several miles, was dragged over the rugged road by straining horses. Learning that Fort Du Quesne was being re-enforced, Braddock, with twelve hundred picked men, pressed on with the lighter baggage and artillery, and left the rest of the army, under command of Colonel Dunbar, to follow with the heavy wagons. On the 9th of July, the advance body had reached the neigh- bourhood of the Monongahela. The march was conducted in a most unvigilant manner. "Washington, who commanded some companies of Virginia militia, and was attached to Braddock's staff, so urgently warned the headstrong general of the peril of Indian attack, that he was ordered, in a moment of irrita- tion, to assume the inglorious duties of rear-guard. They were now within nine miles of Fort Du Quesne. Contrecoeur, the French commandant, was about to give it up for lost ; but Beaujeu, a captain of the garrison, proposed to waylay and attack the British in the woods, and with a party of French and Indians, sallied forth for that purpose. Meanwhile, Braddock's command, on that brilliant midsum- mer day, forded the river and entered the forest beyond. It 26 202 HISTORY OF CAXADA. was a gallant sight, — the bannered array, the scarlet uniforms, the gleam of bayonets, as the little army, with flying colours, unconsciously pressed on to its fate, — the fife and drum corps making the forest ring with the inspiring strains of " The British Grenadiers." As they entered a narrow defile, sud- denly the deadly war-whoop rang, and a murderous fire was poured into their ranks by unseen enemies, lurking amid the shadows of the primeval forest. For two hours, the deadly conflict continued. The British regulars were thrown into confusion, and, huddled together like sheep, fell by scores, their solid platoons being mowed down by the fire of the concealed French and Indians, till, panic- stricken, they broke and fled. In vain their officers sought to rally them. Braddock had five horses shot under him, and fell mortally wounded by a ball that shattered his arm and pene- trated his lung. The colonial troops, under Colonel Washing- ton, displayed a steadiness that put the regulars to shame, fighting skilfully, after the bush manner, behind the trees ; but scarce one-fifth of their number left the field alive. Of the English, seven hundred and fourteen, or more than half the entire command, were killed or wounded. The fugitives fled through the night, and paused not till they reached the baggage camp, forty miles back. They communicated their panic to Dunbar's troops, who broke up camp in dismay, burned their baggage, provisions, and stores, to the value of £100,000, and precipitately retreated to Fort Cumberland and Philadelphia. Braddock was borne, in a dying condition, with his fl^'ing army. " Who would have thought it ! " he murmured, rousing himself from a lethargy ; "we shall better know how to deal with them another time." But his dear-bought experience came too late ; that night he died. The French, who were only some two hundred and fifty in number, attempted no pursuit ; and their six hundred savage allies reaped a rich harvest of scalps, and booty, and brilliant British uniforms. Fifteen cannon, and Braddock's military- chest, containing the dispatches of the British ministry, which revealed their design with respect to Canada, became also the CAMPAIGN OF 1755. 203 spoil of the conqueror. The assailants lost only forty men. This disastrous rout, brought on the Pennsylvania and Virginia settlements all the horrors of a merciless border warfare. The western tribes seized their tomahawks and turned into one wide scene of havoc the entire English frontier. The expedition against Fort Niagara, failed even to reach its destination. Disheartened by Braddock's defeat, the militia deserted by scores ; and the Iroquois, wavering in their alle- giance, disputed its right of way through their territory. Reach- ing Lake Ontario, in August, Shirley, its commander, left seven hundred men to garrison Oswego, and returned with the remainder to Albany. For William Johnson, the colonial militia officer, was re- served the honour of redeeming the reputation of the British arms, tarnished by the disastrous defeat of Braddock, the vet- eran European soldier. Early in July, the hardy New Eng- land and New York militia, to the number of five thousand men, assembled at Albany, for the purpose of making an at- tack on Crown Point, which was strongly garrisoned by the French. This force, led by General Lyman, advanced forty miles up the Hudson River, and constructed Fort Edward, as a depot for provisions, and point of support in case of defeat. Towards the end of August, John- son joined the untrained army and conducted it across the portage of twelve miles, to the southern extremity of the lake, called by the French, Lake of the Holy Sacrament. "I found," said Johnson, "a mere wilder- ness ; never was house or fort erected here before." He re-named this beautiful expanse of waters, Lake George, and constructed on its shore, a camp for five thousand men. Here much time was spent in languid preparation for the attack on Crown Point. Meanwhile, Baron Dieskau had been more active. He had been despatched from Quebec to attack the British garrison at I-AKE GEORGE. 204 HISTORY OF CAXADA. the mouth of the Oswego Eiver ; but learning the peril that menaced Crown Point, Vaudreuil had directed him to proceed to the support of that fort. He advanced rapidly, with seven hundred regular troops, fifteen hundred Canadian militia, and seven hundred Indian warriors to the menaced fortress. Leav- ing part of his force at Crown Point, he pressed on, with six hundred Indians, as many Canadians, and two hundred picked regulars, intendnig to fall on Fort Edward. Johnson, obtam- ing intelligence of. this movement, sent a thousand men to intercept him. They fell into an ambuscade of French and Indians, were badly cut up, and retreated on the main body, hotly pursued by Dieskau. Johnson prepared for an attack. Although this was his first campaign, he had planted his camp with gi'eat skill, — flanked by marshes on the right and left, and partially protected by a breastwork of trees in front. The French advanced to the charge under a murderous fire of the New England sharpshooters. Most of the French regulars were killed or wounded. After a fierce contest of four hours, they were compelled to retreat precipitately, closely pursued by the British, to their entrenched camp at Ticonderoga, at the northern end of the lake. They lost nearly as many as had the English in Braddock's defeat, and from the same cause, — the rash confidence of the commander in the tactics of regular troops, as opposed to the skilled wood-craft of militia-men. Dieskau, being severely wounded, was made prisoner. John- son, who had lost three hundred men, prudently declined the risk of leading his raw troops against the ramparts of Ticon- deroga. Having built and garrisoned Fort William Henry, on the site of the conflict, he fell back on Albany, where his forces were disbanded. He received a grant of £5,000 and a knighthood for his achievement. In the spring of the year. Colonel Moncton, with forty-one vessels and two thousand men, had sailed from Boston to re- duce Fort Beau Sejour, in the Acadian isthmus, to which the French still laid claim. Ill-manned by a few hundred refugees and a handful of soldiers, it capitulated, after four days' invest- ment, and was re-named Fort Cumberland. Captain Kous, CAMPAIGN OF 1755. 205 who had charge of the naval part of the expedition, now sailed to the mouth of the St. John to attack the fort recently con- structed there by the French. On his arrival, he was saved that trouble, as its occupants hastily abandoned it, having dis- mantled, and, as far as possible, destroyed the works. The Acadian peasants, on the beautiful shores of the Bay of Fundy, were a simple, virtuous, and prosperous community. Their civil disputes, when any arose, which was rare, were all settled by the kindly intervention of their priest, who also made their wills and drew up their public acts. If wealth was rare, poverty was unknown ; for a feeling of brotherhood anticipated the claims of want. Domestic happiness and public morality were fostered by early marriages ; and homely thrift was rewarded by almost universal comfort. Such is the delightful picture painted by the sympathetic pen of the Abbe Eaynal, — a picture that almost recalls the innocence and hap- piness of the poets' fabled Golden Age. " Thus dwelt in love, those simple Acadian farmers." With remarkable industry, they had reclaimed from the sea by dykes, many thousands of fertile acres, which produced abun- dant crops of grain and orchard fruits ; and on the sea meadows, at one time, grazed as many as sixty thousand head of cattle. The simple wants of the peasants were supplied by domestic manufactures of flax or woollen, or by importations from Louis- burg. So great was their attachment to the government and institutions of their fatherland, that during the aggressions of the English, after their conquest of the country, a great part of the population, — some ten thousand, it has beeu said, although the munber is disputed, — abandoned their homes and migi-ated to that portion of Acadia still claimed by the French, or to Cape Breton, or Canada. Some seven thousand still remained in the peninsula of Nova Scotia ; but they claimed a political neutrality, resolutely refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the alien conquerors. '< Better," said the priests to their obedient flock, <* durrender your meadows to the sea, and your houses to the flames, than peril your souls by taking 206 HISTORY OF CANADA. that obnoxious oath." They were accused, and probably with only too good reason, of intriguing with their countrymen at Louisburg, with resisting the English authority, and with inciting and even leading the Indians to ravage the English settlements The cruel Micmacs needed little instigation. They swooped down on the little town of Dartmouth, opposite Halifax, and within gunshot of its forts, and reaped a rich harvest of scalps and booty. The English prisoners they sometimes sold at Louisburg for arms and ammunition ; the French Governor asserted that pure compassion was the motive of this traffic, in order to rescue the captives from massacre. He demanded, however, an excessive ransom for their liberation. The Li- diaus were sometimes, or indeed generally, it was asserted, led in these murderous raids by French commanders. These viola- tions of neutrality, however, were chiefly the work of a few turbulent spirits. The mass of the Acadian peasants seem to have been a peaceful and inoffensive people, although they naturally sympathized with their countrymen, and rejoiced at the victory of Du Quesne, and sorrowed at the defeat of Lake George. The Governor of the province was embarrassed by the peculiar situation of this nonjuring population, and scarce knew what course to adopt toward them. They could scarcely be considered rebels, for they had never sworn allegiance to the British Crown. Neither were they prisoners of war, since, for nearly half a century, they had been permitted to retain jDOSsessiou of their lands. Their evident sympathy with their countrymen and co-religionists in Canada and Cape Breton, alarmed Governor Lawrence and the Council at Halifax, and it was decreed that the whole French population should be dis- armed, and that their boats should be seized, in order to pre- vent them from aiding the enemy. Vexatious requisitions were made in a manner which rendered them doubly offensive. They were informed by British officers, that unless they furnished the military posts with fuel, their houses would be used for that purpose. If they failed to provide the supplies demanded. CAMPAIGX OF 1755. 207 without stipulating any terms as to payment, they were threat- ened with immediate military execution.* As there were continued and frequent violations of their professed neutrality, on the part of the Acadians, and as three hundred of them had been found in arms against the British, at the taking of Beau S(3Jour, it was resolved by the Council at Halifox, that they must take the unconditional oath of alle- giance to the King of England. Deputies were summoned from the Acadian settlements to Halifax, to express the decision of their compatriots. They absolutely declined to take the ob- noxious oath, unless accompanied by the exemption from bear- ing arms. This exemption was refused, and the deputies were imprisoned and warned of the serious consequences of their act. They still refused to violate what they seem to have regarded almost as a religious principle. They were now de- clared rebels and outlaws, and the Council at Halifax, confound- ing the innocent with the guilty, decreed the expulsion of the entire French population. In order to prevent their strength- ening the French, in Cape Breton or Canada, it was decided to distribute them among the several British colonies of North America. Circulars were therefore addressed to the colonial Governors of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsyl- vania, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts, stating the reasons for this wholesale expatriation, and urging them to prevent the re-union of the exiles, or their subsequent mo- lestation of the country, from which they were about to be driven. The execution of this stern purpose was committed chiefly to New England forces, under the command of Colonel Wiuslow. A number of transports were collected in Boston harbour, and the utmost secrecy was observed till they were anchored off the French settlements, on the Bay of Fundy, * Conucil Records at Halifax, as quoted in Haliburton's History of Nora Scotia, vol. I., p. 1G9: — " No excuse sliall be taken for not bringing in fire- wood, and if they do not do it in proper time, the soldiers sliall absolutely take tbeir houses for fuel." ..." They are not to be bargained with for the payment, but you will furnish them with certificates, which will entitle them to Buch payments at Halifax, as shall be thought reasonable." 208 HISTORY OF CANADA. and iu the Basin of Minas. The unsuspecting Acadians had heeu allowed to gather in their fruitful harvest, and their barns were bursting Tvith plenty. On one and the same day, the 5th of September, the entire male population, over ten years old, were ordered, under heavy penalties, to assemble in the several settlements. Let one example of this cruel expatriation suffice. At Grand Pre, four hundred and eighteen persons assembled in the village church, when the British officer read from the altar the decree of their exile. Their lands, houses, cattle, and crops were pronounced confiscated. Their money and house- hold goods they might carry with them, as far as possible with- out overcrowding the vessels. Loud was the outcry, and bitter the denunciation of the cruel mandate. But resistance was impossible ; armed soldiers guarded the door ; the men were encaged in prison, and were confined under guard for four days. On the fifth day, they were marched, at the bay- onet's point, amid the wailings of their relatives, to the shore, and placed on board the transports. The women and children were shipped in other vessels. Families were scattered ; hus- bands and wives separated, — many never to meet again. The night that followed was made lurid by the flames of burning homesteads, well-filled barns, and stacks of corn, while herds of afi'righted cattle and horses rushed wildly over the meadows.* It was -three months later, in the bleak December, before the last of the exiles were removed. For a long time afterwards, advertisements for the strayed and missing, in the colonial newspapers, attested the efibrts of those banished ones to re- unite the scattered links of the broken family circle. At Annapolis, a hundred householders, unwilling to abandon their homes, fled to the woods, and were hunted like beasts of prey. Others found refuge among the Indians, or escaped * The number removed from Grand Pr^ was nineteen hundred and twenty- tliree ijersons. In the District of Minas alone, two hundred and fifty-five houses, two hundred and seventy-six barns, one hundred and fifty -four out- houses, eleven mills, and one church were burned. Thousands of cattle were confiscated by the English. CAMPAIGN OF 1755. 209 through the wilderness to Canada. A number, estimated at from seven to eight thousand, were' dispersed along the Atlantic seaboard, from Maine to Georgia. The colonial Gov- ernors were required to detain the exiles as prisoners. Twelve hundred were carried to South Carolina. A few planted a new Acadia among their countrymen in Louisiana. Some tried to return to their blackened hearths, coasting in open boats along the shore. These were relentlessly intercepted when possible, and sent back into hopeless exile. An imperishable interest has been imparted to this sad story by Longfellow's beautiful poem, " Evangeline," which describes the sufferings and sorrows of some of the inhabitants of the little village of Grand Pre. It is a page in our country's an- nals that is not pleasant to contemplate, but we may not ignore the painful facts. Every patriot must regret the stern military necessity, — if necessity there were, — that compelled the in- conceivable suffering of so many innocent beings. Save the expulsion of the Moriscoes from Spain, and of the Huguenots from France, history offers no parallel to this unhappy event. 27 210 IIJSTOEF OF CANADA. CHAPTER XVI. CAMPAIGNS OF 1756 AND 1757. The Seven Years' War Begun, 1756 — Respective Condition of the Frencli and Euglisli in America — Bradstreet's Gallant Exploit — Montcalm Captures Fort Oswego — Immense Booty — Loudon's Futile Attempt against Louis- burg — Montcalm Reduces Fort William Henry — Indian Massacre of Twelve Hundred British Prisoners — Exhaustion of Canada — Famine — Extortion and Profligacy of Bigot and His Associates. NOTWITPISTANDING the hostile demonstrations of the year 1755, including the fierce fights of Fort Dii Quesne and Lake George, war was not formally declared till the follow- ing spring (1756). France, Austria, and Eussia were com- bined against England and Prussia, for the prolonged and bitter struggle of the Seven Years' War. It seemed at first as though the combination must be fatal to Britain and her ally. But the political sagacity of William Pitt, and the military genius of Frederick the Great, with the lavish expenditure of treasure and blood, humbled their enemies, and raised their respective countries to the summit of glory. The " Great Commoner" made good his proud boast, that "England should moult no feather of her crest." Clive's stupendous victory on the plains of Plassey, gave her her Indian Empire, and Wolfe's heroic death on the heights of Quebec, was the price of the conquest of this great continent. The campaign of 1756 opened with the best prospects for the French. They were supreme in the Ohio valley, and throughout the Great West. They held three forts on Lake Ontario, — Frontenac, Niagara, and Toronto; the only rival to their undisputed control of its waters, being the British fort at the mouth of the Oswego, which was destined shortly to fall into their hands. Their flag floated defiantly at Crown Point and Ticonderoga, which commanded the gateway of Canada, by way of Lake Champlain. CAMPAIGNS OF 1756 AND 1757. 211 The French military officers, too, were far superior in dash and daring to their opponents. Montcalm, the commander-m- chief, who arrived at Quebec early in the spring, had acquired experience and skill in Italy and Germany, and was audacious in battle even to the verge Of rashness. De Levi and St. Veran, his colleagues, were also able officers. The military strength of the French, however, Avas far inferior to that of the British. The number of regulars Avas increased to about four thousand, but the total available colonial forces amounted to only twice that number. The whole French population was scarcely eighty thousand, and it was ground down by feudal exactions, knavish commercial monopolies, and fraudulent public servants. The crops of the previous year, moreover, had been a failure, and the impoverished people were often in Avant of food, the scarcity of which was still further increased, by the demand for supplies for the military, and for the starving Acadian exiles. The British colonies, on the other hand, numbered three millions of inhabitants. Fostered by freedom and intelligence, these had become rich and prosperous. Though not deficient in valour, they possessed less of the military instinct, and were more addicted to peaceful industry, than their northern neigh- bours. The Earl of Loudon, a man utterly without military genius, was appointed commander-in-chief of the British forces and Governor of Virginia. He was preceded by General Abercrombie, with tAvo veteran regiments. A judicious plan of operations was devised by a council of colonial Governors, at New York. It comprehended expeditions against forts Frederick, Niagara, Du Quesne, and Quebec, by an aggregate force of twenty-five thousand colonial militia and royal troops. The House of Commons had voted £115,000 to aid the colonies in their operations. But delay and indecision frustrated these purposes, while promptness and vigour characterized the oper- ations of the French. The British fort at Oswego had been the object of an attack by Dieskau the previous year, Avhen he turned aside to succour Crown Point, threatened by Johnson, and by the side of the beautiful Lake George, met his early fate. In order to keep 212 HISTORY OF CANADA. up communications with Lake Ontario, the British had estab- lished a chain of forest forts, extending from Schenectady to Oswego. Early in the spring, Vaudrueil dispatched a force of three hundred and fifty French and eighty Indians, to de- stroy these forts. One of them, Fort Bull, was taken, and a large quantity of military munitions destro3^ed. Meanwhile, Abercrombie, deeming the strength of his com- mand insufficient for an attack on Crown Point, was loitering away the weeks at Albany, waiting for re-enforcements. In the month of June, Lieutenant-Colonel Bradstreet, with a force of Irish recruits, guarded up the Mohawk and down the Oswego rivers a large convoy of provisions and stores, — suflScient for a garrison of five thousand men for six months, — and success- fully conveyed them to Fort Oswego. On his return, he was intercepted by Captain de Villiers, with a body of seven hun- dred men, French and Indians, from Fort Frontenac. Fearing an attack, Bradstreet had divided his force into three divisions, and was ascending the Oswego with the first, when he w^as assailed by far superior numbers. He bravely held his own against tremendous odds, till he was supported by the second and third divisions. A desperate conflict then ensued, in which the French were completely routed, a hundred of their number slain and seventy captured. Bradstreet, however, lost sixty of Ms stout-hearted Irish recruits. He hastened to Albany, and conveyed to Abercrombie the startling intelligence, that Oswego was threatened by a large French force. Still no efficient efforts were made for the relief of the menaced fortress ; although Abercrombie had ten or twelve thousand colonial and British soldiers at his disposal. Meanwhile, Montcalm, by his eager enei*gy, was infusing new vigour into the military operations of the French. Travel- ling night and day, he hastened from Quebec to Fort Carillon, at Ticonderoga. He took active measures for improving its defences, and left M. de Levi in command, with three thousand men, half of whom were regulars. With characteristic energy, he next resolved on the capture of Oswego. He collected a force of three thousand regulars, Canadian militia, and Indians CAMPAIGNS OF 1756 AND 1757. 213 at Fort Fi'ontenac. Moving only by night, and hiding their batteaiix beneath heaps of brush-wood by day, the expedition reachcti Fort Oswego by the 10th of August, while Montcalm was thought to be still at Carillon. The main fort was a large stone structure, mounting thirty guns and howitzers. For its support. Fort Ontario, a much smaller construction, had been created on the opposite and left bank of the river. The whole was garrisoned by seventeen hundred men, under Colonel Mercer. Montcalm opened his trenches within two hundred yards of Fort Ontario, during the night of August 12th, and next day kept up a brisk fire. In the evening the garrison of Fort Ontario, having exhausted their ammunition, spiked their guns and retreated to the main fort, across the river. Montcalm promptly occupied the aban- doned fort, and turned its guns on Fort Oswego, which it was constructed to protect. Colonel Mercer was soon killed, and the garrison, despairing of receiving re-enforcements from General Webb, who, with a force of two thousand men, was posted at no great distance, raised the white flag of surrender. A hundred and fifty English were killed or wounded during the brief siege, besides thirty massacred by the Indians after the capitulation. The loss of the French was less than half as great. The booty was immense, comprising seven armed vessels, two hundred batteaux, one hundred and seven cannon, a vast quantity of stores, and a large sum of money. These were all dispatched to Montreal, together with sixteen hundred prisoners, and to allay the jealousy of the Iroquois, as well as fi-om inability to garrison it, the fort was razed to the ground. General Webb hastily retreated, felling trees to obstruct pursuit, and conveyed the disastrous intelligence to Albany. Montcalm's victory was stained by the atrocities of his savage allies, who even scalped the sick in the hospital of the fort, although he used his utmost efforts to put a stop to the mas- sacre. The success of the French arms confirmed the growing reputation of Montcalm, and created great joy throughout Canada. It seems, at the same time, to have paralyzed the activity of the British. The French were allowed to construct 214 HISTORY OF CAXADA. strong fortifications at TiconcTeroga, and the British forces, which might have penetrated to the heart of Canada, were sent into winter charters, — the colonial militia to their homes, while the regulars were billeted on the inhabitants of Albany and New York, much to the disgust of their hosts. Of the projected attacks on Crown Point, Niagara, Fort Du Quesne and Quebec, not one was carried into execution. "With the exception of Bradstreet's gallant exploit at the beginning of the season, the record of the campaign had been one of disaster and defeat. During the winter, a force of fifteen hundred French and Indians advanced, on snow-shoes, camping at night amid the snow, from Montreal, to attempt the capture of Fort William Henry, at the southern end of Lake George, a distance of nearlj' two hundred miles. Unable to surprise the fort, they burned all the outworks, together with the adjacent mills, four armed brigantines, three hundred and fifty batteaux, and im- mense stores of provisions and war materiel^ and carried con- sternation even within Abercrombie's entrenchments at Albany. Marauding parties of French and Indians ravaged the English frontier with fire and sword, swooping down on lonely settle- ments, in midnight attacks, and murdering and scalping the inhabitants, without distinction of age or sex. The harvest of the half-tilled acres of Canada had been a comparafive failure, and a great dearth of provisions prevailed. The presence of several hundreds of famishing Acadian refugees made matters still worse. They implored the privilege of fighting for the King, but the number of combatants was already greater than there was food to maintain. But for the provisions captured at Oswego, it would have been impossible to re-victual the forts at Frontcuac, Niagara, and on the Ohio. Still, the rapacity of Bigot, the Intendant, and his minions of the Grand Company, was unrestrained. Provisions and stores, sent from France for the succour of the starving colonists, were sold at famine prices, and the enormous profits passed into the hands of this gang of thieves. The allowance of bread, at Quebec, was reduced to four ounces a day. The ravages of small-pox were also added to those of famine. CAMPAIGNS OF 1756 AND 1757. 215 The following year, 1757, Lord Loudon resolved to make Louisburg the chief point of attack. In July, he assembled at Halifax, a fleet of twenty ships of the line, carrying over twelve hundred cannon, and ninety transports, with cloven thousand soldiers, chiefly veteran troops. Here he wasted a month in mock battles and sieges. Learning that Louisburg was garrisoned by ten thousand men, and guarded by a fleet as strong as his own, he abandoned his design. One of his vessels was wrecked on the rocky coast of Cape Breton, and half of her crew perished in the waves. Eleven ships were dismasted, and obliged to throw their cannon into the sea. The remainder of the fleet, in a shattered condition, with difficulty made its way to England, Meanwhile, the indefatigable Montcalm took advantage of the diversion of attention toward Louisburg, to strike a fatal blow at Fort William Henry, on Lake George. In July, he assembled at Ticonderoga, a force of six thousand regulars and militia, and sixteen hundred savages of thirty diflerent tribes. Early in August, the fort, now garrisoned by twenty- seven hundred men, under Colonel Munroe, was invested by the French, whose main body advanced, on a stormy night, down Lake George in two hundred and fifty batteaux, the rest of his force having proceeded by land. For five days, a fierce bombardment woke the wild echoes of the mountains, and by niglit illumined the engirdling forest and placid lake, Avhile 'hundreds of yelling savages scoured the woods, cutting off and scalping all stragglers. At Fort Edward, within fifteen miles, lay the craven General Webb,- with four thousand troops ; but instead of endeavouring to relieve the besieged, he sent an exaggerated account of the number of the French, and a recommendation to surrender. " I shall defend my trust to the last extremity," exclaimed the gallant Munroe, and, spurn- ing the coward counsel, he held out till half his guns were burst and his ammunition was nearly exhausted, and over three hundred and fifty men were killed and wounded, before he surrendered. On the 9th of August, a capitulation was signed, which 216 HISTORY OF CANADA. allowed the British to march out with the honours of war, with flying colours and beating drums, and guaranteed an escort to Fort Edward. The English engaged not to serve against the French for eighteen months. On the surrender, a tragedy ensued which stained with the blood of its victims the laurels of the victors. As the garrison, with its camp-following of women and children, was defiling through the woods, the blood-thirsty savages, balked of their anticipated harvest of scalps and plunder, and maddened by liquor, which the British had neglected to destroy, fell in ruthless massacre upon the panic-stricken throng. The scanty escort in vain endeavoured to restrain the frenzied wretches in their work of slaughter. Montcalm threw himself between the savages and their victims. "Kill me," he exclaimed, *'but spare the English; they are under my protection." De Levi and other officers interposed, with daring and devotion, to stop the massacre, and to rescue the prisoners from their savage allies ; and several of them received serious injuries from the Indians, while protecting the English from their rage. Six hundred wretched fugitives escaped through the woods to Fort Edward. The French sent thither, under a strong escort, four hundred prisoners whom, not without personal danger, they had rescued. They after- wards ransomed two hundred others, who had been carried cap- tives to Montreal. The remaining twelve hundred, there is reason to fear, were massacred or enslaved by the Indians. Montcalm disavowed all responsibility for the act ; but the inhu- man practice of engaging lawless savages as allies in the wars of civilized men, was the fatal cause of this and other like atrocities. Montcalm razed Fort William Henry to the ground, and, deterred from a further advance by short allowance of food, the French returned to reap the scanty harvest of their Cana- dian fields. Naught remained to mark human habitation on the shores of the lonely lake, save the charred ruins of the fort, and the graves of the dead on the hillside. The fall of Fort AYilliam Henry created dismay in the English camp at Albany, and at Fort Edward. At the latter place, the CAMPAiayS OF 1756 AXD 1757. 217 craven-hcartcd Webb, with five thousand men, was in daily expectation of attack, and was eager to retreat to the fost- ncsses of the highlands on the Hudson. "Exert yourself to savo a province," Captain Christie, the ofiicer commanding at Albany, adjured Governor Pownall of Massachusetts; "New York itself may fall." The following day, he wrote still more importunately: "Save the country. Prevent the downfall of the British Government upon this continent." A storm of indignation was excited in England at the dis- astrous results of the campaign, from which so much had been expected. Not less than twenty thousand troops had wasted the season of the year, during which alone action was possible, in disembarkations, parades, sham-fights, and retreats, and had lost possession of a fort, constructed and filled with stores at immense cost. Twenty magnificent shii)s of the line had sailed proudl}' forth from British harbours, and without firing a gun for the honour of Old England, had been compelled to return, shattered and maimed, to the ports whence they came. The loss of ships, of treasure, of lives, of glory, precipitated the fall of the incompetent Newcastle ministry, and led to the res- toration to power of "William Pitt, — the only man who seemed capable of raising England from the abyss of disaster, if not of degradation, into which she had sunk. Notwithstanding the successes of the French in the last two campaigns, the condition of Canada was one of extreme exhaus- tion. During the weary months of winter, a severe famine prevailed. The cultivation of the fields had been itss. abandoned to women and children, every able-bodied man being enrolled in the army. The meagre crops that had been sown were almost a total failure. In many parishes, scarce enough grain was reaped to supply seed for the next sowing. The soldiers and citizens were put upon shoii allowance of horse-flesh and bread. The daily rations were continuously reduced till, in April, the allowance of bread was only two ounces. Men fell down from faintness in the streets of Quebec. Three hundred Acadian refugees perished of hunger. Dm-ing this period of general distress, Bigot, the Intendant, 218 BISTORT OF C AX AD A. and his i^artners in crime and extortion, — Cadet, Yarin, De Pean and others, — battened like vampires upon the life-blood of their unhappy country. Bigot, the chief criminal, was mean in stature, repulsive in countenance, odious in life. His rapacity was almost incredible. He seized, in the Iving's name, all the grain, cattle, and horses on which his minions could lay hands, and resold them, through his agents, at a tenfold increase in price. He actually, in this time of famine, ex- 23orted large quantities of breadstufis to the West Indies, and made enormous profits from the enhanced cost of food at home. He, with his creatures, monopolized the commerce of the colony and the army contracts ; defrauding both the King, the people, and the soldiers, by false entries, exorbitant charges, wholesale embezzlement, wretched supplies, and the most flagrant bribery, corruption, extortion, and robbery. He destroyed the financial credit of the colony, by the lavish issue of paper money, under his own signature, made payable at the Royal Treasury of France, which soon became utterly worthless. While the country languished, this gang of thieves amassed princely fortunes. Their houses were the scenes of the most unblushing profligacy, gambling, and licentious riot and excess. " It would seem," wrote Montcalm, " that all are in haste to be rich before the colony is altogether lost to France." They seemed even desirous to precipitate that loss, in order that they might cover their own misdeeds. The mother country was herself exhausted by the exactions of a world-wide war, and her civil and military administration was corrupted and enfeebled by the profligacy of the court. She could send few re-enforcements of men or money, military stores or food, to the colony; and most of the victualling ships sent out in the sjjriug of 1758 were cai^tui-ed by the British. CAMPAIGXS OF 1758 AXD 1759. 219 CILVPTER XVn. THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1758 AND 1759. Pitt, Prime Minister of Eugland — Fall of Lonisljurg — Abercrombie's Defeat at Ticonderoga — Bradstreet Captures Fort Froutenac — Fort Du Qnesiie Eeduced — Re-named Fort Pitt — Hax)les3 Condition of Canada — The Toils of Fate Closing — British Victories around the World — The Hero of Louis- bnrg — Fall of Fort Niagara — Amherst Eeduces Ticonderoga — Exploit and Sufferings of Major Eogers. THE disasters of the English only served to arouse their intenser energy and fiiiner determination. The unfor- tunate Nevrcastle ministry resigned, and "William Pitt, for a time excluded from the Cabinet, by the unanimous voice of the country was summoned to the chief place in the great Council of the nation. In a venal age, he had proved himself an incor- ruptible statesman. He had no private ends to serve, and sought only the glory of England, and the humbling of her enemies. "I am sure that I can save the country," he ex- claimed, to the Duke of Devonshire, "audi am certain that no one else can do it." His lofty courage, noble patriotism, and honest administration were the guaran- tee of success. Ho resolved on the abso- lute conquest of Canada, even at the cost of England's "last shilling and last man." He had a difficult task before him. " The French are masters to do what they please r". " in America," wrote Lord Chesterfield; , " "we are no longer a nation ; I never yet ''^ saw so dreadful a prospect." Yet Pitt william pitt. raised England from this Slough of Despond, to the pinnacle of glory. He infused his own energy into every branch of the public service. On the plains of Plassey, in the trenches of Louisburg, on the heights of Abraham, his influence was felt. From the admiral of the fleet, to the sailor before the mast ; 220 . BISTORT OF CANADA. from the general of the aniiy, to the private soldier, every one caught the inspiration of his intrepid spirit. Pitt selected his agents, not by the principles of favouritism, but for their .ability to do the work required of them. Lord Loudon was therefore recalled, notwithstanding his elevated rank. Colonel Amherst, an officer of energy and prudence, was raised to the rank of major-general, and received command of the projected expedition against Louisburg. Under him were "Whitmore, Lawrence, and Wolfe, as brigadier-generals,— officers whose brilliant career amply vindicated their selection. To the Hon. Edward Boscawen was given the command of the fleet. Lord Abercrombie, who was personally unknown to Pitt, was left in command of the army destined to attack Crown Point ; with the brave but ill-fated Lord Howe as his second in authority. Expeditions against forts Du Quesne, Niagara, and Fronteriac were organized, and assigned to able officers. The supreme attack was to be made upon the heart of Canada, at Quebec and IMontreal. The military forces were increased to fifty thousand men, twenty thousand of whom were British regulars. The French girded themselves for what they felt to be the death-wrestle. " We will bury ourselves, if need be," wrote IMontcalm, *' beneath the ruins of the colony." The first blow was struck at Louisburg. Its fortress had fallen greatly into decay since the siege of 1742 ; but it was garrisoned by three thousand five hundred men, and supported by ten ships of war. Early in June, Admiral Boscawen, with thirty-seven ships of war, and one hundred and twenty trans- ports, conveying twelve thousand troops, arrived at daybreak off Louisburg. Amherst had intended, if possible, to surprise the fort, and had issued orders for the concealment of all lights on shipboard, and for the observance of perfect silence during the landing. For six days, however, a rough sea, dashing m heavy breakers on the iron coast, prevented debarkation ; the T^rench, meanwhile, actively throwing up earthworks all along the shore. Early on the seventh day, Wolfe, with a strong force, gallantly landed through the surf. The French swarmed CAMPAIGXS OF 1758 AND 1759. 221 on the shore, and i:)oiired u heavy fire into the boats. Still, not a shot was returned, till, struggling to the land, the soldiers gave a hearty British cheer, and promptly dislodged the enemy from their earthworks, and drove them flying over the plain. A hundred boats had been swamped or wrecked in the debarka- tion, with the loss of several lives ; and for two days the fury of the waves prevented the landing of siege guns, tents, and necessary stores. The siege was vigorously pressed by day and night, for seven weeks. The resistance was brave but ineffectual . Several sorties were made, not without serious damage to the besiegers. Madame Drucourt, the wife of the Governor, encouraged the garrison by her heroism. During the bombardment, she often appeared among the soldiers on the ramparts, and even fired the great guns, and encouraged with rewards the most expert artillery-men. With her own hands, she dressed the wounds of the injured, and, by the exhibition of her own courage, enbraved the hearts of the defenders of the fort. Every effort, however, w\as in vain. The walls crumbled rapidly under the heavy fire of the besiegers. Several vessels had been sunk at the harbour's mouth, to prevent the entrance of the British. A live shell set fire to a French seventy-four gun ship in the harbour. Its magazine exploded and set fire to two other ships. Two young ofiicers. Captains La Torey and Balfour, rowed into the harbour on a dark night, with the boats of the fleet, cut out one of the remaining vessels, and burnt the other. Three gaping breaches now yawned in the walls. The British batteries were pushed up to the rampart's. Four-fifths of the guns were dismounted. The town and fortress were well-nigh demolished by shot and shell. The French fleet was destroyed, and the ofiing was white with the blockading British squadron. Valour could do no more, and on the 26th of July, Drucourt capitulated. Fifteen thousand stand of arms, two hundred and forty pieces of ordnance, and immense quantities of stores, fell into the hands of the British. Eleven stand of colours, as trophies of the conquest, were presented to the sovereign, and then solemnly 222 BISTORT OF CANADA. deposited in St. Paul's Cathedral. The inhabitants of Louis- burg vrere conveyed to France, and the garrison and sailors, over five thousand in number, were sent prisoners to England. The fortress, constructed at such cost, and assailed and defended with such valour, soon fell into utter ruin. "Where giant navies rode, and earth-shaking war achieved such vast exploits, to-day the peaceful waters of the placid bay kiss the deserted strand,' and a small fishing hamlet and a few mouldering ruin-mounds! mark the grave of so much military pomp, and power, and glory. After the reduction of Louisburg, Wolfe was despatched upon the uncongenial task of destroying the French settlements at Mramichi, the Bay of Chaleurs, Gasp6, and the lower St. Lawrence. This stern military necessity, as it was conceived to be, was promj^tly executed. All the Acadian villages were laid in ruins, and hundreds of their inhabitants were made prisoners, or driven from their devastated homes, to find refuge in the wilderness. The intendant of Mont Louis, a flourishing fishing station, offered a ransom of one hundred and fifty thou- sand livres, if the village and the property of the inhabitants should be spared ; but a stern retaliation for ravages on English' territory, and the resolve to prevent, as far as possible, the revictualling of Quebec, consigned immense stores of grain and fish to the flames. Similar destruction of public and private property, took place on the Bay of Fundy, and on the Eivcr St. John. It is one of the terrible retributions of war, • that even the chivalric nature of Wolfe was unable to divest of its harshness a movement by Avhich so many innocent persons were made to sufler for their fidelity to their country, and their riffhtful soverei2:n. The victory of Louisburg was soon followed by a terrible defeat. In the month of June, the largest army ever yet seen on the American continent, was assembled at Albany, under the command of Lord Abercrombie. It was composed of a strong force of royal artillery, six thousand three hundred and fifty regular troops, and nine thousand jirovincial militia. The object of the expedition was the destruction of Ticondcroga CAMPAIGNS OF 1758 AND 1759. 223 and Crown Point. The formidable force reached Lake George without misadventure, and encamped on the ground still en- cumbered by the blackened ruins of Fort William Henry. On a brilliant July morning, the fifth day of the month, the whole force embarked in over a thousand barges and batteaux, and in bannered pomp and splendour, with blare of music, flash of oars, and gleam of arms, sailed down the lovely lake, accom- ^ panied by a number of rafts, armed with //i\^ artillery, designed to overcome any oppo- '^ sition to their landing. As night fell, the ai-my debarked and encamped for a few gexeral abercrombie. hours, amid the picturesque loveliness of Sabbath-day Point. At midnight they hastily re-embarked, leaving the bivouac fires brightly burning, in order to deceive the watchful scouts of the enemy. At five o'clock in the morning, they reached the nar- rows, where Ticonderoga, or Carillon, as the French called it, guarded the entrance to the river, leading to Lake Champlain. The British advance-guard, of two thousand men, under General Bradstreet, landed without opposition, and the whole army soon followed ; and began to advance in four columns. " These people march carefully," said IMontcalm, who was soon informed of their movement ; ' ' but if they give me time to occupy the position I have chosen, on the heights of Carillon, I will beat them." The British columns soon became entamrled in the forest, and suddenly the right wing, under Lord Howe, came upon a detachment of three hundred French, who had also lost their way. A sharp skirmish ensued, in which the French were nearly all captured or killed, but almost at the first fire, the young and gallant Lord Howe, the favourite of the army, fell at the head of his column. All energy and spirit seemed to j^ass away from the expedition, with his death. He had judiciously trained his troops in the tactics iiccessaiy for the rugged service of forest warfare, and had cheerfully endured the same privations and fatigue that were encountered by the private soldiers. 224 HISTORY OF C AX ABA. That night the army bivouacked upon the scene of the conflict, and the next day Al)ercrombie, who seems to have completely lost his head, ordered a retreat to the point of embarkation. Bradstreet, however, with a strong force, was sent forward to occupy a position at some saw-mills, within two miles of Mont- calm's lines, where he was joined by the bulk of the army. Montcalm, who had with him nearly four thousand of his best troops, had strengthened a naturally formidable position by an earthwork, half a mile in front of the fort, before which, for a hundred yards, sloped a steep glacis, covered with an impen- etrable abattis of felled trees, the sharpened stakes pointing outward. Both ends of this line could have been turned with slight difficulty, as Montcalm had been unable to complete his design of covering his flanks by entrenchments. This fact, however, was not discovered till too late. Early on the morning of the 8th of June, Abercrombie reconnoitred this position, and fearing the re-enforcement of the enemy, rashly resolved on an attack in column, without waiting for cannon. The assault was gallantly made. For nearly six hours, under a burning sun, again and again the columns were hurled against the terrible abattis, and as often staggered and recoiled, before a withering point-blank fire of cannon and musketry. The brave Highlanders especially, — lithe, active, and lightly clad, — hacked their way through with their claymores, or clambered over the abattis, and many of them died on the very ramparts of Montcalm's entrenchments. That gallant officer, by reckless daring and personal exposure, animated his men, while the British general issued his ill-judged commands, leading only to disaster and defeat, from a safe distance in the rear. Upon a rude barrier, which the artillery, close at hand, could have swept away in an hour, the flower of the British troops were sacrificed, through the incompetence, obstinacy, and presumption of their general. Baffled and broken, with the loss of two thousand men, the more than decimated army retreated jDanic-stricken to their batteaux, and speedily placed the length of the lake between them and the victorious enemy. Abercrombie, bitterly chagrined, threw_up CAMrAIGXS OF 1753 AXD 1759. 225 an entrenched camp on the site of Fort William Henry, and sent liis artillery to Albany, and thence to Xew York, for safety. The loss of the French was three hundred and seventy-six killed and wounded. ^lontcalm modestly wrote to Vaudrueil : "The only credit I can claim, is the glory of commanding such valorous troops. The success of the affair is due to the incredible bravery of both officers and men." Without detract- ing from the valour of the French, who fought under cover, although against great odds, we think that of the British troops, marching unfalteringly to death, against that terrible abattis, and under an iron hail, was still more heroic. The disgrace of this disaster was partly retrieved, a few weeks later, by the capture of Fort Frontenac, the French naval depot at the foot of Lake Ontario, by General Bradstreet. "With tAventy-eight hundred men he advanced, by way of the Mohawk and Oswego, and crossing the lake in open boats, invested the fort, which was guarded by only one hundred and sixty men. After two days' boral)ardmcnt it surrendered, and was burned to the ground, together with an immense quantity of stores, and seven armed vessels. Thus, without the loss of a man, was destroyed the French naval supremacy on Lake Ontario. The loss of the stores seriously crippled the opera- tions of the French, by preventing the replenishment with supplies of the Western forts. Vaudreuil ungenerously en- deavoured to exculpate himself for his neglect to re-enforce Fort Frontenac, by laying the blame of its surrender upon De Noyau, its commandant. The French, meanwhile, harassed the outposts of Aber- crombie's anny, and cut off stragglers and convoys. In the month of July, they surprised and massacred, near Fort Edward, two bodies of provincials and wagoners, numbering over a hundred and fifty men. INIajor Rogers, already famous in border warfare, was dispatched with seven hundred men to punish tlio marauders. Ilis force was soon reduced by hard- ships and desertions, to five hundred, when he encountered a body of the enemy, of about equal strength. A fierce conflict ensued, in which the French were soundly beaten, leaving a 29 226 BISTORT OF CANADA. hundred and ninety men, dead or wounded, on tlie field. The loss to the British amounted to forty men. In order to maintain communication with Lake Ontario, by way of the ISIohawk River, and to confirm the Iroquois in their allegiance, Brigadier-General Stanwix vras despatched, with a strong force, to construct a fort at the portage between the Mohawk and Oneida Lake. This imjjortant, but unostentatious service, he successfully accomplished, and the ruins of the fort which he built, whose site is noAV occupied by the town of Eome, still bear his name. In the "West, General Forbes, with a force of fifteen hundred regulars, and five thousand provincial militia, advanced against Fort Du Qucsne. Stricken with mortal illness, he was borne, a dying man, across the Alleghanies in a litter. When he had arrived within ninety miles of Du Quesne, Forbes dispatched Colonel Bouquet, with two thousand men, to take post at Ro^'al Hanna, while the main army labouriously constructed a new road through the wilderness, avoiding the ill-fated route, by which Braddock had marched to his death. Bouquet, fired with military ambition, detached iNIajor Grant, with a force of eight hundred Highlanders, and a company of Virginia militia- men, to reconnoitre the fort. Grant, deceived as to the strength of the garrison, divided his troops so as to form an ambuscade, and at daybreak, on the 14th of September, beat a march on his drums as a challenge to the enemy. The French, who had been re-enforced, and were now superior in number to the assailants, poured forth, with their Indian allies and beat, in detail, the separate divisions of Grant's troops, capturing three hundred of the Highlanders, together Avith their commander. Forbes advanced with the main body of the army, as fast as the difficidt nature of the country would permit, but not till the 5th of November, did he effect a junction with Bouquet, at Eoyal Hanna. The season being so far advanced, it was at first determined to proceed no further; but intelligence being received of the weakness of the foft, it Avas resolved to press on. Colonel Washington commanded the advance-guard. In- fusing his own energy into his troops, although they were CAMPAIGSS OF 1758 AND 1759. 227 ill-fed and ill-clothed, ho conducted them through fifty miles of -wilderness, over hills already white with snow. The French commandant, being disappointed in receiving military stores, in consequence of the fall of Fort Frontenac, fired the works, and by the light of the conflagration, the disheartened garrison, five hundred in number, retreated down the Ohio. On the 25th of Kovcmber, "Washington had the honour of planting the red- cross flag on the rampaiia of Fort Pitt, as it was thenceforth called. The name of the Great Commoner is inscribed forever on the gateway of the Ohio valley, in the designation of the city of Pittsburg, which occupies the site — of disastrous memory — of Fort Du Quesne. This event closed the campaign for the year 1758. Never- theless, the toils were gathering around the doomed colony of Canada. A fervent appeal was made to the mother country for assistance. But the exhaustion produced by the European war, and by the prodigality of the court, prevented the sending of re-enforcements. " When the house is on fire," said the min- ister, *' one does not mind the sta])lcs." The colonists rallied for a supreme effort for the defence of their hearths and homes. Famine stared them in the fiice. The half-tilled acres brought forth but meagre crops, and the shameless exactions of Bigot were more grinding than ever. The entire population, from sixteen to sixty, was summoned to the field, but though every sixth soul in the colony responded, they mustered only fifteen thousand, of whom many were unavailable for service. The chief dependence was upon ten skeleton regiments of regulars, in which ghastly gaps were worn by siege and sortie, by famine and disease. To these the British opposed fifty thousand well- armed troops, and copious reserves. The French clergy ex- horted the people to repentance and increased religious devo- tion, and invoked the aid of Heaven as their only succour. Differences of opinion arose, too, between Montcalm and Vau- drcuil, the Governor, as to the plans of defence. The former desired his recall, but at the connnand of duty remained, to lay his life an offering upon the altar of his country. " Canada must be taken in this or the next campaign," he wrote, with a 228 nisTonr of Canada. prescience of approaching destiny, " "without unexpected good fortune, or great fault of the enemy." Yet, he rekxcd no elTort for the securing of victory ; but rather redouhlcd his diligence in preparing for the inevitable struggle. Stores of provisions and military materiel were collected at the principal strategic points. The fortifications were strengthened, and vessels were constructed for maintaining the control of Lake Champlain. On the part of Great Britain, tremendous efforts were made for what was felt to ])e the supreme struggle with the French jjower in America. England, like a rampant lion, was rousing herself for conquest. The House of Commons voted £12,- 000,000 sterling for the campaign of 1759. Pitt infused his own spirit into every l^ranch of the sen^ice. The world was ringing with British victories. In India, a merchant's clerk, with a handful of men, had conquered an empire, where the foot of Alexander had faltered. Senegal, Goree, Guadaloupe, her fairest tropical possessions, were wrested from France. On the bloody plain of Minden, her choicest troops were crushed before the British lines. At Quibcron Bay, her fleet, destined for the invasion of England, was shattered by the gallant Hawke. Alike on the banks of the Ganges, and on the banks of the Ohio, on the forts of the Gold Coast, and on the ramparts of Louisburg, the red-cross banner waved triumph- antly, and it was destined soon to crown the heights of Quebec. In the Indian Seas, on the Spanish Main, on the Atlantic, and on the Pacific, Britain's fleets were ever;y^vhere victorious. Pitt chose his instruments well. With the instinct of genius, he discerned the surpassing merit of the young hero of Louis- burg, and entrusted to him the conquest of Quebec. "Wolfe was born in the village of Westerham, in Kent. His military instincts were hereditary, his father having served with distinc- tion in the continental wars of Marll)orough. Though only thirty-three years of age when assigned the task which he accomplished at the cost of his life, Wolfe was already a veteran soldier, having been eighteen years in the army. At tAventy- two, he was a lieutenant-colonel, and at Dettingen, Fontenoy, CAMPAIGNS OF 1758 AND 1759. 229 and Ciillodcn, by his almost reckless bravery, he had won dis- tiuijuished honours. Though raised so rapidly to the rank of o-cncral, even envy breathed no word of detraction against his name, and he commanded the love and admiration of the entire army. " Wolfe," says an accurate description of his person and character, "was a plain man. His features were sharp, his forehead some- what receding, his hair sandy, or red, and, contrary to the fashion of the time, was not powdered. His skin was coarse, fair, and freckled ; but his mouth w^ore a smiling and gentle expression, and his eyes were blue and benignant. He was delicate from early youth, and the seeds of fatal disease were implanted in his constitution. At first his address and wolfe. manner were imengaging, but he invariably endeared himself to all with whom he became familiar. All his thoughts and actions were influenced by deep religious feeling. He was assiduously and conscientiously attentive to his profession, and was constitutionally and steadily daring. His mind was clear and active, his temper lively and almost impetuous. He was independent M'ithout pride, and generous to profusion. His disposition was candid, constant, and sincere. His letters breathed a spirit of tenderness and gentleness, over which ambition could not triumph." Such is the attractive portrait painted of Canada's darling hero, the conqueror of Quebec. To Amherst, who superseded Abercrombie as commander-in- chief, was assigned the reduction of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and the capture of Montreal ; and to Prideaux, the destruction of Fort Niagara. These various movements were sustained by forces amounting to twenty-five thousand men, which were to concentrate at Quebec for the last act of the drama. The French had rebuilt Fort Frontenac, strengthened the garrison at Niagara, and occu|)ied the passes of Carillon and the St. Lawrence. Bourlemaque, an accomplished officer, was 230 BISTORT OF CANADA. to hold the forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, as long as possible ; but if overpowered, he was to retire to Isle-aux-Noix, at the head of Lake Champlain, and there, aided by the ship- ping, to prevent, by his utmost efforts, the advance of Amherst's forces to join the army of Wolfe, which was expected to attack Quebec. The Chevalier de la Corne entrenched himself above ^Montreal, with eight hundred regulars and militia, to resist any attempt to descend the St. Lawrence, by a British force from the lakes. The diminished forces of the French were to act strictly on the defensive, retiring, in case of defeat, on Quebec, where the final stand was to be made. The first blow fell on Niagara. General Frideaux, with four thousand regulars and militia, and a large body of Iroquois, under Sir William Johnson, advanced, by way of the Mohawk and Oswego, to Lake On- tario. Leaving a force of occupation at Oswego, he advanced in many batteaux to Niagara, and early in July, 1758, invested the fort situated at the mouth of the river, which was garrisoned by about six hundred men. Trenches were opened and daily pushed nearer the works, and a brisk fire was kept up ; but General Frideaux, being killed by the bursting of a mortar, the command devolved on Sir Wil- liam Johnson. M. Fouchot, the French commandant, had summoned to his aid the garrisons of Detroit, Fresque Isle, and the Western forts. His defensive works were almost destroyed, and the bastions were strengthened with packages of peltries. The fire of the British increased in violence, and the garrison was almost exhausted by incessant and harassing service ; and was greatly reduced by deaths. Meanwhile, M. D'Aubrey was hastening to the relief of the beleaguered fort, with a force of twelve hundred Frenchmen and fourteen hundred Indians. Sir William Johnson, who, through the vigilance of his scouts, was informed of their approach, made preparations for their reception. Leaving a sufiicient force in the trenches to keep up the bombardment, and to resist any sortie that might be FORT NIAGARA. CAMPAIGXS OF 1758 ASD 1759. 231 made from the fort, he led the bulk of his army to inter- cept the re-enforcements of the enemy. A strong force he concealed behind a rampart of felled trees, to the left of the road leading to the Falls, by which D' Aubrey must approach ; while the advance guard was strongly posted in the woods. The French were at no great distance, and thus the two armies bivouacked, that warm midsummer night, which was to many, on both sides, their last on earth. On the morning of July 24th, the leading files of the French were seen advancing through the woods, supported by large bodies of Indians. The British outposts fell back sfeadily ou their reserves. Sir William Johnson's Iroquois warriors at- tempted to parley with the Indian allies of the French, and to prevent them from engaging in the conflict, but without success. D' Aubrey now brought up the main body of his force, and prepared for the engagement, on which depended the control of the great lakes, the Ohio valley, and the far West. The Indian allies of the French rushed to the attack with the utmost impetuosity, yelling their terrible war-whoop. But it no Iqngcr caused such dismay, as when it struck terror to the hearts of Braddock's grenadiers. The English lines stood firm as on a dress-parade, and with a few steady volleys, not only withstood the fierce onset, but so completely swept away their Indian assailants, that they rallied no more, but fled panic-stricken through the woods. The Iroquois now fell on the flanks of D'Aubrey's command, and the British veterans rushed to the charge with resistless force. The French, out- numbered, abandoned by their allies, and attacked on all sides, broke into precipitous flight, and were pursued by the Iroquois, eager as hounds slipped from the leash, for the congenial task of ruthless slaughter, and the forest glades were filled with dead or dying men. M. Pouchot, with his beleaguered garrison, had awaited with the utmost anxiety the result of the conflict, the distant sounds of which were borne to their ears. With D'Aubrey's defeat, the last hope of succour disappeared. All the honours of war were granted to the garrison, which had made such a gallant 232 BISTORT OF CANADA. defence, and at midday, on the 26th of July, with colours flying, drums beating, and bayonets fixed, they marched out of the crumbling fort, and laid down their arms on the shores of the neighbouring lake. They were conveyed as prisoners to New York, and the women and non-combatants were sent safely to France. The control of the great lakes passed away from the French forever, and General Bouquet speedily re- duced all the Western forts, except that of Detroit which, for sometime longer, continued to hold out against the British. During the same month of July, an attempt was made by M. de la Corne, with a force of nearly two thousand French and Indians, to capture, by surprise, the British fort at Oswego. The vigilance of Colonel Ilaviland, the officer in command, however, frustrated that design, and the assailants were driven off with severe loss. The chief command of the British forces in America, had been assigned, as we have seen , to General Amherst. The movements of that officer must now engage our atten- tion. Early in May, he reached Albany, the appointed rendezvous for the provincial and regular troops. The whole month was LORT) AMHERST, employed in organizing and drilling the colo- nial regiments, and constructing boats for their transport on Lake George. An epidemic of desertion among the troops, threatened seriously to cripple the efficiency of the army. Even the infliction of the death-penalty on four of the deserters, by sentence of court-martial, did not altogether prevent this un- soldierly conduct. The French continued to harass the English colonists, by scouting-parties, composed largely of blood-thirsty savages, who murdered and scalped men, women, and children indis- criminately. To prevent these outrages. General Amherst forwarded a dispatch to the Governor of Canada, to the effect that he was determmed, " should the enemy continue to murder and scalp women and children, who are the subjects of the King of Great Britain, to revenge it by the death of two men CAMPAIG\S OF 1758 A\D 1759. 233 of the enemy, for every woman or child murdered by tbcm." The barbarizing eiTects of the employment of Indian allies in this cruel Avar, was felt by both nations. Even civilized men, both French and English, acquired a fatal dexterity in the savage practice of tearing the reeking scalps from the skulls of their victims, as the proof of victory. Not only were men in arms and bastioned forts the objects of attack, but helpless non-combatants were ruthlessly slain, and peaceful hamlets and smiling cornfields were given to the flames. And over these scenes of slaughter and desolation, waved the lilied flag of France, or the red-cross banner of Britain, in sanction of the unchristian and unnatural strife. It is a crimson page in our country's history, the like of which, let us hope, shall never more be seen. On the longest day in the month of June, General Amherst, with the bulk of his army, numbering aljout six thousand men, of all arms, advanced from Fort Edward to Lake George. Here, on the ruins of Fort William Henry, the general con- structed a small fortification, to which was given the name of Fort George. Another month was employed in bringing up additional troops, stores, boats, and materiel of war, and in preparing a floating battery on the lake. Frequent skirmishes took place with the French and Indians, generally resulting in loss to the British. On the 21st of July, the army, numbering over eleven thou- sand, about equally divided as regulars and colonial militia, with a strong force of artillery, advanced in four columns down the lake. Mindful of Abercrombie's disaster, Amherst observed exceeding caution on approaching Carillon. A brief skirmish with the enemy took place, after landing, in which the French gave way, and the British took up a strong position at the saw-mills, memorable in Abercrombie's defeat. But the genius of Montcalm w^is absent, and Do Bourlemaque, abandoning the lines, crowned Avith the victory of the previous year, retired within the fort, which-was garrisoned with three thousand four hundred men. The British grenadiers immediately occupied the deserted lines, and the rest of the army encamped in the 30 234 HISTORY OF C AX AD A. rear. From the fort, the French kept up a strong fire on the position of the British, but the latter were completely sheltered by the breastworks thrown up by the enemy for their own defence. Perceiving that Fort Carillon was no longer tenable against the superior force and steady determination of the British, Bourlemaque resolved to abandon it. He therefore silently withdrew his garrison to Fort Frederick, at Crown Point, leaving four hundred men to keep the foe at bay as long as possible. In order the better to mask the retreat, this gallant little band made a vigorous sortie, and attacked the besiegers in the advanced line of trenches, and for three days longer held in check an army of eleven thousand men. Having obtained the range of the British camp, their active fire did considerable dama<2:e. Amono^ others. Colonel Townshend, ' ' the Lord Howe of Amherst's army," was killed by a cannon shot in the trenches. Late, on the night of July 26th, a deserter from the French informed the besiegers that the fort was comj)letely abandoned, having been previously mined, and the magazine and double- shotted guns connected with a lighted fuse. A tremendous explosion, shaking the ground like an earthquake, confirmed the story, and a volcano of fire and burning embers illumined the midnight heavens. The barracks, stores, and wooden ramparts now caught fire, and their lurid blaze, with the flash of exploding cannon, made luminous the forest, far and near. Amherst promptly occupied the smoking ruins, extinguished the flames, and set vigorously to work to repair the defensive works of the fort. Having secured his position, he sent a force to reconnoitre, and feel the strength of the enemy at Fort Frederick ; but it was found to have been already abandoned. Amherst, with the main body of his army, soon took possession, and wasted much time in the construction of a new fort, which the conquest of Canada would render useless, to which the name of Crown Point was given. Thus, at last, was secured, with a comparatively slight loss, the strongholds which com- manded the gateway of Canada, the attempt to reduce which had proved so disastrous to Abercrombie, with a much superior force. The British expended on the reconstruction of these CAMPAIGNS OF 175S AXD IToO. 235 forts the enormous sum, for those days, of £200,000. Then- ravelins and demihmcs, curtains and casemates have long since crumbled to dc- ca3^ The summer tourist, wandering amid their grass- grown trenches and ramparts, beholds slight trace of those deeds of violence and blood of which they were the scene. Bourlemaque had taken up a strong ~^^^^m ^^1 -^^^==S==^^=5E==== j| *""* ^^^ ^^ r^ -^ 1 ^^2J I^^^H RUINS OF TICONDEROGA. position at Isle-aux-Noix, at the northern end of Lake Cham- plain, commanding the navigation of the Richelieu River. Here, he strongly entrenched himself, and determined to hold his position to the last extremity, and to prevent the advance of Amherst to the St. Lawrence. He mustered a force of three thousand five hundred men, and the possession of four well- armed and well-manned vessels, gave him the command of Lake Champlain. Amherst, more cautious than enterprising, instead of attempting to force the position of Bourlemaque, spent the summer in constructing vessels to cope with the little French fleet upon the lake. "When at length the vessels and a floating battery were ready, it Avas the middle of October. Several incficctual naval skirmishes with the enemy took place on the unfamiliar waters of the lake, resulting in the beaching of several vessels of both fleets. The bleak storms of autumn now prevented further active operations. The army, held in check on the very threshold of Canada, was compelled to go into winter quarters at Crown Point. Similar tardiness characterized the action of General Gage, who had superseded Sir "William Johnson, in command of Prideaux's army, after the victory of Fort Niagara. He had been ordered by Amherst to make a demonstration from Oswego against La Presentation (Ogdensburg), wherer the French had 236 BISTORT OF CANADA. established a strong post. The difficulties of the undertaking were considerable, but instead of making a vigorous effort to overcome them, he allowed the harvest-time of opportunity to pass by unimproved, and the reduction of the post did not take place till the following year. One of the most daring and difficult exj^loits executed during this campaign, was Major Rogers' expedition against the In- dians on Lake St. Francis. These Indians had detained as prisoners, an English officer and his party, who had been sent with a flag of truce to convey a profier of amity and alliance, from General Amherst. Early in October, Major Eogers set out from Crown Point, with two hundred men, to punish the perfidy of this tribe. His route lay through a tangled and almost impenetrable wilderness. The hardships and privations of the three weeks' march, reduced the force by more than one- fouiih. At length they came, undiscovered, upon the object of their search. The Indians were engaged in one of their glutton feasts and war-dances. When sunk in the profound torpor that follows these excesses, the British soldiers burst upon the sleepers, and scarce one of the savage warriors escaped. Two hundred were slain, and the English captives w^ere rescued from slavery. In the meanwhile, a party of Frenchmen, superior in numbers, captured the boats of the English, and threatened to cut off their retreat. Rogers' only plan of escape was to break up his force into small i^arties, which should retrace their way as best they could through the wilderness of mountains and forests, to the English settlements. They sufiered in- credible hardships in the attempt. They were reduced to the utmost extremity of privation. They devoured the leather straps and covers of their cartouch-boxes. They were at one time four days without food. Many perished of hunger, others went crazed with suffering and despair, and even devoured, in their frenzy, the flesh of some of their murdered companions, cut off by the Indians. At length, in the bleak November weather, looking more like spectres than like human beings, they reached the abode of civilized men. Such was one of the tragic episodes of the conquest of Canada. CONQUEST OF CANADA. 237 CHAPTEE XVm. THE CONQUEST OF CANADA, 1759-1760. The Expedition agaiust Quebec — Wolfe occupies the Island of Orleans — Mid- night Alarm — The Fire-rafts — Point Levi occupied — The Siege opened — Straits of the Inhabitants — Heights of Montraorenci occupied — Wolfe and Admiral Rous above Quebec — The Attack at Montmorenci — Terrific Can- nonade — A gallant Assault and disastrous Defeat — Wolfe's Illness — An audacious Design — The Eve of the Battle — The British gain the Heights above Quebec — The Battle of the Plains of Abraham — The Death of Wolfe and Montcalm — British Occupation of Quebec — A severe Winter — De Levi attempts the Recapture of Quebec — Battle of Ste. Foye — French Siege of Quebec — English Fleet arrives — Siege raised — Amherst's advance down the St. Lawrence — Capture of La Presentation — Disaster at Cedar Rapids — Surrender of Montreal and Capitulation of Canada. THE last act of this historic drama, the conquest of Quebec, must now be described. Simultaneously with the opera- tions of Prideaux and Amlierst upon the outposts of 1759, Canada, AVolfe was attacking its heart and menacing its very life. About the middle of Fel^ruary, a powerful British fleet of twenty-two ships of the line, five frigates, nineteen smaller vessels, and a crowd of transports, under the command of Admiral Saunders, a brave and judicious officer, sailed from England for the St. Lawrence. Louisburg was the appointed place of rendezvous, but on account of the ice the fleet was compelled for some time to take refuge in the safe and commo- dious harbour of Halifax. Admiral Durell was despatched with a small squadron to intercept an expected convoy of provi- sion and store ships destined for the relief of Quebec. He was only partially successful, capturing two vessels, but with them, the important prize of French charts of the St. Lawrence, which were of great service to the British fleet in the somewhat difficult navigation of the river. It was not till the first week in June that Saunders' fleet cleared from Louisburg, conveying a force of eight thousand regular troops under the command of Wolfe. On the twenty- 238 HISTORY OF C AX ADA. fifth of the month he anchored oif the Island of Orleans, a short distance below Quebec. The French had relied much on the dangerous passage of "the Traverse," as impeding the progress of the fleet ; but, by means of the charts and careful soundings, it was safely overcome. Durell, who led the van, carried French colours at his masthead till he reached Bic, in order to prevent opposition from the hahitans. Pilots hastened on board to offer their assistance, and messengers were despatched to Quebec conveying intelligence of the arrival of anticipated succours from France. Great was the disap- pointment when the union-jack was run up to the peak. It is said that a Canadian priest, who was watching the vessels through a telescope, was so overwhelmed with the mental shock that he instantly fell down dead. As the snowy sails of the hostile fleet were seen rounding the Island of Orleans, the in- habitants of Quebec thronged the churches to offer up their prayers for the preservation of their country. The British troops promptly occupied the fair and fertile island, with whose CITY OF QUEBEC. loveliness they were delighted, after their long confinement on shipboard. Wolfe hastened to the upper end of the island to get his first view of Quebec. Before him rose the rocky height, crowned COXQUEST OF CAXADA. 239 with massy walls and ramparts, and bristling with guns, — the Ehrcnbrcitstcin or Gibraltar of America, and one of the stron- gest natural positions in the world. As he viewed the steep escarpment and the frowning batteries that lined the river-front, tlie position of the French seemed almost impregnable. INIontcalm had strongly fortified with redoubts and earthworks the precipitous banks, from Cape Eouge, eight miles above Quebec, to INIontmorenci, as far below, and had mustered a force of some thirteen thousand men of every age, from boys of thirteen to veterans of eighty. De Bougainville* commanded the right w^ing of the army to the west of the city, De Levi the left on the extreme east, and ^Montcalm held the centre with the bulk of the arm}^ while Indians scoured the woods on the flanks and in the rear. A strong boom, sunken ships and floating batteries, closed the mouth of the St. Charles ; and shoal water and mud-flats, along the Beauport shore, made landing almost impossible. While Wolfe w\as gazing on the fortress whose conquest was to give him an early grave and undying fame, a violent thun- der-storm burst over his head, and a hurricane swept over the river. Some of the transports dragged their anchors, and were driven ashore. The ships of war, with difficulty, kept their moorings, and several of their boats were swamped. As the storm passed away, night came on, still and dark and starless. At midnight, as the British sentries paced their round on the rocky shores of the island, they noticed certain dark objects drifting down the river with the ebbing tide. It was soon apparent that they were six fire-ships, prepared by Mont- calm for the destruction of the British fleet. While the sentries gazed on these strange objects, a deadly explosion of artillery flashed from their black hulks, crashed among the trees, and ploughed seething furrows in the w\ater. Shells and grenades burst in the vicinity of the astonished guard. Falling back on * It is a somcAvhat curious coincidence that James Cook, tlio distinguished navigator, and Bougainville, the first French circumnavigator of the globe, vrere engaged in the service of their respective couutries in this memorable siege. 240 HISTORY OF CANADA. tlicir supports thoj^ became inextricably confused in the woods. The roll of drums roused the sleeping camp, and the soldiers, anticipating an attack of the enemy in force, turned out under arms. Meanwhile, the fire-ships had^, burst into a blaze, the bright red flames leaping from shroud to shroud, defining in tracery of fire, each rope and spar, against the sal)le sky, and waving in broad banners from the burning sails and masts. The rushmg river, the silent fleet, the English camj), the distant city were lit up almost as with the light of day. As the flames spread, with a burst like thunder, vessel after vessel exploded, and drifted perilously near the anchored fleet. As 'the burning ^\Tecks approached, boats, well-manned by British tars grap- pled them with iron hooks and towed them ashore, or sent them drifting harmlessly down the river. But for the premature exi:)losion of the fire-ships serious damage might have been done the British fleet by this well-planned attack. The panic in the camp did not yield to the usual order and confidence, till daylight showed that no enemy was near. Wolfe now issued a proclamation to the people of Canada, offering safety of person and property and freedom in religion, and enjoining strict neutrality on civilians. It proved, how- ever, of little avail, as the French clergy exhorted their parish- ioners to resist to the utmost the invaders, as the enemies both of their religion and their race. Montcalm also commanded their services under penalty of death. They, with their Indian allies, proved only too skilful adepts in the art of forest war- fare, and in cutting off stragglers, murdering and scalping the wounded, and mutilating the dead. In vain Wolfe remon- strated against these barbarities. In retaliation, therefore, and as a measure of military necessity, we must suppose, — for he was a man of humane instincts, — he ravaged the country and burned the villages both above and below Quebec. He for- bade, however, personal violence to prisoners and non-comba- tants, on pain of death. Admiral Saunders had been taught by the storm that the anchorage off the Island of Orleans was by no means safe, and COXQUEST OF CANADA. 241 resolved to move his fleet into the basin in front of Point Levi. Brigadier-General IMonckton, Avith a strong force, was, there- fore, ordered to take possession of Point Levi, a somewhat strong position, which had been occupied French. The by the advance- guard landed after slight resistance, and pursued a small body of the enemy as far as a large farm- house, where the English soldiers halted for rest and refreshment. Before retiring on SIEGE OF QUEBEC, 1759. their main body, they fired the farm-house, and were startled to hear, amid the flames, the cries of women and children who, at the approach of the troops, had taken refuge in a cellar. The horror-stricken soldiers laboured strenuously to rescue the sufierers, but in vain. The roof fell in with a crash, and put an end to this dreadful tragedy. Such are some of the terrible episodes of war. A thousand Canadian militia and Lidians now threw themselves into the church and houses of the village, and were, with nuich difficulty, dislodged by the British. In the capture of Point Levi, Wolfe obtained an impor- tant advantage, as it gave the opportunity of planting bat- teries within three-quarters of a mile of the city. Montcalm was deeply chagrined at the loss of this position. He had urged that it should be defended to the last extremity by an entrenched force of four thousand men, but had been over- ruled by Yaudreuil, the Governor. An attempt was made to dislodge the British by means of floating batteries, but it proved futile. "Wolfe planted strong batteries at Point Levi, and on the Island of Orleans, w^hich completely secured the safety of the British fleet in the basin. From this commanding position, during the month of July, such an incessant and heavy fire was poured into the doomed city, that conflagrations were of almost daily occurrence, and soon the greater part of both Upper and Lower Town was in ruins. No less than five hun- 31 242 HISTORY OF CANADA. clred buildings, including the cathedral and principal edifices, were destroyed. Many persons were killed in the streets, and non-combatants were forced to retire for safety into the coun- try. The beleaguered city was reduced to the severest straits. " We are without hope, and without food," said an intercepted letter; " God hath forsaken us." Such are the tender mercies of war, even between two chivalric nations, and conducted by two generous commanders. On the 9th of July, under cover of a cannonade of ]Mont- calm's lines by the fleet, "Wolfe crossed with the main body of his army from the Island of Orleans to the north shore, and formed a camp on the eastern bank of the Montmorenci. His plan was to force the enemy's lines, and bring on an engage- ment, in which he believed that the disciplined skill of his veteran troops would be more than a match for the superior numbers of the French. But the rapid current of the Mont- morenci, rushing tumultuously over its rocky bed, presented no fordable place for several miles inland, and the Ihdian scouts of the French, with disastrous success, cut off and scal^jed the reconnoitering parties of the English. An attempt was made by one of Montcalm's officers, with eighteen hundred French and Indians, to recapture Point Levi in a night attack ; but, amid the darkness, the assailants fell into confusion, and fired into each other's ranks, causing a loss of seventy men. Finding his efibrts to break the French lines on their eastern wing completely unavailing, Wolfe determined to reconnoitre the river above the town. To facilitate this purpose, Captain Rous, toward midnight, on the 18th of July, aided by the flood-tide and a favouring wind, succeeded in passing the enemy's batteries with a small squadron, without being discov- ered till it was too late to bring the guns to bear. As a warn- ing against similar carelessness, two of the unvigilant sentinels were the next day hanged on a lofty gibbet. The following day, Wolfe and Saunders ran the gauatlet of the batteries. By hugging the southern shore their barge escaped with the loss of a mast. The aspect of the frowning cliff, bristling at every CONQUEST OF CANADA. 243 assailable point with cannon, was sufficiently discouraging to the young commander. In order to harass the enemy, the little town of Point-aux-Trembles was plundered, and a general order was issued commanding the troops to burn and lay waste the country, sparing only the churches. Wolfe soon returned again to the Montmorenci, where he resolved that an attack in force must take place. Serious skir- mishes with the enemy were of almost daily occurrence, in which a calamitous loss of life took place, without gaining any commensurate advantage. On the night of the twenty-eighth, a fire-raft, laden with shells, grenades, explosives, and tar-bar- rels, was sent down on the ebb-tide against the British fleet. The English sailors, on the alert as before, towed this danger- ous contrivance ashore without its having caused any damage. The next day, Wolfe sent a flag of truce to Quebec with, the following peremptory message : " If the enemy presume tosend down any more fire-rafts, they are to be made fast to two par- ticular transports, in which are all the Canadian and other pris- oners, in order that they may perish by their own base inven- tions." This threat of stern retaliation efiectually prevented the recurrence of the experiment. It was now the end of July. Five weeks had passed, serious losses had been encountered, and only slight advantage gained. ^Montcalm continually extended and strengthened his lines, and, notwithstanding his superiority of numbers, stood strictly on the defensive, except that his Indian scouts waylaid and cut oft' every British soldier who ventured far from the camp. Wolfe's expedition was understood to be auxiliary to that of Amherst, and any less enthusiastic soldier would, in the presence of the gigantic difficulties before him, feel justified in waiting for a junction with the force under the commander-in-chief before attempting an attack upon such an apparently impregnable stronghold. But the mind of Wolfe was cast in an heroic mould, and difficulties and dangers but excited him to increased daring. He therefore resolved on an attempt, bold almost to the verge of rashness. From the Montmorenci to Quebec was a continuous line of 244 HISTORY OF CANADA. defences and earthworks, eight miles in extent. The water toward the shore is shoal, and the ebb of the tide exposes a broad extent of mud-flats. To the west of the Falls of Mont- morenci the clilT is precipitous and high, and was crowned by batteries commanding the shore. At the foot of the cliff was a French redoubt. Yet the only practicable ford of the Mont- morenci, except a difficult one three miles up that river, was at this 8pot, and that only when the tide was out. Wolfe resolved to disembark a large force in the face of a strongly entrenched enemy, to storm the precipitous heights, to break, if possible, Moncalm's Hues, and to bring on a general engagement, which, ho hoped, would decide the fate of Quebec. The 31st of July was the day chosen for the attempt. To- ward noon, the *' Centurion," a sixty-gun frigate, with two armed transports, stood in toward the shore, near the Falls of Montmorenci, and opened fire upon the redoubt. The British batteries on the eastern bank of the heights above and at Point Levi, also began a heavy cannonade on the French lines, and on the city. The enemy responded with promptness and vigour, and the whole vast amphitheatre, eight miles in extent, re- echoed with the roar of artillery. Montcalm, suspecting his antagonist's design, began to mass his forces toward the threat- ened point of attack, till AVolfe made a feint of a counter- demonstration by ordering the march of a body of troops west- ward from Point Levi. Meanwhile, a combined flotilla of the ships' barges, convey- ing the attacking party, lay in mid stream, waiting the order to advance. At four o'clock, the signal was given, and, with a cheer, the sailors sprang to their oars. The flotilla swept on, heedless of the hissing shot which soon began to fall among the boats, by which some of them were shattered. Others grounded on a ledge of rocks, and the line was thrown into confusion ; but, under the inspiration of Wolfe, the stout-hearted tars soon rallied, and swept the boats to the landing-place. The grena- diers, who were in the foremost line, eager as hounds in leash, sprang ashore, and the French fled from the redoubt. The advance body of grenadiers had been ordered to form in CONQZrEST OF CAXADA. 245 columns and await the support of !Monckton's brigade from the boats, and of Townslicnd's troops, which were advancing to cross the ford at the foot of the Mis. But, flushed with rash valour, they rushed impetuously up the steep slope, crowned with the batteries of the enemy. A violent summer storm now burst upon them. Stumbling on the slippery incline, and their ammu- nition soaked with rain, they were hurled back in disastrous defeat by a crushing fire from the French entrenchments. Four hundred and fifty men lay dead or wounded on the gory slope. The day was irretrievably lost ; but Wolfe, with his reserves, with the utmost steadiness covered the retreat and re-embark- ation of his gallant but defeated troops. The stranded trans- ports were abandoned and burned, and the flotilla moved away from the fatal shore. Chagrin and grief at this disaster threw the young com- mander into a well-nigh fatal fever. His heroic soul was housed in a frail body. Tossing on his couch of pain, he felt that the eyes of his country were upon him, and the disappoint- ment of its expectations was anguish to his spirit. A council of the brigadier-generals was held, to which Wolfe submitted three several plans of attack on IMontcalm's lines below Quebec. They were all, however, rejected as impracticable. The sug- gestion of Brigadier-General George Townshend, of climbing the precipitous face of the cliff above the city, a design whose audacity was the secret of its success, was adopted by the young commander. jMeanwhile the season was rapidly passing, and whatever was to be done, must be done quickly. If jMontcalm could only hold out a few weeks longer, winter would become his ally, and compel the retreat of the British. The anny was considcral)ly reduced by casualties and by sickness, many officers and men having died of fever. Provisions, also, had become so scarce that rations of horseflesh were frequently served out. An efibrt was made to open communications with Amherst, lying idly at Crown Point ; but beyond the moral encouragement derived from his victory, and from that of Johnston at Niagara, 246 HISTORY OF CANADA. no advantage accrued to Wolfe from the existence of two large and well-equipped armies within a few days' march. The conflict grew in bitterness. The city was reduced almost to a mass of ruins by the ceaseless fire of the British, and the adjacent country on the south shore was laid waste far and wide. Early in September, Wolfe, masking his designs by feints against Beauport, moved the bulk of his army and fleet up the river above the city, despite the heavy fire from the batteries of Quebec. The keen eyes of the commander soon detected the only practicable spot at which the cliif could be climbed — a small cove about three miles above the city, which has ever since borne his name. The most careful preparations were made by the fleet and army for the movement, but its precise nature was kept a secret, in order to prevent the possibility of its betrayal to the enemy. On the early moonless morning of September 13th, before day, the fleet dropped silently down the river with the ebbing tide, accompanied by thirty barges containing sixteen hundred men, which, with muflled oars, closely hugged the shadows of the shore. Pale and weak with recent illness, Wolfe reclined among his officers, and, in a low tone, blending with the rip- pling of the river, recited several stanzas of the recent poem, Gray's "Elegy written in a Country Churchyard." Perhaps the shadow of his own approaching fate stole upon his mind, as in mournful cadence, he whispered the strangely-prophetic words, " The boast of heraldry, the jiomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, Alike await the inexorable hour ; The paths of glory lead but to the grave." With a prescience of the hollo wness of military renown, he exclaimed, " I would rather have written those lines than take Quebec to-morrow." Challenged by an alert sentry, an officer gave the counter- sign, which had been learned from a French deserter, and the little flotilla was mistaken for a convoy of provisions expected CONQUEST OF CANADA. 247 from Montreal. Landing in the deeply-shadowed cove, the agile Highlanders climbed lightly up the steep and narrow path leading to the summit. "Quivive?" demanded the watchful sentinel. " La France," replied Captain McDonald, the High- land officer in command, and, in a moment, the guard was over- powered. The troops swarmed rapidly up the rugged preci- pice, aiding themselves by the roots and branches of the stinited spruces and savins ; the barges meanwhile promptly transferring fresh re-enforcements from the fleet. With much difficulty, a single field-piece was dragged up the rugged steep. When the sun rose, the plain was glittering with the arms of plaidcd Highlanders and English red-coats, forming for battle. The redoubled fire from Point Levi and a portion of the fleet, upon Quebec, and the lines of Beaupoi-t, detained Montcalm below the city, and completely deceived him as to the main point of attack. A breathless horseman conveyed the intelligence OLD ST. JOHN'S GATE.* at early dawn. At first incredulous, the gallant commander was soon convinced of the fact, and exclaimed, " Then they * It was through St. John and St. Louis gates that the greater part of Montcalm's army passed, before and after the battle of the Plains of Abraham. The gates, as shown in the cuts, have been subject to reconstruction since that time. 248 BISTORT OF CANADA. have got the weak side of this wretched garrison, but we must fight and crush them ;" and the roll of drums and peal of bugles on the fresh morning air, summoned the scattered army to action. With tumultuous haste, the skeleton regiments hurried through the town, and, about nine o'clock, formed in long thin lines upon the Plains of Abraham, without waiting for artillery, except two small field-pieces brought from the city. This was Montcalm's great and fatal mistake. Had he remained behind the ramparts of Quebec, he could probably have held out till the approach of winter would compel the retreat of the British. Including militia and regulars, the French numbered seven thousand five hundred famine-wasted and disheartened men, more than half of whom were, in the words of Wolfe, '* a dis- orderly peasantry." Opposed to them were less than five thou- sand* veteran troops, eager for the fray, and strong in their confidence in their beloved general. Montcalm hoped, by superiority of numbers, to outflank the British, when the expected arrival of De Bougainville from Point-aux-Trembles would, he anticipated, enable him to win the battle. The steadfastness of the brigades under Generals Howe and Townshend, who held the extreme left of the British, pre- vented the accomplishment of that manoeuvre. Montcalm now attacked in full force the centre and right wing of the British, driving in the skirmishers on the main body. Wolfe passed rapidly along the line, cheering his men, and exhorting them not to fire without orders. Firm as a wall, they awaited the onset of the French. In silence they filled the ghastly gaps made in their ranks l)y the fire of the foe. Not for a moment wavered the steady line. Not a trigger was pulled till the enemy arrived within forty yards. Then, at Wolfe's ringing word of command, a simultaneous volley flashed from the levelled guns, and tore through the adverse ranks. As the smoke-wreaths rolled away upon the morning breeze, a ghastly sight was seen. The French line was broken and disordered, and heaps of wounded strewed the plain. Gallantly resisting, they received another deadly volley. With cheer on cheer, the * The exact number was 4,828. That of the French is estimated at 7,520. COXQUEST OF CANADA. 249 British charged before they could re-form, and, trampling the dying and the dead, swept the fugitives from the field, pursuing them to the city gates, and to the banks of the St. Charles. In ST. LOUIS GATE. fifteen minutes, was lost and won the battle that gave Canada to Great Britain. The British loss was fifty-seven killed, and six hundred wounded ; that of the French was fifteen hundred killed, wounded, and prisoners. Besides the multitude of slain on either side, whose death car- ried desolation into many a hum- ble home, were the brave com- manders of the adverse hosts. Almost at the first fire, Wolfe was struck by a bullet that shat- tered his wrist. Binding a hand- kerchief round the wound, he led the way to victory. In a moment, a ball pierced his side, but he still cheered on his men Soon a third shot lodged deep in his breast. Staggering into the arms of an officer, he exclaimed, WOLFE'S OLD MO>nntfENT, QUEBEC. 250 HISTORY OF CANADA. *' Support me ! Let not my brave fellows see me fall." He was borne to the rear, and gently laid upon the ground. ' ' See ! they run ! " exclaimed one of the officers standing by. < ' Who run ? " demanded Wolfe, arousing as from a swoon. ** The enemy, sir ; they give way everywhere," was the reply. ' ' What I already?" said the dying man, and he gave orders to cut oif their retreat. * ' Now, God be praised," he mur- mured, " I die content," and he gently breathed his last.* His brave adversary, Montcalm, also fell mortally wounded, and was borne from the field. *' How lonof shall I live ? " he asked the surgeon. "Notmany hours," was the reply. "I am glad of it," he said ; " I shall not see the surrender of Que- bec." He refused to occupy his mind longer with earthly concerns. To De Eamsay, who commanded the garri- son, and who sought his WOLFE'S NEW MONUMENT, QUEBEC. advlcc as to the defence of the city, he said : ** My time is very short, so pray leave me. To your keeping I commend the honour of France. I wish you all comfort and a happy deliverance from your perplexities. As for me, I would be alone with God, and prepare for death." * On the spot -where "Wolfe fell, a simple monument was erected. This -was superseded, in 1849, hy the more tasteful memorial shown in the larger engrav- ing. It bears the simple but eloquent inscription : — " HERE DIED WOLFE, VICTORIOUS." COXQUEST OF CANADA. 251 To another he said : ' ' Since it is my misfortune to be defeated and mortally wounded, it is a great consolation that I have been defeated by so great and generous an enemy." He died before midnight, and, coffined in a rude box, was buried amid the tears of his soldiers in a grave made by the burst- ing of a shell. So perished a brave and noble-hearted man, a skilful gen- eral and an incorruiDtible patriot. At a time when the civil officers of the crown, with scarce an exception, were battening like vampires on the life- ^^-^\ ;feCl! "^[f^ blood of the colony, Montcalm lavished ^ ^Z_,--Ti I, his private resources, and freely gave up his life on its behalf. ^ ^^^' Bougainville, who had menaced the rear of the British with fifteen hundred regulars, including three hundred and fifty cavalry, withdrew to Cape Kouge, and Vaudreuil, with fifteen hundred militia, abandoned the lines of Beauport, both of them leaving their heavy guns and stores behind. General Towns- hend, who took command of the British, immediately began the construction of an entrenched camp on the plain, and in three days had a hundred and twenty guns and mortars in position for the siege of the city. It was, however, already reduced almost to ruins, and its walls and ramparts, it was evident, must soon yield to the vigorous cannonade with which they were threatened. Its garrison was totally inadequate to the task of defence, and the daily rations amounted to only a few ounces of bread per man. The citi- zens, therefore, urged De Eamsay to capitulate. "We have cheerfully sacrificed our houses and our fortunes," they said, " but we cannot expose our wives and children to massacre." M. de Levi had been summoned from Montreal by Vaudreuil to take command of the shattered forces. He sent word to De Ramsay to hold out to the last extremity, — with the promise that provisions and re-enforcements should be thrown into the town. But the message came too late. The terms of capita- 252 HISTORY OF CANADA. lation were already signed, and on the 18th of September, 1759, the rock-built citadel of Quebec passed forever from the dominion of France. It was strongly provisioned and garri- soned, and the hunger of the wretched inhabitants relieved from the stores of the conqueror. Brigadier-General IMurray assumed the office of Governor, and Admiral Saunders and his fleet, with the exception of two frigates, sailed for England. The garrison of Quebec, — about a thousand in number, — had been permitted to march out with the honours of war, to be afterward conveyed to the nearest port of France. The tidings of this glorious conquest filled Old and New England with pride and exultation. The joy-bells pealed and bonfires blazed throughout the land. But the victory brought pangs of anguish to two loving hearts, — those of the widowed mother and the affianced bride of the gentle hero, who, amid the glory of arms, yearned for the quiet joys of domestic life. England gave his body a grave, and his fame a monument in. the mausoleum of her mighty dead, and inscribed his name in her glorious bead-roll of immortal souls, who, for her sake, freely laid down their lives. Near the scene of their death, a grateful people have erected a com- mon monument to the rival com- manders, who generously recognized each other's merit m life, and now keep for evermore the solemn truce of death. The two races which met in the shock of battle dwell together in loving fealty, beneath the protecting folds of one common flag. England had never known a year of such triumphs as this. In all jDarts of the world her arms were vic- torious. At Lagos, at Quiberon, at INIinden, at Quebec, her fleets or armies won new renown. " We must ask every morning," said Horace Walpole, *' what new victory there is." WOLFE AND MONTCALM'S MONUSIENT, COXQUEST OF CANADA. 253 The condition of Canada was now one of extreme exhaus- tion. The loss of Niagara, Ticonderoga, Crown Point and Quebec, and its disasters in the field had greatly crippled its strength. The Indian tribes were not slow to perceive that their ancient allies could no longer oifer them protection, and began to waver in their support. The inhal)itants of several parishes in the vicinity of Quebec, formally took the oath of allegiance to the British. The winter was one of intense severity, and to the French one of iniexampled dearth and distress, and many persons died of want. General Murray repaired some five hundred houses fur the accommodation of his troops, constructed wooden redoubts without the walls, and established distant outposts to protect his foragers, and to watch the movements of the enemy. The labour of procuring fuel from a distance of ten miles, and of maintaining a defence against harassing assaults exhausted the vigour of the garri- son. Its eflJcctive strength was reduced by deaths, scurvy, frost-bites, and other casualties, from seven thousand to less than half that numljcr. Notwithstanding the disasters of the previous year, France was not to surrender her fairest possession without ireo. another struggle. ]\I. de Levi, early in the spring, collected ten thousand men at IMontreal, and, toward the end of April, attempted the recapture of Quebec. His stores, ammunition, and artillery, he sent down the river in barges and small ves- sels, and followed by land with" every available man and gun. On the 27th of April, General Murray, apprized of the ap- proach of the French, called in his outposts, broke down the bridges, and retired within the walls, while De Levi occupied the neighbouring village of Ste. Foj'e and its vicinity. The fol- lowing morning, at daybreak, with more valour than prudence, Ttlun-ay marched out his skeleton battalions, supported by twenty field-pieces, to give battle to threefold odds. Ho found the French cleaning their guns, which had been wet by rain during the night, and apparently unprepared for action. He gave orders for an immediate attack, and his little army advanced in order of battle. De Levi speedily drew up his 254 HISTORY OF CANADA. troops in a triple line, placing the militia in the intervals between the veteran soldiers. For nearly two hours the battle raged with the utmost fury ; but, outflanked and overwhelmed by superior numbers, Murray was compelled to take refuge behind the ramparts of Quebec, leaving three hundred men dead upon the field, and all his artillery in the hands of the enemy. About seven hundred men were wounded, who were nearly all, however, brought safely within the walls. The loss of the French in this fruitless battle was still more terrible, amounting to fully eighteen hundred killed or Avounded. To the inevitable horrors of war, they are I accused of adding needless atrocity by refusing quarter to several British officers, ^"' cHfl and abandoning a number ^; of their wounded prisoners m! to be massacred by the Indians. De Levi speedily en- trenched himself before the city, and pressed the siege for eighteen days, maintain- 31 injr a feeble fire from fifteen guns. The garrison, re- duced to two thousand effective men, speedily got one hundred and thirty guns into position, and kept up a vigorous reply ; the women and wounded making sand- bags to protect the works, and cartridges for the guns. Besiegers and besieged both looked for aid from an ex- pected fleet. Eager eyes were strained continually toward Point Levi for signs of its approach. At length a strange frigate rounded the headland, amid the anxious suspense of the beholders. As the union-jack was run up to the peak, cheer STE. FOYE MONUMENT (ERECTED 1863) CONQUEST OF CANADA. 255 on cheer rang from the ramparts, and deep chagrin filled the heai-ts of the besiegers in the trenches. Soon two other vessels arrived, the French shipping was attacked and destroyed, and De Levi made a hasty retreat, abandoning tents, baggage, and siege train in his flight. He retired to Montreal, there to make the last stand for the possession of Canada. His broken battalions melted rapidly away, the famished militia deserting by thousands, in order to succour their suflfering families. Three English armies con- verged on the heart of the colony, where life still feebly beat. General Murray, with all his available force, advanced from Quebec, overcoming all opposition and everywhere receiving the submission of the inhabitants. Colonel Haviland, with three thousand men, hastened from Crown Point by way of Lake Champlain and the Richelieu, occupying the forts evacu- ated by the French. General Amherst jDroceeded from Albany, with ten thousand men and seven hundred Indians under Sir William Johnson, by the strange detour of the Mohawk and Oswego rivers to Lake Ontario, and thence down the St. Lawrence. At La Presentation (Ogdensburg), was a French fort of considerable strength. Unwilling to leave a hostile force in his rear, Amherst gave orders for its reduction. A storming party of grenadiers, with scaling ladders, was told oE; and the British batteries and armed vessels were placed in position for bom- bardment. The little garrison, however, bravely defied an army and opened such an eflfective fire that one of the vessels was disabled, and had to be abandoned. After a resistance, more than sufficient for the vindication of his honour, M. Pou- chot, the hero of Fort Niagara, submitted once more to the humiliation of surrender. The Iroquois allies of the British had resolved to avenge their real or imagined wrongs by the massacre of the garri- son. Amherst learning their atrocious design, took efiect- ual measures to prevent it. The Indians sullenly submitted, but bitterly resented the interference, and threatened to aban- don the expedition. " Although I wish to retain their friend- 256 BISTORT OF CANADA. ship," answered the general, " I will not purchase it by coun- tenancing barbarity." His maintenance of his honour, more than compensated for the loss of his allies, and reflected more glory on his name than his conquest of the fort. As the expedition approached the Cedar Rapids, Amherst ex^Dected that the enemy would take advantage of the diflBcult and dangerous navigation to contest his passage. He did not, therefore, permit the boats to descend the rapids singly ; but insisted on advancing with a number of boats together, convey- ing a sufficient force of artillery and grenadiers to overcome any probable opposition. As the boats entered the surging rapids they became crowded one against another, and many were dashed in pieces or wrecked upon the rocks. By this disaster, eighty-eight men and sixty-four boats were lost, together with a quantity of artillery and stores. The three armies of Amherst, Haviland, and Murray, reached Montreal on three successive days ; and on the 8th of Septem- ber, sixteen thousand men beleaguered the devoted town, the last stand of French fidelity and valour. It was defended only by frail walls, and by three thousand war-wasted and disheart- ened men. Resistance was impossible. The most heroic courage could do no more, The same day, De Vaudreuil signed the capitulation which severed Canada from France forever. The vast region extending from the fishing-stations in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Mississippi and the Ohio rivers, passed under the sovereignty of Great Britain. The entire military muster of Canada, included in the capitulation, consisted of four thousand regular troops, who were conveyed to France, and over sixteen thousand colonial militia, who were permitted to return unmolested to their homes. BRITISH RULE. 257 CHAPTER XrX. BEinSH EULE— THE CONSPIEACY OF PONTIAC. Beneficial Effects of the Conquest — State of the Country — Military Govern ■ ment — Impeachment and Punishment of liigot — The Peace of Paris, 17G3 — Conspiracy of Pontiac — Siege of Detroit — Massacres in the West — Bou- quet's Victory at Bushy Eun — Jealousies of French and English Eaces — Sir Guy Carleton Governor — Law Eeforms — The Quebec Act, 1774. THE conquest of Canada by the British was the most for- tunate event in its history. It supplanted the institutions of the middle ages by those of modern civilization. It gave local self-government for abject submission to a foreign power and a corrupt court. It gave the protection of the Habeas Corpus and trial by jury, instead of the oppressive tribunals of feudalism. For ignorance and repression, it gave cheap schools and a free press. It removed the arbitrary shackles from trade, and abolished its unjust monopolies. It enfran- chised the serfs of the soil, and restricted the excessive power of the seigneurs. It gave an immeasurably ampler liberty to the people, and a loftier impulse to progress, than was before known. It banished the greedy cormorants who grew rich by the official plunder of the poor. The waste and ruin of a pro- longed and cruel war were succeeded by the reign of peace and prosperity ; and the pinchings of famine by the rejoicings of abundance. The habitans could now cultivate their long neglected acres free from the molestation of Indian massacres, or fear of British invasion ; nor were they subject to the con- tinual pillage of a Varin, a Cadet, or a Bigot. The departure of the impoverished, but haughty noblesse^ who looked down on honest labour, instead of being a social loss, relieved the industry of the country of a grievous incubus. Even the con- quered colonists themselves, soon recognized their improved condition under their generous conquerors. 33 258 HISTORY OF CANADA. The Abbe Raynal, a contemporary French historiographer, thus WT-ites concerning the results of the conquest: " To the impenetrably mysterious transactions of a cruel inquisition, succeeded a cool, rational, and public trial ; and a tribunal dreadful, and accustomed to shed blood, was replaced by humane judges, more disposed to acknowledge innocence than to sup- pose criminality. The conquered people have been still more delighted, by finding the liberty of their persons secured for- ever by the famous law of Habeas Corpus. As they had too long been victims of the arbitrary wills of those who governed them, they have blessed the beneficent hand that drew them from a state of slavery to put them under the urotectiou of just laws." The one hundred and fifty-seven years of French occupancy had been one long struggle against fearful odds, — first with the ferocious savages, then with the combined power of the British colonies and the mother country. The genius of French Canada was a strange blending of the military and religious spirit. Even commerce wore the sword, and a missionary enthusiasm quickened the zeal of her early explorers. The reign of peaceful industry was now to succeed that of martial prowess, and was to win victories no less renowned than those of war. As a provisional measure, till a treaty of peace should define the future relations of the country, a military government was organized in Canada. The country was divided into three jurisdictions, — Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers, — ruled respectively by Generals Murray and Gage, and Colonel Bur- ton. A council of officers was held twice a week, which administered justice in all matters brought before it. The despotic authority of this council was tempered only by the integrity and generosity of its members. This military rule, though distasteful to the conquered, blended firmness with kindness, and repressed sedition while it protected loyalty. The free exercise of their religion was accorded to the people, and their more pressing necessities were generously relieved. The militia were sent to their homes, and the regular soldiers, BRITISH RULE. 2o0 four thousand iu number, were conveyed to France. A con- siderable exodus of the noblesse, officials, and merchants , also took place. Financially, the colony Avas bankrupt. Bigot's paper cur- rency, which had flooded the country, was worthless, and great commercial depression ensued. It had been issued ostensibly on the authority of the King of France, but had reached the extent of over three millions sterling, Avhich was far in excess of the authorized amount, and had so depreciated as to be worth only four per cent, of its original value. When the con- quest put an end to French rule, the royal treasury refused to redeem this paper, and its holders sustained a loss equal to three hundred thousand pounds sterling. Even during the last siege of Quebec by De Levi, and in the very death-agony of the colony, Bigot, and his fellow-conspira- tors, sought to enrich themselves out of the ruins of their country. Falsified accounts, in which were exorbitant charges for work never done, and supplies never furnished, were authorized by the engineers, and paid by the Intendant, who received himself the lion's share of the dishonest gains.* Vast quantities of stores provided for the army were seized by the monopolists, and resold at extortionate prices, the soldiers being, meantime, wretchedly supplied, and the people actually perishing of want. Deep chagrin was felt in France at the loss of the fairest colony of the crown, with the subjugation of sixty thousand loyal subjects, who, for seven years of battle and sieges, of privation and suflering, had bravely struggled against over- whelming numbers to save Canada for the mother country. A court of inquiry into the official conduct of the chief colonial functionaries was, therefore, held in Paris, before which nearly every civil officer was summoned. * " Among the other charges against the French government," says Warbiir- ton, " was put forward a bill for three hundred thousand moccasins for the Indians ; the infamous Cadet managed this contract himself, in the name of his clerk, and charged the crown no less than three hundred thousand livres for the fraudulent supply." 260 HISTORY OF CANADA. M. de Yaudreiiil, the late Governor, together with Bigot and other members of the " Grand Company," on their return to France were thrown into the Bastile, to await their trial. The Governor was honourably acquitted. After fifty-six years faithful service of the crown as Governor, successively, of Three Elvers, Louisiana, and Canada, he returned to his native country poor, having sacrificed his private fortune for the pub- lic weal. The crimes of the Intendant were more than proven. He and his fellow cormorants were compelled to disgorge their ill-gotten plunder, to the amount of nearly twelve million francs, and were exiled from France forever. In October, 1760, George III. became King. The very eminence of Pitt made him obnoxious to the crown and nobles. The Great Commoner resigned office, and was ofi'ered the government of Canada, but the not very tempting offer was declined. Still, the impulse of Pitt's policy enabled England, Prussia, and little Portugal to withstand the combined power of Europe. The naval victories of Watson and Pococke, and the conquest of the Philippines and Cuba, though over- shadowed by the horrors of the siege of Havana, one of the most memorable in history, maintained the ancient supremacy of the " sea-girt isle." The awful ravages of the Seven Years' War had desolated a large part of Europe, had slain a million of men, accumulated a mountain of debt, and produced a heri- tage of international hate and domestic grief, when the Peace of Paris again gave rest to the war-wearied world in 17G3. France surrendered to Great Britain the whole of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Canada, and the Great West to the valleys of the AYabash and the Illinois, and the fair and fertile West India Islands of Gaudaloupe, Grenada, St. Vincent, Tobago, Mar- tinico, and Dominica, and her East India possessions ; and Spain gave up Florida, and all her territory east of the Missis- sippi. "Never," exclaimed the exultant King, << did any nation in Europe sign such a peace before." Yet there were not wanting prophets to foretell that these great colonies would not always remain subject to the little island beyond the sea. "If the people of our colonies," BRITISH RULE. 261 wrote "William Burke, a relative of his illustrious namesake, **find no check from Canada, they will extend themselves almost without bounds, and increase infinitely from all causes. "What the consequence will be, to have a hardy, numerous and independent people, possessed of a strong country, communi- cathig little, or not at all, with England, I leave to your own reflections. A neighbour that keeps us in some awe is not always the worst of neighbours. There should be a balance of power in America." Soon after the cession of Canada, the red cross of St. George supplanted the lilied flag of France on the wooden redoubts of Presqu' Isle, De Beuf, Venango, Detroit, Miami, Michilli- mackinac, and other forts in the west. Major Eogers, with two hundred of his forest "Rangers," had proceeded from Montreal, soon after the capitulation, to convey dispatches to the western forts, and to receive the submission of the French commandants. Near the site of the present city of Cleveland he was met by the celebrated warrior,' Pontiac, who had always been the stanch ally of the French. This haughty forest potentate accosted the intruding British officer with the demand : ' ' How have you dared to enter my country without my leave?" <* I come," replied Eogers, "with no design against the Indians, but to remove the French out of your country," and he offered the wampum of peace. This Pontiac, for a time, declined to accept, and at length agreed, like a sovereign prince, to suffer the red-coat soldiers to remain in his country so long as they treated him with due deference and respect. But the authority of the English was of an aggressive and uncompromising character, nor was it exercised with as much judiciousness as had been that of the French. The Indians no longer received the courteous treatment nor the politic presents to Avhich they had been accustomed. Their chiefs, when visit- ing a fort, were not now greeted with the roll of drums and firing of cannon, nor were they cajoled with flatteries, bribed with medals and decorations, or regaled at the officers' tables, as was often the case under the astute rule of their former friends, — masters they would have disdained to call them. 262 HISTORY OF C AX AD A. The Englisli, on the contrary, did not take the trouble to study savage etiquette, or to conciliate savage, antipathies. They were often brusque, and sometimes rude and stern in their intercourse with the red race. Many of the English fur traders, too, were lawless and turbulent ruffians, who plundered and outraged the Indians and their families. A wide-spread dissatisfaction prevailed in the forest wig- wams. This was fanned to a flame by the arts and eloquence of Pontiac, who sought to exterminate the English and restore the supremacy of his race. With the wiles of a Machiavelli, he laid a deep conspiracy for the simultaneous rising of all the tribes on the shores of the Upper Lakes, in the Ohio valley, and on the borders of the Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsyl- vania settlements. They were to seize the forts,' murder the garrisons, and ravage the frontier. With the exception of Fort Pitt, the fort at Detroit, on the beautiful St. Clair River, was the largest and most important in the entire West. It was a large stockade, within the limits of the present city, with walls twenty feet high, enclosing about eighty houses. Its garrison consisted of one hundred and twenty soldiers and eight officers, under the command of Major Gladwyn ; and two armed vessels lay in the river. Sixty years before, a French fort and settlement had been planted at this favoured spot, whither the advantages of a fertile soil, excellent fishing, and abundance of forest-game had attracted a French i:)opulation of about six or seven hundred persons. There were also in the vicinity three large Indian villages. Here Pontiac resolved to strike the first blow of his revolt, on the 7th of May, 1763, nearly three years after the occu- pancy of the post by the British. The plan of attack had been previously arranged at a forest council of the dusky warriors. Pontiac, with sixty of his bravest followers, was to obtain entrance to the fort under the pretext of smoking the -pipe of peace. Each warrior was to carry beneath his blanket his gun, with its barrel cut off short so as to admit of better conceal- ment. At a given signal they were to fall upon the garrison. BRITISH RULE. 263 and open the gates for the admission of their tribesmen prowl- ing without. A 3'oung squaw, through the influence, it is said, of a roman- tic attachment, revealed this plot to ]\Iajor Gladwyn, the com- mandant, and the garrison was, therefore, on the guard. As the Indians, the next day, entered the fort, they beheld the soldiers drawn up under arms, with fixed bayonets. As Pon- tiac began his speech, the clash of w^eapous, and roll of drums, announced the discovery of his plot. Yet he was allowed to retire unharmed, Gladwyn being incredulous as to the extent of the conspiracy, and unwilling to provoke an Indian war. Two days later, hundreds of yelling savages openly attacked the fort, massacred some English settlers who lived beyond its protection, and summoned the garrison to surrender. Pontiac now resolved to attempt a regular blockade, and proclaimed that *' the first man that should bring provisions, or anything else to the fort, should suffer death." lie solicited also the assistance of the French, and made one of them his secretary. The English, however, by means of their armed vessels, commanded the river, and also procured provisions from friendly French settlers. For fifteen months the savages, about seven hundred in number, closely beleaguered the fort, — an unexampled siege in Indian warfare, — defeating successive forces sent to its relief. To obtain food for his warriors, Pon- tiac levied contributions from the French, and, in imitation of Eiu'opean finance, issued promissory notes drawn upon birch- bark, and signed with his own totem, an otter ; all of which, on their maturing, were faithfully redeemed. The other forts throughout the West, with scarce an excep- tion, were reduced by stratagem, by assault, or by siege. At Fort Sandusky, a number of Indians, under the guise of friendship, gained admission, massacred the garrison, and car- ried off the commandant prisoner. Such also was the fate of the unhappy occupants of Fort Joseph, on Lake Michigan. At Fort ]\Iiami, the commandant was induced to visit a sick squaw, and, w^hile engaged in his errand of mercy, was treacherously shot down, and the little garrison surprised. 2Q4: HISTORY OF CANADA.] At jMicliillimackiuac, the savages engaged before the fort in an anhiiated contest of la crosse ; an exciting game of strength and skill, in "which two parties, armed with raquets, strive, the one to force a ball between two stakes erected in the field, while the other endeavours to prevent its reaching the goal. The soldiers and officers lounged around the gates w^atching the absorbing game, the commandant indulging his sporting pro- pensity by betting on its result. Squaws strolled unnoticed into the fort. At length, a well-directed blow tossed the ball within the gate. As the Indians rushed after it, the squaws gave them the hatchets which they had kept hidden beneath their blankets. The work of massacre began. The garrison was overpowered, and all who were not slain were made prisoners. At Fort Presqu' Isle twenty-seven men, after an heroic defence, in which their block-house was fired, and their stockade undermined, in order to escape massacre surrendered to a force of two hundred savages from Pontiac's camp at Detroit. From Fort Le Beuf the garrison escaped to the w^oods by night, while the savages thought that they were perishing in the flames. At Fort Venango, not a soul survived to tell the story of its destruction. Such were some of the episodes of the bloody conspiracy of the Indian tribes under the influence of this forest Mithridates. Meanwhile, a camp of three thousand Indians, including the families of the warriors, was assembled in the vicinity of Detroit. On the 30th of May, the besieged garrison caught a glimpse of hope. A fleet of English boats was seen gliding up the river, containing, it was believed, long expected re-en- forcements from Xiagara. It was hailed by a volley from the guns, and a cheer from the garrison, but the answering Indian yell conveyed the dreadful tidings that the convoy was in the hands of the enemy. Lieutenant Cuyler, with a force of nine- ty-six men, with an abundant supply of stores and ammunition, had been surprised near Point Pelee by a lurking baud of Pontiac's wamors. Sixty were killed or captured, the rest escaped. 1 BRITISH RULE. 265 A month later, a schooner conveying sixty men, arrived at the mouth of the river, and fought its way up to the fort against tenfold odds. On the 29th of July, the besieged gar- rison was surprised by the appearance of twenty-two barges conveying Captain Dalzell, late aide-de-camp to General Am- herst, with a re-enforcement of two hundred and eighty men, and an ample store of ammunition. They had made their way up the river in the night, and so escaped detection by the enemy. It was now resolved to strike a bold blow at the besiegers. Dalzell urged that a night attack should be made on Pontiac's camp. Gladwyn reluctantly consented, and, at two o'clock on the morning of July 31, a force of two hundred and fifty men marched out of the fort, and took the road along the riverside. Keen-eyed Indian scouts, from the neighbouring forest, watched their progress, and as they were crossing a narrow bridge, over a stream, two miles from the fort, which ever since has borne the name of Bloody Run, a murderous fire was poured into their ranks from behind a breastwork of logs among the trees. Amid the darkness the soldiers were thrown into con- fusion, and only escaped being surrounded by far superior numbers by a precipitate retreat. In this disastrous affair, the English lost sixty men in killed and wounded, among them the gallant Dalzell himself, who lost his life in endeavouring to rescue one of his wounded men. The Indian camp now increased to over a thousand warriors, but the garrison was over three hundred strong, and was quite able to keep the besiegers at bay. The schooner *' Gladwyn," with a crew of twelve men, return- ing with stores from Niagara, was shortly after attacked at night by three hundred and fifty savages. After a desperate contest, the mate called out to blow up the magazine. Hearing this alarming order, the Indians, who were swarming on her deck, plunged overboard, and the vessel escaped with the loss of two of its crew. Nor were the garrisoned forts alone assailed by these ruthless Indian warriors. They waylaid and murdered the English 34 266 HISTORY OF CAXADA. trader in the wilderness, and ravaged the entire frontier with fire and scalping-kuife. They swarmed on the border settle- ments, skulked through the forests, lay in wait near the clear- ings, shooting down the farmers in the field, scalping the housewife by her hearthstone, tomahawking the babe in its cradle. About two thousand, it is estimated, were massacred. At Fort Pitt was a garrison of three hundred and thirty men, under the command of Captain Ecuyer, a brave Swiss officer, together with two hundred women and children. Towards the close of May a band of Indians brought three hundred pounds' worth of furs to the fort and exchanged them for guns, powder, bullets, and scaliDiug-knives. That night arrived intelligence of the attack on the English posts. The fort was speedily put in a condition of defence, a rude engine was constructed to extinguish fires, and bullet-proof chambers were prepared for the protection of the women and children. It was soon surrounded by hundreds of yelling Indians, who, burrowing in the river-banks, kept up an incessant fire for days, though without inflicting serious damage. On the outbreak of the war, Colonel Bouquet had been de- spatched from Philadelphia with a force of five hundred High- landers and provincial " Eangers" to relieve Fort Pitt, and strengthen the garrison at Detroit. With a heavy baggage- train, conveying powder, flour, and provisions, and driving a hundred beeves, and twice as many sheep, the expedition toiled through the wilderness and over the Alleghany Mountains. Before reaching the frontier, they found the country devastated by a cruel foe. They passed ruined mills, deserted farms, and fields waving with ripened grain, but without a hand to gather in the harvest. At length, the wagons had to be left behind, and, with three hundred and fifty pack-horses, laden with flour, the little army jDressed on in their toilsome journey. When within twenty-five miles of Fort Pitt, near a stream named Bushy Eun, the Indians, who had been besieging the fort, formed an ambuscade in the forest, and opened a deadly fire on Bouquet's advance-guard. The Highlanders gallantly charged with the bayonet, but the convoy was soon surrounded BRITISH RULE. 2G7 by hundreds of yelling savages. For seven long hours the conflict raged, till the approach of darkness brought it to a close. That night the English lay upon their arms on the scene of the battle, and, with the earliest light, the conflict was renewed. The wounded were placed in the centre, and pro- tected by the bags of flour, while the soldiers formed a circle around them and the horses. From dawn, till the hot sun of August rose high in the heavens, that devoted band presented an unbroken front to the foe, tortured by a burning thirst more terrible than the galling fire to which they were exposed. The wounded horses, too, broke away and galloped wildly through the ranks. The Indians, meanwhile, fired from behind the trees, and made occasional rushes to break the circle, but fled before the charges of the Highlanders and " Kangers." In order to avert impending destruction, Bouquet resorted to stratagem. He ordered two companies to retire on the centre, as if retreating. The Indians hailed the movement with fiendish yells as a sign of defeat, and made a rush to break the circle. The retiring companies, meanwhile, issued unper- ceived from the rear, and fell with terrific onslaught on the flank of the astonished Indians. With a rush and a cheer, the Highlanders were upon them with the bayonet, and, attacked in front and flank, they were utterly routed, leaving sixty slain upon the field. In the two days' action, the loss of the British was one hundred and twenty-three, or one-fourth of their entire number. Burning what stores they could not carry ofi", the victors pressed on to Fort Pitt, to the siege of which their arrival promptly put an end. Even within the limits of the present State of New York, hostile bands of Indians ravaged the frontier settlements. On the 13th of September, a British convoy was assailed at " Devil's Hole," three miles below Niagara Falls, and of eighty men, seventy-two fell victims to the scalping-knife. During the winter the siege of Detroit was not vigorously pressed, most of the tribes being absent on hunting expeditious ; but prowling bands still lurked in the neighbouring i^s*. forest, and stragglers from the fort, with scarcely an exception, 268 HISTORY OF CANADA. paid the penalty of their temerity with their scalps. With the returning spring, several tribes came back to press the siege. But Pontiac, despairing of success, in consequence of the peace between the English and the French, retreated in chagrin to a camp on the Maumee River. Vigorous efforts were now made by the British to put an end to this humiliating and destructive Indian war. General Gage, who had succeeded Amherst as commander-in-chief, ordered General Bradstreet, the hero of Fort Frontenac, to relieve Detroit, and to re-garrison the western forts ; and Colonel Bou- quet was commanded to reduce the hostile tribes of the Ohio Valley. The veteran skill of Sir William Johnson in the management of the Indians was still more eflS^cacious in bringing about a peace, than either of these armed demonstrations. In the month of July, by his invitation, no less than two thousand Indian warriors from all parts of the great West, were assem- bled beneath the guns of Fort Niagara, After much speech- making and interchange of wampum-belts, a separate treaty of peace was made with each tribe, and the delegates were despatched to their homes laden with presents. General Bradstreet, with a force of twelve hundred soldiers, had, in the meantime, advanced from Albany, by way of Oswego, and, with the addition of a number of armed Cana- dians, proceeded to relieve the garrison of Detroit. At Presqu' Isle, he received a sham embassy from the Shaw- nees and Delawares, and credulously made a treaty with them, while their warriors were still murdering and scalp- ing on the Pennsylvanian frontiers. On the 26th of August, he reached Detroit, and was received with delight by the garrison, which had endured the unparalleled Indian siege of fifteen months. A treaty of peace was made with the neighbouring tribes on their complete submission, and a force was sent to re-garrison Fort Michillimackinac. General Bradstreet now returned to Canada, refusing to co- operate with Colonel Bouquet, believing that he had concluded a permanent peace with the hostile tribes of the Ohio Valley. BRITISH RULE. 2G9 The gallant Bouquet, however, better understood the deceit of Indian nature. With a force of fifteen hundred regular sol- diers and backwoods fighters, he marched boldly west from Fort Pitt, and dictated terms of peace in the very heart of the territory occupied by the revolting tribes. He also rescued several hundreds of white prisoners from their cruel captors, and restored them, amid scenes of touching pathos and rejoic- mg, to their anxious friends. Husbands and wives, parents and children, who had been long separated, were now given back to each other's embrace. In not a few instances, tender ties had been formed in the forest wigwams, where the captives had been adopted or married into Indian families, which were not broken without a pang. Pontiac subsequently endeavoured to stir up the Indian hordes in the valley of the Mississippi against the English, for this purpose sending envoys to the numerous tribes upon that mighty stream. The growing ascendency of the British throughout the great West, however, rendered this attempt abortive. Pontiac himself, at length, submitted to English rule, and, a few years later, was killed near St. Louis, while drunk, by an Illinois Indian. After the Peace of Paris, signed February 10, 1763, Canada was formally annexed to the British possessions by royal proc- lamation. British subjects were invited to settle in the prov- ince of Quebec by the promise of the protection of British laws, and of the establishment, as soon as the circumstances of the country would admit, of representative institutions. Liberal land grants were also made to military settlers. These grants ranged from five thousand to fifty acres, varying with the rank of the grantee, from field oflicers down to private soldiers. After ten years' occupation, they were to be subject to " quit- rents " — a small annual tax, the payment of which exempted the landholder from all other service. This payment was not, however, rigidly enforced, and, in many places, fell into desue- tude. The proposed collection of accumulated arrears in later times was a cause of great discontent. A civil government, consisting of Governor and council, was formed, and courts 270 BISTORT OF CANADA. were established for the administration of justice in accordance with the laws of England. The printing-press — that palladium of free institutions — was first introduced in Canada in 1764, and on the 21st of June, the first number of the *' Quebec Gazette," which is still published, made its appearance.* The " new subjects," as the French were called, soon found themselves placed at a disadvantage, as compared with the British settlers, or «'oId subjects." The latter, although as regards numbers, an insignificant minority, — less than five hun- dred in all, chiefly half-pay officers, disbanded soldiers, and merchants, — assumed all the prerogatives of a dominant race, engrossing the public offices to the exclusion of the sons of the soil. The terms of the proclamation were interpreted, like the law of England for sixty-five years later, as excluding Roman Catholics from all offices in the gift of the state. The French were willing to take the oath of allegiance to King George, but even for the sake of public employment would not forswear their religion. The British privilege of trial by jury, that safeguard of popular liberty, was little appreciated, accompanied as it was by increased expense and by the inconvenience of being conducted in an unknown language. The simple hahitans preferred the direct decision of the judge in accordance with their ancient customs. General Murray, by his conciliatory and equitable treatment of the conquered race, as far as possible within the limits above indicated, evoked the jealousy and complaint of the English place-hunters, many of whom were thoroughly mercenary and corrupt. Complaints of his administration were sent to Eng- land, accompanied by petitions for his recall. His policy was approved, however, by the Home Government, and he received substantial preferment. Sir Guy Carleton was appointed the successor of General Murray, and proved himself the protector and friend of the * It Tvaa established by William Brown and Thomas Gilmore, of Philadel- phia, -whose names deserve honourable mention as the pioneers of journalism in Canada. BRITISH RULE. 271 conquered colonists. In the administration of justice, which was the ground of much controversy, a compromise was effected. In criminal cases, trial by jury and English forms were observed. In civil cases — those affecting property and inheritance — the old French laws and procedures were allowed to prevail. The English settlers, however, objected strenu- ously to several features of the land laws. The feudal tefiure, by which, on every transfer of real estate, one-twelfth of the purchase money must be paid to the seigneur within whose seigneury the land lay, was especially obnoxious. This was a heavy tax on all improvements, buildings, and the like, and greatly discouraged the growth of towns, and drainage of land or other modes of increasing its value. The French also opposed the registration of deeds, either from ignorant apathy, or on account of the, as they conceived, needless expense. Consequently British land purchasers or mortgagees sometimes found themselves defrauded by previous mortgages, to which the French law permitted a sworn secrecy. Notwithstanding these and other anomalies, the country entered on a career of prosperity, and began to increase in population, agricultural and commercial. At length, after long delay, in 1774, as a definite settlement of the government of the colony, the Quebec Act was passed by the British parliament. It extended the bounds of the province from Labrador to the Mississippi, from the Ohio to the watershed of Hudson's Bay. It established the right of the French to the observance of the Roman Catholic religion, with- out civil disability, and confirmed the tithes to the clergy, exempting, however, Protestants from their jDayment. It restored the French civil code, and established the English administration of law in criminal cases. Supreme authority was vested in the Governor and a council of from seventeen to twenty-three members, the latter being nominated by the crown, and consisting, for the most part, of persons of British birth. The English-speaking minority felt that their rights were sacrificed. They were denied the promised elective Assembly, deprived of the protection of the Habeas Corpus Act, and, in 272 HISTORY OF CANADA. certain cases, of trial by jury ; and were subjected to the civil code, and held their property under the ill-understood laws of a foreign country. Fox, Burke, Chatham and Townshend pro- tested against the injustice in the Imperial parliament. Chat- ham rose from his sick-bed to denounce it in the House of Lords. *' It is an Act," he said, " that tears up justice by the roots, destroys the liberty that ought to be the foundation of every constitution, and that will soon lose His Majesty the hearts of all his American subjects." The merchants and Com- mon Council of the city of London, always the champions of popular liberty, petitioned against the bill, but the King gave it his sanction, declaring that " it was founded on the clearest principles of justice and humanity, and would, he doubted not, have the best effect in quieting the minds and promoting the happiness of his Canadian subjects." The American colonies complained bitterly at the transfer to Canada of the country north and west of the Ohio, for which they had so long and valorously struggled. " You have given up," said Thomas Townshend, their mouthpiece in the British Parliament, " almost all the country which was the subject of dispute, and for which we went to war ; extending, in the words of the bill, southward to the Ohio, westward to the Mississippi, and northward to the territory granted to the Hud- son's Bay Company." The Protestant clergy, especially, took great offence at the provisions in favour of the Eoman Catholic religion, and many of them were led to lend their influence in favour of the impending American Eevolution. The Act, how- ever, was received with delight by the French population, and continued for seventeen years the rule of government of the province. THE REVOLUTLONART WAR. 273 CHAPTER XX. ^ . THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. Canscs of tlio American Revolution — The Stamp Duties — The "Boston Tea Party," 1773 — Coucord, Lexington, Ticonderoga, and Bunker Hill, 1775 — AiHorican Invasion of Canada — Capture of Forts Chambly and St. John — Montgomery Occupies Montreal — Arnold's Wilderness Raid — Ineffective Siege of Quebec — Death of Montgomery — Defeat of Arnold — American Invasion Repulsed — Declaration of Independence, 1776 — Burgoyne's Ad- vance from Canada and Surrender at Saratoga, 1777 ^ Governor Carleton Resigns — Is Succeeded by General Haldimand, 1779 — Recognition of Amer- ican Independence — The Peace of Versailles (1783) makes the Great Lakes the Western Boundary of Canada — Tlie United Empire Loyalists seek Homes in the British Provinces. TILE general jiolicy of Great Britain toward her American colonies was one of commercial repression. The Navi- gation Laws (passed 1651 by the Commonwealth, confii-med by- Charles 11., 1660), prohibited the exportation from the crown colonies of certain products, except to Great Britain and in British ships ; or the conveyance of any products of Asia, Africa or America to any port in Great Britain, except in Brit- ish ships, or in ships of the country of which the goods were the product. American merchants were, therefore, precluded by law from the direct importation of sugar, tea, spices, cotton, and similar foreign products. These were required first to be shipped to Great Britain, and then to be re-shipped to America at greatly increased cost and delay. The colonial traders largely disregarded this prohibition, and grew rich by smug- gling, which acquired in time a sort of toleration. With the growth of American commerce. Imperial jealousy was aroused. The colonial vessels were seized and the contraband goods confiscated by British ships or by the officers of His Majesty's customs. These confiscations sometimes took place with little ceremony, if not with violence ; and it not unfrequently hap- pened that serious riots occurred. The manufacture of certain 35 274 HISTORY OF CANADA. materials, as "wool and iron, was also, in defiance, it was felt, of natural rights, prohibited in the colonies. The oligarchical power of the crown officials, and the offensive assumptions of the Church established by law, moreover, gave deep offence to the democratic conmiunities of the American colonies. In order to meet the colonial military ex|)enditure, a stamp duty was imposed on all legal documents. The colonists denied the right of the Imperial Parliament to impose taxes without their consent. The Stamp Act was repealed m a year, but the obnoxious principle of taxation without representation was maintained by a light duty on tea, and some other articles.* The colonists refused to receive the taxed commodities, and a party of men, disguised as Indians, threw into Boston harbour (December 16, 1773), the tea on board the East India vessels, amounting to three hundred and forty chests. Parliament, in- censed at this " flat rebellion," closed the port of Boston, and, against the protest and warning of some of England's greatest statesmen, sent troops to enforce submission. A Continental Congress was convened at Philadelphia (Sep- tember, 1774), which petitioned the King, but in vain, for the continuance of the colonial Hberties. The creation, by the Quebec Act, of a great Northern province, whose government was administered by agents responsible only to the crown, was regarded as fraught with peril to the interests of the older colonies. It was hoped that the disaffection among the British population of Canada, and, perhaps, a desire on the part of the French to avenge the wrongs of the conquest, would induce not a few of the people of Canada to joint the revolt against Great Britain. Circular letters were, therefore, sent to Canada and Nova Scotia, inviting the inhabitants to send delegates to the Continental Congress, at Philadelphia. Meanwhile, at Concord and Lexington (April 19, 1775), occurred the collision between the armed colonists and the soldiers of the King, which precipitated the "War of Independ- ence, and the loss to Great Britain of her American colonies. * The duty on tea was tlireepence per pound, — one-fourth of that paid in England. THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 275 From the mountains of Vermont to the everglades of Georgia, a patriotic enthusiasm burst forth. A continental army was organized. General Gage was besieged in Boston. A small force was collected in Vermont for the capture of Fort Ticon- deroga. On the night of May 9, it crossed Lake Champlain, and, at dawn, next morning, eighty-three men surprised and captured, without a blow, the fort which had cost Great Britain eight millions sterling, two great campaigns, and a multitude of precious lives to win. Crown Point, with its slender garrison of twelve men, surrendered at the first summons, and thus the *' gateway of Canada" was in the hands of the insurgent colon- ists. A few weeks later, at Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775), the colonial volunteers proved their ability to cope with the veteran troops of England. Five hundred of the former, and a thou- sand of the latter, lay dead or wounded on the fatal slope. General Carleton resolved to recover, if possible. Crown Point and Ticonderoga. He called upon the seigneurs to enroll their tenants or censitaires, in accordance with the terms of the feudal tenure by which they held their lands. Many of the seigneurs responded promptly to this appeal, but the tenantry, who had not forgotten the hardships of the late war, denied their liability to military service. The Governor, who had scarcely eight hundred regular soldiers at his command for the protection of the province, declared martial law to be in force, and endeavoured to call out the militia by proclamation. But even this appeal, backed up as it was by the mandate of Bishop De Briand, exhorting the people to take up arms, was ineffectual. The American Congress now resolved on the invasion of Canada, believing that the revolted colonists had many sympa- thizers in the country, who were only waiting for the presence of an armed force to declare in favour of the Revolution. In the month of September, a colonial force of a thousand men, under General Schuyler, advanced by way of Lake Cham- plain against Montreal ; and another, under Colonel Arnold, by way of the Kennebec and Chaudiere, against Quebec. Gov- ernor Carleton still endeavoured, but at first with only very 276 HISTORY OF CANADA. partial success, to enlist the co-operation of the French for the defence of the country. They were not, indeed, seduced from their allegiance by the blandishments of the revolted colonies ; but, for the most j)ai't, they continued apathetic, till their homes were in danger. Some of the Canadians, however, both French and English, sympathized with the invaders, and gave them both passive and active assistance. While Schuyler was held in check at Fort St. John, on the Richelieu, Colonel Ethan Allen, with some three hundred men, advanced to Montreal. Taking possession of some barns and houses near the town, he was attacked by General Carleton, with a force of two hundred and fifty local militia, and some thirty regulars. Allen was defeated and taken prisoner, and sent in irons to England. Colonel Eichard Montgomery, a brave and generous Irish gentleman, had succeeded to Schuyler's command. lie vigorously urged the siege of Forts St. John and Chambly. The latter ingloriously surrendered to two hun- dred Americans, after a siege of a day and a half. The prisoners, one hundred and EICHARD MONTGOMERY, gixty-eight \i\ uumbcr, were sent to Con- necticut. The capture of seventeen cannon, and six tons of powder, was of immense advantage to Montgomery, enabling him to press with greater vigour the siege of Fort St. John. Meanwhile, General Carleton, by great efforts, got together about eight hundred Canadians, regulars, and Indians, for the relief of the beleaguered garrison of Fort St. John. On the 31st of October, he attempted, in thirty-four boats, to cross the St. Lawrence from Montreal, in order to effect a junction with Colonel Maclean at Sorel. As they approached Longueuil, an American force of three hundred men, with two field-guns, opened fire on the boats so vigorously that Carleton was com- pelled to return to Montreal. The commandant at Fort St. John, despairing of relief, and short of both provisions and ammunition, surrendered, after a siege of fiifty days, with a garrison of five hundred regulars and Canadian militia. THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. The greater part of the regular troops in the province had now been captured, and ]Montgomery advanced unopposed to Montreal. Governor Carleton. and Brigadier-General Prescott, after destroying the military stores, escaped with a hundred and twenty men, just in time to avoid capture. On the 12th of Xovember, Montgomery occupied the town, and gained the. good-will of the people by his generous disposition and affable manners. Brigadier-General Prescott, and his command, were inter- cepted at Sorel by a force of Americans, with an armed vessel and some floating batteries. Carleton escaped only by being rowed, with muflled oars, by night, past the American guards ; and so reached Quebec, which was now menaced b}^ Benedict Arnold. That officer, who subsequently gained eternal infamy by the base attempt to l^etray the fortress of West Point, com- mitted to his keeping, had pre- viously visited Quebec, and had secret correspondents among its inhabitants. In the month of September, with a force of nearly a thousand men, among whom was Aaron Burr, a future Yice-President of the United States, he had toiled up the swift current of the Kennebec and Dead Eiver, to the head-waters of those streams. "With incred- ible labour they conveyed their boats and stores through the tangled wilderness to the Chau- diere, and sailed down its tumultuous current to the St. Law- rence. Their sufferings through hunger, cold, fatigue, and exposure, were excessive. They were reduced to eat the flesh of dogs, and even to gnaw the leather of their cartouch-boxes and shoes. Their barges had to be dragged against the rapid stream one hundred and eighty miles, and carried forty miles over rugged f)ortages on men's shoulders. Their number was ^^V' ^ BENEDICT ABNOIiB. 278 HISTORY OF CAXADA. reduced, by sickness, exhaustion and desertion, to seven hun- dred men before they reached the St. Lawrence, and only six hundred were fit for military service. Without artillery, with damaged guns and scanty ammunition, with wretched clothing and imperfect commissariat, they were to attempt the capture of the strongest fortress in America. The Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec, the Hon. H. T. Cramahe, had strengthened the de- fences of the fortress capital, and learning the approach of Arnold, had carefully removed all the boats from the south side of the river. On the night of November the 13th, Arnold, having constructed a number of canoes, conveyed the bulk of his meagre army across the river, and, WALLS OF QUEBEC.* ^ylthout oppositlou, climbcd the cliff by Wolfe's jDath, and appeared before the walls of the upper town. He sent a flag of truce to demand the surrender of the place ; but the flag was not received, and no answer to the summons was deigned. Having failed to surprise the town, and despairing, with his footsore and ragged regiments, with no artillery, and with only five rounds of ammunition, of taking it by assault, he retired to Poiut-aux-Trembles, some twenty miles up the river, to await a junction with Montgomery. On the 19th of the month, Governor Carleton reached Quebec, and began preparations for a vigorous resistance. Dis- affected persons, and those unwilling to join in the defence of the town, were ordered to leave within four days. The entire population was about five thousand, and the garrison numbered eighteen hundred in all, consisting of about a thousand British and Canadian militia, three hundred regulars, and a body of seamen and marines from the ships in the harbour. The place was provisioned for eight months. • * References. — A. The St. Charles River. B. The St. Lawrence. a. Wolfe and Montcalm's Monnment. b. Place where Montgomery fell. (Shown also in cut on page 279.) c. Place where Arnold was defeated. THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 279 On the 4th of December, the united forces of Arnold and Montgomery, amounting to about twelve hundred in all, advanced against Quebec. Carleton refused to hold any com- munication with them, and the besieging army encamped in the snow before the walls. Its scanty artillery produced no effect upon the impregnable ramparts. Biting frost, the fire of the garrison, pleurisy, and the small-pox did their fatal work. The only hope of success was by assault, which must be made before the close of the year, when the period of service of many of the men expired. On the last day of the year, therefore, a double attack was made on the lower town, the object of which was to effect a junction of forces, and then to storm the upper town. At four o'clock in the morning, in a blinding snow- storm, Montgomery, with five hundred men, crept along the narrow pass be- tween Cape Diamond and the river. The western approach to the town was defended by a block-house and a battery. As the forlorn hope made a dash for the barrier, a volley of grape swept through their ranks. Montgomery, with two of his oiS- cers and ten men, were slain. The deepening snow wrapped them in its icy comrades retreated in utter discomfiture. On the other side of the town, Arnold, with six hundred men, attacked and carried the first barriers. The alarum bells rang, the drums beat to arms, the garrison rallied to the defence. The assaulting party pressed on, and many entered the town FACE OF CITADEL CLIFF, QUEBEC. shroud, while their 280 HISTORY OF CANADA. through the embrasures of a battery, and waged a stub])orn fight in the narrow streets, amid the storm and darkness. AYith the dawn of morning, they found themselves surrounded by an overwhelming force, and exposed to a withering fire from the houses. They therefore surrendered at discretion, to the number of four hundred men. Arnold continued during the winter to maintain an inefiective siege, his command daily wasting away with small-pox, cold, 1776. and hunger. A party of three hundred and fifty loyal Canadians, under M. de Beaujeu, attacked his lines, but was repulsed with loss. The sympathy of the hahita^is was estranged by the military oppression and usurpation of the American " liberators." They were forced to part with their produce for bills of credit, which were uncurrent in the country, and their religious feelings were ofiended by the Protestant antiiDathies of the New England militia. Scanty re-enforcements of the besieging army continued to arrive, till it numbered about two thousand men. In April, the American Congress ordered that a strong force with an ample supply of materiel of war, should be raised for the conquest of Canada ; and Major-General Thomas, of Massa- chusetts, was despatched to take command of the army before Quebec. This energy, however, was manifested too late. Thomas arrived on the 1st of May, and found nearly half of the American force sick with small-pox, the magazines almost empty, and only six days' provisions in camp. The French sympathizers with the Americans, moreover, had become dis- afiected, and supplies were obtainable only with great difficulty. General Thomas decided on an immediate retreat to Three Elvers. The next day British ships arrived in the harbour, and before he could move his invaUd army, the garrison of Quebec issued from the gates, a thousand strong, and fell upon his camp. The Americans fled precipitately, leaving guns, stores, pro- visions, and even their sick behind. The latter were humanely treated by Carleton, but many of the French insurgents paid the penalty of their revolt by the confiscation or destruction of their property. General Thomas, with his command, retreated THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 281 amid great hardships to Sorel, where he soon died of small- pox, and was succeeded by General Sullivan. So ended the fifth and last siege of the rock-built fortress of Quebec. Meanwhile, three American Commissioners, Benjamin Frank- lin, Samuel Chase, and Charles Carroll, came to Montreal to urge the Canadians to join the revolted colonies against Great Britain. John Carroll, a brother of Charles, a Jesuit, w^ho subsequently became Archbishop of Baltimore, also came, to exert his influence as an ecclesiastic with the Canadian clergy in promoting this object. Without the aid of a large army and an abundance of "hard money," neither of which Congress could command, it was found that the Canadians would take little part in continuing the war. An American force of three hundred and ninety men had occupied a stockade at the Cedar Eapids, fort^'-five miles above Montreal, in order to intercept a body of British troops and Indians, who were known to be descending the river. They were themselves attacked by an Inferior British force under Captain Forster, and surrendered the stockade. The next day, a hundred and forty Americans, coming to the relief, were surprised by a number of Indians and Canadians, and made prisoners, not without the infliction of unwarranted cruelties by the savages. Captain Forster advanced with his prisoners toward Montreal, but learning that Arnold was about to attack him with seven hundred men, he made hasty dispositions for defence, and offered such an efiective resistance, that his antagonist was compelled to retreat. An exchange of prisoners to the number of nearly five hundred was efiected between the belligerents. In the month of June, an army of nearly ten thousand men, under Major-General Burgoyne, arrived at Quebec ; and Briga- dier-General Frazer, with twenty-five transports, at once pro- ceeded as far as Three Rivers, which was threatened by a force of fifteen hundred American militia-men. Frazer's troops landed and completely routed the enemy, making some two hundred prisoners. Sullivan, the American general, now withdrew his disorganized and plague-smitten army from Sorel to Isle-aux- 282 HISTORY OF CANADA. Noix, and soon after to Crown Point, whither he was shortly followed by Arnold from Montreal. Thus ended in disaster and defeat the invasion of Canada during the Revolutionary War. Governor Carleton now took active measures for the creation of a fleet of al^out twenty vessels, besides many transports, on Lake Champlain, the materials for which had been brought in part from England, and with infinite toil transported to the place of launching. The Americans also constructed a fleet, but one much inferior in size and equipment to that of their antagonists. In a severe engagement near Crown Point (Oc- tober 19), Arnold was badly beaten, and, to avoid surrender, beached those of his vessels that remained uncaptured, and set them on fire. The British now controlled the lake, and the Americans concentrated their strength at Ticonderoga. Meanwhile the revolted colonies had thrown off their allegiance to the mother country by the celebrated Declaration of Independence, which was solemnly adopted by the Con- tinental Congress, July 4, 1776. The British had already been obliged to evacuate Boston. They were also repulsed in an attack upon Charleston, S. C. In July, Lord Howe gained an important victory at Long Island, and took possession of New York, driving Washington across the Delaware. The latter, however, won a brilliant victory at Trenton and another at Princeton, which left the result of the campaign in favour of the revolted colonists. Notwithstanding the protests of Lord Chatham and Lord North against the war, the King and his ministers persisted in their policy of coercion. The following spring, General Bur- 1777- goyne, who had been appointed to the supreme military command, set out from Canada, with nine thousand men, to invade the State of New York, by way of Lake Champlain, eficct a junction with General Gage at Albany, and sever the American confederacy by holding the Hudson River. He cap- tured Ticonderoga, and advanced to Fort Edward. The New England and New York militia swarmed around the invading army, cut off its supplies, and, familiar with the ground, attacked THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 283 its detached forces with fatal success. Burgoyne was defeated at Stillwater, on the Hudson, and soon afterwards, being com- pletely surrounded, surrendered, with six thousand men, to General Gates, at Saratoga. This surrender led to the recog- nition of American independence by the French, and to their active assistance of the revolt by money, arras, ships, and volunteers. The occupation of Philadelphia by the British, and the defeat of the Americans at Brandy wine and Germantown, were, however, disheartening blows to the young republic. Governor Carleton, indignant at the military promotion of General Burgoyne over his own head, resigned his commission, and was succeeded in ofSce by General Haldimand. A Swiss by birth, and a strict martinet in discipline, the stern military government of the latter was a cause of much dissatisfiiction. Seditious sentiments were unhappily only too rife among the population of Canada, both English and French. These the Governor attempted to repress with the strong hand. It was dangerous to express any degi'ee of sympathy with the revolted colonists. Not a few persons suffered arbitrary arrest and imprisonment on inadequate grounds under the vexatious rule of Haldimand. Some of these afterwards instituted civil actions against the Governor for his unconstitutional invasion of personal liberty, and were awarded damages, which were paid by the British Government. The Eevolutionary War continued with varying fortune to drag its weary length. Several European officers of high rank and distin- guished military ability placed their swords at the disposal of the young republic of the West, and rendered valuable service in organizing, ani- mating and leading its armies. Among these were the Barons Steu- ben and DeKalb, the brave Polish patriots Kosciuszko and Pulaski, and, most illustrious of them all, the gallant Marquis LA FAYETTE. 284 HISTORY OF CANADA. de la Fayette. The genius and moral dignity of Washington sustained the courage of his countrymen under repeated disas- ter and defeat, and commanded the admiration and respect even of his enemies. The last great act of this stormy drama was the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, with seven thousand troops, at Yorktown, Virginia, October 19, 1781. Lord Chatham, Lord North, and many of the leading minds of Great Britain were averse to the prosecution of the war, and now public opinion compelled the King and ministry to recognize the independence of the revolted colonies. The treaty- of peace was signed at Versailles, Septembers, 1783. By its terms Canada was despoiled of the magnificent region lying between the Mississippi and the Ohio, and was divided from the new nation, designated the United States, by the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence, the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude, " the highlands dividing the waters falling into the Atlantic from those emptying themselves into the St. Law- rence," and the St. Croix River. That portion of the definition of this boundary enclosed in inverted commas was sufficiently vague to give rise to serious international disputes at a suljse- quent period. The Americans were also accorded the right of fishing on the banks and coasts of Newfoundland, and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and of landing to cure and dry their fish. Having once enjoyed those valuable privileges, the New England fisher- men would never consent to give them up. The "fishery question" became, therefore, in after-times, one of the most perplexing and irritating subjects of discussion between the two countries. Although Washington had established the independence of his country, he had yet to organize its government and suppress the internal strifes and factions by which it was agitated. With consummate wisdom, he called to his aid the leading minds of the country — men who had the confidence of the diverse politi- cal parties. In his first cabinet were associated with him Jef- ferson, Knox, Randolph, and Hamilton. By their eff'orts, aided THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 285 by the patriotism of the people, out of a congeries of separate states was moulded a united nation. Jefferson. Eaos, Randolph. HanuUun, "Washington's cabinet. During the war, the province of Nova Scotia had a history of blended j)rosperity and adversity. The colony, fostered by large Imperial expenditure in the original planting and subse- quent maintenance of Halifax as a great naval depot, had proved unfalteringly loyal to the crown. American privateers intercepted the vessels conveying stores, forage, and provis- ions, from Nova Scotia to the British troops at Boston and Xew York. They even attacked and destroyed Fort Frederick, at the mouth of the Eiver St. John, and plundered the town of Lunenburg on the Atlantic coast. A considerable number of the American colonists had re- mained faithful to the mother country. Their condition, during and after the war, was one of extreme hardship. They were exposed to suspicion and insult, and sometimes to wanton outrage and spoliation. They were denounced by the local Assemblies as traitors. Many of them were men of wealth, education, talent, and professional ability. But they found their property confiscated, their families ostracized, and often their lives menaced. The fate of these patriotic men excited the sympathy of the mother countiy. The leaders of both political 286 BISTORT OF CANADA. parties spoke warmly on their behalf. Their zeal for the unity of the empire won for them the name of United Empire Loyal- ists, or, more briefly, U. E. Loyalists. The British Govern- ment made liberal provision for their domiciliation in the sea- board provinces and Canada. The close of the war was followed by an exodus of these faithful men and their families, who, from their loyalty to their King, and the institutions of their father- land, abandoned their homes and property, often large estates, to encounter the discomforts of new settlements, or the perils of the pathless wilderness,* These exiles for conscience' sake came chiefly from New England and the State of New York, but a considerable number came from the Middle and Southern States of the Union. Several thousand settled near Halifax, and on the Bay of Fundy. They were conveyed in transj^ort-ships, and billeted in churches and private houses till provision could be made for their settlement on grants of land. Many of them arrived in wretched plight, and had to be clothed and fed by public or private charity. A large number established themselves on the St. John Eiver, and founded the town of St. John, — long called Parrtown, from the name of the Governor of Nova Scotia. Numbers also settled in Prince Edward Island. What is now the province of Ontario, at the close of the Kevolutionary War was almost a wilderness. The entire Euro- pean population is said to have been less than two thousand souls. These dwelt chiefly in the vicinity of the fortified posts on the St. Lawrence, the Niagara, and the St. Clair rivers. The population of Lower Canada was, at this time, about one hundred and twenty thousand. It was proposed by the Home Government to create, as a refuge for the Loyalist refugees, a new colony to the west of the older settlements on the St. 1784. Lawrence, it being deemed best to keep the French and English populations separate. For this purpose, surveys were made along the upper portion of the river, around the * The British Parliament voted £3,300,000 for the indemnification and assist- ance of the patriotic Loyalists, of whom twenty-five thousand are estimated to have sought refuge in the British colonies. THE REVOLUTIONART WAR. 287 beautiful bay of Quinte,* on the northern shores of Lake Ontario, and on the Niagara and St. Clair rivers. To each United Empire Loyalist, was assigned a free grant of two hundred acres of land, as also to each child, even to those born after immigration, on their coming of age. The Government, moreover, assisted with food, clothing, and im- plements, those loyal exiles who had lost all on their expatria- tion. Each settler received an axe, hoe, and spade ; a plough, and one cow, were allotted to every two families, and a whip-saw and cross-cut saw to each group of four households. Sets of tools, portable corn-mills, with steel plates like coffee-mills, and other conveniences and necessaries of life were also dis- tributed among those pioneers of civilization in Upper Canada. Many disbanded soldiers and militia, and half-pay officers of English and German regiments, took up land ; and liberal land-grants were made to immigrants from Great Britain. These early settlers were for the most part poor, and for the first three years the Government granted rations of food to the loyal refugees and soldiers. During the year 1784, it is esti- mated that ten thousand persons were located in Upper Canada. In course of time not a few immigrants arrived from the United States. The wilderness soon began to give place to smiling farms, thriving settlements, and waving fields of grain, and zealous missionaries threaded the forest in order to administer to the scattered settlers the rites of religion. * In 1785, the settlement on the site of Fort Frontenac (Kingston) had already fifty houses, " some of them," vrrites the Kev. Dr. Smart, then the only clergy- man in Upper Canada, " very elegant." 288 HISTORY OF CANADA. CHAPTEE XXI. THE FOUNDING OF UPPER CANADA. Lord Dorchester (Sir Guy Carleton) Governor-General of British North Amer- ica, 1786 — The Constitutional Act divicles Canada and reconstructs its Con- stitution, 1792 — Early Legislation — Government of Upper Canada Organ- ized — First Parliament — Choice of a Capital — York (Toronto) Founded, 1795 — Major-General Hunter, Lieutenant-Governor, 1799 — Internal Develop- ment — Growth of Political Parties — Francis Gore, Lieutenant-Governor, 1806 — Judge Thorpe, a Popular Tribune — Social Organization — Education — Eeligion, etc. o N the recall of Governor Haldimand in 1785, Henry Ham- ilton, Esq., a retired .military officer, administered the HOPE GATE, QTra:BEC. government of Canada till the arrival in the following year of Sir Guy Carleton, now Lord Dorchester, who became Governor- General of British North America, and Commander-in-Chief of FOUNDING OF UrPER CANADA. 289 all His Majesty's forces therein. During this interval, ISIajor- General Plope had command of the King's troops, and his memory was perpetuated iu Hope Gate, of Quebec, shown in the engraving, which was erected under his authority. In 1788, Lord Dorchester, by proclamation, divided the new western colony that had been formed, into four districts ; namely, Lunenburg, extending from the Ottawa to the river Gananoque ; Mecklenburg, from the Gananoque to the Trent ; Nassau, from the Trent to Long Point on Lake Erie ; and Hesse, embracing the rest of Canada to the St. Clair. To each of these districts were appointed a judge and sheriff, who administered justice by means of Courts of Common Pleas. The Canadian colonists now demanded the same constitutional privileges as were enjoyed by the maritime jDrovinces. The Habeas Corpus and trial by jury in civil cases were secured to them by statute law. But they wished also an elective Legis- lative Assembly, instead of a crown-appointed Legislative Council, and a larger measure of constitutional liberty. In 1791, Lord Grenville, therefore, introduced into the House of Lords a Bill, known as the Constitutional Act, for the adjust- ment of Canadian affairs. It divided Canada into two prov- inces by a line drawn from Point-au-Baudet, on Lake St. Francis, to Point Fortune on the Ottawa, thence along the course of that river to its head-waters and the southern limit of the Hudson's Bay Territory. Under the new Constitution each province received a separate legislature, consisting of a Legislative Council, appointed by the crown ; a Legislative Assembly, elected by the people ; and a Governor, appointed by the crown, and responsible only to it. The Assembly was elected for four years, but might be sooner dissolved by the Governor for due cause. In it was vested the power of raising a revenue for roads, bridges, schools, and similar public services. A body, which at length became exceedingly obnoxious to public opinion, was the Executive Council. It consisted of salaried officials of the crown and judges, who were the confidential advisors of the Governor, although not accountable for their acts, either to 37 290 HISTORY OF CANADA. him or to the Legislative Assembly. They* frequently, or indeed generally, held seats in the Legislative Council, and often virtually controlled the legislation by their predominant, yet irresponsible influence. In Western or Upper Canada, British law, both civil and criminal, and freehold land tenure were introduced. In Eastern or Lower Canada, the scigneurial tenure and French law in civil cases were retained. An allotment of one-seventh of the crown lands was made in each province "for the support of a Protestant clergy" — a pro- vision which gave rise to much subsequent trouble and agita- tion. The Canada Bill was warmly discussed in the English House of Commons. Mr. Charles Fox opposed the principle of crown-appointed Councils as denying due political influence to the people, and urged the constitution of elective Councils. Burke, on the contrary, whom the excesses of the French Revolution had greatly alarmed, inveighed against the principle of popular liberty. Mr. Lymburner, a Quebec merchant, who represented the feelings of the British population, was heard at the bar of the House against the Bill, chiefly on commercial grounds. As Quebec and Montreal, the chief ports of entry, held the key of commerce, it was feared that unjustly discrim- inative duties would be imposed upon the trade of Upper Canada. The new Constitution was inaugurated in 1792. Its opera- tions soon justified the apprehensions of Fox. The Legis- lative, and especially the Executive Councils, composed as they were largely of salaried officials, judges, and dependents on the crown, and utterly in'esponsible to the people, became objects of popular jealousy. In Lower Canada, in the absence of Lord Dorchester, Colonel Alured Clarke was entrusted with the administration of gov- ernment. The elections took place in June, and, in some instances, were warmly contested. The Legislature met on the 17th of December, in the even then venerable city of Quebec. It was composed of a nominated Council of fifteen, and a Lower House of fifty members, elected for four years. Fifteen FOUNDING OF UPPER CANADA. 201 of the latter were of British, and the remainder of French origin. The chief justice of the province, the Hon. William Smith, was chosen Speaker of the Legislative Council ; and M. Panet, a distinguished advocate, who spoke no language l)ut his native French, was elected Speaker of the Assembly. It was decided, therefore, that the debates should be conducted, as they have been ever since in all legislatures in which Lower Canada was represented, in both English and French ; and the official documents were published in both languages. A jeal- ousy of race was fomented by the invectives of the rival news- papers of the French and English press. In Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, Esq., was appointed first Lieutenant-Governor. He was a landed gentleman, and had been a member of the English House of Commons. He held also the rank of Brigadier-General in the army, and had com- manded a royal regiment during the Revolutionary War. He had assisted in passing the Constitutional Act, and was anxious to see it successfully carried out.* His administration was honest, prudent, energetic, and public-spirited. The Govern- ment of Upper Canada was organized at Kingston in the month of July, 1792 ; when the members of the Executive and Legis- lative Councils were sworn in, and writs were issued for the election of the Legislative Assembly. f The seat of govern- ment was established at Newark, a village of about a hundred houses, at the mouth of the Niagara River. Here the first Parliament of Upper Canada assembled on the 17th of Septem- ber, 1792. The Assembly consisted of sixteen, and the Legis- lative Council of seven members, — plain, home-spun clad farmers or merchants, from the plough or store. The session lasted five weeks, in which time eight bills of great practical utility were passed. They provided for the introduction of the * He had also a pathetic personal interest in Canada, his father, Captain John Simcoe, commander of H. M. Ship " Pembroke," having been killed at the siege of Quebec in 1759. t The names of these first Conscript Fathers of Upper Canada were William Osgoode, James Baby, Alexander Grant, and Peter Russell, members of the Executive Council ; and, in addition to these, Robert Hamilton, Richard Cart- wright, and John Munro, members of the Legislative Council. 292 HISTORY OF CANADA. English civil law and trial by jury, for the easy recoveiy of small debts, and for the erection of jails and court-houses in each of the four districts into which the country was divided, — the Eastern or Johnstown District, the Middle or Kingston District, the Home or Niagara District, and the Western or Detroit District. The Newark " Gazette," the first Upper Canadian journal, recorded the Acts jDassed, the proclamations of the Governor, and a meagre amount of news from the outer world. When the seat of government was first removed to Niagara, the fort on the eastern side of the river was occupied by Brit- ish troops. But on the withdrawal of the garrison, and the surrender of the fort to the Americans, Governor Simcoe, deeming Newark too near the frontier, looked for a more eligible site. " The chief town of a province," he said, " must not be placed under the guns of an enemy's fort." He pro- posed to found a new London, in the heart of the Western District, secure from invasion, on the banks of the winding Thames. Lord Dorchester favoured the claims of Kingston, which he made the principal naval and military station of the province. As a compromise, York, as it was named, on the site of an old French fort, was selected, chiefly on account of its excellent harbour, although the laud was low and swampy. The growth and prosperity of the fair city of Toronto vindi- cate the wisdom of the choice. Parliament continued to sit at Newark till 1797. The prin- cipal Acts provided for civil and municipal administration, for the construction of roads, fixing of duties, millers' tolls, and the like. Eewards of twenty and ten shillings, respectively, were offered for wolves' and bears' heads, which fact is suggest- ive of the forest perils of the times. The payment of members of Parliament was fixed at ten shillings per day. The intro- duction of slaves was forbidden, and their term of servitude limited, ten years before similar legislation in Lower Canada. Governor Simcoe removed to York in 1795, before a house was built, lodging temporarily in a canvas tent or pavilion,* * Originally constructed for Captain Cook. FOUNDING OF UPPER CANADA. 293 pitched on the plateau overlooking the western end of the bay. In 1797, the provincial legislature was opened in a wooden building, near the river Don, whose site is commemorated by the name of Parliament Street ; but the founder of Toronto had previously been transferred to the government of San Domingo. He had projected a vigorous policy for the encour- agement of agriculture, fisheries, and internal development. He employed the Queen's Rangers to construct a main road, Yonge Street, toward the lake that bears his name, and pro- posed to open direct communication between Lake Huron and Lake Ontario, and also with the Ottawa. On his removal, most of these wise schemes fell through. Land desimed for settlement was seized by speculators, especially in the vicinity of Toronto, and the general development of the country was greatly retarded. Mr. Peter Russell, the senior member of the Executive Council, administered the government till the arrival of 1799. jMajor-General Hunter, who held office for the ensuing six years. The progress of the country in trade, population, and the development of its resources, was rapid. The tide of immi- gration steadily increased. The L-ish troubles of " '98," especially, led many hardy settlers to seek new homes in the virgin wilds of Canada. The obstructions of the St. Lawrence made communication with Montreal and Quebec more difficult than with Albany and New York. A brisk lake trade therefore sprang up, and additional ports of entry were established, which fostered the prosperity of the growing settlements of Cornwall, Brockville, Kingston, York, Niagara, Amherstburg, and other frontier villages. The legislature also encouraged by a money grant the gro\vth of hemp, with a view to make England independent of Russia for cordage. In 1803, Colonel Talbot, an eccentric British officer, received a grant of five thousand acres of land on Lake Erie, on condition of placing a settler on every two hundred acres. For many years he kept a sort of feudal state in his forest community. As the province increased in wealth and population, the evils of a practically in-esponsible government began to be felt. The Executive 294 BISTORT OF CANADA. Council, composed of the Governor and five of his nominees, removable at his pleasure, gradually absorbed the whole administrative influence of the colony. The official " Gazette," the only representative of the public press, was in the hands of the Government, as was also the whole of the revenue of the province. The Legislative Assembly, therefore, could exercise no check by annual votes of supply. Many poor gentlemen, half-pay officers, and others of similar character from the mother country, sought to better their fortunes in the new colony. By birth and training they were unfitted to cope with the hardships of backwoods life. They therefore disposed of their land grants for whatever they would bring, and became clamorous petitioners for employment under the Government. They soon engrossed almost entirely the departmental offices, for which, by education and previous position, they were especially adaj)ted, or became hangers-on and zealous support- ers of the party in power ; while they looked down with a sort of aristocratic exclusiveness on the uncultivated, and perhaps sometimes uncouth, hard-working yeomanry of the country. Others, with a wiser policy, adapted themselves to their altered circumstances, and to the condition of the province. While learning to swing the axe and hold the plough, they preserved, amid the rudest surroundings, the tastes and instincts of gentlemen. They became, from their education and cul- tivated manners, centres of influence and leaders of opinion in the rural communities in which they lived, which tacitly con- ceded a superiority which they never would have yielded had it been directly asserted. The sturdy yeomanry not unnaturally regarded with jealousy and aversion the former of these classes, and allied themselves with the latter as their legitimate leaders and friends. Thus early in the century the origin of parties may be traced in Upper Canada — on the one hand, the zealous supporters of an irresponsible executive ; on the other, the advocates of a larger measure of constitutional liberty. The easy-going Governor was dependent for information on his Executive Council, and naturally followed their advice. They as naturally fiivoured FOUNDING OF UPPER CANADA. 295 their friends in the distribution of pcatronage and bestowment of office. Over sixty tliousand pounds was annually expended in presents for the Indian tribes, and complaints of corruption m the disbursement of these, and of the supplies for the loyalist refugees and immigrants, soon began to be heard. The gi-anting of land patents to non-residents, for the purpose of speculation was an evil which greatly retarded the progress of the country, and led to much agitation and dissatisfaction in after times. Even the administration of justice did not always command popular confidence. The judges were not appointed for life, but at the pleasure of the crown, and were sometimes thought to be the instruments of the appointing power. The magis- trates were, for the most part, engaged in trade, and not unfrequently were accused of using their official influence in the practice of extortion and promotion of their private interests. For an illegal decision, an action was brought agamst a justice of the peace, and he was condemned to pay a fine of one hundred pounds. On an appeal to the Court of King's Bench, an attempt was made to set this verdict aside, and the clerk of the court, on the warrant of the crown lawyer, refused to issue the execution. These derelictions of justice, and other causes of irritation, tended to embitter public feeling, and led to strenuous controversies with the dominant party in the province. Mr. Hunter was succeeded as Governor by Francis Gore, Esq. His personable character was estimable, and his isoe. purposes honest ; but arbitrary power is a dangerous prerogative for any man to possess. In his ignorance of the country, he depended on his Council, like his predecessor, for information and advice. These gentlemen, not unnaturally, desired to maintain the privileges of their order and of their friends. The complaints of the people found expression in memorials from the grand juries to Mr. Thorpe, an upright and honoured judge of the King's Bench, to be by him laid before the Governor, Judge Thorpe came to be regarded as the champion of the people, and, notwithstanding the utmost opposition of the 296 HISTORY OF CANADA. Government, was elected to the legislature, although he did not solicit a single vote. The official "Gazette" violently assailed his character. An opposition journal, the "Upper Canada Guardian," was established, and a party warflire was vigorously persecuted. The Government succeeded in procur- ing the recall of Judge Thorpe to Great Britain, where he sued Mr. Gore for libel, and obtained a verdict. Mr. Willcocks, the editor of the " Guardian," and, for a time, leader of the opposition in the Legislative Assembly, lost his office of sheriff on account of his political independence, and was subsequently imprisoned in the log jail of York for breach of privilege in his trenchant criticism on public affairs.* In 1811, Mr. Gore returned to England, leaving the temporary administration of government in the hands of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, commander-in-chief of His Majesty's forces in Upper Canada. Meanwhile the country had steadily prospered, undisturbed in its forest isolation by the great European war, which was deluging with blood a hundred battlefields and desolating thou- sands of homes. By the year 1809, the population had in- creased to about seventy thousand. Taxes were exceedingly light. The customs revenue, derived principally from the imports of groceries — for the clothing was chiefly homespun — amounted to £7,000. The chief commercial want was a paper currency and banking facilities. The lack of money led to a system of barter between merchant and consumer, which often inextricably involved the latter in debt. Popular education was at a low ebb, although a grammar school had been established in each of the eight districts into which the province was now divided. From the almost untaxed importation of liquors — the duty on spirits was only sixpence per gallon, that on wines nincpence — intemperance, with its attendant evils, was the prevailing vice. The people lived in rude abundance, the virgin soil brought forth plentifully, deer roamed in the forest, wild fowl swarmed * In the Tvar of 1813-15, Willcocks at first fought loyally for his country, hut afterwards deserted to the Americans, and was killed at the siege of Fort FOUNDING OF UPPER CANADA. 297 in marsh and mere, and the lakes and rivers teemed with the finest fish. Homespun, and often home-woven, frieze or flannel fm'nishcd warm and serviceable clothing. The houses, chiefly of logs, rough or squared with the axe, though rude, were not devoid of homely comfort. The furni- ture, except in towns and villages, w\as mostly home-made. Open fireplaces and out-of-door ovens were the popular sub- stitutes for stoves. Oxen were largely employed in tilling the soil, and dragging the rude w\agons over rough roads. The fields were studded with blackened stumps, and the girdling forest ever bounded the horizon or swept around the scanty clearing. The gi-ain was reaped with the sickle or scythe, threshed with the flail, and winnowed by the wind. Grist-mills being almost unknown, it was generally ground in the steel hand-mills furnished by the Government, or pounded in a large mortar, hollowed out of a hardwood stump, by means of a wooden pestle attached to a spring beam. The roads were often only blazed paths through the forest, supported on transverse corduroy logs where they passed through a swamp or marsh. The " Governor's Road," as it was called, traversed the length of the province, along the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, and westward to Amherstburg. Yonge Street extended from York to the Holland Eiver. Much of the early legislation had reference to the construction of roads and bridges, chiefly by statute labour. By the liberal and paternal policy of the Government toward the Lidian tribes, the colonists, miliko the early French and American settlers, were relieved of all apprehensions of danger from the red man. The judges and crown lawyers made their circuits, when possible, in Government schooners,* and the assize furnished an opportunity of reviving for a time in the county towns the half-forgotten gaieties of fashionable society. In the aristocratic circles of York, a mimic representation of Old World court-life was observed, with only partial success. * lu 1801, the "Speedy," a ten-gun vessel, having as passengers Judge Gray and several members of the Court of King's Bench, was lost, with all on board, on her way from York to Kingston. 38 298 BISTORT OF CANADA. Before the War of 1812, there were only four clergymen of the Church of England in Upper Canada. The oldest church in the province was at the Indian settle- ment near Brantford. Its history can be traced back to 1784. It is still occu- pied for public worship. It possesses a handsome communion service of beaten silver, presented by Queen Anne to the Indian chapel on the Mohawk River. Be- neath the walls of this humble sanctuary repose the ashes of the Mohawk chief, Thayendinaga, — Joseph Brant — who gal- lantly fought for the British through two bloody wars. At the close of the Eevolu- tionary War, the loyal Mohawk tribes migrated to the Indian reserve on the Grand Eiver. A few Methodist and Presbyterian ministers toiled through the wilderness to visit the scattered flocks committed to their care. Amid these not altogether propitious circumstances were nourished that patriotic and sturdy yeomanry that did doughty battle for Britain in the ai^proaching war, and many of those noble characters that illustrated the future annals of their country ; and then were laid the foundations of that goodly civilization amid which we live to-day. THE WAR OF 1812 -U. 299 CHAPTER XXn. LOWER CANADA — OXJTBEEAK OF THE WAR OF 1812-14. Inauguration of the New Coiistitutiou in Lower Canada, 1792 — McLgan's Attempt on Quebec — Hia Execution, 1797 — Sir James Craig's Stormy Ad- miuistratiou, 1808-11 — Constitutional Crisis — Suppression of " Le Cana- dien" — Sir Georgo Prevost, Governor-General — Causes of tbe War of 1812-14 — The " Berlin Decree " and " Orders in Council " — The " Right of Search" — Sea-Fight between the " Chesapeake 'i and "Leopard" — Henry's " Secret Correspondence " published — War Declared, June 18, 1812 — Repub- lican Anti-War Protest — Position of Combatants — Canadian Loyalty — Hull's Surrender — Battle of Queenston Heights — Death of Brock, October 13, 1812 — Obsequies of Brock and McDonnell — Their Monument — Smyth's Gasconade — His Fiasco at Navy Island, November 18, 1812 — Dearborn's Invasion — Repulsed at Lacolle, November 20, 1812 — Naval Engagements — The "Constitution" and " Gaerri^re," etc. IN 1797, Lord Dorchester, after twenty years' paternal over- si£?ht of Canada, resiorned his office of Governor-General, PRESCOTT GATE, QUEBEC. seeking in private life the repose which his advanced age — he was now seventy-two — demanded, and which his protracted and 300 BISTORT OF CANADA. valuable services had faithfully earned.* Ou his departure, the gratitude of the Canadian people found expression in numerous addresses of affectionate regard. Lord Dorchester was succeeded as Governor-General by Major-General Prescott, an accomplished soldier, of much urbanity of manner, and, though firm in the discliarge of duty, of kindly disposition. He greatly strengthened the defences of Quebec, and constructed the gateway between the Upper and Lower Town, shown in tlie engraving, and known by his name. The most striking event during his administration, was the daring attempt, in the year 1797, of a bankrupt American, named 'McLean, to capture Quebec, by tampering with certain of its inhabitants. His designs were detected, and he was hanged for high treason, and then beheaded with a display of barbarism characteristic of the political executions of a bygone age. The commerce of the country continued rapidly to develop; the revenue increasing from £5,000 in 1793 to £34,000 in 1805. A few negro slaves, a heritage from the French regime, still remained in a state of servitude under their old masters. In 1803, by a decision of Chief Justice Osgoode of Montreal, slavery was declared illegal, and the slaves were at once thereby emancipated.! Canada thenceforth became a place of refuge for the fugitives from the cruel bondage of the Southern States of the neighbouring republic. In 1808, Sir James Craig, a veteran military officer, was appointed Governor-General, in anticipation of war with the United States. His administration was characterized by con- tinual struggles between the irresponsible executive and the elective Assembly, which was regarded as the safeguard of popular liberty. The Assembly took strong ground against the election of judges as members of parliament, and asserted its right of control of the financial expenditure. The Council vetoed its * He lived on to the ripo old age of eighty-three, and died in the year 1808. + In 1784, there were only three hundred and four in the jirovince. At the time of emancipation the number was probably much less. THE WAR OF 1812-14. 301 acts, and the Governor dissolved the House, 1809. The new parliament proved still more refractory, and was, in turn, peremptorily dissolved, 1810. The country was thrown into a ferment. The British population generally sided with the Governor and Council, the French with the refractory Assem- bly. During the election which followed, six members of the late Opposition were thrown into prison for alleged treasonable practices, as was also the printer of the "Canadien" news- paper, the Opposition organ, the press and type of which were seized by the Government. The people cried out against this despotic exercise of authority, and declared that they were living under a " Reign of Terror." The threatened dead-lock, however, was averted by a little mutual concession. The imprisoned members were released, and the Judges' Disquali- fication Bill passed the legislature, and received the Governor's assent. Sir James Craig, greatly broken in health, now returned to England, and was succeeded in office by Sir George Prevost, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, 1811.* "VYe proceed now to trace the causes which led to the Anglo- American war of 1812-14. For sometime previous to the open rupture of 1812, public feeling in the United States had become increasingly hostile to Great Britain. The "Berlin Decree" of Napoleon, issued November 1, 1806, declared a blockade of the entire British coast, and let loose French privateers against her shipping, and that of neutral nations trading with her. Great Britain retaliated by the celebrated " Orders in Council," which isor. declared all traffic with France contraband, and the vessels prosecuting it, with their cargoes, liable to seizure. These restrictions pressed heavily on neutrals, especially on the United States, which now engrossed much of the carrying trade of the world. The Democratic majority in the Union, there- fore, bitterly resented the British "Orders," although com- * In 1809, the Hon. John Molson of Montreal, launched the first steamboat on the St. Lawrence. It made the trip to Quebec in thirty-six hours. Four years previously, Fulton navigated the Hudson Eiver in the first steamboat known. 302 HISTORY OF CANADA.' placently overlooking the « ' Berlin Decree " by which they were provoked, and which was equally hostile to American com- merce. President Jefferson now laid an embargo on all ship- ping, domestic or foreign, in the harbours of the United 1808. States. For this Congress, the following year, substi- tuted a Non-Intercourse Act, prohibiting all commerce with either belligerent till the obnoxious "Decree" or "Orders" were repealed. Severe injury was thus inflicted on both Great Britain and America, which tended to their mutual exasperation. Another cause conspired to fan the war feeling to a flame. Great Britain, pressed by the difficulty of manning her immense fleets, asserted the "right of search" of American vessels for deserters from her navy. The United States frigate ' ' Chesa- peake " resisted this right, sanctioned by international law, but was compelled by a broadside from H. M. Ship "Leopard" (June, 1807) to submit, and to deliver up four deserters found among her crew. The British Government disavowed the violence of this act and offered reparation. But the Democratic party was clamorous for war, and eager to seduce from their allegiance and annex to the United States the provinces of British North America. The world was to witness the strange spectacle of the young Republic of the "West leagued with the arch-despot Napoleon, against almost the sole champion of constitutional liberty in Europe.* Public resentment in the United States was still further exasperated by the pul)lication of the secret correspondence of a Captain Henry, a renegade adventurer, sent by Sir James Craig, Governor-General of Canada, in 1809, to ascertain the state of feeling in New England toward Great Britain. He reported a disposition to secede from the Union, and sub- sequently offered his correspondence to the American Govern- ment, demanding therefor the exorbitant sum of $50,000, which * In May, 1811, a collision occurred bet-ween the British and American war Tessels — " Little Belt," 18 guns, and " President," 44 guns — resulting in the defeat of the former with the loss of eleven men ; hut both nationa disavowed hostile intent. THE WAR OF 1812-14. 303 ho received from the secret service fund. His information was unauthentic and unimportant, and the British Government repudiated his agency, but the war party in the Congress was implacable. War was precipitately declared June 18, 1812, in the hope of intercepting the West Indian fleet, and of over- running Canada before it could be aided hj Great Britain. Almost simultaneously, the obnoxious " Orders in Council," the chief ostensible cause of the war, were repealed, but the news produced no change in American policy. The Republican party of the United States, however, which was predominant in its northern section, and comprised the more moderate and intelligent part of the nation, was strenu- ously opposed to the action of Congress. A convention was held at Albany, protesting against the war and against an alliance with Napoleon, " every action of whose life demon- strated a thirst for universal empire and for the extinction of human freedom." At Boston, on the declaration of hostilities, the flags of the shipping were placed at half-mast as a sign of mourning, and a public meeting denounced the war as ruinous and unjust. The position of the parties to this contest was very unequal. Great Britain was exhausted by a war by sea and land of nearly twenty years' duration. Canada was unprepared for the conflict. She had less than six thousand troops* to defend fifteen hundred miles of frontier. Her entire population was under three hundred thousand, while that of the United States was eight millions, or in the proportion of twenty-seven to one. The Americans relied on the reported disafiection of the provinces with British rule. In this they were egregiously mistaken. Forgetting their political difierences, the Canadians rallied with a spontaneous outburst of loyalty to the support of the Government. Even the American immigrants, with scarce an exception, proved faithful to their adopted country. The legislature of Lower Canada voted the issue of army bills to * The entire number waa 3,783 infantry of the line, 1,226 fencibles, and 445 artillery — 5,454 of all arma. There were also one or two armed briga, and a few gunboats on the lakes. 304 HISTORY OF CANADA. the amount of £250,000, and, together with the Upper Canadian parhament, took vigorous measures for the organization and drill of the militia, and placed them at the disposal of the military authorities. The employment of Indians on both sides seems to have been an unfortunate necessity. They could not be induced to remain neutral when war was raging, and their savage instincts often led to acts of cruelty of which the principals in the conflict bore the blame. On the declaration of war, Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, a gallant officer and skilful civil ruler, who, in the absence of Mr. Gore, administered the Government of Upper Canada, resolved to strike the first blow. He ordered an attack on Fort Michilli- mackinac, an important post, defended by seventy-five men, which commanded the entrance to Lake Michigan. It was surprised by Captain Roberts, with a force of forty-five regulars from the British post of St. Joseph, on Lake Huron, and a large number of voyageurs and Indians, and taken without the loss of a man (July 17). Thus was a valuable strategic position secured, and the northwest Indians were confirmed in their allegiance to the British. The American plan of attack was to invade Canada with three armies, on the Detroit and Niagara frontiers, and by way of Lake Champlain. General Hull, on the 12th of July, crossed the Detroit River at Sandwich, with twenty-five hundred men. In a pompous proclamation, he summoned the Canadians to surrender, ofiering them the alternatives of "peace, liberty, and security," or "war, slavery, and destruction." They spurned his ofiers and defied his threats. Brock issued a counter-proclamation at Fort George, Niagara, and despatched Colonel Proctor with a small body of troops to re-enforce the garrison of three hundred men that occupied the dilapidated Fort Maiden, at Amherstburg. In attempting an attack upon the fort, Hull's forces received a severe repulse from a handful of British troops and Indians jDOsted at the River Canard, about three miles from Amherstburg. At the mouth of this little river, the " Queen Charlotte," sloop-of-war, armed with eighteen twenty-four pounders, closely watched the enemy. THE ]VAR OF 1812-14. 305 The British settlers and the Indians came flocking to the British standard, the latter especially being a cansc of extreme terror to Hull. Colonel Proctor now pushed a force across the Detroit Eiver, routed a number of the enemy, captured a convoy of pro- visions and General Hull's despatches, and cut off his communi- cation with Ohio. Hull was completely baffled. He had met only sturdy opposition instead of co-operation from the Canadians. His forces were weakened by disease, encumbered by the sick, and almost mutinous through discontent. He therefore recrossed the river to Detroit, leaving only two hundred and fifty men in a small fort at Sandwich, who were, however, soon afterward withdrawn. Meanwhile, General Brock hastened to the St. Clair by way of Niagara and Lake Erie, with all the forces he could collect on the route. A council of war was held. Tecumseh, the cele- brated Indian chief, who, with his warriors, had excited great terror in the minds of the Americans, was j^resent, at the request of Brock, who recognized his remarkable military abilities. Tecumseh, sketched on a piece of birch-bark, a rough plan of Detroit, and of Hull's defences. The British commander, although his entire force amounted to only seven hundred regulars and militia, and six hundred Indians, resolved to attack the enemy, numbering twice as many, and entrenched behind earthworks. Brock, therefore, sent a summons to Hull to surrender, and, knowing his intense dread of the Indians, intimated that, in case of assault, the latter might be beyond control. Compliance with the summons being refused, a can- nonade was opened on Detroit from a battery on the Cana- dian shore, and under cover of the armed vessels, " Queen Charlotte " and " Hunter," the British force crossed the river. Forming his little army in columns, flanked by Indians, Brock advanced to the assault. Before he reached the fort, however, a flag of truce was displayed. A capitulation was soon signed which surrendered Hull's entire force of twenty- five hundred men, thirty-three cannon, vast military stores, an armed brig, a strong fort, and the whole State of Michigan, 306 HISTORY OF CANADA. August 16. This surrender was a cause of intense chagrin to the Americans, and of patriotic exultation to the Canadians, who had tlius turned a hostile invasion into a glorious victory. The unfortunate Hull, with his officers and soldiers, a thousand in number, were sent prisoners to Montreal and Quebec. He was released on parole, and was subsequently tried by United States court-martial for treason, cowardice, and unsoldier-like conduct. On the last charge he was found guilty, and sen- tenced to death ; but was reprieved on account of his services during the Eevolutionary War. Brock now repaired to the Niagara frontier which was threatened by an invasion of the enemy. The people of Canada were proud of the young hero, who, in ten days, had marched three hundred miles through a difficult country, com- pelled the surrender of an entrenched army twice as great as his own, and of a country as large as the province of which he was the Governor. The achievement of Detroit also won generous recognition from the Imperial authorities, and honours and decorations were conferred upon him. But before the intelli- gence of his new dignities could be received, his heroic spirit had passed away from earth. For the defence of the menaced Niagara frontier. Brock had only some fifteen hundred men, of whom at least one-half were militia-men and Indians. On the American side of the river. General Van Eensselaer had assembled a force of six thousand men for the invasion of Canada. To the south of Lake Ontario, a bold es- carpment of rock, an old lake margin, runs across the country from west to east. Throuo^h this the Niao;ara River, in the course of ages, has worn a deep and NIAGARA FRONTIER. gloQ^iy gQj.gQ^ ^t the foot of thc cliff nestled on the west side the hamlet of Queenston, and on the east the American village of Lewiston. Here, early on the cold and stormy morning of October the thirteenth. Van Eens- selaer crossed with twelve hundred men, under cover of an THE WAR OF 1812 - 14. 307 American battery. They were held in check for a time by two companies of the Forty-ninth Regiment, and a hundred mili- tia, under Captain Dennis, and by the fire of two small cannon. A part of the invading army having climbed the precipitous river-bank by a j^ath thought to be impassable, outflanked the British force, and gained a lodgement on the table-land at the top of the hill. General Brock, hearing the cannonade at Niagara, seven miles distant, galloped off in the gray of the morning, with his aides-de-camp. Major Glegg and Colonel Macdonell, to ascertain if it were a feint or an attack in force. Half-way up the heights was a battery manned by twelve men. This the Americans had captured, and on it had raised the stars and stripes. Having despatched a messenger to Major-General Sheaffe, at Fort George, to send up reinforcements, and to open fire on Fort Niagara, General Brock determined to recapture the battery. Placing himself at the head of a company of the Forty-ninth, he charged up the hill under a heavy fire. The enemy gave way, and Brock, by the tones of his voice and his reckless exposure of his person, inspirited the pursuit of his followers. His tall figure, and conspicuous valour, attracted the fire of the American sharpshooters, and he fell pierced through the breast by a mortal bullet. *' Don't mind mo ! " he exclaimed, "push on the York volunteers;" and, with his ebbing life, sending a love-message to his sister in the far-off Isle of Guernsey, the brave soul passed away. His aide-de- camp. Colonel Macdonell, the Attorney-General of Upper Canada, a promising young man of twenty-five, was mortally wounded soon after his chief, and died next day. Major-General Sheaffe, an officer of American birth, now succeeded Brock in command. He mustered, with re-enforce- ments from Niagara and Queenston, about nine hundred men (of whom half were militia and Indians. ) By a flank movement by way of St. David's, he gained the height, and, after a sharp action, completely routed the enemy. The York volunteers stood fire like veteran soldiers, and the Forty-ninth fought like tigers to avenge the death of their beloved commander. At 308 EISTOHrY OF CANADA. length, after an engagement which had lasted, with sever:;! interruptions, for more than seven hours, the Americans every- where gave way. Pursued by j^elling Indians, some, clam- bering down the rugged slope, were impaled on the jagged pines ; others, attempting to swim the rapid river, were drowned. Nine hundred and fifty men surrendered to Sheaife, — a force greater than his own. A hundred were slain, and many were wounded. Among the prisoners was Colonel Scott, afterwards General Scott, the hero of Mexico and Commander- in-Chief of the United States armies. The victory of Queenston Heights, glorious as it was, was dearly bought with the death, at the early age of forty-three, of the hero of Upper Canada, the loved and honoured Brock, and of the brave young Macdonell. Amid the tears of war- bronzed soldiers, and even of stoical Indians, they were laid in one common grave at Fort George ; while the half-mast flags and minute-guns of the British and American forts testified the honour and esteem in which they w^ere held by friends and foes alike. A grateful country has erected on the scene of the victory, — one of the gi-andest sites on earth, — a noble monu- ment * to Brock's memory ; and beneath it, side by side, sleeps the dust of the heroic chief and his faithful aide-de-camp, — united in their death, and not severed in their burial. A month's armistice was granted, during which the Ameri- cans strengthened their position, and collected on the Niagara frontier, between the Falls and Lake Erie, an *:ed share in the destruction of the " Caroline " during: the rebellion. The Home Government determined to protect his rights as a British subject, and demanded his surrender. It was refused, and the difficulty threatened for a time to embroil the two countries in war. He was, however, acquitted, although by a court which had no jurisdiction, and, with his release, the warlike excitement immediately subsided. 396 HISTORY OF CANADA, CHAPTER XXXI. RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. Inauguration of New Constitution — Kingston 'becomes the Seat of Govern- ment, 1841 — "Double Majority" — Municipal System — Organisation of Public Works — Death of Lord Sydenham — Sir Charles Bagot, Governor- General, 1842 — The Baldwin-Hincks Administration — Death of Sir Charles Bagot — Sir Charles Metcalfe, Governor-General, 1843 — Constitutional Strug- gle — Resignation of Baldwin-Hincka Government and Formation of the Draper Ministry — Montreal becomes the Seat of Government, 1844 — Death of Lord Metcalfe — Earl of Cathcart, Administrator of Government, 1845 — Rebellion Losses Agitation in Upper and Lower Canada, 1846. "TTT" ITH the formal proclamation of the union of the two V V provinces, February 10, 1841, the administration of the government of Upper Canada by Sir George Arthur ter- minated, and Lord Sydenham assumed the vice-royalty of the united provinces. A new Executive Council was appointed,* and a new parliament was summoned. The elections were attended with considerable excitement, which was all the greater on account of the imperfect facilities for recording the votes. The polling places were few, and the crowding and obstruction by the more turbulent members of the opposite political parties seriously interfered with the free exercise of the franchise. When the legislature assembled in the city of IGngston, which had been selected as the new seat of government, it was found that parties were very evenly balanced. The Eeformers, however, were able to elect as Speaker, M. Ciivillier, a Lower- Canadian member of their party. The French members, num- bering twenty-four in all, held the balance of power, and were able for a long series of years, by their compact vote, to turn the scale in favour of whichever party could best promote French interests. * It was composed of Messrs. SuUivan (President), Dunn, Daly, Harrison, Killaly, Ogden, Draper, Baldwin, and Day, who all held public offices apart from their position as councillors. RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 397 It was to counteract this dominant influence that the principle of '* double majority" as it was called, was introduced. This m required not merely a majority of the whole House for the sup- port of the Government, but also a majority of the representa- 898 HISTORY OF CANADA. tivcs of each j^rovince separately. The application of this principle, while often a safeguard against sectional domination, frequently led to sectional jealousy, and sometimes to the retarding of needful legislation. The consummation of the union did not, however introduce a political millennium nor jDut an end to party strife. The irri- tation produced by recent conflicts attending the constitutional crisis through which the country had passed, still lingered in many minds. It required all the tact and sagacity of Lord Sydenham to reconcile party difierences and to prevent friction in the operation of the new machinery of government. Mr. Baldwin found himself unable to co-operate with some of the members of the new Council. He therefore resigned ofllce, which, indeed, he had only accepted provisionally, and had held for a time from an unwillingness to create embarrassment to the Governor by any premature action. The new parliament gave effect to several important meas- ures. The Welland Canal, which had been carried on as a private joint-stock enterprise, was formally assumed by the Government. The municipal system was organized in general accordance with its present excellent constitution. The Muni- cipal Act* provided that from the 1st of January, 1842, muni- cipal authorities should be established in the several districts of Upper Canada, and should be "capable in law of pur- chasing and holding lands, and of making such contracts and agreements as may be necessary for the exercise of their cor- porate functions." The administration of local affairs was thus transferred from the Quarter Sessions to town and county councils, elected by popular vote. The people obtained the direct control of the local assessment and expenditure for the construction of roads and bridges, erection of jails and court-houses, and the like — * Cited as 4 and 5 Victoria, Cap. x. Amended and consolidated by 12 Vic- toria, Cap. 81. By the Municipal Loan Fund Act of 1852, to be hereafter referred to, the facilities for raising moneys for local improvements, railway and other purposes, were still further increased. RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 399 as effectual a guarantee as can be found of economy and effi- ciency of municipal administration. The establishment of municipal institutions had been recommended in Lord Dur- ham's Keport, but had not been included in the constitution adopted at the union. The question was taken up and carried through in the first parliament after that event. The extreme Conservatives regarded the bill as tending too much to democ- racy. The extreme Reformers demanded still further conces- sions to popular influence. By the votes of moderate men of both sides, however, this admirable piece of legislation, which has contributed greatly to the prosperity of the country, was carried into efiect. The public works of the united provinces were also placed under the administration of a government department, at whose head was a responsible minister of the crown. The extensive works in progress were stimulated to completion by a loan of £1,500,000, guaranteed by the Impe- rial Govermnent. Provision was also made by this parliament for postal, customs, fiscal, and educational progress and reform. Lord Sydenham exhibited his political wisdom by endeavouring, although not always with success, to remove the traces of the recent dissensions. The old members of the Legislative Coun- cil did not readily blend with those who had been newly appointed : some delayed to be sworn in, and some declined to sit at all. But this distinguished benefactor of Canada was not permitted to witness the full result of his labours, nor the triumph of that system of responsible government which he had assisted in introducing. While out riding, the fall of his horse fractured his leg. His constitution, never robust, and now undermined by his zeal in the discharge of public duty, was unable to with- stand the shock. After lingering in great pain a few days, he sank beneath his injuries, September 19, 1841, in the forty- second year of his age. He was buried, by his own request, in the land to whose welfare he devoted the last energies of his life. No columned monument perpetuates his memory ; but the constitutional privileges which we to-day enjoy, and the peace and prosperity which resulted from the union of the 400 BISTORT OF CANADA. Canadas, which he laboured so strenuously to bring about, con- stitute an imperishable claim upon our esteem and gratitude. By the dying request of Lord Sydenham, Major-General Clitheroe prorogued the parliament, and Sir Richard Jackson, the commander of Her Majesty's forces, administered the gov- ernment till the appointment of his successor. The Conserva- tive ministry of Sir Robert Peel had succeeded the Melbourne administration. The new Governor-General, Sir Charles Bagot, who arrived January 10, 1842, represented the opposite school of politics to that of his predecessor. The opponents of the new constitution anticipated a probable return to the old regime of irresponsible government. Lord Stanley, the new colonial minister, however, followed up the policy inaugurated by Lord John Russell ; and Sir Charles Bagot impartially carried out his instructions. He recognised the important constitutional principle that the parliamentary f^ ' " "W\^ majority should control the ad- ministration. In accordance with this theory, certain changes of ministry took place. Mr. Baldwin received the Attorney-Generalship for Canada "West, in place of Mr. Draper, resigned. Mr. Sherwood gave place to Mr. Small, as Solicitor- General. Mr. Lafontaine * became SIR L. H. LAFONTAINE. Attomey-Gcneral for Canada East ; and Mr. Morin, Commissioner of Crown Lands. Mr. Hincks * Louis Hjrpolite Lafontaine was bom at Boucherville, in LoTver Canada, in the year 1807. His grandfather was a member of parliament in that province from. 1796 to 1804. The grandson early achieved distinction at the bar. In politics he was first the follower and then the rival of Papineau. Durmg the troubles of 1837 they both fled from warrants of high treason. M. Lafontaine Boon returned, as he had committed no overt act beyond writing an ironical letter which had been interpreted literally. He soon became a leader of the Eeform Party in Lower Canada, and, as we shall see, played a prominent part in political life. In 1853 he was elevated to the Chief Justiceship of the Court of Queen's Bench in Lower Canada; and the following year was created, for public services, a baronet of the United Kuigdom. RESPOXSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 401 had previously joined the Government, as Inspector-General of Public Accounts. The new ministers adopted the wholesome English precedent of returning to their constituencies for re- election on the assumption of office. In a House of eighty- four members they commanded a majority of thirty-six. Mr. Ilincks, the Inspector-Gen- eral, was a man of distinguished ability and energy. His father was a minister of the Irish Presby- terian Church, of great worth and learning. An elder brother for many years ably occupied a profes- sorial chair in the University of Cork, and subsequently in the To- ronto University. Francis Hincks, the youngest son, was educated to mercantile life. He came to To- sir francis hincks. ronto in 1832, and became cashier of a new banking institu- tion. In 1835, his financial ability was recognized by his appoint- ment to investigate the affairs of the Welland Canal Company, which were involved in much confusion. In 1838, he estab- lished the " Examiner" newspaper, in the Eeform interest, and achieved marked success as a journalist. He was subsequently returned to parliament as a representative of the county of Oxford. On his acceptance of office, he was re-elected by a largely increased majority. He was destined, as we shall see, to play a prominent part in Canadian politics. The second session of the first union parliament lasted only six weeks, but it passed through their several stages no less than thirty Acts. Liberal votes of supply received the assent of the Assembly, which asserted the constitutional principle that a detailed account of their expenditure should be sub- mitted to parliament within fourteen days of the opening of the following session. Sir Charles Bagot, like his predecessor, was not long per- mitted to discharge his official duties, nor to return to his 51 402 BISTORT OF CANADA. native land. A serious illness compelled him to request his recall, but, before it was granted, he became unable to leave the country. He died at Kingston, greatly regretted, sixteen months after his arrival, May 19, 1843. Sir Charles Theophilus Metcalfe, the new Governor-General of Canada, had risen, by the sheer force of his energy and talent, from the position of a writer in the East India civil ser- vice to that of Acting Governor-General of India. This post he held for two years (1834-36), and, afterwards, for three 3'ears (1839-42), that of Governor of Jamaica. His adminis- trative experience in these countries, where the prerogatives of the crown were unquestioned, was no special qualification for the constitutional government of a free country like Canada. The right of jDatronage, and of appointment to office, lie con- ceived was vested in himself as representative of the crown, for the exercise of which he considered himself responsible only to the Imperial parliament. This principle was incompatible with the colonial theory of responsible government ; and the appointment of certain mem- bers of the Conservative party to official position, without the advice or consent of his ministers, was the ground of grave dissatisfaction. Messrs. Baldwin and Lafontaine protested against what they considered an unconstitutional proceeding. They were held responsible by the Assembly for the acts of the Government, and had entered the ministry with the resolve to hold office only while they could command a parliamentary majority. Sir Charles declined to degrade what he considered the prerogative of the crown, or to give up his right of patron- age. Messrs. Baldwin and Lafontaine thereupon resigned office. This constitutional struggle created great excitement throughout the country. Party lines were sharply defined, and Conservatives and Keformers were again placed in strong political antagonism. "VYitli a Reform majority in the Assembly, the Conservative leaders were unwilling to enter the Government. A provis- ional ministry, under the leadership of Mr. Draper, was, how- RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 403 ever, formed, which resolved to appeal to the country by a dissolution of the House, and a new election. The removal of the seat of Government to Montreal having been previously determined by a vote of the legislature, with the opening of navigation the transfer of the depart- i8«. mental offices and Governor's residence took place. In Novem- ber the new parliament assembled, and was found to contain a small Conservative majority. Sir Allan McNab, an acknowl- edged leader of the Conservative party, was chosen Speaker. Mr. Baldwin was the leader of a vigorous Reform Opposition, nearly as numerous as the supporters of the Government. For his distinguished services in the East and "West Indies, and in approval of his colonial policy, the Governor-General was raised .to the peerage, with the title of Baron Metcalfe. The Home Government, this year, proclaimed an amnesty to all the leaders in the late rebellion, except Mackenzie, who was not pardoned till 1850. The feeling of hostility towards them had, to a considerable degree, subsided. By not a few, indeed, they were regarded as martyrs to a popular cause, and some of them were returned as members of the new parlia- ment, which met for the first time in Montreal, on the 28th of November. Twice, with the interval of a month, in the following spring, the city of Quebec was ravaged by fire. Twenty-four 1845. thousand persons were rendered houseless, and several lives were lost. A spontaneous outburst of charity relieved the more pressing necessities of the suJfferers. Half a million of dollars was contributed by sympathizers in Great Britain, and nearly half as much in Canada and the United States. The American people promptly and generously sent a shipload of provisions and clothing to the foodless and shelterless multi- tude, — an act of international charity that should be remem- bered when the record of international strife and bloodshed shall be forgotten. The aggravation of a terrible malady, from which Lord Metcalfe had previously suifered, — a cancer in the face, — caused him to request his recall. He returned to England in 404 HISTORY OF CANADA. November, and shortly after his arrival died, greatly regretted. His munificent liberality, and many personal virtues, com- manded the respect even of those who condemned his political acts. The Earl of Cathcart, Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's forces in Canada, was appointed administrator of the govern- ment on the resignation of Lord Metcalfe. He observed a wise neutrality between the almost evenly balanced political parties. The discussion of the Eebellion Losses Bill began to profoundly agitate the country. The Draper ministry had recommended the indemnification of Upper-Canadian loyalists who had incurred losses during the recent political troubles. A special fund, arising from tavern and other licenses, was set apart for that purpose, to the amount of £40,000. The French-Cana- dian party sujjported the measure, on the understanding that similar provision should be made for the indemnity of the loyal population of Lower Canada. Six commissioners were appointed to investigate such losses, and report to the legisla- ture. They were instructed to " classify carefully the cases of those who may have joined in the said rebellion, or who may have been aiding or abetting therein, from the cases of those who did not." The commissioners being unauthorized to examine persons or papers, based their report solely uj)on the sentences of the courts of law. As the loyalty of all persons was assumed unless they had been legally convicted, the number of claimants reported to parliament was over two thousand, and the aggregate amount of the claims was £241,965. This sum was made up by claims to the amount of £30,000 for imprison- ment, banishment, interruption of business, loss of goods, account books, and the like; £2,000 for quartering troops; personal property, £111,127; real property, £69,961; and interest, £9,000. Many of these claims were deemed quite preposterous, and others as being greatly exaggerated. The commissioners, however, considered that £100,000 would meet the actual losses of loyal persons. The manifest difficulty of adjudicating these claims made the report a very unsatisfactory basis of legislation ; but the Draper RESPOXSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 405 ministry, dependent largely on French-Canadian support, intro- duced a bill empowering the issue of debentures to i846. the amount of £9,986, for the indemnification of loyal persons in Lower Canada. This measure proved satisfactory to neither party. The French-Canadians considered it so meagre as to be almost an insult ; and the Upper-Canadian loyalists deprecated the giving of any compensation to men whom they regarded as having been, almost without exception, rebels. 406 HISTORY OF CANADA. CHAPTER XXXn. EEBELLION LOSSES AGITATION. Lord Elgin, Governor-General, 1847 — Irish Famine and Vast Emigration to Canada — The Draper Administration Resigns, and is succeeded by the Bald- wiu-Lafontaine Ministry, 1848 — Lower Canadian Eebellion Losses Bill — Lord Elgin Assents to the Bill — He is Assailed by Violence, and the Parlia- ment Buildings Burned, July 26, 1849 — Tumultuary Demand for the Disal- lowance of the Bill — Rioting suppressed by the Military — The Seat of Gov- ernment transferred to Toronto and Quebec alternately — The Bill sustained by the Imperial Parliament. IN the year 1847, while the settlement of the rebellion losses was still pending, Lord Elgin was appointed Governor- General of Canada. He was a son-in-law of the Earl of Dur- ham, and shared his liberal sentimdnts regarding colonial administration. He had succeeded Lord Metcalfe in the gov- ernment of Jamaica, as well as in that of Canada. His sound judgment, conciliatory manners, and commanding ability, enabled him to overcome formidable opposition, and to become one of the most honoured representatives of Her Majesty that ever administered the affairs of the province. The Draper ministry was waning in popularity and influence, and was narrowly watched by a vigilant Reform press, of which the leading journal was the Montreal "Pilot," ably edited by Mr. Hincks. The Rebellion Losses Bill, and the secularization of the clergy reserves, which was strongly advocated by the Refonn party, were prominent topics of public discussion. On the meeting of parliament on the 2d of June, Lord Elgin announced the surrender by the Imperial Government to the colonial authorities of the post-office department, and also that the provincial legislature was empowered to repeal the differential duties subsisting in favour of British manufactures — an important measure of fiscal- emancipation. The long talked-of intercolonial railway, which only reached its comple- REBELLION LOSSES AGITATION. 407 tion ill 1876, was also the subject of a paragraph m the speech from the throne. After a short but busy session, during which no less than one hundred and ten bills were passed, the legisla- ture rose, on the 28th of July. The season was characterized by an unprecedented immigra- tion from Ireland. In consequence of the failure of the potato crop through rot, a famine well-nigh decimated that land. An exodus of a large portion of its population took place, seventy thousand of whom reached Quebec before the 7th of August of this year. Every possible provision was made by public and private charity for the relief of their necessities, but not less than four thousand died from exposure and fever. Grosse Isle became a quarantine station. A temporary camp was formed at Point St. Charles, Montreal, where thousands obtained relief and assistance. At the latter place, the nameless graves of many hundreds are commemorated by a huge granite block which marks the spot. Immigrant sheds and hospitals, erected by the Government, were crowded to overflowing, and many slept in the open air by the roadsides, or beneath rude blanket- tents. A relief fund was established on behalf of the famine- stricken sufferers who still remained in Ireland, to which all classes liberally contributed, even the Indian tribes on their reserves and the poor coloured people of the province, many of whom had not long escaped from bondage. The parliament was dissolved on the 6th of December, and -the elections were held during the following January. i848. The political contest was waged with great zeal by both parties, and resulted in a large Eeform majority. Messrs. Baldwin, Price, and Blake were elected for the three ridings of York, Francis Hincks for Oxford, and Malcolm Cameron for Kent. Papineau, the arch-agitator of the Lower-Canadian rebellion, who had accepted the Queen's pardon, was returned for St. Maurice, and Dr. Wolfred Nelson for the county of Eichelieu, the scene of his armed revolt, which he had lived to sincerely regret. On the opening of parliament, February 25, the Draper ministry resigned, and Messrs. Baldwin and Lafontaine were 408 HISTORY OF CANADA. entrusted with the task of forming a Liberal cabinet. The new Executive Council was composed of four French and seven British members — Messrs. Lafontaine, Caron, Viger, and Tache ; and Messrs. Baldwin, Hincks, Cameron, Sullivan, Price, Leslie and Alywin. Mr. Blake, afterwards Vice-Chan- cellor, became Solicitor-General, but was not a member of the Executive Council. The formation of this cabinet was the full and final assertion of the constitutional principle of responsible government. The country was thrilled with horror by the atrocities of the three days' slaughter in the French capital during the Revolu- tion of 1848. Some sympathy was felt with the incipient Irish rebellion incited by John Mitchel and Smith O'Brien. This, however, soon disappeared on the prompt and bloodless sup- pression of the revolt by the policemen of Ballingarry. The Imperial Navigation Laws were repealed, and Canadian commerce emancipated from the " differential duties " by which it had been fettered. The completion of the St. Lawrence canals furnished great facilities for internal traffic, of which the commercial classes were not slow in taking advantage. One of the earliest acts of the Baldwin-Lafontaine adminis- tration, on the meeting of parliament, January 18, 1849, was the introduction of the " Rebellion Losses Bill." It authorized the raising of £100,000 by debentures for indemnifying those persons in Lower Canada whose property had been destroyed by the rebels in the unhappy events of 1837, and for whom no provision had been made in the bill of 1846, introduced by the Draper ministry. The measure was vehemently denounced by the Opposition, as being actually a premium to rebellion, as parties who had been implicated in the revolt might, under its provisions, receive compensation for losses sustained. It was also con- tended that it was an injustice to Upper Canada to charge this payment on the consolidated fund of the country, inasmuch as the upper province contributed her own proportion to that fund, and would thus in part be discharging an obligation belonging exclusively to Lower Canada. REBELLION LOSSES AGITATION: 409 It ■u'as answered, in reply to the first objection, that all per- sons oonviotcd of participating in the rebellion were definitely excluded from the provisions of the Act ; and in reply to the second, that the Upper Canadian rebellion losses had also been defrayed out of the same consolidated fund by the late admin- istration, whose policy the present government was only carry- ing out. But these arguments availed not. " No pay to rebels" was the popular cry. The excitement became intense, and even led to a disafi'ection akin to that which w\^s so vehemently denounced. A British North American League was formed for the express purpose of breaking up the union. To escape from French domination, as it was called, a confederation with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick was proposed, failing which, the leaders of the League avowed their purpose of throwing themselves into the arms of the United States — rash words, which became the occasion of the taunt of disloyalty from their opponents. The ministry, however, sustained by a strong majority in both Houses, determined to face the storm ; and the passage of the bill was made the condition by the French members of their support of the Government. By a vote of forty-eight to thirty- two, it passed the Assembly, and soon received the assent of the Legislative Council. The intelligence of this vote caused intense excitement throughout the country. In Toronto, Messrs. Baldwin, Blake, and Mackenzie, the last-named of whom had just returned to the country a pardoned refugee, ■vvTre burned in effigy. The house where Mackenzie lodged, and those of Dr. Rolph and George Brown, were attacked and damaged. It was thought that Lord Elgin, intimidated by the violent opposition manifested, would not venture to give his assent to the bill, but would either veto it or reserve it for the considera- tion of the Home Government. This latter course w^ould probably have been the better, as allowing time for the popular excitement to become allayed. But however violent the minor- ity opposed to the bill, however high and influential their posi- 410 HISTORY OF CAXADA. tion, the ministry by wliich it was proposed commanded the majority of both branches of the legislature and the confidence of the country. To veto the bill, therefore, would be to become a partisan Governor, and perhaps to kindle the flames of civil war. The French, denied the redress of their grievances by constitutional means, would certainly have been driven into dis- affection, and probably into armed revolt. It was the crisis of responsible government, and Lord Elgin, in spite of the men- aced odium of the Opposition party, determined to act as a constitutional Governor. On the 26th of July, he proceeded in state to the Parliament House, on the site where now stands St. Anne's market, and gave assent to the obnoxious bill. On leaving the building he was received with groans and hootings by a well-dressed mob about the doors, and his carriage, as he drove off, was assailed with stones and rotten eggs. The city was thrown into a ferment. The House met again in the evening. The fire-bells rang an alarm. A tumultuous crowd assembled on the broad parade of the Champ de Mars to denounce the procedure of the Governor. Violent speeches were made. The cry was raised, " To the Parliament House ! " The excited mob surged through the streets, led by a party of men with flaring torches. The legislative halls were brilliantly lighted up, and the Assembly was in session. A number of visitors, including ladies, occupied the galleries. Suddenly a shower of stones shattered the windows. The rioters rushed into the Assembly chamber ; the ladies and members fled into the lobby. A ruflSan seated himself in the Speaker's chair, and shouted, " The French parliament is dissolved." The work of destruc- tion went on. Chandeliers were shattered, the members' seats and desks broken and piled in the middle of the floor, and the Speaker's mace carried off. The cry of " Fire !" was raised. The flames, kindled by the incendiary mob, raged furiously. The members strove in vain to save the public records. Sir Allan McNab succeeded in rescuing the portrait of Her Majesty, which cost £500. The rioters prevented the extinction of the flames. REBELLION LOSSES AGITATION. 411 Before moniing, the Parliament House, with its splendid library, containing many thousands of valuable books and pub- lic records, was a mass of smouldering ruins. The money loss was more than the entire amount voted by the obnoxious bill ; but who shall estimate the reproach brought upon the fair fame of the country by this lawless vandalism ? The rioters, having carried off the mace, proceeded to attack the oiSce of the ' ' Pilot " newspaper. The next night they wrecked the house of the premier, Mr. Lafontaine, and attacked the dwellings of Messrs. Baldwin, Cameron, Hincks, Holmes, Wilson, and Dr. Wolfred Nelson. They were only prevented from assaulting the old Government House, where the ministers were assembled in council, by the bayonets of a strong guard of military. The Assembly, which met in Bonsecour Hall, by a large majority passed resolutions approving of the action of the Governor; which, 'however, were strongly resisted by Sir Allan McNab and the Opposition. The same day a turbulent meeting in the Champ de Mars passed resolutions for an address to the Queen, praying her to disallow the obnoxious bill, and to recall the unpopular Gov- ernor-General. Three hundred and fifty persons, mostly of some local importance, signed a manifesto declaring that annexa- tion to the United States was the only remedy for the political and commercial condition of the country. This, of course, was a mere outburst of partisan feeling. On the 30th of April, four days after the outbreak. Lord Elgin drove to town to receive the loyal address of the Assem- bly. Although escorted by dragoons, he was greeted with showers of stones, and with difficulty escaped bodily injury. The mob increasing around the old Government House, and exhibiting much turbulence. Captain Weatheral, who was a magistrate, read the Riot Act. The rioters failing to disperse, he ordered the guard to charge upon them. The crowd cheered the soldiers as they got out of their way, but still awaited the re-appearance of the Governor. Not wishing to exasperate the excited mob, Lord Elgin left the building unobserved, and was driven rapidly in the direction of Sherbrooke Street to the 412 BISTORT OF CANADA. north of the city. His escape being discovered, a hot pursuit was made in cabs, cale§hes, everything that had wheels. He was intercepted in the main street of the St. Lawrence suburbs. A shower of stones shattered every panel of his carriage and severely wounded Captain Bruce, his Excellency's brother and aide-de-camp. Through the skilful and rapid driving of the postilions, the Governor escaped from the assaults of the enraged rioters. The next day the premier's house was again attacked. The military were obliged to fire on the mob, and unfortunately killed one man. An inquest was held, but an attempt was made to fire the house in which it was sitting. The funeral of the unfortunate man who was killed was made the occasion of a threatening demonstration. It was attended by an immense cortege, and the scarfs of the pall-bearers and housings of the horses were of crimson cloth — a menace of revenge. Temporary quarters were procured for the Assembly and the session was speedily brought to a close. Parliament sat no more in Montreal. This outbreak of mob violence drove it from the city, and it has never since returned. Deputations from Quebec and Toronto requested its removal to their re- spective cities. Mr. John A. Macdonald moved that Kingston become again the capital. Ottawa was also proposed, but it was resolved to transfer the seat of government to Toronto for the next two years, and afterwards to Quebec and Toronto alternately every four years. In consequence of the public censure of his acts. Lord Elgin tendered his resignation to the Imperial authorities ; but the Queen and the Home Government expressed their approval of his course, and requested his continuatnce in office. The Rebel- lion Losses Bill Was sustained by both Houses of the Imperial parliament ; and Lord Elgin, assured of the personal favour of his sovereign and advanced a step in the peerage, continued to administer the government, and in time won the esteem of even his most bitter opponents. THE RAILWAY ERA. 413 CHAPTER XXXm. THE EAILWAY ERA. Political and Commercial Emancipation of Canada — Parliament Meets in Toronto, 1850 — Clergy Reserve Question — Postal Reform — Northern Rail- way Begun, 1851 — Joseph Howe Agitates the Intercolonial Railway Scheme — Canada at the World's Fair — Grand Trunk and Great Western Railways Projected — Retirement of Robert Baldwin from the Ministry — Francis Hincks, Premier — His Fiscal Policy — Quebec the Seat of Government, 1852 — Incorporation of Grand Trunk Railway Company — Its Financial Policy — Municipal Loan Fund Act — Increased Representation — Financial State of the Country. FROM the year 1850, the British North American colonies may be said to have entered on a new era, — to have reached their political manhood. The period of tutelage, — of government from Downing Street, — had passed away. The right to the management of their own local affairs was conceded by the Home authorities, and that of responsible government was vindicated in the colonies. The British Government reserved only the right of disallowing any acts of legislation opposed to Imperial interests, and, on the other hand, assumed the burden of colonial defence. Canada was thus one of the most lightly taxed and favourably situated countries in the world, and offered great inducements to the influx of capital and immigration, and soon entered upon a career of remarkable prosperity. The repeal of the British corn-laws, under the administra- tion of Sir Robert Peel, in 1846, opened to Great Britain the grain markets of the world. Canada was, therefore, placed in a similar relation with other grain-exporting countries. The United States possessed, for a time, an advantage, through its superior railway system and facilities for exportation. Previous to 1847, the commercial relations of the North American colonies were largely regulated by the British Government 414 HISTORY OF CANADA. in favour of British manufacturing interests. Higher duties were imposed on importations from foreign countries than on those from Great Britain. In that year, by permission of the Home authorities, these differential duties were repealed. Thus colonial trade was emancipated from a serious restriction. In 1849, the British parliament, by the repeal of the Naviga- tion Laws, broke down almost the sole remaining barrier of protection. Some derangement of commerce, especially in the maritime j)rovinces, resulted from the repeal of these laws. American vessels could now be registered in British ports, and compete with the colonial shipping in the carrying-trade with Great Britain. A temporary commercial depression followed, causing a degree of discontent which found expression in the complaint that England was casting off her colonies. A spirit of enterprise and self-reliance, however, was soon developed. Commercial independence was attained. The colonies were permitted to trade freely with any part of the world ; to import as they pleased, subject to a tariff fixed by themselves, and to cultivate home enterprises, and develop home manufactures, as they saw fit. In order to allay the discontent resulting from the transient depression caused by these changes, Lord Elgin was instructed to open negotiations for a treaty of commercial reciprocity with the United States. An agent proceeded to Washington for this purpose, but the project was not consummated till four years later. But, meantime, the volume of international trade was annually increasing. Canadian exports and imports passed in large quantities, in bond, through the United States to the seaboard, especially in winter when the Canadian ports were closed, and formed an important item in the railroad traffic of that country. Commercial reciprocity with the United States, when finally carried into effect, caused an immense development of inter- national trade, and largely increased the value of every acre of land, of every bushel of wheat, and of every head of cattle in the country. A great impetus was also given to ship-building, to milling and manufacturing interests,. to stock-raising, wool- THE RAILWAY ERA. 415 growdng, and cloth-weaving, to the construction of agi-icultural implements, and to every other branch of industry. This prosperity was still further increased by the extraordi- nary development of Canadian railway enterprises, and the consequent opening up of new parts of the country and in- creased facilities for travel and transport throughout its entire extent. The large employment of labour and the expenditure of immense amounts of money in constructing the various rail- ways also greatly stimulated enterprise. Facilities for trade were still further increased by the establishment of the trans- atlantic line of steamships. Quebec and Montreal were thus brought within speedy and regular communication with Great Britain, to the immense commercial advantage of those cities. The introduction and rapid extension of telegraphic communi- cation also greatly facilitated the transaction of business. The establishment of municipal institutions created an intelli- gent interest in the local management of public affairs, and stimulated a spirit of local enteqirlse and improvement. The legalizing of municipal loan funds, the formation of joint-stock companies and expansion of banking institutions, promoted the introduction of capital and its profitable employment. The secularization of the clergy reserves and the abolition of seigneurial tenure, removed impediments to material prosperity and causes of popular discontent ; the consolidation of the legal code simplified the administration of justice ; and the thorough organization of the public-school system and growth of newspaper and publishing enterprise contributed to the difiiision of general intelligence. To Ihese important subjects reference must now be made somewhat in detail. In 1850, the seat of Government was transferred to Toronto. The first appearance of the Governor-General in the Upper province was made the occasion of the exhibition of some political animosity ; but the urbanity of his manner, and the integrity of his conduct, disarmed resentment, conciliated popular favour, and, at length, won warm esteem. On the assembling of the legislature, May 14, there was the 416 HISTORY OF CANADA. promise of a quiet session. Warned by recent experience of the disastrous results of violent partisanship, both political parties seemed disposed to a truce, and avoided exciting topics and acrimonious debate. Mr. Papineau, indeed, resumed his advocacy of an elective Legislative Council, but this was only consistent with his life-long policy. The discussion of the clergy reserve question was renewed outside of the House, principally in the journals of the advanced Keform party, the chief of which were the *' Globe " and " Examiner " of Toronto. Some of the older and more moderate Reformers, opposed the re-opening of this question, and were willing to abide by the settlement of the subject that had been effected by parhament during Lord Sydenham's administration. Another section of the Reform party which was rapidly rising into influence, wished for their entire secu- larization. A division in the ranks of the party thus took place, which led to future political complications. Meanwhile, the material progress of the country was rapid. 1851. The transfer of the management of the post-office department was followed by increased postal facilities and the reduction of letter-rates, a uniform letter-tariif of threepence per half ounce being introduced. The magnificent system of internal navigation, by means of the Canadian lakes, rivers, and canals, was increased in value by light-houses and other improvements, and was soon to be largely supplemented by an extensive railway system. The first sod of the Northern Rail- way of Canada, — the pioneer of Canadian railway enterprises, excejot a short section in Lower Canada, — was turned amid imposing ceremonies by Lady Elgin ; and, by the construction of the road, a most important agricultural country was opened up. The importance, from a military point of view, of an inter- colonial railway bet^^een the maritime provinces and Canada had been pointed out by Lord Durham, and its construction had been a favourite scheme of successive Governments. The difficulty and expense of the undertaking, however, were so great that the Imperial authorities declined to guarantee a provincial loan for the purpose. THE RAILWAY ERA. 417 In 1850, a railway convention was held at Portland, out of which grew the project of the European and North American Eailway, connecting Halifax and St. John with Portland and the railway system of the United States. Joseph Howe, an energetic and patriotic Nova Scotian editor and political leader, threw himself, with characteristic enthusiasm, into these rail- way projects. Sustained by the public opinion of his province, he went to England to urge upon the Imperial Government the construction of an intercolonial road. His energy and eloquence made a very favourable impression as to the importance of the undertaking, and of the immense and valuable undeveloped resources of the country, — which was increased by the very creditable exhibit of the British North American provinces at the World's Fair of 1851, successfully projected by the late Prince Consort. A convention was called at Toronto by Lord Elgin, to settle the shares and responsibilities to be borne by the several prov- inces in this great undertaking. The Imperial guarantee, without which no loan could be raised for such a gigantic proj- ect, could not be obtained, and the scheme, for the time, fell through. Each province was left to carry out separate enter- prises of railway construction. In the province of Canada, the Grand Trunk line, connecting the lakes with tide-water, and the Great Western Eailway, connecting at the Niagara and Detroit rivers with the railway systems of the United States, were regarded as of more practical utility than one to the maritime provinces. Into the Grand Trunk scheme, Mr. Francis Hincks threw himself with characteristic energy, and the Great Western Railway was actively promoted by Sir Allan ISIcNab and others in the upper province. The growing intimacy of commercial relations between Canada and the United States was the occasion of a grand international fete at Boston, September, 1851, at which the most cordial sentiments of mutual peace and good-will found utterance. Lord Elgin, especially, won laurels for himself, and cemented the bonds of amity between the two countries by 53 418 HISTORY OF CANADA. the happy eloquence of his speech, and by the genial courtesy of his manners. The growing political influence of what might be called the extreme wing of the Keform party, popularly designated the " Clear Grits," from their supposed intense radicalism, led to a re-organization of the cabinet. Mr. Robert Baldwin, in accord- ance with his constitutional principles, had already retired from oflSce on being outvoted on a measure connected with the Court of Chancery. In the new cabinet. Dr. Rolph, the former rebel, and now pardoned refugee, and Malcolm Cameron, another "advanced Reformer," found places. Mr. Hincks became premier by right of his predominant influence in the ministry, and entered upon that fiscal policy which at once so greatly aided the development of the country and increased its finan- cial Imrdens. A general election resulted, in which several old and honoured members of the Reform party were rejected, and several new men were introduced. Robert Baldwin was defeated in York, and "William Lyon Mackenzie was returned for Haldimand — strikin^: indications of the chang^e which had come over the party. During the following summer, a terrible fire devastated a 1853. large portion of Montreal, chiefly the wooden tene- ments of the French population, destroying about $1,000,000 worth of property, and rendering ten thousand of the inhabi- tants homeless. A generous outburst of sympathy and of prac- tical beneficence was evoked throughout the provinces by this disaster, in which all classes, irrespective of race, or creed, or l^arty, joined. Quebec now became for four years the seat of government. Parliament met in the old historic capital on the 16th of August, and Mr. John Sandfield Macdonald became Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. During a busy session of three months, one hundred and ninety-three Acts were duly passed. No less than twenty-eight of these had reference to railway matters — an evidence of the enthusiasm which had taken pos- session of the public mind on this subject. Among the most importajut of these was the Act incorporating the Grand Trunk THE RAILWAY ERA. 419 Railway, one of the longest roads under one management in the world. The bonds of the company received the guarantee of the province to the extent of £3,000 sterling per mile. A further grant was made of £40,000 for every £100,000 ex- pended l3y the company. Thus, during the construction of the road, a sum of $16,000,000 was added to the liabilities of the country, and in fourteen years the indebtedness to the Govern- ment of the Grand Trunk Railway, including unpaid interest, was $23,000,000. This increase of the provincial liabilities, however, was more than compensated indirectly by the immense impetus given to the internal development of the country, the increased value of real estate, and the facilities for transport and travel furnished to the public. As a financial operation the building of the road was disastrous to the English shareholders, its stock hav- ing always ruled very low on 'Change. The great cost of con- struction and of maintenance, the severity of the winters, and, especially at first, the lack of remunerative local traffic and travel, and competition with the through lines from the "West to the seaboard, and, during the summer, wdth the lake and river water-carriage, all conspired to greatly reduce its profits. Another piece of legislation introduced by Mr. Hincks, which largely increased the public indebtedness, was the estab- lishment of the Consolidated Municipal Loan Fund for Upper Canada. The intention, and to a certain degree the result, of this measure, were beneficent. It enabled municipalities to obtain money for local improvements, roads, bridges, and rail- way construction, which proved of great and permanent value to the country. Encouraged by the facilities for raising money, however, some municipalities rushed into rash expenditure and incurred debts, the burden of which, in consequence of their inability to meet their engagements, fell upon the Government. The Act w^as subsequently amended, extending its provisions to Lower Canada, and limiting the amount of the fund to £1,500,000 for each province. That limit was soon reached in the upper province, where the loan was most rapidly taken up, and the expenditure under this scheme, in the two 420 HISTORY OF CANADA. Canadas, soon increased the public debt by the amount of nearly ten millions. During this session, by the Parliamentary Representation Act, the number of members of the Assembly was raised from eighty-four to one hundred and thirty, sixty-five for each prov- ince, and the representation was more equitably distributed territorially. Among the other subjects of parliamentary discussion were the abolition of seigneurial tenure, the introduction of decimal currency, and the establishment of a line of ocean steamers between Quebec and Liverpool — all of which were sub- sequently carried into effect. The finances of the country, notwithstanding its growing expenditure, exhibited remarkable elasticity, the surplus of the revenue being nearly $1,000,000*. Canadian securities bear- ing six per cent, interest were quoted at a premium of sixteen per cent, on the London Stock Exchange. The heavy interest account resulting from the legislation of this session, however, soon reduced the surplus to zero, and led to a series of annual deficits that greatly lowered the value of Canadian securities in the money market. • The revenue for the year waa $3,976,706 ; the expenditure, $3,059,081 ; the surplus, $917,625. IMPORTANT LEGISLATION. 421 CHAPTER XXXIV. IMPORTANT LEGISLATION. The Gavazzi Eiota at Quebec and Montreal — Reciprocity Treaty Concluded, 1854 — Its Conditions and Results — Tlio Hiucks Ministry is Defeated — It Appeals to tlio Country — Dissolution of Parliament and General Election — The Hiucks Ministry Resigns — The McNab-Morin Coalition Cabinet Formed — State of Parties — The Secularization of the Clergy Reserves — The Abolition of Seigneurial Tenure — Encouragement of Immigration — Incorporation of Canada Steamship Company — Resignation of Lord Elgin — His Subsequent Career and Death — Retirement of Mr. Hincks — The Crimean War — Canadian Sympathy. T^O prominent subjects of public interest continued to provoke warm discussion in the political press — the settlement of the seigneurial tenure and the clergy reserve ques- tion. The latter subject was formally surrendered to isss. the Canadian parliament for legislation .by the Home Govern- ment, by an Act passed May 9, 1853. The life-interests of the existing claimants on the reserves were, however, in accordance with Lord Sydenham's Act, to be strictly protected. In Montreal and Quebec, the great commercial cities of Lower Canada, the Protestant and Roman Catholic population had dwelt together side by side, for the most part, in peace and harmony since the conquest. Whatever interruptions of con- cord had taken place, arose rather from political than from relig- ious differences. An unhappy occurrence now took place, which led to a break in this harmony, and was the occasion of a good deal of acrimony. Father Gavazzi, an Italian priest, who had become a convert to Protestantism, was lecturing at Quebec on the topics of controversy between the two Churches. His impassioned eloquence excited the antagonism of his former co-rcligionists, who assailed the church in which he was speak- ing, and violently dispersed the congregation, June 6. Gavazzi proceeded to Montreal, and attempted to lecture in Zion Church 422 HISTORY OF CANADA. in tbat city, three nights after the outbreak at Quebec. Fears of a riot were entertained, and a strong force of police, with a company of the Twenty-Sixth Regiment, which had, a few days before, arrived from Gibraltar, were held in readiness for an emergency. A tumultuous crowd, composed, it was averred, chiefly of Irish Eoman Catholics, broke through the police, and forced their way into the church. Here a formidable riot took place, pistol-shots were freely fired, and Gavazzi with difficulty escaped. The church was soon cleared, and hostilities were re- sumed without the building. The mayor of the city, INIr. Charles Wilson, read the Eiot Act, and invoked the aid of the military, placing them in two divisions between the combatants. It was alleged that the mayor gave the command to fire on the crowd. This, however, he afterwards positively denied. It seems probaljle that one man discharged his piece through mis- apprehension. Others followed his example, till the officers threw themselves in front and struck up the firelocks. By the volley, five persons were slain and forty wounded, some of them very severely. This tragical occurrence caused intense excitement in the city and throughout the country. A very bitter feeling was manifested toward the military, some of whom were waylaid and beaten in the street. A court of inquiry was held, and the regiment was shortly transferred to Bermuda. The fact that the mayor was a Roman Catholic, intensified the party religious feeling, and unfiivourably afiected the popularity of the Hincks administration. It was accused of manifesting partiality toward the Roman Catholic faction, in order to secure their political support. A considerable number of the Protest- ant population transferred their allegiance to Mr. Brown, who was regarded as the most eminent supporter of Protestantism in the Assembly. The delay in dealing with the long-vexed clergy reserve and seigneurial tenure questions was a strong ground of dissatisfac- tion with a large and growing section of the Reform party. Charges of political corruption, and of employing his official influencTe for the advantajre of himself and his friends, in the IMPORTANT LEGISLATION. 423 purchase of city debentures and public lands, were freely made against Mr. Ilincks, and materially lessened his popularity and that of his Government. It must be stated, however, although members of his administration may have acquired property through political influence, that Mr. Hincks, on the fall of his Government, was still a poor man. The Conservative Opposi- tion was now strengthened by the co-operation of many of the advanced Reform party, of whom Mr. Brown and Mr. William Lyon Mackenzie may be regarded as conspicuous examples. The subject of international reciprocity between Canada and the United States, had, ever since the repeal of the Navigation Laws in 1849, engaged the attention of both Imperial 1854. and colonial authorities. The negotiations between the two neighbouring countries were now happily approaching com- pletion. Lord Elgin, having first gone to England to promote the scheme, proceeded to Washington, as the special envoy of the Imperial Government, to close the treaty. It was signed on the 5th of June, 1854, by Lord Elgin and the Hon. W. L. Marcy, as representatives of their respective countries. It provided for the free interchange of the products of the sea, the soil, the forest, and the mine. The waters of the St. Law- rence, the St. John and the canals, and the inshore fisheries in the British waters, were conceded to the United States ; and the navigation of Lake Michigan was thrown open to Canada. By the provisions of the treaty, it was to continue in force for ten years from March, 1855, and was then terminable on twelve months' notice from either party. To the agricultural population of Canada, the treaty was attended with immense advantage, and gave an important stimulus to every branch of productive industry. The mari- time provinces, however, complained that the United States had nothing to exchange comparable with the valuable fisheries of their waters ; and that while American shipping was admitted to the same privileges as that of Great Britain, yet colonial vessels were refused registration in the ports of the United States or a share of the coasting-trade. 424 HISTORY OF CANADA. Parliament did not meet till the 13tli of June,* instead of, as usual, in the more convenient season of midwinter, which cir- cumstance was made the sul)ject of adverse comment. But as Lord Elgin and Mr. Hincks had both been in England for several months, engaged in the service of the country, their absence was pleaded as an excuse for the unusual delay. A more serious charge against the Government was, that when Parliament did meet, not a word was said in the speech from the throne about either of those important themes — the clergy reserves or the seigneurial tenure. The intention of the Government was to limit the business of the session to the legislation required to give effect to the Reciprocity Treaty, and to bring into operation the Act extending the franchise ^vhich had previously passed, but which did not take effect till the follow- ing year. It w^as deemed proper by the ministry, in accordance with constitutional usage, not to legislate on the important topics which were agitating the pul)lic mind in an expiring House, which had been pronounced an inadequate representation of the people. The Oi^position, led by Sir Allan McNab and Mr. John A. Macdonald, determined, if possible, to defeat the ministry on the address in reply to the Governor's speech. Mr. Cauchon moved an amendment, expressing censure of the Gov- ernment for the delay in the settlement of the seigneurial tenure and clergy reserve questions ; and the ministers found them- selves beaten by a majority of thirteen, in a House of seventy- one, June 21. The defeated ministry, in the hope of increasing their following, resolved to appeal to the country, and the fol- lowing day Lord Elgin came down in state and prorogued the House, with a view to its immediate dissolution, although not a single bill had been passed. The dissolution of parliament was soon proclaimed, and writs were issued for a new election. The premier, Mr. Ilincks, was returned for two constituencies — Renfrew and South Oxford ; * During tlie recess, the old parliament building at Quebec was destroyed by fire, and war against Russia was declared. The latter event conspicuously demonstrated the enthusiastic loyalty of Canada to the mother country. IMPORTANT LEGISLATION. 425 but Mr. Brown was elected member for Lambton by a large majority over Mr. Malcolm Cameron, the Postmaster-General, The Eeform party was now openly divided, and the leading Eeform papers, as the " Globe," *' Examiner," *' North Ameri- can," and " Mackenzie's Message," strove vigorously to lessen the strength of the ministry. On the assembling of the new parliament, September 5, it was evident that they had suc- ceeded. Mr. George Etienne Cartier, the ministerial candidate for Speaker, was defeated by a union of the Conservative Opposition and the extreme Reformers. The breach in the once solid Eeform phalanx was now complete. The ministry still hoped that their liberal programme of legislation for the session, including a proposition to make the Upper House elective, and, at length, to deal with the seigneurial tenure and clergy reserve questions, would prolong their term of office. They were, however, destined to dis- appointment. On the opening of parliament, a question of privilege arose. The Attorney-General for Lower Canada requested twenty-four hours for consideration. The House refused the request, Dr. Eolph, a member of the ministry, voting with the Opposition. Mr. Hincks and his colleagues had now no alternative but to resign. Their parliamentary influence, however, was still greater than that of either of the parties opposed to them separately, by the combination of which they were thrust from power. When Sir Allan McNab was called on to form a new ministry, he made overtures to the members of the defeated administra- tion for the formation of a coalition Government, on the basis of the policy already announced in the speech from the throne. The carrying out of this policy the country demanded, and no Government w^hich refused it could hope for popular support. The new ministry included among its members Sir Allan McNab, President of the Council ; Mr. John A. Macdonald, Mr. AVilliam Cayley, Mr. Eobert Spence, and Mr. Chauveau ; and represented both the Conservative and Eeform elements of the House. Many supporters of the old administration, how- 54 426 HISTORY OF C AX AD A. ever, went into opposition, together with the extreme Eeform- ers, by whose aid it had been overthrown. The new ministers had, of course, to return to their con- stituencies for re-election. They were strongly opposed by extreme politicians of both parties, but were all returned to parliament. On the resumption of their seats, the position of parties may be briefly described as follows : — The Conservative parties of Upper and Lower Canada, which had previously been separated by local differences, were now consolidated under the joint leadership of Sir Allan McNab and Mr. Morin, and were re-enforced by a considerable section of the Reform party, led by Mr. Hincks. The Opposition con- sisted of a remnant of the old ministerial I3arty, led by Mr. John Sandfield Macdonald ; the Rouges, or Liberal party, of Lower Canada, under the leadership of Mr. Dorion, and the extreme Reformers, popularly known as " Clear Grits," who regarded Mr. Brown as their chief, and the " Globe," news- paper, now become a powerful political organ, as the exponent of their opinions. The policy of the Government, however, included measures for which the Reform party had long contended. Prominent among these was one for the secularization of the clergy re- serves. A bill was therefore promptly brought forward for that purpose. By the bill previously introduced by the Draper administration for the settlement of this question, the vast revenue arising from these reserves, at first claimed exclusively for the Church of England, was proposed to be divided with the Church of Scotland and other denominations, in proportion to their private contributions to the support of their clergy. But the principle of the voluntary support of the ministry by the people, which had led to the Free Church secession in Scot- land in 1843, and which had been previously held by other dissenting bodies, was widely prevalent throughout Canada. The ministry, therefore, although many of their supporters were opposed to the principle, were forced to yield to the popular demand. The clergy reserve lands, originally amount- ing to one-seventh of all the crown territory of the province, IMPORTANT LEGISLATION. 427 were consequently handed over to the various municipal cor- porations in proportion to their population, to be employed for secular purposes. The life-interests of the existing incumbents were commuted, with the consent of the holders, for a small permanent endowment, and this long-vexed question was settled forever ; the princijile of the perfect religious equality of all denominations, in the eye of the law, had finally triumphed. The other " burning question," which urgently demanded legislation, related exclusively to Lower Canada. This was the system of seigneurial tenure, whose vexatious conditions greatly retarded the progress of the country. This system was a legacy from the old French regime. Much of the land of New France had been granted to scions of noble houses under the feudal conditions, obtaining in the Old World, as previously described.* It was chiefly when the population became more dense and the transfers of property more frequent, that these conditions became oppressively felt, especially that requiring the payment of one-twelfth of the purchase price of the land to the seigneur at every sale, and the vexatious milling and fishing dues, and other conditions of vassalage imposed on the tenants. The value of these seigneurial claims had greatly increased, and they could be equitably abolished only by a commutation from the public funds of the province, supplemented by certain pay- ments of the censitaireSy or small land-holders, in consideration of the exemptions about to be granted them. The entire expenditure under the authority of this Act was a little over two and a half million dollars. Thus was abolished, without violence or revolution as in other lands, the last vestige of the feudal system in the New World. Measures were also adopted by the Government for the en- couragement of immigration ; quarantine stations and hospitals were established, and agents appointed for furnishing authentic information, obtaining land grants, and generally assisting immigrants on their arrival on our shores. * See pages 120-122. 428 BISTORT OF CANADA. The Canada Ocean Steamship Company was also incorporated by Act of Parliament, and was aided by a subsidy of $1,800,- 000. From this beginning has grown one of the largest steam fleets that plough the ocean. Direct trade with Great Britain has been greatly stimulated, and the city of Montreal has been made one of the great seaports of the world. On the 18th of December, parliament adjourned, and the following day. Lord Elgin resigned the Governor-Generalship of the province. He had won the lasting esteem and admira- tion of a people who had been largely alienated in sympathy from his administration. He subsequently employed his dis- tinguished abilities in the service of his sovereign, in the discharge of difficult and important missions in China and Japan. As the highest gift of the crown, he received, in 1862, the appointment of Governor-General of India ; and the follow- ing year, worn out with excessive labours, he died beneath the shadows of the Himalayas, leaving behind him the blameless reputation of a Christian statesman. Mr. Hincks also retired from Canadian public life. He re- turned to England, and received the appointment of Governor- in-Chief of the Windward West India Islands. After serving in the Barbadoes for the full term of six years, he was promoted to the Government of British Guiana, where he remained till 1869. In recognition of his distinguished public services, he received the honour of knighthood. He subsequently returned to Canada, and, as we shall see, entered again into public life. The gallant struggle of the allied armies against the hosts of Russia, now in progress, evoked the enthusiastic loyalty of both Canadas. England, in conjunction with France and Turkey, felt constrained to oppose the Russian invasion of the Danubian principalities, and the forcing of a humiliating treaty on the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The glorious but dear-brought victory of the Alma became the occasion for the practical expression of Canadian sympathy in the grant of £20,000 for the benefit of the widows and orphans of the fallen heroes of those gory slopes, dyed with the best blood of three allied nations. IMPORTANT LEGISLATION. 429 The invading armies now undertook the siege of Sebastopol, which had been enormously strengthened, and made one of the most formidable fortifications in the world. But the frosts and snows of winter proved more terrible than the Russian sword. Disease, exposure, and toil in the trenches, wasted the allied armies to a frightful extent. The Aberdeen ministry, under which gross military mismanagement and neglect occurred, was compelled to resign, and Lord Palmerston was summoned to the helm of state. The flower of the English army perished in this disastrous siege, with its frequent sorties and battles ; and many a British home was called to mourn the appalling desola- tions caused by the Crimean War. 430 HISTORY OF CANADA. CHAPTER XXXV. THE COALITION MINISTEY. Sir Edmund Walker Head, Governor-General, 1855 — Militia Organization — Financial Prosperity — The Corrigan Trial — Mr. John A. Macdonald, Premier, 1856 — The Legislative Council made Elective — Its Constitution — Chinese War and Indian Mutiny — Commercial Crisis, 1857 — General Election, 1858 — Reform Majority in Upp»r Canada — Demand for "Repre- sentation by Population" — Sketch of Mr. George Brown's Career and Character. SIR Edmund Walker Head, the successor of Lord Elgin as Governor-General of Canada, was a gentleman of dis- 1855. tinguished scholarship, a prizeman and fellow of Oriel College, Oxford, a linguist of remarkable attainments and an admirable connoisseur and art-critic. As a writer, he distin- guished himself by fine taste and scholarship, and in public life he manifested considerable administrative ability. His first diplomatic appointment was that of Governor of New Bruns- wick, from which he was promoted to the position of Governor- General of British North America. In the coalition ministry, during recess, Messrs. Cauchon, Cartier, and Lemieux, succeeded Messrs. Morin, Chauveau, and Chabot. The large and solid majority of the ministry exempted it from the effects of party skirmishing, and from the necessity of strategic tactics. A large amount of impor- tant legislation, represented by no less than two hundred and fifty-one bills, was transacted. Prominent among these was a new Militia Act, which provided for the organization of effi- ciently equipped and officered volunteer corps. As a result of this Act» the previously existing paper army of sedentary militia gave place to the gallant citizen soldiery which at Ridgeway and Freligshburg protected our frontier with their lives and blood. THE COALITION MINISTRY. 431 During the winter the tragic tale of siege and sortie, of frost and fire, of sickness and suffering, and death in the hospitals, camps and trenches before Sebastopol, thrilled the souls of British patriots around the world, and nowhere more than throughout the length and breadth of Canada. In almost every town and hamlet generous donations were contributed to the nation's heroes, who so gallantly maintained her name and fame on a foreign shore. The illustrious victories of Balaclava, Inkerman, and Sebastopol, became memories of imperishable power, and kindled beacon-fires of joy throughout the land, from the rock-built citadel of Quebec to the remote villages on the shores of Lake Huron. The financial prosperity of Canada after the emancipation of her trade, in 1849, was very great. In 1854, the customs duties, at the average rate of twelve per cent., had amounted to nearly five millions, and the total public revenue to over six millions, while the expenditure was only a little over four millions. The railway legislation had, however, added twenty- one millions to the public debt, which, in the year 1855, had risen to the verge of thirty-nine millions. The seat of government was again removed to Toronto, where parliament was opened on the 15th of February. i856. The speech from the throne announced that a large amount of money accruing from clergy reserve lands was awaiting dis- bursement among the municipalities ; that the contract had been closed for the establishment of the Canadian transatlantic steamship line ; and that certain legislative reforms would be brought under the notice of the House, including the old con- stitutional question of an elective Legislative Council. It also congratulated the country on the peace and prosperity which it enjoyed, while other portions of the world were racked with the throes of war. The debate on the address was keen and acrimonious. The address, however, was carried by a considerable majority; yet the increased strength of the Opposition indicated the waning influence of the administration of Sir Allan McNab. The min- 432 BISTORT OF CANADA. istry soon found themselves in a minority on a question which excited a good deal of religious rancour in the House, and in the country. A man named Corrigan had been murdered near St. Sylvester, in Lower Canada. Several men were tried before Judge Duval, at Quebec, for the crime, and were acquitted in the face of what was by many considered very conclusive evidence of their guilt. The fact that the judge, jury, and accused, were all Roman Catholics, while the mur- dered man was Protestant, together with the positive charac- ter of the evidence, created an impression in the minds of many Protestants of a miscarriage of justice. The Toronto <' Globe," as a prominent champion of Protestantism, led the outburst of indignation, in which it was joined by the Orange party, a circumstance which, for the time, greatly strengthened the Reform ranks. Early in the session, Mr. John Hilyard Cameron, a leading member of the Orange fraternity, moved for a copy of the charge delivered to the jury by Judge Duval. It was an em- barrassing position in which the ministry was placed. If they submitted the judge's charge to review in the House, they would alienate and offend many French-Canadian supporters. If they refused, they must ex- pect to lose many Protestant votes. Under a constitutional plea, they refused to bring down the papers demanded, and were defeated by a majority of four. They did not, however, choose to consider this a vote of want of confidence, as on another division, the same night, they were sustained by a majority of the House. It was deemed, however, expedient to make a change in the personnel of the ministry, and Sir Allan McNab, a man of solid, but not shining parts, was induced to resign DiR E. p. TACHE. THE COALITIOX MLXISTEF. 433 the premiership to Mr. Taehe. * The real leadership, how- ever, was assumed by the Acting Attoruey-General, Mr. John A. Macdonald, a rising politician of conspicuous ability and promise. Mr. IMacdonald, who subsequently filled so prominent a position in Canadian politics, was born in Suther- landshire, Scotland, in 1815. His parents soon after removed to Canada, and settled in Kingston, Ontario. He entered upon the study of law in that city when only fifteen, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1836, in his ,, , Tx ^ . . SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. twenty-first year. He first promi- nently attracted public notice in 1839, by his brilliant defence of Von Schultz, the Polish exile, who was executed with nine others, American raiders, captured at the battle of Windmill Point. In 1844, he was elected to the representation of Kingston in the second parliament of the United Canadas, which city he has ever since continued to represent in the councils of his country. On the resignation of the Hincks administration, in 1854, he became a member of the coalition ministry by which it was succeeded, and was now recognized as the leader of the Conservative party of Upper Canada. With an eminent degree of administrative skill, he combined a large amount of political tact and sagacity. He is an able con- * The name of Etienne Paschal Tach6 is one of the most distinguished in Canadian annals. He was born at St. Thomas, Lower Canada, in 1795, and ■was the descendant of an old French family which had won an honourable record for public service. During the war of 1812-14, he served with distinc- tion in the field, and was promoted to a lieutenancy in the Canadian Chasseurs. After the war, he studied medicine, and attained success in that profession. He entered parliament in 1841, and joined the Baldwin-Lafontaiue ministry in 1S48. He became, as we have seen, head of the Government in 1856. In 1358, Her Majesty the Queen conferred upon him the honour of knighthood, — he being summoned to Windsor Castle to receive from her own hands that dignity. In 1860, he was appointed, together with Sir Allan McNab, an hon- ourary colonel of the British army, and aide-de-camp to the Queen. His further career will bo hereafter described. 65 434 HISTORY OF CANADA. stitutional lawyer, and a remarkably skilful debater, rising, at times, to a noble and impassioned eloquence. He has been, during a long parliamentary career, a great party leader. Through his genial manners he exercises a remarkable personal influence over those with whom he comes in contact, amount- ing, sometimes, almost to a fascination. Under this Conservative Government was passed a measure for which the Reform party had long striven, and which their opponents had resolutely resisted. This was the Act making the Legislative Council an elective body. Existing members were allowed to retain their seats for life ; but twelve members were to be elected biennially, to hold office for the term of eight years. This system was relinquished under the Con- federation Act, but a strong feeling is entertained in favour of its restoration. Important measures of law reform were also enacted during this parliamentary session. This year a dreadful railway tragedy, the first of the kind which had ever happened in Canada, caused a thrill of horror throughout the country. On the 12th of JMarch, a passenger train proceeding from Toronto to Hamilton, plunged through an open drawbridge in the Desjardins Canal. Seventy persons w^ere killed, among them Mr. Zimmerman, a leading capitalist, and some of our most prominent citizens. The following year, June 26, a still more terrible disaster 1857. occurred on the Lower St. Lawrence. The steamer "Montreal," with two hundred and fifty-eight Scottish emi- grants on board, took fire opposite Cape Eouge, near Quebec, and burned to the water's edge. Two hundred and fifty lives were lost by this tragedy. The continuance of the Chinese war, and the outbreak of the Sepoy mutiny, taxed to the utmost the force of Britain's arms, and called ft>rth the intense sympathy of Her Majesty's Cana- dian subjects. The awful massacre of Cawnpore caused a feeling of horror throughout the Empire, followed by one of patriotic exultation on the heroic relief of Lucknow. The names of the veteran Outram, the gallant Campbell, the chivalric Lawrence, the saintly Havelock, were added to our THE COALITION MINISTRY. 435 country's bead-roll of immortal memories, to be to her sons an inspiration to patriotism, to piety, and to duty, forever. A comparative failure of the wheat crop, coincident with a depression in the English money market, and a commercial panic in the United States, together with the almost total ces- sation of railway construction, produced a financial crisis of great severity throughout Canada. This was aggravated by the over-importing and rash speculations in stocks and real estate which had been stimulated by the abundant expenditure of money in railway enterprises. When the crisis came, many of the strongest mercantile houses fell before it. The inflated prices of stocks and real estate came tumbling down, and many who thought themselves rich for life were reduced to insolvency. The stagnation in trade caused a great falling off in the pub- lic revenue. The Government had to assume the payment of the interest on the railway advances and on the Municipal Loan Fund debt, amounting, respectively, to $800,000 and $400,000 annually. The consequence was a deficit in the public balance- sheet for the year of $340,000. The rapid development of the natural resources of the country, and the elasticity of public credit, however, were such that, under the Divine blessing, prosperity soon returned to crown with gladness the industry of the merchant, the artisan, and the husbandman. The country had at length grown tired of the expense and inconvenience of the removal of the seat of government, every four years, from Quebec to Toronto, or vice versa. On account of local jealousies and sectional interests, however, the repre- sentatives of the two provinces could not agree upon any per- manent seat of government. Both Houses of parliament, therefore, passed resolutions during the session, requesting Her Majesty the Queen to finally settle the question, by the selec- tion of a site for the new capital. Towards the close of the year Mr. Tach6 resigned the pre- miership and was succeeded by Mr. Macdonald, who, however, as ministerial leader in the Assembly, had been the real head of the administration. The parliament was soon after dissolved, and at the ensuing general election each political party strove 436 HISTORY OF CANADA. vigorously to obtain a parliamentary majority. In Upper Canada the Eeformers had the preponderance, and IVIr. Brown, the leader of the Opposition, was elected for both Toronto and North Oxford. In Lower Canada the Rouges, or French Liberals, were decidedly in the minority. Since the union of the Canadas in 1840, successive ministries had succeeded, for the most part, in carrying their measures by a majority from each province, in accordance with what was known as the "double-majority" principle, adopted in order to prevent either secti®n of the country from forcing unpalata- ble legislation on the other. The Reform preponderance in the western province compelled the ministiy of ]\Ir. John A. JNIac- donald to abandon this " double-majority " jDrinciple, if they would continue in office. The Government measures were therefore carried chiefly by a Lower-Canadian ministerial majority. This was felt by the Upper-Canadian Opposition to be all the more galling, because the wealth and population, and consequently the contributions to the public revenue, of the western province, had increased relatively much more than had these elements of prosperity in eastern Canada. This soon led to an outcry against what was designated as " French domina- tion ; " and the persistent advo- cacy of the principle of repre- sentation by population was adopted by the Reform leaders of Upper Canada. The most conspicuous and in- fluential advocate of this jDnnci- ple was Mr. George Brown, the editor of the Toronto " Globe," a gentleman who, though sel- dom holding office, has largely contributed to the moulding of the institutions and political destiny of his adopted country. Mr. Brown, like many of the public men of Canada, was a native of Scotland, having been HON. GEOllGE BIIOWX. THE COALITION MINISTRY. 437 born ill the city of Edinburgh iu 1821. When he was in his seventeenth year, the family emigrated to New York. Here his father, Mr. Peter Brown, a gentleman of superior abilities and cultivated literary tastes, entered into mercantile pursuits. He subsequently established a weekly journal, the " British Chron- icle," in whose columns and in a volume of essays, he defended the honour of Great Britain against hostile American criticism. In 1843 the family removed to Toronto, and the following year Mr. George Brown became the publisher of the " Globe" newspaper, which, under his vigorous management, has become one of the most successful journalistic enterprises of Canada. Mr. Brown's first public employment was in 1849, when, as Government commissioner under the Baldwin-Lafontaine ad- ministration, he investigated the condition of the Provincial Penitentiary, and procured the rectification of its internal man- agement. In 1851 Mr. Brown was elected to the representa- tion of the county of Kent in the parliament of Canada ; and from that time to his retirement from active public life, subse- quent to the confederation of the British North American provinces, he occupied a conspicuous place and exerted a powerful influence in the councils of the country. As a sj)eaker he was master of a robust and courageous eloquence. As a writer he cultivated strength rather than elegance of style. Through the medium of the journal under his control, he has contributed in no inconsiderable degree to mould the public opinion and influence the political destiny of Canada. Mr. Brown resembled, in something more than nationality, those active politicians, his fellow-countrymen, Robert Gourlay and William Lyon Mackenzie. He possessed the same inde- fatigable energy, the same keenness in detecting and vigour in denouncing abuses, and the same tenacity of purpose, which enabled him to battle for years against formidable opposition for the achievement of cherished designs. He was, however, of superior intellectual ability to either of those sturdy pioneers' in the rugged path of political reform. Unlike the impetuous and often reckless Mackenzie, he possessed the sound judgment which enabled him to confine his efibrts within constitutional 438 HISTORY OF CAXADA. limits, aud, more fortunate than either of them, he was per- mitted to witness, in the confederation of British power on this continent, the inauguration of an era of increased prosperity and progress of his country, to the attainment of which he had the happiness, in large degree, to contribute. REPRESENTATION BY rOPULATION. 439 CHAPTER XXXVI. "EEPKESENTATION BY POPULATION." The Ne-w Parliament, 1858 — Thomas D'Arcy McGee — The Queen selects Ottawa as the Permanent Capital — The Opposition Disapprove her Choice — A False Move — The Ministry Resign, and Mr. Brown forms a Cabinet — He is Defeated, and Resigns after Two Days' Tenure of Office — Hon. A. T. Gait — The Cartier-Macdonald Ministry Formed — The "Double-Shuffle" — Law Reforms — Financial Prosperity, 1859 — Parliament Meets at Quebec, 1S60 — Visit of the Prince of Wales — Victoria Bridge — The Party Emblems contrefenqjs — Outbreak of War of Secession, 1861 — Increase of Canadian Population — Retirement of Sir Edmund Walker Head. THE general elections, after the dissolution of 1857, were held in midwinter, and the most strenuous efforts were made by the rival parties to gain a parliamentary ma- i858. jority. Earely has political excitement been so intense. Mr. Brown, as we have seen, enjoyed the triumph of a double re- turn, — for Toronto, and for the North Riding of Oxford. His political allies in Lower Canada, largely on account of his intense Protestantism provoking the hostility of the Roman Catholic party in that province, were badly beaten at the polls. The new parliament met in Toronto, February 28. Among its many new members was Thomas D'Arcy McGee, a former enthusiastic Irish patriot, and partner in the seditious schemes of the insurrectionary leaders, Mitchel and Meagher, now returned as the loyal representative of West Montreal. The strength of parties was first measured in the choice of Speaker. The ministerial candidate was elected by seventy-nine against forty-two votes. The debate on the address was long and acrimonious. The Opposition, led by Mr. Brown, vigorously assailed the ministry, and strongly pressed the question of representation by population. It was, however, defeated by a vote of sixty-four to fifty-two. The question of the seat of government, we have seen, had been referred for final decision to Her Majesty the Queen. 440 BISTORT OF CANADA. That decision was now given in favour of Ottawa. There was much to commend this choice. The position was remote from the American frontier. It was picturesquely situated on one of the great waterways of the country, which formed the dividing line between the two provinces. It also occupied an important strategic military position, and one of great strength and security in case of invasion. The. disappointment, however, of several Canadian cities, which had aspired to the dignity of becoming the capital, caused considerable dissatisfaction in their respective neighbourhoods. Taking advantage of this feeling, the Opposition brought forward a resolution expressing deep regret at Her Majesty's choice, which was carried, on the 28th of July, by a majority of fourteen. It was a false move, and placed the Opposition in apparent antagonism to the sovereign. The ministry, identifying their cause with hers, promptly resigned, and immediately won a large amount of public sympathy. Mr. Brown, as leader of the Opposition, was invited by the Governor-General to form a cabinet, and acceded to the request. The new ministry, although containing several gen- tlemen held in the highest esteem for ability and intelligence, * failed to command a majority of the House. Many of the members repented their rash vote against the Queen's decision, and, by a division of seventy-one to thirty-one, the ministry was defeated. Mr. Brown requested a dissolution of parlia- ment, in order that he might appeal to the country ; but this His Excellency declined to grant, alleging that the House, being newly elected, must reflect the popular will. The min- istry, therefore, resigned, after a tenure of office of only two days. The action of the Governor-General, however, gave serious umbrage to a large section of the Reform party, and his subsequent course was subject to much adverse criticism. Sir Edmund Head now invited Mr. Alexander T. Gait to * Its members were : Messrs. George Brown, James Morris, Michael Foley, Jolin Sandfield Macdonakl, Oliver Mowat, and Dr. Conner, for Upper Canada; and, for Lower Canada, Messrs. Dorion, Drummond, Thibaudeau, Lemieux, Holton, and Laberge. REPRESENTATION BY POPULATION. 44X form a ministry. This gentleman's eminent abilities, and dis- tinguished career as Finance Minister of Canada, demand a short sketch of his personal history. He was the son of John Gait, Esq., of Ayrshire, Scotland, the friend and biographer of Byron, and the author of many popular novels and other works. In 1826, Mr. Gait, senior, came to Canada as com- missioner of the Canada Land Company. He remained in the country three years, founded the town of Guelph, and from him the town of Gait takes its name. In 1833, his son Alex- ander entered, as a junior clerk, the service of the British Ameri- can Land Company, in the East- ern Townships, being then a youth in his sixteenth year. His business talents and fidelity led to his rapid promotion till he be- came chief commissioner of the company. Mr. Gait entered par- liament in 1849, and, with slight intervals, has ever since occupied a prominent position in public ,.j, TT- T • J. -1. SIRA. T. GAXT. liie. His personal integrity, financial ability, and moderation of character, commanded the respect and confidence of the House. But that very moderation rather disqualified him from becoming a party leader, and he declined the profiered honour. Mr. George E. Cartier was now invited to construct a cabinet. This, with the aid of 'Mr. John A. Macdonald, he succeeded in doing. * The new premier was a lineal descendant of the nephews of the illustrious discoverer of Canada, whose name he bears. He was born in 1814, at St. Antoine, on the Chambly Eiver, that parish having been for generations the residence of the Cartier family. He was educated at the Sulpitian College at Montreal, and, in 1835, began the practice of law in that city. * It contained Messrs. John A. Macdonald, John Ross, P. Vankoughnet, G. Sherwood, and Sidney Smith, for Upper Canada; and Messrs. Cartier, Gait, Rose, Belleau, Sicotte, and AUeyn, for Lower Canada. 55 442 HISTORY OF CANADA. He soon rose to eminence in his profession, and, in 1848, entered iDarlicameut as the member for Vercheres, his native county. In 1856, he became Pro- vincial Secretary in the McNab- Tach^ ministry, and, the same year, Attorney-General for Lower Canada in the Tache-Macdonald ministry. In November, 1857, he became the leader of the Lower-Canadian section of the Government, of which Mr. J. A. Macdonald was premier, — known as the Macdonald-Cartier ministry. The events of August, SIR GEORGE E. cARTiER. jg^g^ ^^^^^^ ^ trauspositiou of thcse names, and the formation of the Cartier-Macdonald ministry. Mr. Cartier was a man of indefatigable industry and energy. He was an admirable speaker in both French and English, a man of unimpeachable integrity, and a successful party leader, commanding the confidence of an immense majority of his French-Canadian fellow-countrymen. On the formation of the new ministry, a circumstance oc- curred which became the occasion of an outburst of condemna- tion from the Ecform party. A clause in the Inde2:)endence of Parliament Act provided that a minister resigning any office might, within a month, accept another without going back to his constituents for re-election. Several members of the late Macdonald administration who entered the new cabinet took advantage of this Act by a simple exchange of departmental office. This action was strenuously denounced by the Eeform press, under the designation of the " double shuffle." It was, however, on an appeal to the courts, sustained by law ; but the obnoxious clause of the Act by which it was rendered valid was shortly after rescinded. Among the legislative measures of the session were acts raising the customs duty from twelve to fifteen per cent., in- troducing the decimal system of currency, and dofiuing the privileges of the franchise. During the summer the pioneer REPRESENTATION BY POPULATION. 443 Atlantic telegraph cable linked together in wondrous fellowship the Old World and the New ; but scarcely had the Queen's message of congratulation to the President of the United States flashed beneath the ocean's bed, when communication was inter- rupted, and the permanent union by the electric wire of the eastern and western continents was for some time longer post- 13oned. The loyalty of Canada to the British throne was evidenced by the enthusiasm with which her sons volunteered for enlist- ment in the Hundredth, or Prince of Wales Regiment for the regular army. With the close of the year passed away one of Canada's purest patriots, the Honourable Eobert Baldwin, to whose memory the rival political parties of the country vied in paying respect. The legislation of the parliamentary session which opened on January 29, embraced several important acts. One of 1839. these referred to the consolidation of the statutes of Upper and Lower Canada, which was at length successfully completed, and proved of immense advantage to all interested in the transac- tion of legal business. In order to meet the continued deficit in the revenue, the general rate of customs duties was increased to twenty per cent. ; but manufacturers were increasingly favoured by the admission of raw staples free of duty. The seat of government question was finally set at rest by the authorization of the construction of parliament buildings of a magnificent character at the selected capital. A loyal address to Her Majesty was cordially voted, conveying a pressing invi- tation that the Queen or some member of the royal family should visit the country and formally open the Victoria Rail- way Bridge at Montreal, which was now approaching comple- tion. The announcement was made to parliament by the Governor- General, that the project of a union of the British North Amer- ican provinces had been the subject of a correspondence with the Home Government. At a great Reform gathering held in Toronto in November, resolutions were passed tending to the same result, and asserting the necessity for local self-govern- 444 HISTORY OF CANADA. meiit of the provinces, with a joint central authority for the management of common interests. As a result of the new tariff and of an abundant harvest, the revenue of the year was considerably in excess of the expendi- ture. Over two thousand miles of railway were now in opera- tion, and were rapidly developing the resources of the country. The public debt had increased to over fifty-four millions ; but the whole had been incurred in promoting internal improve- ment and none of it for that incubus of many other countries — the support of fleets or armies. In the neighbouring republic of the United States the ap- proach of the irrepressible conflict between the hostile forces of liberty and slavery was precipitated by the brave but futile invasion of Virginia by John Brown, for the liberation of the bondmen, and by his heroic death upon the scaffold. On the 28th of February, the Canadian legislature assembled I860. in Quebec, to which city it had for the last time re- moved. A despatch from the Colonial Secretary announced that Her Majesty, unable to leave the seat of the empire, Avould be represented at the opening of the Victoria Bridge by the Prince of Wales. A vote of $20,000 was therefore included in the estimates, to give a loyal reception to the heir-apparent to the throne. During this session Mr. Brown introduced two important resolutions, embodying the conclusions of the Toronto Reform convention of the previous year. The first declared « ' That the existing legislative union of Upper and Lower Canada had failed to realize the anticipations of its promoters ; that it had resulted in a heavy debt, grave political abuses, and universal dissatis- faction ; and that from the antagonism developed through dif- ference of origin, local interest and other causes, the union in its present form could no longer be continued with advantage to the people." The second resolution asserted *' That the true remedy for these evils would be found in the formation of two or more local governments, to which should be committed all matters of a sectional character, and the erection of some joint authority to dispose of the affairs common to all." REPRESENTATION BY rOPULATIOX. 445 These resolutions were rejected by the House — the first by a vote of sixty-seven to thirty-six ; the second by a vote of seventy-four to thirty-two ; but the principles which they ex- pressed, though scorned at the time, were destined to prevail, and to become incorporated in the present constitution of the Dominion. The ministry was sustained during the session by large majorities, and the House adjourned, May 19, to meet three months later, in order to give a fitting welcome to the Prince of A Vales. Throughout the country the anticipated visit of the son of our beloved sovereign evoked the most loyal enthusiasm. Every town and village on his proposed route was decked in gala dress. On July 23, H. M. Ship " Hero," with an accompany- ing fleet of man-of-war vessels, bearing the Prince of Wales and suite, reached St. John's, Newfoundland, amid the thunder- ing of cannon and the loyal cheers of the people. The progress of the royal party was a continued ovation. After visiting Halifax, St. John, Fredericton, and Charlotte- town, they were welcomed to Canada by the Governor-General and a brilliant suite at Gaspe, August 14. On the 17th the royal fleet sailed up the gloomy gorge of the Saguenay, and the thunders of its cannon awoke the immemorial echoes of the lofty clifls of Capes Trinity and Eternity. The following day the Prince reached Quebec, and was profoundly impressed with the magnificent site of the many-ramparted and grand old his- toric city. After receiving a loyal address from both branches of the legislature, the royal progress was resumed. On the 25th of the month, amid the utmost pomp and pageantry, in the name of his august mother, the Prince of Wales drove the last rivet of the magnificent bridge that bears her name. Bestriding the rapid current of the St. Lawrence, here nearly two miles wide, on four and twenty massive piers — the centre span being three hundred and thirty feet wide and sixty feet above high-water mark — it is one of the grandest achievements of engineering skill in the world. It cost six and a half millions of dollars, and was designed and brought to 446 HISTORY OF CANADA. completion by a Canadian engineer, Thomas C. Keefer, and the world-renowned bridge builder, Kobert Stephenson. Illumina- \ tions and fireworks, turning night into day, and a grand carni- val of festivities, celebrated the joyous occasion. REPRESENTATION BY POPULATION. 447 At Ottawa, oa September the first, amid as imposing and picturesque surroundiugs as any on the continent, was laid the corner-stone of the stately pile, worthy of the site, which was to be the home of the legislature of a great Dominion. An overland ride to Brockville, and a sail through the lovely scenery of the Thousand Islands, brought the royal party to Knigston. Through an unfortunate contretemps, — the exhibi- tion of party emblems on an arch erected by the Orange society, — the inhabitants of both Kingston and Belleville were deprived of the pleasure of expressing their loyalty to their future sovereign. Toronto was surpassed by no city in British North America in the magnificence of its decorations, the enthusiasm of its demonstration, and the heartiness of its loyalty. The royal progress through the western peninsula was accompanied by no less cordial exhibitions of loyalty to the heir of the British crown. At Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, New York, and Boston, the Prince of Wales received from a foreign nation a warmth of welcome which proved its nnforgotten chivalric regard toward the heir of a long line of English kings, and its admiration of his royal mother, — as woman, wife, and queen, the paragon of sover- eigns. On October 29, the royal party sailed from Portland, carrying recollections of the warmest hospitality alike from a foreign nation and from the sub- jects of the British crown, accom- panied, in the case of the latter, by proofs of the most devoted loyalty to the throne and person of the sovereign. During the absence of the Gover- nor-General from Canada on a visit to Great Britain, the government of the country was administered with eminent ability by Sir Wil- sir wm. fenwick williams. liam Fenwick Williams of Kars. The distinguished military career of that officer had reflected an unfading lustre upon his 448 HISTORY OF CANADA. name and country. He was born at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1800. The son of the commissary-general and barrack-master, he early entered military life. He spent nine years in engineering ser- vice in Ceylon, and as many more in diplomatic engagements in Asiatic Turkey. During the Eussian war he won his chief military laurels by his heroic defence of Kars, for over four months, against a much superior Eussian force. Although victorious in a sanguinary eight hours' battle, he was compelled to surrender by famine rather than by the enemy. On his return to England, he entered parliament for the borough of Calne, and, in 1858, became Commander-in-Chief of the forces in British North America. Toward the close of the year the heart of the country was profoundly stirred, not by homage to a royal prince, but by sympathy for a fugitive slave. Seven years before, Eobert Anderson, in making his escape from bondage in Missouri, had slain a man who sought to prevent his flight. After several years' residence in Canada, he was tracked by the slave-catcher, charged with murder, and his extradition demanded under the Ashburton treaty. Legal opinion was divided as to the validity of the demand. Intense popular interest was felt in the ques- tion, which found expression in enthusiastic public meetings of sympathy for the hunted fugitive. It was argued that in defending himself against recapture to bondage, and to con- dign punishment and probably a cruel death, he was exercising an inalienable human right. An appeal was made to the English Court of Queen's Bench ; but while the aj^peal was pending, Anderson was set free by a Canadian court on the ground of informality in his committal. In the United States the war clouds were lowering which were soon to deluge the country with blood. The domination of the slave-power at length provoked the firm resistance of the North. Abraham Lincoln was elected as the tribune of the friends of liberty. The haughty South refused to bow to this expression of the popular will. First South Carolina, then other States, seceded from the Union and organized a confed- eracy based on human slavery. With the close of the year a REPRESENTATION BT POPULATION. 449 federal force was besieged in Fort Sumter, guarding Charleston harbour. The first shot fired on the flag of the Republic reverberated through the nation. North and South rushed to arms. isei. A royal proclamation, issued May 13, enjoined strict neutrality on all British subjects, and recognized the belligerent rights of the South. Such, however, was Canada's sympathy with the North in this war for human freedom, — for such it ultimately proved to be, — that before its close fifty thousand of her sons enlisted in the Northern armies, and many lost their lives for what they felt to be a sacred cause, while comparatively few entered the armies of the South. At the battle of Bull Run, on the 21st of July, were opened the sluices of the deep torrent of blood shed in this fratricidal war. For four long years of the nation's agony, that gory tide ebbed and flowed over those fair and fertile regions stretching from the valley of the Potomac to the Gulf of Mexico, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi ; carrying sorrow and death into almost every hamlet in the Union, and into many a Canadian home ; costing a million of lives and millions of treasure ; but, let us thank God ! emancipating forever four millions of slaves. The Canadian parliament assembled in Quebec on the 16th of March. The speech from the throne conveyed the acknowl- edgment of the Queen's high appreciation of the loyal recep- tion of the Prince of Wales. It referred also to the fact that a writ of the English Court of Queen's Bench had been issued in Canada, and urged the propriety of preventing by suitable legislation any conflicting jurisdiction. The debate on the address lasted for six days, and was the occasion of a good deal of recrimination. The Orangemen, the Freemasons, and some of the leading religious bodies had all grievances to com- plain of, in the form of real or imagined slights during the visit of the Prince of Wales. A motion of Mr. John Sandfield Macdonald's, urging the adoption, by the ministry, of the double-majority principle, was lost by a vote of sixty-four to forty-six, and a direct motion of want of confidence in the Government was lost on division, by sixty-two to forty-nine. 450 HISTORY OF CANADA. The returns o. the census taken at the close of the previous year revealed a rapid increase in the population of the country. In 1841, that of Upper Canada was 465,375; in 1851, it was 952,061; in 1861, it had reached 1,396,091. The population of Lower Canada, in 1841, was 690,782; in 1851, 890,261; and, in 1861, 1,110,444. The population of the two Canadas, it will be seen, amounted, in 1861, to 2,506,755. The rate of increase in the Upper province had been so much greater than that of Lower Canada, that it now had an excess of 285,427 over the population of the latter, yet it had only the same par- liamentary representation. This practical injustice lent new energy to the Upper-Canadian agitation for representation by population. The feeling of jealousy between the two sections of the province led to extravagance of expenditure. Although Upper Canada contributed the larger part of the public reve- nue, the lower province claimed an equal share from the com- mon treasury. Thus many uuremunerative public works were constructed in one province as an offset to an expenditure for necessary constructions in the other. Parliament adjourned on the 1st of May, and was soon afterwards dissolved. The general election which followed resulted in a considerable gain to the Opposition, especially in Upper Canada. Mr. Cartier, however, won a signal victory by defeating Mr. Dorion, the liberal leader, in Montreal East. Mr. Brown was also defeated in Toronto. During this year, — on the 28th of August, — the restless career of William Lyon Mackenzie came to a close. He had, to a considerable degree, fallen out of view of a generation familiar only by report with the stirring, but ill-guided events in which he bore so prominent a part. In the month of October, Sir Edmund Walker Head ceased to be Governor-General of Canada, and returned to Great Britain. With a considerable section of the community his popularity had greatly waned, on account of his alleged sym- pathy with one of the political parties of the country, — an allegation which, if true, was probably more his misfortune than his fault. POLITICAL CRISIS. 451 CHAPTER XXXVn. POLITICAL CRISIS. Lord Monck, Governor-General, 1861 — The '* Trent" Affair— Threatened Out- break of War — Surrender of Slidell and Mason — The Cartier-Macdonald Ministry Defeated on Militia Bill, 1862 — The Macdonald-Sicotte Cabinet Formed — Its Policy — Commercial Prosperity consequent on American War — The Cotton Famine — Canada at the World's Fair — Defeat of the Minis- try — It Appeals to the Country, 1863 — Reconstruction of the Cabinet — Political Dead-lock. IT is a curious coincidence that two men evidently of Nor- man origin, and one might say, of the same name, should at an interval of two centuries, hold positions of high command in Canada, one the representative of the old French regime, the other the representative of British rule. In the middle of the seventeenth century, Charles Le Moyne, afterwards Baron of Longueuil, was appointed by Louis XIV. King's Lieutenant in New France. Two centuries later, a descendant of Guillaume Le Moyne, a contemporary of William of Normandy, conqueror of England, became the representative in Canada of the authority of Queen Victoria. Charles Stanley Monck, fourth Viscount of that name, was born at Templemore, in the county of Tip- perary, in 1818. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and called to the Irish bar in 1841. He represented for some years the English constituency of Portsmouth in the Imperial parliament, and was a Lord of the Treasury under the Palmer- ston administration. He was sworn into office on the 24th of October, 1861, and soon had to face a grave international diffi- culty, in which Great Britain became involved with the United States. On the 9th of November, Captain Wilkes, of the U. S. steam- ship ' ' Jacinto," forcibly carried off from the British mail-steamer "Trent," Messrs. Slidell and Mason, commissioners of the Southern Confederacy to Great Britain and France. The 452 HISTORY OF CANADA. British Government promptly resented this violation of inter- national comity and of the rights of neutrals, and demanded the rendition of the captured commissioners. The foolish boasting and defiance of a large portion of the American press of the North greatly estranged public sympathy from their cause, both in Canada and Great Britain, or diverted it toward the Southern Confederacy, and rendered an outbreak of hostili- ties imminent. While awaiting an answer to the ultimatum sent to the United States, the British Government shipped to Canada several regi- ments of troops, the flower of the army, including the Grena- dier and Fusilier Guards and the Prince Consort's Eifle Brigade, with immense stores of munitions of war. The navi- gation of the St. Lawrence having closed, a portion of the troops came overland through New Brunswick. The country sprang to arms. Volunteer military companies were organ- ized, home guards enrolled, and large sums of money con- tributed to defend, if need were, the honour and dignity of the empire. Amid these public agitations came the startling intelligence of the death of Prince Albert, the wise and noble consort of our beloved and honoured Queen, December 15. The nation's sympathy with the widowed sovereign was profound and sin- cere. A prudent counsellor, a loving husband, a high-minded man, the Queen, after seventeen years of widowhood, con- tinues to mourn his loss with almost the poignancy of her first grief. With the close of the year, the war-cloud which menaced the country was dissipated, by the surrender of Messrs. Slidell and Mason, the captured commissioners, to the British Govern- ment. The new parliament met in Quebec on the 21st of March. 1868. The general election had considerably increased the strength of the Opposition, notwithstanding its losses in Toronto and Montreal. The conflict of parties was renewed with the utmost vigour. In the debate on the address the ministry were sustained by a majority of seventeen. A sub- POLITICAL CRISIS. 453 ject of much importance was referred to in the Governor's speech, on which, however, it was soon to be defeated. The defence of the provinces against the growing military power of the United States, was a subject of considerable difficulty. The Imperial authorities, feeling that in case of the rupture of peace Canada would become the battle-ground, had devised a com- prehensive sj'stem of fortification. The cost of the extensive works at Quebec was to be defrayed by the Home Government, and that of the works at Montreal and places west of it was to be paid from the provincial treasury. The people of Canada, while willing to make any effort for national defence that they thought commensurate with their ability, shrank from largely increasing their heavy indebtedness by undertaking military works which they considered too extensive and costly for their means, and of the necessity for which they were by no means convinced. The volunteer movement was vigorously sustained, and rifle competitions contributed to the efficiency of the corps ; but the feeling of the country in opposition to the fortification scheme found expression in an adverse vote of the House on the ministerial militia bill, on the 30th of May. The bill was defeated by a vote of sixty-one to fifty-four. The ministry forthwith resigned, and Mr. John Sandfield Mac- donald was called upon to form a new cabinet.* Mr. Mac- donald, with whom was associated as leader of the Lower-Can- adian section of the new ministerial party Mr. Sicotte, announced as the policy of his administration the observance of the double- majority principle in all measures affecting locally either prov- ince ; a re-adjustment of the representation of Upper and Lower Canada, respectively, without, however, adopting the principle of representation by population ; and an increase of revenue and protection of manufoctures by a revised customs tariff. He also promised retrenchment of public expenditure, vigorous departmental reforms, and an amended militia bill instead of the one by which the late Government had fallen. This com- * The new ministry waa composed of Messrs. John Sandfield Macdonald, Wilson, Foley, Morris, Macdougall, and Howland, for Upper Canada ; and for Lower Canada, Messrs. Sicotte, Abbott, McGee, Dorion, Tessier, and Evanturel. 454 BISTORT OF CAXADA. prebensive programme to a largo degree was received with pub- lic favour, but the failure to assert the principle of representa- tion by population in the re-adjustment of seats, was vigorously denounced by the Toronto " Globe." The parliamentary rejection of the Macdonald-Cartier militia bill created an impression in Great Britain that the Canadians were unwilling to bear the burden of self-defence — an errone- ous conception, which the military enthusiasm of the country during the late "Trent" difficulty ought to have prevented. The thorough loyalty of the people was shown by the liberal militia bill of the following session. The continuance of the American war was attended with great commercial advantage to Canada. The prolonged hos- tilities greatly decreased the productive industry of the United States, and created an immense drain upon the national resources. Canadian horses were in especial demand for remounts for the Union cavalry and artillery. The country was also denuded of its surplus live-stock and farm-produce, and, in fact, of every marketable commodity, at highly remun- erative prices. The resulting financial prosperity, in which all industrial classes shared, enabled the people to discharge the indebtedness which many had incurred through rash specu- lation or lavish expenditure. It was observed that " the pros- perous years which now followed were distinguished by an unusually small amount of litigation, while money-lenders no longer reaped the abundant harvest they had hitherto enjoyed. This gratifying condition of affairs," it was further remarked, *' tended also to a diminution of crime, the volume of which, however, had always been very limited in the country. The war had already absorbed the more unquiet spirits of the population, and the ample employment and high wages which prevailed led, in addition, to light calendars in the courts of justice." In their prosperity Canadians did not forget the adversity of their sufiering fellow-subjects in Great Britain, who were enduring extreme privation from the cotton-famine, consequent on the closure of the ports of the Southern Confederacy, from POLITICAL CRISIS. 455 which the raw staple of their industry was derived. Generous contributions for the relief of their necessities exhibited at once the patriotism and philanthropy of the donors. Canada also achieved distinction by the very creditable exhibition of her raw material and manufactured products at the World's Fair at London, where she carried off, from all competitors, numerous prizes. Attention was also conspicu- ously drawn to the country as a profitable field for investments, and for emigration, and to its vast resources. Parlfament met in Quebec early in February, and the agita- tion for the increased representation of Upper Canada isea. was renewed. Mr. Matthew Crooks Cameron moved an amendment to the address in reply to the speech from the throne, in favour of direct representation by population ; and Mr. John Hillyard Cameron moved a resolution in favour of giving an increased representation to Upper Canada with the existing number of members of parliament. Both of these propositions were defeated by the solid Lower-Canadian vote ; but public opinion in Upper Canada was daily becoming stronger in favour of a more equitable adjustment of the rep- resentation. The ministry was evidently losing popularity, and a large deficit in the revenue, notwithstanding increased taxation, still further undermined their position. At length, May 1st, Mr. John A. Macdonald moved a direct vote of want of confidence, and, after a spirited debate of four days, the Government was defeated by a vote of sixty-four to fifty-nine. They resolved to appeal to the country, and, on the 12th of May, the House was prorogued, and shortly after dissolved. In order to propitiate the dissatisfied section of the Reform party, and to win a larger support, Mr. Macdonald recon- structed his cabinet, by the substitution of seven new mem- bers * of supposed greater popularity, in place of eight who * Messrs. Blair, Mo-wat, Holton, Laframboise, ThibaTideau, St. Just and Hun- tington. Of Lis former colleaguea lie retained only three, — Messrs. Dorion, Howland, and Macdougall. 456 HISTORT OF CANADA. were superseded. This cabinet is known as the IMacdonald- Dorion ministry.* This course was assailed as unconstitutional, inasmuch as the Government was essentially a dif- ferent one from that in whose favour the dissolution had been granted. It therefore brought him little accession of strength, and converted into opponents some of his former supporters. The parliament re-assembled after the election, on the 13th of August. Tlie debate on the ad- dress dragged its slow length „ along for fourteen davs. The HON. ANTOIXE A. DORION. =^ ministry had to meet the recrimi- nations of its former members, Messrs. Foley, Sicotte, and McGee. On the vote being taken, it was found that the ministers had a majority of only three. The budget for the year, as submitted by Mr. Rowland, Finance Minister, was not very encouraging. The public debt had grown to seventy million dollars, with a deficit, since 1857, of twelve millions. The annual interest amounted to five and a half million dollars. The estimates for the year were very heavy, amounting to $15,119,200, — of which $4,294,000 was for the redemption of seigneurial-tenure bonds. An additional revenue of two mill- ion dollars was required to meet the annual expenditure. The heavy financial burdens imposed upon the country under the Hincks administration, with subsequent increments by each * The Hon. Antoine Aime Dorion, Q. C, belongs to a family which have given several members to the public service of their country. His father and grand- father were both members of the Lower-Canadian Assembly. One brother was a member of the Assembly of the united Canadas, and another, subse- quently, of the House of Commons of the Dominion. During the whole of his political life, Antoine Aime Dorion has been a recognized leader of the Lower- Canadian Liberal party. He was three times a member of the Executive Council of Canada. He subsequently, 1873, became Minister of Justice in the Dominion Cabinet, and became Chief Justice of Lower Canada in 1874. POLITICAL CRISIS. 457 successive Government, were bringing its fiscal affiiirs into great difficulty. The position of the ministry had become critical. It managed to get through the session, however, without defeat. The political outlook was not very re-assuring. Much irrita- tion was felt in the United States toward Great Britain, on account of the devastation caused by the "Alabama," and ** Florida," and other Confederate cruisers. These piratical vessels, as the people of the North regarded them, constructed by British ship-builders, and equipped by British merchants, had captured and destroyed hundreds of American ships, and had almost swept American commerce from the seas. The Union armies, however, by sheer force of numbers, and an unlimited supply of war materiel^ were steadily crushing out the Southern rebellion, notwithstanding an heroic resistance worthy of a better cause. A gleam of sunshine was thrown over the somewhat sombre condition of public affairs during the year, by the marriage of the Prince of Wales with the lovely and amiable Alexandra, Princess of Denmark, which had taken place on the 19th of March. The recent visit of the Prince gave an enhanced interest throughout Canada in the auspicious event. The loyal congratulations of the empire found admirable expression in the noble ode of the laureate written upon the occasion. 58 458 BISTORT OF CANADA. CHAPTER XXXVm. THE CONFEDERATION MOVEMENT. The Macdonald-Dorion Ministry Eesign — The Tach^-Macdonald Ministry Formed and Defeated — A Dead-lock Ensues — A Coalition Ministry Formed to Bring about the Confederation of the Provinces — Southern Eefugees in Canada Seize American Steamers on Lake Erie, and Plunder Banks at St. Albans — Canadian Government Guards Frontier — The Growth of Con- federation Sentiment — Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences — The Cana- dian Parliament Adopts the Confederation Scheme — Anti-Confederation Movement in the Maritime Provinces — Close of the American "War — Slavery Abolished — Assassination of President Lincoln — Canadian Sym- pathy — Death of Sir E. P. Tach6 and Lord Palmerston — The Seat of Government Removed to Ottawa. THE affiiirs of the country were fast approaching a crisis. A political dead-lock was imminent. During the recess, the ministry still further lost ground. Mr. Macdougall, a member of the Cabinet, openly renounced the principle of representation by population as impracticable, and evoked the bitter opposition of Mr. Brown and his influential organ, the " Globe." The ministry received a severe blow in the defeat of Mr. Albert N. Richards, who had been assigned the vacant office of Solicitor-General. On his appeal to his constituents for re-election, his previous majority of one hundred and thirty- five was converted into a minority of seventy-five. On the meeting of Parliament at Quebec, February 19, 1864. speculation was rife as to what course ministers would pursue. The debate on the address passed without the proposi- tion of any amendment by the Opposition, but the ministry found themselves without a working majority, and soon resigned their portfolios. Mr. Blair, the Provincial Secretary of the late administra- tion, was requested to construct a new cabinet, but failed in the THE CONFEDERATION MOVEMENT. 459 attempt. Sir E. P. Tache now essayed the difficult task, with better success.* The programme of the new administration promised a vigorous militia policy, a commercial union with the maritime provinces, and an earnest effort to maintain reciprocity with the United States, which that country had threatened to abrogate. The vexed question of representation remained unsettled, the fruitful source of future difficulty. The new ministry, soon after its organization, only escaped defeat on a direct vote of want of confidence, by a majority of two. After a month's struggle for existence, it succumbed to a hostile vote of sixty to fifty-eight. The anticipated dead-lock had now arrived. Parties were so equally balanced that neither could carry on the government of the country against the opposition of the other. Every consti- tutional method of solving the difficulty had been exhausted. Dissolution of parliament and change of ministry brought no relief. The application of the double-majority principle was found impracticable, and representation by population under existing conditions was unattainable. The solution of the diffi- culty that appeared most feasible was the long-contemplated plan of a union of the North American provinces, with a central "joint authority " and local self-government. On the 14th of June, the very day of the defeat of the ministry, a select committee, of which Mr. Brown was chair- man, reported in favour of a "federation system, applied either to Canada alone, or to the whole British North American provinces." Immediately after the defeat of the Government, Mr. Brown spoke to several supporters of the Administration, strongly urging that the present crisis should be utilized in settling forever the constitutional difficulties between Upper and Lower Canada, and also assuring them that he was prepared to co-operate with the existing, or any other administration, that * It embraced the following members : — Sir E. P. Tach^, and Messrs. Car- tier, Gait, Chapais, McGee, and Langevin, for Lower Canada ; and for Upper Canada, Messrs. John A. Macdonald, Campbell, Buchanan, Foley, Simpson, and Cockburn. 460 HISTORY OF CAXADA. •would deal with the question promptly and fully, with a view to its final settlement.* This proffer led to an interview between Mr. Brown and Messrs. Macdonald and Gait. These gentlemen agreed that nothing but the extreme urgency of the crisis and the hope of settling the sectional troubles of the province forever, could justify their combining for common political action. "With a view to the accomplishment of this object, after prolonged negotiation and consultation of political supporters on both sides, Mr. Brown entered the cabinet as President of the Council, and associated with him, as representatives of the Reform party, Mr. William Macdougall as Provincial Secretary, and Mr. Oliver Mowat as Postmaster-General. This coalition was very generally received with extreme satisfaction, as a de- liverance from the bitter strife of parties which had so long distracted the country. Contemporary events now demonstrated the necessity for a strong Government. The continued successes of the Northern armies in the fratricidal conflict in the United States, made Canada the asylum of many Southern refugees. Disregarding the sacred rights of hospitality, these refugees organized suc- cessive raids upon the Northern States from the territory which gave them shelter — careless whether they embroiled a neutral country in war with her powerful neighbour, or probably anxious to bring about a collision between the North and Great Britain. In the month of September, a gang of Southern desperadoes seized two American steamers on Lake Erie, with the design of releasing the Confederate prisoners on Johnson's Island, and of destroying the shipping on the lake. The attempt was in- efiectual ; but a more successful hostile efibrt was made on the Lower-Canadian frontier about a month later. A body of twenty-three refugees attacked the banks of St. Albans, in Vermont, and hastily retreated across the border with $233,000 * This paragraph, -with several of the statements which follow, are taken verbatim from the memorandum read to the House on the 23d of June, explain- ing the negotiations which led to the formation of the Coalition Ministry. The confederation movement. 461 of ill-gotten booty, having added the crime of murder to that of robbery. Fourteen of the raiders were arrested, but were subsequently discharged by Judge Coursel, of Montreal. The illegal surrender to them of $90,000 of the stolen money — which the Canadian Government had subsequently to repay — and the growing sympathy for the South of a portion of the Canadian press and people, embittered the relations between the two countries, and contributed largely to the abrogation of the reciprocity treaty, Avhich soon took place. To prevent a repeti- tion of these raids, the Canadian Government distributed a l^atrol force of thirty volunteer companies along the more exposed points of the frontier. An ' ' Alien Act " was also j)assed, enabling the Executive summarily to arrest suspicious characters. Meanwhile the subject of colonial confederation was attract- ing increased attention in the British North American provinces. As we have previously seen in this history, at different periods various schemes, more or less comprehensive, had been pro- posed as a solution of the governmental difficulties from which they were suffering, and as the best measure of national defence. The removal of the commercial restrictions, caused by the isolating, and often mutually hostile, tariffs of the provinces, and the establishment of intercolonial free trade, it was felt would greatly develop their material prosperity. As early as 1808, Mr. Kichard J. Uniacke had introduced the question of a union of the British provinces into the legis- ture of Nova Scotia, but public sentiment was not ripe for its adoption. In 1814, Chief Justice Sewell, of Quebec, proposed a similar scheme to Lord Bathurst, as a means of solving the governmental difficulty in that province. In 1822, Mr. John Beverly Robinson, Attorney-General of Upper Canada, at the request of the Colonial Office, drew up a plan for the confeder- ation of British North America. It was, however, superseded by the union of the Canadas, a measure to effect which was introduced into the Imperial parliament that same year. The scheme had also been a prominent feature in the report of Lord Durham in 1839. In 1854, Mr. Johnson introduced the ques- 462 HISTORY OF CANADA. tion into the Assembly of Nova Scotia, but it was strongly opposed by Mr. Howe, who favoured rather colonial representa- tion in the Imperial iDarliament. In 1857, Messrs. Johnson and Archibald proceeded to England, as delegates from the Nova Scotia legislature, to confer with the Colonial Secretary upon the subject. The Home authorities, while offering no ©bstacles, considered the question one to be chiefly settled by the provinces themselves. The same year, Mr. A. T. Gait, in an able and eloquent speech in the Canadian parliament, set forth the advantages of confederation, as an antidote to sectional strife, a solvent of political difliculties, and a stimulus to in- creased prosperity. The following year, Messrs. Cartier, Rose, and Gait, Canadian delegates in England on the subject of the Intercolonial Railway, urged upon the Colonial Secretary, the Hon. Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, the confederationof the provinces, as a means of allaying their mutual jealousies, promoting their prosperity, and strengthening the power of the empire ; and requested authority from the Imperial Government to have a conference of delegates from the several provinces to discuss the scheme. The Colonial Secretary, although not objecting to the proposed conference, desired a more definite expression of public opinion on the subject. The idea continued to leaven more and more the public mind. It was discussed in papers, pamphlets, and speeches. In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Dr. Tupper advocated the scheme in several able lectures. During the progress of the American war, the growth of opinion in favour of colonial unification as a means of con- solidating the strength of the provinces in the not imj)ossible contingency of war with the United States was rapid, both in Great Britain and in the colonies. The maritime provinces had already been discussing the project of a legislative union among themselves, — the difficulties in the way of a more com- prehensive federation being thought at the time insuperable. Delegates were accordingly appointed by the Governments of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, to meet for the discussion of the subject at Charlottetown, in the latter province, on the 1st of September, 1864. The Canadian THE CONFEDERATION MOVEMENT- 463 coalition Government intimated, through the Governor-General, a wish to be represented at that conference. It was cordially invited to send delegates. It did so.* After the Canadian delegates had expressed their views, the larger scheme seems to have entirely swallowed the narrower one. The conference adjourned with the understanding that delegates from all the provinces should meet at Quebec on the 10th of October. The Canadian delegates made, by invitation, a visit to Halifax, St. John, and Fredericton, and were everywhere received with banquets, balls, and hospitable entertainments, which gave a social impulse to the projected union. On the 10th of October, the Quebec conference began its sessions in a chamber of the parliament buildings in the old historic capital. Thirty-three delegates were present, of all shades of political opinion, from the several provinces, f Sir E. P. Tache, Premier of Canada, was chosen President. The occasion was one of august and imposing interest. The Hon. John Hamilton Gray, in his admirable History of Confedera- tion, X thus describes the scene : — " The time, the men, the circumstances, were peculiar. The place of meeting was one of historic interest. Beneath the shadow of Cape Diamond, on the ruins of the old castle of St. Louis, with the broad St. Lawrence stretching away in front, the Plains of Abraham in sight, and the St. Charles winding its silvery course through scenes replete with the memories of * The delegates were : Messrs. John A. Macdonald, George Brown, George E. Cartier, Alexander T. Gait, T. D'Arcy McGee, H. L. Langevin, William Mac- dougall, and Alexander Campbell. t The number of delegates from the several provinces, and their names, were as follows : — Canada, 12. Hon. Messrs. Tachd, J. A. Macdonald, Cartier, Brown, Gait, Campbell, Macdougall, McGee, Langevin, Cockburn, Mowat, and Chapais. New Brunswick, 7. Hon. Messrs. Tilley, Johnson, Chandler, Gray, Mitchell, Fisher, and Stevens. PiuNCK Edward Island, 7. Hon. Messrs. Gray, Palmer, Pope, Coles, A. A. Macdonald, Haviland, and Whelan. Nova Scotia, 5. Hon. Messrs. Tapper, Kenny, Dickey, Archibald, and Mc- Cnlly. Newfoundland, 2. Hon. Messrs. Carter, and Shea. { Vol. I., pp. 51, 52. 464 HISTORY OF CANADA. old France, where scarce a century gone the Fleur de Lys and the Cross of St. George had waved in deadly strife, now stood the descendants of those gallant races, the Saxon and the Gaul, hand in hand, with a common country and a common cause. Met with the full sanction of their sovereign and the Imperial ' Government, attended by the representatives and ministers of the crown, sent from the parliaments chosen by the people, they were called upon to lay in peace the foundations of a state that was to take its place beside that Eepublic which, wrenched from the parent-land in strife, had laid the foundations of its greatness with the sword, and baptized its power in blood." The deliberations continued for seventeen days. Many con- flicting interests had to be harmonized, and many local diflicul- ties removed. At length a general plan was agreed upon, and resolutions adopted as the basis of an Act of Confederation. These resolutions were to be submitted to the difierent legisla- tures for adoption, without alteration of form; but the scheme was not to be published till the time for legislative action should arrive. At the close of the conference, its delegates were feted with public banquets at Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and elsewhere. Throughout Canada an outburst of loyal enthusiasm hailed the prospect of the unification of the scattered provinces into a new nation. The universities, the boards of trade, pub- lic officials, merchant princes, and the learned professions, vied in paying honour to the delegates, and in the utterance of patriotic sentiments. Political feuds, for the time, were buried, the strifes of parties were forgotten, and the ennobling and elevat- ing influence of an enlarged national sentiment was felt throughout the entire community. The conference had sat with closed doors for the purpose of facilitating freedom of discussion and deliberation on the mani- fold interests brought under review. The general outline of the scheme, however, was gradually divulged, and soon became widely known. It was for the most part received with very great favour. It was regarded as the germ of a new and vigorous national life. The bonds of a common allegiance to THE CONFEDERATION MOVEMENT. 465 the sovereign, and of common sympathies and interests, were recognized. The restraints of local impediments upon free intercolonial trade -were felt to be mcreasingly irksome. The differences of productions and industries of the several prov- inces made their union seem all the more necessary for the greater prosperity of all. The wheat-fields and lumber inter- ests of Canada needed, and were needed by, the fisheries and mines and shipping of the maritime provinces. The magnifi- cent water-ways of the "West furnished unrivalled facilities for commercial relations with the East ; but the lack of a winter seaport made an intercolonial railway, and the harbours of St. John and Halifax, necessary to the development of Canadian trade. A federal central government also promised to lift politics from the level of a jealous conflict between parties into that of a patriotic ambition for the prosperity of the whole country, and for the development of a vigorous national life ; and the local legislatures offered a guarantee of the self-control of the domestic affairs of each province. The long-continued demand of Upper Canada for representation by population would be granted in the constitution of the central parliament ; and the jealousy of the French population of Lower Canada for their religion, language, and laws, would be appeased by their numerical representation in their local legislature. The approval of the Home Government of the general plan of confederation, while it criticised some of its details, was unequivocally expressed. * The press of Great Britain, as well as that of Canada, and the more liberal journals and statesmen f of the United States, joined in a generous chorus of congratulation. • Despatch of the Colonial Secretary to Lord Monck, Dec. 3, 1864. t Mr. Seward paid a noble tribute to the nascent nationality. " I see in British North America," he said, " stretching as it does across the continent, a region grand enough for the seat of a great empire. . . The policy of the United States is to propitiate and secure the alliance of Canada. But the policy which the United States actually pursues is the infatuated one of reject- ing and spurning vigorous, perennial, and ever-growing Canada, while seeking to establish feeble States out of decaying Spanish provinces on the coast and 59 466 HISTORY OF CANADA. Nevertheless, considerable opposition was at first manifested towards the scheme, especially in the maritime provinces. The IDreponderant influence of the more populous provinces was feared, and several of the numerous details of the Quebec scheme, which was presented for accejDtance without modifica- tion, were regarded with strong objection. Thus an anti-confed- erate agitation arose, and was long and vehemently maintained, in the press, on the platform, and at the polls. On the 3d of February the Canadian parliament met at 1865. Quebec. The resolutions on confederation, which had been adopted by the Quebec conference of the previous year, were submitted by Sir E. P. Tach6 in the Legislative Council, and by the Hon. John A. Macdonald in the Assembly. After protracted debate, the report of which fills a volume of over a thousand pages, Mr. Macdonald moved the appointment of a committee to draft an address to the Queen on the subject of the union of all the British North American provinces.* Four several motions in opposition to confederation were defeated by large majorities ; the original motion was carried by a vote of ninety-one to thirty-three ; and a strong deputation pro- ceeded to England to confer with the Imperial authorities upon the carrying out of the project of confederation. In New Brunswick, in the meantime, a general election had taken place, and an assembly highly adverse to confederation had been returned. Not a single man who had been a delegate at the Quebec conference was elected. In Nova Scotia, the anti-confederation agitation was strongly pressed by Joseph Howe, the leader of the Opposition. The friends of the move- ment in Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island were dis- heartened, and it seemed as though the scheme would be ^v-recked almost before it was fairly launched. The chief contest took place in New Brunswick. The Legis- in the islands of the Gulf of Mexico. All southern political stars mnst set, though many times they rise again with diminished splendour. But those which illuminate the pole remain forever shining, forever increasing in si)Ieu- dour." * The committee was composed of Messrs. J. A. Macdonald, Brown, Gait, Cartier, Robitaille and Haultain. THE CONFEDERATION MOVEMENT. 4G7 lative Council was as strongly in favour of confederation as the Assembly was opposed to it. The scheme was received with great favour by the Imperial authorities, and despatches from the Colonial Office strongly urged its adoption. These de- spatches were not without their influence on public opinion in New Brunswick, and as the advantages of the proposed union became, through fuller discussion, more apparent, the tide of feeling began to turn in its favour. The long and terrible civil war in the United States was now drawing to a close. The immense military strength of the North at length fairly crushed out the Southern revolt. Gen- eral Lee, with his war-worn army, surrendered (April 9) ; Jeflferson Davis, the ill-starred president of the confederacy, was captured; and slavery was dead. Generals Grant and Sherman were hailed as the saviours of the republic. But this hour of the nation's triumph was dashed \vdth horror and grief by the cowardly and cruel murder of its civic head — the simple, honest, magnanimous Abraham Lincoln. All Christen- dom shuddered with abhorrence at the foul assassination. The heart of Canada was deeply stirred. Crowded meetings for the expression of the national sympathy were held, and the utmost detestation of the-crime was avowed. Amid tolling bells, flags at half-mast, and mourning emblems, the obsequies of the mart;yTed president were celebrated throughout the land ; and much of the growing estrangement of recent years between the two nations was overcome by this exhibition of popular sym- pathy and good-will. Li the month of June a disastrous fire swept the crowded wooden suburbs of Quebec, destroying a million dollars' worth of property, and leaving three thousand people homeless. The same month witnessed the decease of the premier of Canada, Sir E. P. Tache. He was succeeded in office by Sir Narcissus BcUeau, a member of the Upper House, and on the 8th of August the parliament met in Quebec for the purpose of receiv- ing the report of the deputation sent to Great Britain to pro- mote the scheme of confederation. The session was short, and little opposition was offered to the ministerial measures deemed 468 HISTORY OF CANADA. necessary for the consummation of the grand design which was to become the epoch of a new and ampler national career. In the month of October the veteran English premier, Lord Palmerston, also died ; but the policy of the British Government with respect to confederation underwent no change. PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, OTTAWA. Towards the close of the year the seat of government was removed from Quebec to Ottawa, where the new parliament buildings, now approaching completion, were to become the home of a legislature still more august than that for which they were originally designed. These superb buildings, the finest specimens of Gothic architecture on the continent, have cost in their erection over three millions of dollars. The main build- ing is shown in the engraving. It is constructed chiefly of cream-colored sandstone from the adjoining township of Nepean. The departmental buildings and library are of great elegance of design and stability of construction. THE FEXIAX IXVASION, 1866 469 CHAPTER XXXIX. THE FENIAN INVASION, 18G6. Reciprocity Negotiations — Hon. George Bro-^u leaves the Ministry — American Fiscal Policy — The Fenian Brotherhood — Volunteers called out — Fenian Fiasco at Campo Bello — O'Neil Invades Canada from Buffalo, June 1 — The Fight at Ridgeway — The Fenians Escape — The Fenians Threaten Prescott and Cornwall — " General " Spear Crosses the Frontier of Lower Canada — He is Repulsed, June 8 — Last Parliament of " Old Canada " meets at Ottawa, June 8 — It Revises Tariif and Prepares for Confederation — The Monroe Doctrine — General Banks' Bill in U. S. Congress — Fenian Trials at Toronto. THE reciprocity treaty between the United States and Canada was now approaching the period of its expira- tion by effluxion of time. It Jiad been of immense isee. commercial advantage to both countries. Under its provisions the international trade had grown to the enormous value of seventy million dollars annually. A " Confederate Council on Commercial Treaties " was organized at Quebec for the purpose of negotiating for the renewal of the treaty, and for the open- ing of commercial relations with the West Indies and the coun- tries of South America. * A deputation was sent to Washington to confer with the United States Government, through the Brit- ish minister. That Government, however, refused to grant the renewal of the treaty, except under conditions highly disadvan- tageous to Canada. The Canadian ministry were willing to make considerable concessions to the United States, and even to accept legislative reciprocity if the continuance of the treaty could not be secured. The Hon. George Brown, however, objected to a reciprocity which was liable to abrogation at any time by the vote of a selfish and fickle congress, and * A deputation subsequently proceeded to those countries for this purpose. They recommended the establishment of steamship lines and postal facilities and reciprocal free trade. No very definite result, however, accrued at the time from this effort. 470 HISTORY OF CANADA. thought the concessions clemanded not warranted under the circumstances. In consequence of this disagreement of opinion with his colleagues he retired from the cabinet, and was suc- ceeded by the Hon. Fergusson Blair. He continued, however, with the party which he represented, to support the great measure of confederation, which was now so nearly accom- l^lished. ]\Ir. Howe, the delegate from Nova Scotia to the trade con- vention at Detroit during the summer of 1865, had made a profound impression by his eloquent exposition of the mutual advantages of reciprocity ; but the effect was only transient. The exigencies of the American Government, a feeling of irri- tation at the sujDposed sympathy of Canada with the South during the war, and the delusion on the part of at least some members of congress, that the provinces could be thus coerced into seek- ing annexation with the United States, overrode every effort for the continuance of the treaty. The vast indebtedness incurred by the war, led to the adoption of a high customs tariff for revenue purposes, afterwards increased for the protection of the manufacturing interests. It was therefore considered necessary that the volume of trade flowing from Canada should pay the same proportionate duty as was levied on that coming from other foreign countries. Before the termination of the treaty, which took place in the month of March, the provinces were drained of all their surplus live-stock and farm-produce. The capacity of the railroads and steam-ferries was taxed to the utmost in their transport. The stoppage of trade, therefore, w^as not nearly so disastrous as was anticipated; and there were many counterbalancing advantages to the country resulting from its interruption. It gi-eatly stimulated the development of Canadian manufactures and the growth of foreign and intercolonial commerce, and promoted the scheme of confederation. The lumber-trade, the most important in the country, and absorbing more capital in its operations than any other, suffered very slightly, if at all. The chief inconvenience fell upon the American consumers, who had to pay higher prices for lumber and other indispensa- THE FENIAN INVASION, 1866. 471 ble necessaries. New England suffered largely by the loss of the Canadian supplies of wool and other raw products, as well as of cheap provisions for her manufacturing population, and also by the restriction of the Canadian sales of their manufact- ured products. Instead of promoting annexation, the abro- gation of the treaty had precisely the opposite effect. It opened new avenues of trade and industry, and convinced the Canadians of their ability to prosper without depending so largely on com- mercial intercourse with the United States, and fostered a spirit of patriotism and nationality. This spirit was further promoted by contemporaneous events. The hostile demonstrations of the Fenian brotherhood caused considerable alarm along the frontier, and provoked just indig- nation against United States officials who, for political purposes, fostered this infamous organization, and pandered to the un- reasoning prejudices and antipathies of its members. The ostensible object of this armed conspiracy was the libera- tion of Ireland from English rule, and the avenging of its ancient wrongs. As a means to that end, although the relevancy is not very apparent, the conquest of Canada was proposed, and multitudes of infatuated '< patriots" contributed large amounts of money and formed local organizations in the chief American cities and frontier towns. Gangs of reckless despe- radoes, created by the civil war, and even some leaders of higher rank and of considerable military skill and experience, on the return of peace, finding their occupation gone, joined the law- less movement. The arms, equipments and military stores of the disbanded United States armies being thrown upon the mar- ket, large quantities were purchased at a low rate and stored at points convenient for the invasion of Canada. In order to secure the Irish vote, the rival political factions of the United States shamefully abetted this conspiracy against the peace and prosperity of an unoffending neighbouring coun- try, and permitted the public parade and drilling of this army of invasion, not only without censure but with their active co- operation. Prominent civic and other officials in the United 4:72 HISTORY OF CANADA. States harangued the meetings, subscribed to the funds, and encouraged the nefarious designs of the Fenian brotherhood. The plan of operations of this pernicious organization was twofold. The first scheme proposed a combined attack, at several points of the frontier, on Canada, where, it was asserted, the Irish ''patriots" had many sympathizers. The other and still more insane plan contemplated a direct attack upon Ireland. The former was promoted by "President" Roberts and "General" Sweeney; the latter by a rival section of the brotherhood, under the leadership of " Head Centre " Stephens and "Colonel" O'Mahony. Saint Patrick's day, the 17th of March, was announced as the date of the menaced invasion. The Canadian Government responded to the insolent threat by calling out ten thousand volunteers. The heart of the country was thrilled to its core. In four and twenty hours fourteen thousand of its sons sprang to arms for its protection, and multitudes of Canadians dwelling in the United States hastened home to take part in its defence. The exposed points were promptly garrisoned and the frontier was vigilantly guarded. Saint Patrick's day, however, passed without any disturbance of the peace, and with even less than its usual amount of bannered pomp and patriotic demonstra- tion. In the month of April, a foolish attempt, which ended in a ridiculous fiasco, was made by a handful of ill-equipped would- be warriors against the New Brunswick frontier. The presence of a few regulars and volunteers at Campo Bello, St. Andrew's, and St. Stephen's, so cooled their martial enthusiasm, that they did not venture to cross the boundary-line. The theft of a custom-house flag was duly chronicled as the gallant capture of British colours, and won a little cheap popularity till the dis- covery of the facts made the actors in the farce the laughing- stock of the continent. By the middle of May, the invasion having seemingly ex- hausted itself in futile threats, a considerable proportion of the volunteer force were withdrawn from the frontier, and allowed to return to their homes. But secret preparations were being THE FENIAN INVASION, 1866. 473 made for a number of simultaneous attacks on Canada. One expedition from Detroit, Chicago, and other Western cities, was directed against the Lake Huron frontier ; another, from Buffalo and Rochester, was to cross the Niagara River; a third, from New York and the Eastern cities, was to cross the St. Lawrence at Ogdensburg, sever the communication between the eastern and western portions of the country at Prescott, and menace the seat of government at Ottawa. Meanwhile the right wing of the invading force was to harass and plunder the frontier settlements of the Eastern townships. The result of these grand schemes was singularly incommensurate with their mag- nitude. The main attack was on the Niagara frontier. The city of Buffalo swarmed with lawless ruffians, from Cleveland, San- dusky, Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, and even from as far south as Memphis, Tennessee. Before daylight on Friday, June 1, some twelve or fourteen hundred of them, under the command of " General" O'Neil, crossed from Black Rock, and took possession of the village of Fort Erie. Al- though the United States gunboat "Michigan" patrolled the river for the ostensible purpose of preventing a breach of inter- national peace, yet O'Neil was undisturbed in this movement, and was during the day re-enforced by three hundred men. He was, however, utterly disappointed in any Canadian demonstration of sympathy, if such were expected. The rolling-stock of the Buffalo branch of the Grand Trunk Railway had been with- drawn, but a portion of the track was destroyed, a bridge burned, and the telegrapti wires cut. During the night, or very early on Saturday morning, O'Neil, leaving a guard at Fort Erie to cover his retreat, advanced ten miles southwest- ward towards the "Welland Canal, probably with the intention of destroying the locks and cutting the railway. He halted under cover of some woods at Limeridge not far from the vil- lage of Ridgeway, and threw up a slight breastwork of logs and rails. Meanwhile the tidings of the invasion thrilled the entire country ; the volunteers mustered in force with the utmost 474 HISTORY OF CANADA. promptitude at their several places of assembly, and active* jDreparations were made for the repulse of the enemy. The steamboats "Passport" and " City of Toronto " were at once reserved for military purposes, and the railway companies were notified that the lines leading to the frontier must be placed at the disposal of the military authorities. The volunteers of Toronto, Hamilton, and other places near the scene of action, were promptly despatched, by train or steamer, to the appointed l^laces of rendezvous. The Queen's Own Rifle Brigade, a Toronto volunteer corps, the Thirteenth Battalion of Hamilton, and the York and Caledonia volunteers, under command of Colonel Booker, concentrated on Friday evening, June 1, at Port Colborne, at the Lake Erie entrance to the Welland Canal. Colonel Peacock, with a thousand volunteers and seven hundred and fifty regulars, with a battery of artillery, took post, late the same night, at the historic village of Chippewa, near the Falls of Niagara. Early on Saturday morning, Colonel Booker's force, ignorant of O'Neil's whereabouts, were conveyed by train to Ridge way, and thence advanced towards Limeridge, with the intention of joining Peacock's command. About eight o'clock they discov- ered the enemy securely posted among the trees on a rising gi'ound. The Queen's Own were thrown out as skirmishers, and drove in O'Neil's advance line. The volunteers jDressed the enemy steadily back for more than a mile, under a heavy fire. Some mounted Fenians now came in sight, and under the ajDprehension that a force of cavalry was at hand, the order was given to form squares. The advance skirmishers, having ex- hausted their ammunition, also retired on their supports. This double movement threw the volunteer troops into confusion, soon converted into a retreat, which, however, was gallantly covered by the Queen's Own and the Thirteenth Battalion, which kept up a cool and steady fire on the ranks of the advancing enemy. In this disastrous afiair seven Toronto volunteers — Ensign McEachren and six privates of the regiment, some of them mere lads — were slain, and four ofllcers and nineteen men wounded, some of whom afterwards died from injuries THE FENIAN INVASION, 1866. 475 received. The loss of the Fenian horde is unknown, as they bui'ied their dead upon tlie field of conflict, and at once retreated on Fort Erie. There is reason to believe, however, that it was greater than that which they inflicted. Colonel Dennis, meanwhile, had occupied the village of Fort Erie with a force of seventy men, conveyed in a tug-boat from Port Colborne, and had captured the Fenian guard of sixty men. These he confined on board the tug-boat, which was employed to patrol the river and prevent the arrival of Fenian re-enforcements. Colonel Dennis's handful of men were in turn overpowered by O'Neil's command, more than tenfold their number, which had now retm-ned. It captm'ed foi-ty and wounded thirteen of the volunteers, but not till the latter had inflicted a loss of five killed and several wounded on the enemy. During the night, four hundred armed iniffians left Bufi*alo to re-enforce the invaders, and many more swarmed in the lowest purlieu of the city, ready to ravage and pillage the peaceful inhabitants of Canada in retaliation for the alleged wrongs of Ireland. O'Neil, .however, found that the conquest of Canada was not the mere holiday campaign he seems to have imagined it. Instead of any sympathy with his visionary and wicked designs, he found the inhabitants, almost to a man, loyal to the institutions of their country. He was now anxious, with his misguided dupes, to escape, however ignominiously, from the country he had so wantonly invaded, before he should be sur- rounded by the advancing force of Canadian volunteers. He therefore ordered back the re-enforcements already on their way from Buffalo, and during the darkness stole across the river with the bulk of his force — over nine hundred men — in canal- boats, tugs, skiffs, and every available means of transport, some even on planks torn up from the wharves. His own pickets, and all his Canadian prisoners, were left behind, as well as the dead and wounded. On Sunday morning. Colonel Peacock's advance-guard marched into Fort Erie, but were only in time to capture a number of Fenian stragglers. Others of the marauding ban- ditti skulked through the neighbouring woods till they could 476 HISTORY OF C AX AD A. escape across the border. That Sabbath-day was one of un- wonted excitement throughout Canada. In many of the churches bulletins announcing the names of the killed and wounded were read from the pulpits. In the cities, hospital- supplies were collected, and patriotic women met to prepare lint and ambulance necessaries. All day the telegraph-wires continued to flash intelligence of alarm or re-assurance. The streets were thronged, the printing-offices were besieged, and the presses could not print the successive bulletins fast enough to supply the eager demand. Towards evening the city of Toronto was moved by a common sorrow, as the bodies of her slain volunteers were received by an immense concourse of the citizens. Two days later they were borne, with funeral pageantry, to their early graves. A grateful country has erected a marble monument to their memory, which shall bo an imperishable inspiration of jDatriotism to successive generations of the ingenuous youth of Canada. The country was now thoroughly aroused. The volunteers were called out in force, and were massed at convenient centres from which to move to whatever point seemed menaced with attack. At the military depots long railway trains, laden with batteries of artillery, and with shot, shell, and other war ma- teriel, stood on the sidings, awaiting the summons to the point of danger. Cavalry and infantry marched through the streets to the sound of martial music, with all the pomp and circum- stance of war. Hundreds of Canadian youth employed in the United States threw up their engagements, and hastened home to defend their native land. Several points on the frontier were threatened with invasion. A large body of Fenians assembled at Ogdensburg, as if for a dash across the St. Lawrence, and a raid upon the capital. But t^^o thousand regular and volunteer troops, rapidly massed at Prescott, and a gim-boat which patrolled the river, efiectually prevented an attack. The would-be invaders now moved eastward to Malone, opposite Cornwall; but a force of three thousand Canadian troops at the latter point made them prudently desist from their THE FENIAX IXVASIOX, 1866. 477 designs. There was now a hostile force of five thousand armed men on the frontier of a professedly friendly country, only prevented from invading Canadian soil and harassing and ravaging Canadian farms and villages by the vigilance and valour of their inhabitants. The spirited remonstrance of the British minister at Washington, compelled the United States Government at length to interfere and restrain this wanton vio- lation of international right and comity. General Meade, an able and honest United States oflScer, seized a large quantity of Fenian arms, ammunition, and military stores, at Ogdensburg, and efiectually paralyzed the movements of the marauders. On the 8th of June, however, " General " Spear, with some two thousand Fenian ruffians, crossed the frontier near St. Albans, and took up a positional "Pigeon Hill," three miles from the border. They forthwith began to plunder and ravage the neighbourhood, but the prompt rally of the Canadian forces compelled them to retreat precipitately to the sheltering terri- tory of the United States, where they were disarmed and dispersed by General Meade. So ended in ignominy and disgrace to all its actors, aiders, and abettors, the wanton, infatuated and unprovoked Fenian invasion of Canada. The result was not an unmixed evil. The expense to the country of the transport and maintenance of troops, — of whom forty thousand volunteers alone were at one time under arms, — and the cost of guarding its exten- sive frontier, was great. The sacrifice of precious lives was irreparable and lamentable ; but the glow of patriotism which was kindled in the hearts of the people made the country realize its strength, and developed a national feeling which was a guarantee of its ability to assume the new and important national duties to which it was about to be summoned. The short campaign revealed also certain defects in our military system which demanded prompt removal. The equipment of the troops and the commissariat arrangements were very imper- fect. There was also a singular lack of proper information, and ignorance of the topography of the country. The precipitance of the volunteers in rushing into action on the Niagara frontier, 478 BISTORT OF CANADA. without waiting to carry out the combinations with the regulars and artillery designed by Colonel Peacock, was the cause of serious loss and prevented the infliction of a well-merited punishment upon the invaders. On the same day that the gallant Hochelaga Voltigeurs were repelling invasion from the eastern frontier (June 8), the legis- lature of the country was opened in the new parliament build- ings at Ottawa. The Habeas Corpus Act was temporarily suspended, in order to enable the Government to deal promptly with Fenian emissaries from the United States, and other sus- picious characters. The abrogation of the reciprocity treaty necessitated the remodelling of the tariff. The maximum duty was fixed at fifteen per cent., with free admission of raw ma- terials used in manufactures, and the bulk of manufactured goods were admitted at the low rate of five per cent. The prosperity of the previous year left in the hands of the Finance Minister a surplus adequate to meet the unforeseen and heavy military expenditure caused by the Fenian raids. Resolutions were passed defining the constitutions of UiDper and Lower Canada, in furtherance of the scheme of confederation ; and, on the 18th of August, the last parliament of the old Canadian provinces was prorogued. "Thus," says the Hon. John Hamilton Gray,* "passed away in calm a Constitution which, born in strife and turmoil, sprung from maladministration and rebellion, — forced upon a reluctant province, — (the oldest, and, at the time, most im- portant section of the Union), without consulting its people, and against the wishes of the majority of its inhabitants, — had, nevertheless, during twenty-five years of unexampled prosperity and material progress, laid the foundation deep and strong of true constitutional liberty, — had removed the asper- ities of race and taught the united descendants of France and England that the true source of their future greatness and power on this continent would lie in a mutual regard for each other's rights, a mutual forbearance for each other's prejudices, * " Confederation of Canada^" Vol. I., p. 372. THE FENIAN INVASION, 1866. 479 and a generous, strong, conjoint effort towcards consolidating their extensive territories, and developing their vast resources under one government, and one flag." The formation of a strong and united nation on their north- ern border was regarded "svith little favour by American advo- cates of the Monroe doctrine. They seemed to consider it the natural right and manifest destiny of the United States to claim tho "whole boundless continent" as its own. Finding that commercial coercion and Fenian invasion did not drive the loyal and patriotic Canadians into the arms of the model republic, the attempt was made to divide and cajole the British North American provinces. In the United States Congress, General Banks, an irrepressible Massachusetts " statesman," had the eminent impertinence to introduce a bill, providing for the admission into the American Union of the British provinces as four separate States, with the assumption of their public debt by the Federal Government. The committee ou foreign affairs, however, had the good sense to throw out the propo- sition as an insulting menace, and the British North American colonies were wisely allowed to settle their own political destiny without foreign interference. The ancient capital of Canada was again visited during the summer by one of those disastrous fires from which it has so often suffered. Over two thousand houses in the St. Roche and St. Sauveur suburbs were destroyed, and twenty thousand persons left homeless. Great and permanent injury resulted to the prosperity of the city from the scattering of the indus- trial population, especially those engaged in ship-building ; and the improvement in the navigation of the St. Lawrence, and the extensive substitution of steamships for sailing vessels, eventually transferred the commercial supremacy to the city of Montreal. At the fall assizes at Toronto, the trial of the Fenian prison- ers, captured during the recent raid, took place, and awakened deep interest throughout the country and in the United States. Many American newspapers and politicians, in their efforts to gain the Fenian vote, did not scruple to avow their sympathy 480 HISTORY OF CANADA. with the arraigned ruffians, and even to urge the interference of the United States Government on their behalf. The ipajesty of British law was, however, asserted ; and the cul- prits, without fear or favour, received a fair trial. Many were discharged for lack of sufficient criminating evidence, but several were convicted and sentenced to death. In deference to a public sentiment in favour of clemency, this sentence was commuted for one of imprisonment in the provincial penitentiary. .^^^ THK " GREAT EASTERN.'* During the summer the ' * Great Eastern " steamship suc- cessfully laid a new Atlantic telegraph cable. Four previous attempts had been failures. After twelve years of disappointed endeavour, in which he had crossed the ocean fifty times, the genius of Field had established permanent communication between the Old "World and the New. In 1858, indeed, a cable had been laid, and messages for a short time transmitted ; but it soon became silent. In 1865, the giant size and strength of the '' Great Eastern" were employed in this difficult en- deavour. When twelve hundred miles were laid, by a sudden lurch of the ship, the cable snapped and was lost. The bottom of the sea was dragged four days in vain, and the expedition THE FENIAN INVASION, 1866. 481 returned defeated to England. After landing the cable at Valentia Bay in the summer of 1866, the *< Great Eastern" returned to mid-ocean, and, after a month's labour, grap- pled from the depth of two miles the lost cable ; and, joining it to one on board, completed a second link from land to land. Both Great Britain and America joined to do honour to " the Columbus of modern times, who, by his cable, had moored the New World alongside the Old." Among its earliest messages was one announcing an armistice between Prussia and Austria, after the terrible seven days' campaign and decisive battle of Sadowa, won, with frightful carnage, for the Prussians, by the agency of the deadly needle-gun. 61 482 HISTORY OF CANADA. CHAPTER XL. NOVA SCOTIA, 1755-1834. Organization of Government, 1758 — Effects of the War — Colonial Governors — New England Agitators attempt to Excite Sedition — United Empire Loyalists — The Duke of Kent at Halifax — The "War of 1812- 14 -Sir J. Wentworth, Sir G. Prevost, Sir J. Sherbroke, Sir J. Kempt and Sir J. Mait- land, Governors — Cape Breton — Quit-rent Claims. WE have now arrived at the very eve of the confederation of the four larger provinces of British North America into one nation. We will therefore return and bring down the history of the maritime provinces to this period. Like affluents of our mighty St. Lawrence, which pour their separate streams into its broadening flood, so the currents of colonial history, with the accomplishment of confederation, merge their separate existence in the vaster sweep of the history of the united Dominion of Canada. During the war which resulted in the conquest of Canada (1755-1760) Nova Scotia shared the disturbances which were in- separable from such a prolonged and desperate conflict. After the fall of Louisburg, f)reviously described, (Chapter XVII.) the tide of battle retreated from the seaboard to the interior. The expulsion of the Acadians left a feeling of intense irrita- tion on the part of the remnant of that outraged people and their Micmac allies. Another serious impediment to the pros- perity of the country was the want of a regularly organized government. There being no representative legislature, the decrees of the Governor and Council lacked the authority which a popular sanction alone can give. Governor Lawrence, on account of the disturbed state of the country, did not favour the granting of an Assembly. The petitions of the people and the instructions of the Lords of Plantations induced him, however, to waive his objections. At length the first Legisla- NOVA SCOTIA, 1755-1834. 483 tive Assembly ever held within the territory of the present Dominion met in the court-house of Halifax, October 2, 1758. It consisted of twenty-two members, elected as representatives of the people. The Church of England was established by law, but perfect toleration was granted to all other sects. Liberal land-grants were offered as an encouragement to immi- gration. During the following year five hundred and eighty settlers arrived from Boston and other parts of New England, and three hundred from Ireland. The conquest of Canada was the cause of great rejoicing in Nova Scotia. These rejoicings, however, were attended with one melancholy result. At a ball held at the Government House to celebrate the capitulation of Montreal, Governor Lawrence caught a cold, which resulted, in a few days, in his death. The first Governor of Nova Scotia was followed to the grave by the regrets of the whole province. He was accorded a public funeral and a monument in St. Paul's Church, Halifax, as a tribute to his services to the colony. The one stain upon his memory was the harshness that accompanied the expulsion of the Acadians. He was succeeded in office by the Hon. Jonathan Belcher, Chief Justice of Nova Scotia. During the war, the French inhabitants of Miramichi and Kestigouche suflfered much from British cruisers. The thriving village of La Petite Rochelle was destroyed by Captain Byron in 1760, and the settlement of Beaubair's Island, numbering a thousand souls, was wasted by famine and pestilence. After the war, a large number of French settlers, now that they were abandoned by the mother country, took the oath of allegiance to the British crown. The Micmac Indians also entered into a treaty of peace with the authorities at Halifax, and buried the hatchet with much ceremony in the presence of the Governor, Council and public officers. Much excitement was caused in Halifax on the surrender of St. John's, Newfoundland, to four French men-of-war, in June, 1762. An attack from the victorious squadron was anticipated, and vigorous measures were taken for the defence of the town. A boom was stretched across the North- West harbour, and the 484 HISTORY OF CANADA. " Northumberland," the only man-of-war in port, was anchored in mid-channel. A hundred and thirty Acadians who still remained in the province, were shipped to Boston to prevent their taking part in any rising of the French. The colony of Massachusetts, however, refused them permission to land, and they were sent back to Halifax. In the meantime, peace was declared November 8, and, by the treaty of Paris, all the French possessions in Canada, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and the islands in the Gulf and Eiver St. Lawrence were ceded to Great Britain. In 1763, Colonel Montague Wilmot was ap- jDointed Governor. The following year Cape Breton and the island of St. John (Prince Edward Island) were annexed to Nova Scotia; but the latter was again separated in 1770. A rapid succession of Governors and Lieutenant-Governors now administered the affairs of Nova Scotia till its separation from New Brunswick. * A steady flow of immigration increased the population and prosperity of the province. During the agitation in Massachusetts with respect to the Stamp Act, that jDrovince endeavoured to secure the sympathy and support of Nova Scotia. But the loyalty of the younger colony was un- shaken and, with a few individual exceptions, it never swerved from its fealty to the mother country during the troublous times of the Revolutionary War. On the outbreak of that war a proclamation of non-intercourse with the revolted colonies was issued, and, notwithstanding the inducements of large profits, with few exceptions was faithfully observed. The coast settle- ments of Nova Scotia were much harassed by American priva- teers. A party from Machias destroyed the fort at the mouth of the St. John and fired the houses of the fishing-station there established. Emissaries from Massachusetts endeavoured to stir up disaffection among a settlement of New England immi- grants at Maugerville. Led astray by their seductions, a num- * The names and dates of assuming office are as follows. They do not de- mand individual characterization : Michael Franklin, 1766 ; Lord William Campbell, 1766 and 1772; Francis Legge, 1773; Mariot Arhuthnot, 1776; Eichard Hughes, 1778; Sir Andrew S. Hammond, 1781; John Parr, 1782; and Edward Fanning, 1783. XOVA SCOr/J, 1755-1834. 485 ber of the latter made a futile attack on Fort Cumberland (Beau Sejour) . Failing to capture it, they seized a brig, which they carried off and sold at Machias. This escapade, however, was overlooked by the Government on their indemnifying the owners of the brig. The seductions of the emissaries of revolt proved more suc- cessful with the Micmac Indians. Ever eager for a fray, they agreed to send a war-party of six hundred " braves" to fight for General Washington, and to make an attack on the British settlements. Mr. Franklin, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, however, invited the chiefs to an interview, where he so feasted and flattered and loaded them with presents, that they broke their agreement with Washington, and renewed their allegiance to King George. A similar outbreak the fol- lowing year was pacified by similar means. Since then, the Nova Scotia Indians have ever been loyal to the crown. Liberal provision was made in Nova Scotia, as well as in Canada, for the reception of the U. E. Loyalist refugees from the United States, and large land-grants were allotted them. Considerable numbers came to Halifax, Annapolis, Port Rose- way (Shelburne) , and other points. The main body, however, settled near the St. John and Kennebecasis rivers, of whose fertile lands they had received glowing accounts from agents sent to explore the country. On the 18th of May, the ships bearing these exiles for conscience' sake, arrived at the mouth of the St. John. Here they resolved to found a new Troy, to hew out for themselves new homes in the wilderness. The prospect was not a flattering one. The site of the present noble city of St. John was a forest of pines and spruces, sur- rounded by a dreary marsh. The blackened ruins of Fort Frederick and of a few fishermen's huts met their gaze ; to- gether with a block-house, and a few houses and stores. A rude shelter was speedily constructed for the reception of the destitute families, and before the summer was over, a popula- tion of five thousand persons was settled in the vicinity. Among these were seventy-four refugees from ^Maryland. They were the survivors of the wreck of the "Martha,'* a ship of 486 HISTORY OF Canada. the September fleet, which had sailed from New York to Quebec, with eight thousand of these exiled people. To the new settlement the name of Parrtown was given, in honour of the energetic Governor of Nova Scotia. In a letter to Lord North, in September, 1783, that gentleman estimates the number of refugee loyalists in Nova Scotia and St. John's Island at thirteen thousand. Soon the loyalists claimed repre- sentation in the Assembly of Nova Scotia. This the Governor opposed, as his instructions prohibited the increase of repre- sentatives. The settlers on the St. John urged that their ter- ritory should be set apart as a separate province, with its own representative institutions. They had powerful friends in England, and the division was accordingly made. The Prov- ince of New Brunswick was created, and named in honour of the reigning dynasty of Great Britain, 1784. Cape Breton, at the same time, was made a separate province ; the River Missi- quash becoming the dividing line. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick both experienced the irrepressible conflict between the Council and the Assembl}^, — between the prerogatives of the crown and the growth of popular liberty. During the French and Eevolutionary wars, Halifax had been a great naval and military rendezvous, and society assumed a highly aristocratic and conservative tone. The Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria, during the latter years of the century (1794*-1799) Commander-in-Chief of the royal forces, dispensed a splendid hospitality, and fostered the loyal enthusiasm of the people. In compliment to him, the name of St. John's Island was changed to Prince Edward Island. Much English money was spent in the colony, and its com- mercial progress was rapid. Governor Parr, and his successor, Sir John Wentworth, jealously guarded the prerogatives of the crown against what they considered as the democratic encroach- ments of the people. The latter, especially, was a strong sup- * In 1796, six himdred Maroons, insurgent negroes from Jamaica, were trans- ported to Nova Scotia, and allocated on lands. The experiment, hovrever, proved unsuccessful, and they were subsequently removed to the more con- genial climate of Sierra Leone. NOVA SCOTIA, 1755-1834. 487 porter of the Church of Englapd. Through his exertions, King's College was established at Windsor, for the exclusive benefit of that Church, all other denominations being excluded from its privileges. In 1808, Sir John Wentworth was succeeded in office by Sir George Prevost. As war with the United States was immi- nent, he was promoted, in 1811, on account of his presumed military ability, to be Governor of Canada and Commander-in- Chief of the forces. Before leaving Nova Scotia, he laid the foundation-stone of the handsome provincial buildings in the city of Halifax. He was succeeded by Sir John Cope Sher- broke. Nova Scotia felt little of the direct burdens of the war of 1812-14, as compared with the upper provinces, but bene- fited very greatly by the increased military and naval expendi- ture. The vast fleets of Great Britain rendezvoused in the spacious harbour of Halifax, the guns of the citadel continually welcomed the arrival of prizes in tow of British cruisers, and the Imperial dock-yard was busy with repairs. We have already described the stirring episode of the arrival of the *' Chesa- peake," captured by the gallant Broke of H. M. S. ** Shan- non." In 1814, two expeditions sailed from. Halifax for the coast of Maine. By the first, Moose Island and Eastport, and, by the second, Castine and Bangor were taken, and the entire region from the Penobscot to the St. Croix was reduced under British rule. For this enterprise, the Governor received the thanks of the Assembly, and the grant of £1,000 to purchase a service of plate. In 1816, Sir John Sherbroke was promoted to the Governor- Generalship of Canada. He was succeeded by the Earl of Dalhousie, a gallant soldier and accomplished gentleman. Nova Scotia felt severely the re-action from the factitious pros- perity caused by the war. The revenue greatly fell off, trade languished, the dock-yard establishment was reduced, and hun- dreds of workmen were thrown out of employment. The dis- tinction of being the chief British naval station in American waters, was transferred from Halifax to Bermuda, to the great injury of the former. A more agreeable circumstance was the 488 BISTORT OF CANADA. establishment and endowment of Dalhousie College at Halifax, and the inauguration of the parish-school system of education. Lord Dalhousie, following established precedent, was pro- moted to the Governor-Generalship of Canada, and was suc- ceeded in 1820, by Sir James Kempt, G. C. B. During this year, Cape Breton was re-united to Nova Scotia. Its fortunes, as a separate province, since 1784, had not been propitious. Louisburg was destroyed to prevent its being seized and re-for- tified by the French, and Sydney made the seat of Govern- ment. Dissensions divided the council, and a superfluous number of officials drained the exchequer of the tiny colony. Commercial disaster and discontent followed. The Home au- thorities, therefore, decreed its re-union with Nova Scotia, with a representation of two members in the Assembly of that province. In 1828, Sir James Kempt was transferred to the Govern- orship of Lower Canada, and Sir Peregrine Maitland from that of Upper Canada to Nova Scotia. The question of quit-rents was one that at this time occupied much public attention, as in the other maritime provinces. These rents, which were only a shilling a year for each fifty acres, had been imposed by Gov- ernor Lawrence, in 1759, on all grants of public lands. This tax, however, small as it was, was not paid, chiefly on the plea of poverty. By the year 1811, the arrears amounted to over £40,000, and the Eeceiver-General made an efibrt to collect them. The Assembly, however, appealed to the Home Gov- ernment against their collection. The matter remained in abeyance till the year 1827, when Lord Bathurst, the Colonial Secretary, cancelled all the quit-rents up to that date, but ordered their collection for purposes of local improvements for the future. The Assembly again petitioned against the quit- rent claims. The Colonial Office declined to remit them, but ofiered to commute them for the annual sum of £2,000, which was about their value. The House, however, was unwilling to accept this compromise, and argued that their long suspension had created the impression that these rents would never be demanded, and that the conveyance of land had uniformly NOVA SCOTIA, 1755-1834. 489 been with this understanding. The Colonial Office, however, was firm, and this commutation was subsequently (1836) accepted by the Assembly. In 1832, Sir Peregrine Maitland returned to England, and the Hon. T. N. Jeffrey administered the government for eigh- teen months till the arrival, in 1834, of Sir Colin Campbell, the new Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia. 490 HISTORY OF CANADA. CHAPTER XLI. NOVA SCOTIA, 1834-1867. Family Compact — Joseph Howe, a Champion of Popular Eights — Consti- tutional Struggle — Lord Falkland's Stormy Administration — Sir John Harvey grants Eesponsible Government, 1848 — Intercolonial Eailway Agita- tion — Eeciprocity — Sir J. Gaspard Le Marchant, Earl Mulgrave, and Sir E. G. MacDonnell, Governors, 1852-1867 — Confederation Conferences — Anti- Confederation Ee-action. THE maritime provinces, concurrently with the rebellion in the Canadas, were agitated by a good deal of political excitement. The general causes of discontent were similar, but they did not lead to any of the acts of violence which un- happily took place in the western provinces. Both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were under the domination of an irrespon- sible Executive Council, which engrossed the public offices and administered the affiiirs of the colonies with slight regard to the authority of the elective Assembly or to the wishes of the people. In Nova Scotia, when Sir Colin Campbell assumed the ad- ministration of the government, the Executive Council, at whose Board sat the Bishop, the Chief Justice, and a *' Family Compact " of allied members, met in secret conclave and set at defiance the interests and rights of the people. Joseph Howe, the son of a U. E. Loyalist, became the champion of popular rights. A shrewd and vigorous journalist, and a ready and eloquent speaker, "Joe Howe," as he was familiarly called, wielded immense influ- ence throughout the province. In his place in the Assembly, HON. JOSEPH HOWE. NOVA SCOTIA, 1834-1867. 491 on the public rostrum, and through the columns of his journal, he thundered against the oligarchy that governed the province. The Assembly formulated the public grievances into twelve resolutions, submitted by Mr. Howe, which denounced isar. the Council as being " exclusive, intolerant, opposed to the spread of civil and religious liberty, enlightenment and edu- cation among the people, and actuated by motives of self- interest which were prejudicial to the trade and commerce of the country." There was only too much truth in the charges. The members of the Council were all residents of Halifax, and did not represent the interests of the other parts of the province. Ten of the Councillors were members of the Church of England, which thus obtained a preponderant influence. The other denominations, which were yearly growing in num- bers, were very inadequately represented. Five of the Coun- cillors were partners in the same banking institution. These facts gave the sting to the accusations of the popular cham- jjion, Joseph Howe. The Council demanded the rescinding of the obnoxious resolutions, under the threat of putting a stop to all legislation in case of refusal. The Assembly "kept the promise to the ear, but broke it to the hope;" for, w^hile the resolutions were formally cancelled, they were embodied in an address to the King, which prayed for an elective Legislative Council and the exclusion of the Bishop and Chief Justice from its board. The prayer of the petition was answered in part. The Coun- cil was divided into two branches, and the Executive no lonffer sat in secret conclave. The casual and territorial revenue was surrendered to the control of the Assembly, but the Council was not made elective. The staunch old Governor was a sturdy upholder of the prerogatives of the crown. The Eeformers of Nova Scotia were stigmatized by their opponents as rebels and republicans, and partisans of Papineau and Mackenzie, the malcontent leaders of the upper provinces. Deputations were sent to England by the rival parties, praying, respectively, for and against the granting of responsible government. Lord Durham's mission to Canada was regarded with intense interest, 492 BISTORT OF CANADA. and his masterly report was received by the Reformers with enthusiasm. The scheme of a confederation of all the prov- inces was however denounced by the Conservative majority as dangerous and destructive to the empire, tending to separate the colonies from the mother country and to embroil the mari- time provinces with the disputes of the two Canadas. The strife of parties became intense. Early in the parliamentary session of 1840, Mr. Howe introduced a series of resolutions condemnatory of the policy of the Government, and expressing a want of confidence in the Executive Council. The resolutions were carried by a vote of thirty to twelve. Sir Colin, however, declined to make any new appointments to the Council which would bring it more into harmony with the popular sentiment and with the Lower House. The Assembly respectfully peti- tioned the crown to recall the intractable Governor and appoint one who would carry out the expressed purpose of the Imperial authorities to grant responsible government to the colonies. The gallant old soldier, the future hero of Alma, Balaclava and LucKnow, was personally popular for his upright and honour- able character, and was only opposed on the ground of his public policy. He was succeeded in 1840 * by Lord Falkland, whose exalted notions of vice-regal prerogatives became the occasion of much popular discontent. One of his first acts, however, was the practical recognition of the principle of responsible govern- ment, so long contended for^ The Legislative Council was enlarged to twenty members, nine of whom represented rural districts. Its deliberations were conducted with open doors. Four members of the Executive, who had no place in either the Legislative Council or Assembly, were requested to retire, and Messrs. Howe and McNab, representative Reformers, were called to their places. Six of the ten members of the Execu- tive were also members of the Assembly, and therefore directly amenable to their constituents — a wholesome constitutional * During this year, the " Britannia," the first steamer of the Canard line, "began her trips between Liverpool, Halifax and Boston. The Cunard fleet has grown to fifty vessels, with a capacity of a hundred thousand tons. NOVA SCOTIA, 1834-1867. 493 check on the Government which the people had never possessed before. Mr. Howe was also elected Speaker of the Assembly. This coalition government was destined to be of brief dura- tion. The question of higher education was the rock on which it was wrecked. Mr. Howe and the Reform party favoured the project of a ^jrovincial university of an undenominational char- acter. Their opponents were in favour of denominational col- leges, supported by grants of public money. The Assemlily defeated the latter scheme by a vote of twenty-six to twenty- one. The Governor thereupon dissolved the House. On the appeal to the country, Mr. Johnson, the Conservative leader, was sustained by a small majority. Messrs. Howe, McNab and Uniacke, who had accepted office subject to the approval of the Assembly, proved their sincerity by resigning their seats in vindication of their demand for responsible government. A long and bitter agitation followed. Public feeling ran high. Mr. Howe moved, but failed to carry, a vote of want of confi- dence in the Government. He forthwith began a fierce news- paper war on the Council and Governor, a mode of attack in which he was an adept. Lord Falkland was made the target of the most scurrilous ridicule and invective, in jDrose and verse. He winced under the ordeal, and wrote recriminatory despatches to the Colonial Secretary. These, returned to Nova Scotia, were read by the Speaker in the Assembly ; and the breach between the Reform leaders and the Governor grew wider than ever. It was evident that Lord Falkland's usefulness was at an end, and he was recalled in 1846. He was, succeeded by Sir John Harvey, ex-Governor of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. The new Governor attempted to form a coalition Council by taking in the leading men of both parties. Mr. Howe and his friends, however, anticipating the victory of their party at the approach- ing general elections, declined the overtures of the Governor. The result confirmed their expectations. When the new parliament met in 1848, the Government was defeated on a direct vote of want of confidence by a majority of seven in a House of forty-nine. The Executive Council 494 HISTORY OF C AX AD A. thereupon resigned and a new ministry was formed from tlie leaders of the Reform party.* Thus were the principles of responsible goverimient fully and finally recognized. The question of an intercolonial railway now for some time occupied much public attention. The advantage of such a road, as a bond of union between the upper and lower provinces, and as a military necessity of the empire, had been pointed out in Lord Durham's Eeport. "WTien the vexed boundary question was settled in 1842, the Imperial authorities proposed maldng a military macadamized road through New Brunswick to Que- bec. A London company offered to substitute a railway if subsidized by a money grant. The scheme met with warm sympathy in the maritime provinces, but in Canada was regarded as less important than the construction of a railway westward from the head of ocean navigation at Montreal. Lord Falkland very reasonably deemed it impracticable for a private company to carry out such a gigantic undertaking. It was one that de- manded the united action of the several provinces, assisted by the British Government. The Imperial authorities, therefore, in response to the united request of the provinces, despatched Major Eobinson and Captain Henderson of the Royal Engineers, with a full staff, to make an exjDloratory survey. Their report was submitted in 1849, but the Home Government, however, declined to proceed with the undertaking. The commercial necessity for connection with the railway system of the United States became yearly more strongly felt in the maritime provinces. An important railway convention was therefore held at Portland, Maine, in July, 1850. Dele- gates from the lower provinces met commercial representatives of the New England States. Out of this convention grew the project of the European and North American Railway, connect- ing Nova Scotia and New Brunswick with the railway system of * Its members were Messrs. J. B. Uniacke, Michael Tobin, Hugh Bell, Joseph Howe, James McNab, Hubert Huntingdon, "Wm. F. Des Barres,.L. O'Connor Doyle, and George R. Young. On June 8, 1849, the centennial anniversary of the founding of Halifax waa celebrated with great eclat. NOVA SCOTIA, 1834-1867. 495 the United States. Mr. Howe, however, was opposed to plac- ing a railway through British territory under the control of an American company. He urged the adoption of a national policy which should raise money for the construction of the road on the credit of the provinces, under Imperial guarantee. Strengthened by the approval of the country, he proceeded to England to urge this project. The aid of the Imperial Govern- ment was promised to the revived mtercolonial scheme, but on the accession of the Derby administration, it again, for a time, fell to the ground. Canada and New Brunswick closed a con- tract with the great firm of Morton Peto, Brassey & Co., for the construction of the Grand Trunk, and St. John and Shediac Railways, respectively ; but Nova Scotia declined to enter into a contract with a private firm. On the 22d of March, 1852, Nova Scotia was called to deplore the death of its popular Governor, Sir John Harvey. The veteran statesman, — he was in his seventy-fourth year, — had passed through a distinguished and honourable career. He served in a military capacity in India, in Egypt, and in the Canadian war of 1812-14. He was successively Lieutenant- Governor of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, New- foundland, and Nova Scotia; and full of years and full of honours, — sans jpeur et sans reproche, — he came to his grave. The government was administered by Colonel Bazalgette till the arrival of the new Lieutenant-Governor, Sir J. Gaspard Le Marchant. The Home Government proceeded to carry out their comprehensive railway policy. Its main feature w\as a trunk line from Halifax to Pictou, and from Truro to the New Brunswick frontier as a link in the future intercolonial railway. The reciprocity treaty with the United States caused some dis- satisfaction in the maritime provinces, as it was considered that their fisheries were thrown open to the Americans without an equivalent compensation. The Howe Government sufifered considerably through the intemperate utterances of its leader with reference to a breach of the peace which had occurred between some Catholic and Protestant workmen. A general election took place in 1856, and when the House met in 1857, 496 HISTORY OF CANADA. the ministry was defeated on a vote of want of confidence by a majority of seven. Mr. J. W. Johnson, the Conservative leader, was called upon to construct a cabinet, which he speedily accomplished. * In 1858, Sir J. Gaspard Le Marchant retired from the Gov- ernorship, and was succeeded by the Earl of Mulgrave. The same year, the landing of the first Atlantic telegraph cable was celebrated with much enthusiasm in Halifax ; but the rejoicings were premature, for the cable soon parted, and not till eight years later were the two hemispheres permanently linked together by the electric wire. The general elections of 1859 gave the Reform party a majority of two. When the House met, in 1860, after a brief struggle, the ministry resigned, and a Reform Government came into power with Mr. "Wil- liam Young as leader. The visit of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales, was celebrated with loyal enthu- siasm. The province continued to develop its internal resources, especially its coal-mines. At the general election of 1863, the Reform Government was again defeated, and compelled to resign. Mr. J. W. Johnson again became the leader of a Conservative ministry. In 1864, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell succeeded as Lieutenant-Governor the Earl of Mulgrave, who had retired from office. The parliamentary session of 1864, was memorable for two important measures introduced by Dr. Tupper. The first of these was a bill re-organizing the school-system of the prov- ince, and greatly increasing the efficiency of the public schools. Provision was made for assessments for school purposes, public SIR R. G. MACDONNELL. * It -was composed of J. W. Johnson, Attomey-General ; Dr. Charles Tupper, Provincial Secretary ; John J. Marshall, Financial Secretary ; Staley Brown, Receiver-General, and Martin W. Wilkins, Solicitor-GeneraL NOVA SCOTIA, 1834-1867. 497 aid was granted to schools in sparsely settled neighbourhoods, and that great source of national prosperity, elementary educa- tion, was wisely encouraged. The second important meas- ure was a series of resolu- tions providing for a union of the maritime provinces. This movement was soon merged in the more comprehensive one for the federation of all the provinces, and the formation of the present Dominion. This project had long engaged the , attention of British and colo- nial statesmen. The remark- able growth and prosperity of the United States after their union under one federal gov- ernment, suggested the inquiry whether the union of the remaining British provinces, by removing commercial restric- tions, and promoting intercolonial trade and intercourse, would not produce similar benefits. Dr. Tupper's resolutions resulted in the holding of the Char- lottetown Conference, in September, 1864. We have already recorded the important consequences of the conference, and of the Quebec Conference by which it was followed. The confed- eration scheme, received with favour in Canada, met with violent opposition in all the maritime provinces. It was argued HON. DR. CHARLES TUPPER.* * The Hon. Charles Tapper, M. D,, is a member of an old U. E. Loyalist family, connected with the family of the late Sir Isaac Brock. His father was the Rev. Charles Tupper, D. D., of Aylesford, N. S. He was born at Amherst, N. S., in 1821. He graduated in medicine at Edinburgh University in 1843. He was a member of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia from 1857 to 1860, and from 1864 to July 1, 1867, during the latter part of which time he was Premier. He was a delegate to the Confederation Conferences, and was created C. B. (Civil) by Her Majesty, 1867. In 1870, he became President of the Privy Council of Canada ; in 1872, Minister of Internal Revenue, and, in February, 1873, Minister of Customs. He resigned with Sir John A. Macdonald's ministry in November, 1873. 63 498 HISTORY OF CANADA. that the delegates, who were empowered to negotiate a legisla- tive union of the seaboard provinces, had surpassed their authority in negotiating the wider federal union of all the prov- inces. It was also asserted that no adequate compensation was received for the surrender of the revenue of the lower prov- inces, which were dependent on the local Governments for local improvements. The anti-confederate feeling in Nova Scotia was strong. The delegates in vain endeavoured, by argument and eloquence, to popularize the movement. Mr. Howe, for- getful of his avowed union sentiments, inveighed with tongue and pen against confederation. The Government, however, continued faithful to the pledges given at the Quebec Confer- ence. A re-action in favour of confederation having taken place in New Brunswick, delegates were appointed in Nova Scotia, and in that province, to co-operate with the Canadian delegates at London, during the winter of 1866-67, in perfecting the plan of the federal union of all the provinces. Mr. Howe was there to oppose the scheme, but his influence was powerless to prevent its consummation. It received, however, certain modifications, chiefly in the way of increasing the subsidies to the local governments. These negotiations resulted in their agreement to the terms of the British North America Act, which united the foui* provinces into the Dominion of Canada. NEW BRUNSWICK, 1784-1831. 499 CHAPTER XLH. NEW BRUNSWICK, 1784-1831. Organization of Government — Colonel Thomas Carleton, Governor, 1784 — St. John Incorx>oratecl, 1785 — Frcdericton, the Capital — Political Strife — The Timber-Trade — Great Fire at Miramichi — The Disputed Territories — Border Troubles — Baltic Timber Dues. NEW BRUNSWICK, as we have seen, was set apart as a separate province in 1784. Colonel Thomas Carleton, brother of Lord Dorchester, became the first Governor. He had commanded a regiment during the Revolutionary War, and was deservedly popular with the loyalists. He arrived at Parr- town on Sunday, November 21, and the new province was pro- claimed the following day. The Government consisted of a Council of twelve members, which, with the Governor, pos- sessed both executive and legislative functions ; and a House of Assembly of twenty-six members. The first Council was composed chiefly of United Empire Loyalists, several of whom had been men of distinction in the revolted colonies. Promi- nent among these were Chief Justice Ludlow, who had been a Judge of the Supreme Court of New York ; Judge Upham, a graduate of Harvard and loyalist colonel of dragoons ; Judge Allen and Judge Winslow, both colonels in the loyalist army ; James Putnam, one of the ablest lawyers in America ; and others who had abandoned large estates in the old colonies. On the death of Judge Putnam, Judge Saunders, of an old Cavalier family in Virginia, entered the Council, which, with this change, continued to conduct the Government for several years. In 1785, Parrtown became incorporated as the city of St. John. It was thus the first, and, for many years, the only, incorporated city in British North America. The first session of the House of Assembly was held in St. John in 1786, but two years later, the seat of government was transferred to 600 HISTORY OF CANADA. Fredericton, eighty-five miles up the St. John Eiver, as being more central to the province, and in order to secure immunity from hostile attack and from the factious or corrupting influence of the more jDopulous commercial metropolis, St. John. This change was said to be an imitation of the policy of the State of New York, from which many of the loyalist refugees had come, which, for similar reasons, had transferred its legislature to Albany, one hundred and fifty miles up the Hudson from New York city. The peace and harmony which were anticipated from this removal from disturbing influences did not, however, result. The irrepressible conflict between the popular Assembly and the Executive Council, which took place in the other provinces, was destined to occur also in New Brunswick. The first differ- ence arose on the question of the appropriation of revenues. The Assembly voted to its members the payment of seven and sixpence per day for the session. The Governor and Council resisted the ai3prof)riation, as derogatory to the dignity of the House. The Assembly asserted its constitutional right to con- trol the revenues — which was the jjoint of contention in all the provinces. It therefore "tacked" this special vote to the appropriation bill for the general expenses of the province — the maintenance of roads, bridges, schools, and the like. The Colonial Secretary, on appeal, gave judgment against the Assembly, and condemned their policy of "tacking" the obnoxious bill to that of the general appropriation for the year. The Assembly, however, stood firm, and for three years (1796- 1799) no revenue and appropriation bills were passed. The dead-lock between the two branches of the legislature was removed by their mutual concessions. The Assembly agreed to include all the items to which the Council agreed, in one bill, and the Council agreed to pass the salary bill. For nearly twenty years Colonel Carleton administered the afifiirs of the province with great tact and ability, but not with- out occasional collisions with the Assembly, which seemed to be the inevitable fate of Colonial Governors in those days. Under his rule, the trade of the province was greatly developed. This NE]V BRUNSWICK, 1784-1831. 501 was especially true of the lumber-trade. As early as 1778, the magniticent timber on the St. John and Miramichi rivers attracted English enterprise and capital. In 1781, Jonathan Leavitt launched at St. John the pioneer vessel of the vast fleet of New-Brunswick-l)uilt ships which subsequently sailed from that port. The timber-trade was greatly fostered by the demands of the royal fleets. The stately pines of the New Brunswick forests, each fit "to be the mast of some great admiral," bore the pennon of Great Britain in many a stern sea-fight. Immigration to the country was also fostered by the certainty of a profitable return-cargo. After the retirement of Colonel Carleton in 1803, the govern- ment was administered for several years by Presidents of the Executive Council, first, by the Hon. Gabriel Ludlow, and then by Judge Edward >Yinslow. As the prospect of war with the United States became more imminent, military officers of high rank and large experience were appointed to the govern- ment of the several provinces. Major-General Hunter for a time administered the afiairs of New Brunswick. He was fol- lowed in rapid succession by six other military Presidents. The progress of the war stimulated the trade of the colony. The timber-trade was greatly promoted by the increased demand for shipping, and especially in consequence of the heavy duty imposed on Baltic pine. This more than counterbalanced the alarm caused by American privateers hovering on the coast and preying on the unprotected shipping. The loyalty and military spirit of the colony was shown by the mustering into the regular army for service in the upper provinces, of the King's Regiment of New Brunswick. This regiment, except a part despatched by water, marched on snow-shoes through the wintry woods to Canada, and served with great gallantry during the war. The administration of the governmentby military Presidents, who manifested little interest in the civil afiairs of the province, was a cause of much dissatisfaction. The Assembly, therefore, petitioned repeatedly for the appointment of a regular Lieuten- ant-Governor. The Home authorities, therefore, in 1818, appointed Major-General George Tracy Smythe to administer 502 HISTORY OF CANADA. the government. The irrepressible conflict between the two branches of the legislature with reference to the control of the revenues became again the occasion of acrimonious disputes, resulting in a dead-lock. The Governor dissolved the House, which made the new parliament for a time more tractable. In 1823 Governor Smythe died, and was succeeded the following year by Sir Howard Douglas. In the interim, the government was administered by Judge Chipman, and on his death by the Hon. James Murray Bliss. The right to this position was un- successfully contested by the Hon. Christopher Billop, notwith- standing his extreme age. He was eighty-six years old. The first census of New Brunswick was taken in this year, and gave a population to the province of 74,000. The lumber- ing and ship-ljuilding interests, however, absorbed almost the entire energies of the people to the serious neglect of agricub ture, so that the population were largely dependent on foreign breadstufis for the means of subsistence. Governor Douglas greatly promoted the internal development of the province, the construction of roads and the cultivation of the soil. He en- couraged also the cause of higher education, and through his efibrts the University of King's College, Fredericton, was estab- lished. In the autumn of 1825, a terrible disaster ovenvhelmed the province. A long drought had parched the forest to tinder. For two months not a drop of rain had fallen, and the streams were shrunken to rivulets. Numerous fires had laid waste the woods and farms, and filled the air with stifling smoke. The Government House at Fredericton was burned. But a still greater calamity was impending. On the 7th of October, a storm of flume swept over the country for sixty miles — from Miramichi to the Bay of Chaleurs. A pitchy darkness covered the sky, lurid flames swept over the earth, consuming the forest, houses, barns, crops, and the towns of Newcastle and Douglas, with several ships upon the stocks. Resistance was in vain and escape almost impossible. The only hope of eluding the tornado of fire was to plunge into the rivers and marshes, and to cower in the water or ooze till the waves of flame had jDassed. The NEW BRUXSIVICK, 1784-1831. 503 roar of the wind aud fire, the crackling and crashing of the pines, the bellowing of the terrified cattle, and the glare of the conflagration were an assemblage of horrors sufficient to appall the stoutest heart. "When that fatal night had passed, the thriving towns, villages and farms over au area of five thousand square miles were a charred and blackened desolation. A mil- lion dollars' worth of accumulated property was consumed, and the loss of timl^er was incalculable. One hundred and sixty persons perished in the flames or in their efibrts to escape, and hundreds were maimed for life. The generous aid of the sister provinces, and of Great Britain and the United States, greatly mitigated the sufiTe rings of the hapless inhabitants, made home- less on the eve of a rigorous winter. Some excitement was subsequently occasioned by a fillibuster- ing raid across the frontier, between Maine and New Brunswick, for the purpose of claiming a portion of the disputed territory as belonging to the United States. The question was one which had caused much trouble ever since the Revolutionary War. Sue- .. cessive commissions had been appointed to settle the bounda- ries, but a region of about twelve thousand square miles on the head-waters of the Aroostook, Allagash and Walloostook, trib- utaries of the St. John, was claimed by each country. In 1827, a gasconading braggart named Baker made a dash into the Madawaska district and raised the *' stars and stripes " in asser- tion of the American ownership of the soil. The British loyal- ists and French settlers promptly resented the intrusion. Governor Douglas advanced a body of troops to the frontier and directed the sheriff to arrest the fillibustering chief. The sheriflT captured the flag and lodged Baker a prisoner in the jail at Fredericton. He was brought to trial and fined for his ofience. The Governor of Maine called out the militia, and thi-eatened the invasion of New Brunswick for the alleged vio- lation of international peace. The royal troops were on the alert, and a single hasty act might have plunged the two coun- tries into war. The two Governments, however, agreed to sub- mit the question in dispute to the King of the Netherlands, and so the excitement gradually died out. 504 HISTORY OF CANADA. The commercial development of New Brunswick had been very rapid. Her timber-trade and ship-building industry had been fostered by the exclusion of the Americans from the British "VYest Indies. An important trade between those islands and the maritime provinces had grown up ; sugar, molasses, and, we are sorry to say, rum, being exchanged in large quan- tities for timber and fish. In 1830, however, the West India trade was thrown open to American shipping, greatly to the prejudice of the British colonies. The principles of free trade were being extensively adopted in Great Britain, one obnoxious feature after another in the tariff being assailed and removed. The repeal of the Baltic timber duties, under which the New Brunswick trade had flourished, was strongly urged by the Brit- ish consumers. Apprehensions of commercial ruin agitated the province. The Assembly sent urgent petitions against the repeal of the Baltic dues. Sir Howard Douglas was in England at the time, giving evidence on the subject of the disputed territory. ^He ably supported the efforts of the province. In a timely pam- phlet, he urged the impolicy of repealing the duties in the face of the depression caused by the Mirimachi fire and the loss of the "West India trade. The repeal bill was therefore defeated. New Brunswick manifested her gratitude to the Governor by the gift of a handsome service of plate. Sir Howard Douglas, how- ever, felt constrained to resign his office, as his fidelity to the interests of the province placed him in opposition to the Govern- ment which had appointed him. His resignation was accepted, and Major-General Sir Archibald Campbell was appointed his successor, 1831. NEW BRUNSWICK, 1831-1867. 505 CHAPTER XLHI. NEW BRUNSWICK, 1831-1867. Sir Alexander Campbell, Governor, 1831 — Crown-land Grievances — Redressed by the Crown — Lemuel Allan Wilmot, a Popular Tribune — Struggle for Responsible Government — It is granted by Sir John Harvey, 1S37 — The Boundary Dispute — Threatened Outbreak on Maine Frontier — The Ashbur- ton Treaty, 1842 — Responsible Government Confirmed, 1848 — Domestic Policy — Confederation Negotiations. THE inevitable struggle for responsible government took place in New Brunswick, as well as in the other prov- inces. In the maritime provinces, however, the strife was never embittered by the unhappy appeal to arms as in the two Canadas. The "Family Compact," in New Brunswick, was neither so powerful nor so exclusive, as in the other provinces, and more fully represented the interests of the people. Sir Alexander Campbell, the Lieutenant-Governor, like his namesake in Nova Scotia,. ^was an officer of stern military instincts, and an unflinching champion of the prerogatives of the crown against the encroachments of popular liberty. In 1832, the Legislative Council was separated from, the Executive Council, but the latter still remained an exclusive oligarchy, irresponsible to the people, and indifferent to public opinion. The crown-land department, it was alleged, favoured the gi-eat capitalists and lumber operators, to the disadvantage of the poorer classes. The chief commissioner was appointed by the crown, and was completely independent of parliamentary con- trol. The Government also possessed sufficient * ' casual and territorial revenue " to defray all the expenses of the civil list. The Assembly was thus deprived of any means of control, by means of a money- vote, over the Administration. In 1832, it requested, by resolution, a return of the receipts and expendi- tures of the crown-land fund. The request was discourteously refused. The Assembly, thereupon, appointed delegates to lay 64 506 HISTORY OF CANADA. at the foot of the throne a prayer for the control of the crown- land revenue. Mr. Stanley, the Colonial Secretary, promised a redress of the grievances, but the Governor and Council still refused to made the surrender. The Kova Scotia and Xew Brunswick Land Company, com- posed of English capitalists, formed in 1831, and incorporated in 1834, caused grave dissatisfaction through its land monopoly. It received a grant of 500,000 acres, between the St. John and Miramichi rivers, for the sum of £56,000, of which £21,000 was paid down. It offered liberal inducements to settlers, military and civil ; but the Assembly objected to the alienation of so large a jDroportion of the public lands without its consent asked or received. A champion of the rights of the people now appeared, who was destined to lead his country into the enjoyment of constitutional liberty. Lemuel Allan 'VYilmot was descended from United Empire Loyalist stock, and was naturally allied to the party in power. He won a brilliant rei3utation as a lawyer ; and especially for his eloquence and skill as leader of the Reform j)arty in the Assembly. During the parliamentary session of 1836, Mr. Wilmot moved an address to the Governor for a detailed return of the crown-land fund. Sir Ai-chibald submitted a mere general statement. The Assembly sent Messrs. Wilmot and Crane to England to request that the control of the jDublic revenues be vested in the representatives of the people. The Iving favoured the prayer of the Assembly. Lord Glenelg, Colonial Secretary, instructed the Governor and Executive Council to surrender the casual and territorial revenue in consideration of the granting by the Assembly of a liberal permanent civil-list. Notwithstanding continuous and strenuous opposition, the Government w^as obliged to yield, and the immense crown-land revenues came uuder the direct control of the people's representatives. The stm'dy Governor, however, declined to sign the obnoxious civil- list bill. His resignation w^as, therefore, accepted, and Sir John Harvey was appointed as his successor, 1837. Under the conciliatory policy and constitutional rule of the new Governor, harmony was at length restored between all the branches of the NEW BRUNSWICK, 1831-1867 507 legislature. Mr. Crane was called to the Executive Council. Mr. "VVilmot was made a Queen's Counsellor. Lord Gleuelg's portrait was placed above the Speaker's chair in the Assembly Chamber at Fredericton, where it still hangs, — a commemora- tion of the triumph of the princijole of responsible government in the jirovince of New Brunswick. The dispute as to the New Brunswick frontier was not yet settled. The King of the Netherlands, to whom the decision had been referred, had given the lion's share of the debatable ground to the United States. That country, however, refused to be bound by the award. Lawless persons invaded the dis- jDuted territory to cut timber ; armed collisions occuiTcd ; and the frontier settlements were ablaze with excitement. Gov- ernor Fairfield of Maine, ordered eighteen hundred militia to the border, and called upon the State for ten thousand men, — horse, foot, and artillery. Sir John Harvey, the Govenior of New Brunswick, asserted by proclamation the right of Great Britain to protect the disputed territory, and sent two regi- ments to watch the Maine militia. Volunteers flocked to the British standard. The legislature of Nova Scotia, amid an unwonted scene of patriotic enthusiasm, and with an outburst of hearty British cheers, voted £100,000 for the defence of the frontier, and placed a strong force of militia at the disposal of the military authorities. Considerable excitement was roused in the United States. That belHgerent statesman, Daniel Webster, declared that the American government should seize the disputed property unless Great Britain would abide by the treaty of 1783. President Tan Buren, however, with praiseworthy moderation, advocated the peaceable arrangement of the difficulty. General AVinfield Scott was sent to the borders to settle the dispute. He coun- termanded all hostile demonstrations, and opened a friendly correspondence with the British Governor, who had been an old antagonist at Stony Creek and Lundy's Lane. Both parties now withdrew from the contest, and referred the matter to Lord Ashburton and Daniel Webster, as commis- sioners for their respective countries. The award, given in 508 HISTORY OF CANADA. 1842, yielded the larger and more valuable territory to the United States, to the intense chagrin of the colonists, who con- ceived that their rights were sacrificed to Imperial interests. The Ashburton treaty also fixed the forty-fifth parallel of lati- tude as the dividing line westward from the disputed territory to the St. Lawrence, and the forty-ninth parallel as the bound- ary from the Lake of the Woods to the Gulf of Georgia, on the Pacific. The central line of the gi'eat lakes and their con- necting rivers completed the boundary. An important article of the treaty also provided for the extradition, from either country, upon sufficient evidence of criminality, of persons charged with " murder, piracy, arson, robbery, or forgery." Sir John Harvey, whose administration had been very har- monious and popular, was re-called in 1841, and was succeeded by Sir William Colebrooke. He found the country sufiering from financial embarrassment, through a temporary depression of the timber-trade. The pubhc revenue, for a time, fell off, and, as anticipated by Sir Archibald Campbell, the Assembly, on obtaining control of the casual and territorial fund, had frittered it away by reckless votes, and thus injured the credit of the province. A Conservative re-action took place, and the Reform party was generally beaten at the polls in the election of 1842. Serious election riots also occurred, which had to be sujDpressed by military authority. The city of St. John sufiered much from destructive fires and from severe commer- cial depression. Much excitement and very disastrous con- sequences resulted from the bitter strife of the Eoman Catholic and Orange factions. This culminated in a desperate riot on 1842. the 12th of July. Several persons were killed and many more wounded, and fellow-citizens were divided into hos- tile camps on account of differences as to their religion, the common teachings of which were of peace on earth and good- will to men. Although the Conservative Assembly had endorsed the claim of the Governor to make crown appointments independent of popular control, yet it strenuously objected to his first appoint- ment, that of his son-in-law, Mr. Reade, to be Provincial Sec- NEIV BRUNSWICK, 1831-1867. 509 retary, on the death, in 1844, of the Hon. Wm. Odcll, who had held that office since 1818.* Mr. Wilmot urged the constitu- tional principle that the ministers of the crown should be directly responsible to the people. The Assembly, however, was not prepared for its adoption. In 1847, Earl Gray, the Colonial Secretary, in a despatch to Sir John Ilarvcy, Governor of Nova Scotia, had defined the theory of responsible govern- ment regarded at the Colonial Office as applicable to the provinces. He laid down the principles that the Executive Councillors, who directed the policy of the Government, should hold office only while they retained the confidence of the House, and that all Government officials should be excluded from either branch of the Legislature. It was deemed by the Reform party of Kew Brunswick a fitting occasion to introduce these sound principles into the government of that province. In the session of 1848, therefore, Mr. Charles Fisher introduced a resolution, asserting their application as the rule of the province. The resolution was carried, by a union of both parties, with a large majority, and responsible government was fully and finally established in New Brunswick. Sir "William Colebrooke was this year appointed Governor of British Guiana. He was succeeded in New Brunswick by Sir Edmund "Walker Head, who was the first civilian regularly appointed as the Queen's representative in the province. Under his administration, the country continued to j)rosper, developing her internal resources and extending her foreign commerce. In 1853 was consecrated Christ Church Cathedral, Frederic- ton. The diocese of Nova Scotia originally included all the British possessions on the continent. It was subsequently divided by the formation of the bishoprics of Quebec, Toronto, and Newfoundland. In 1845, New Brunswick was separated from the parent see, and the Eev. John Medley, D. D., Pre- bendary of Exeter Cathedral, became first bishop of Frederic- ton. ' The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel greatly * Hia father, the Hon. and Rev. Jonathan Odell, was the first Provincial Secretary of New Brunswick. Father and son held the office for the long period of sixty years. 510 HISTORY OF CANADA, fostered and stimulated the growth of the Anglican Church in the province of New Brunswick. The Cathedral Church is one of the most chaste and elegant examj^les of ecclesiasti- cal architecture in the Dominion.* In 1854, the Hon. J. H. T. Manners-Sutton became Lieutenant-Gov- ernor of New Brunswick, vice Sir Edmund Walker Head promoted to the Governor-Generalship of Canada. Public atten- tion continued for several years to be occupied with the project of the Inter- colonial Eailway, and with the agitations which its varied vicissitudes produced. Delegates were sent to England, to the United States, and to CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL, FREDERICTON, N. B. „ , - , ,„ „ Canada ; but while rail- way construction within the province was extended, the larger scheme received indefinite postponement. It required the political union of the provinces to bring about the construction of this essential bond of commercial and social intercourse. Considerable irritation was felt at the interference of the Home Colonial Office in what were considered matters of domestic concern. A trade protection party in the Assembly introduced a protective tariff in favour of home industries, and voted bounties to the fishing interests. This being opposed to the free-trade policy of Great Britain, called forth a vigorous pro- test from Lord Gray, the Colonial Secretary. The Assembly * It cost over $80,000, and was consecrated free of debt — principally through the liberality of bountiful friends in England. Its seats are aU free and un- reserved, as are those of sixty-four other churches in the diocese. NEIV BRUNSWICK, 1S31-1867. 511 became exceedingly restive under what it called the "despotism of DoAvning Street," but the more Conservative Council rejected the bounty bill, and thus brouglit about the re-action of quiet. The visit of the Prince of Wales, in 1860, called forth the patriotism of the people. The city of the U. E. Loyalists worthily sustained the reputation of its founders by the enthu- siastic welcome it gave the heir-apparent to the British crown. Nor was that patriotism less loyally manifested the following year, when the agitations arising out of the "Trent affair" threatened the rupture of peace between Great Britain and the United States. During the winter, when the navigation of the St. Lawrence was closed, a portion of the British troops, in- tended for the defence of Canada, were forwarded on sledges, with their stores and materiel of war, through the snow-laden forests of New Brunswick — another demonstration of the necessity for an intercolonial railway. In 1862, the Hon. A. Gordon succeeded the Hon. J. H. T. Manners-Sutton as Governor of New Brunswick. The confed- eration scheme of 1864 became the engrossing subject of public discussion. The action of the delegates at the Quebec Confer- ence was promptly repudiated. The New Brunswick Assembly being on the eve of dissolution, it was deemed advisable that a new parliament should be elected on the single issue of confed- eration. The result was its unmistakable condemnation. Not a . single member of the Quebec delegation was elected. An anti- confederate government was formed, under the Hon. A. J. Smith and George L. Hatheway, 1865. The Legislative Coun- cil, however, was strongly in favour of the scheme. The influ- ence, of the Imperial Government was invoked on behalf of confederation. At the parliamentary session of 1866, an urgent despatch from Mr. Cardwell, the Colonial Secretary, was sub- mitted, expressing the strong desire of Her Majesty's Govern- ment for the union of the provinces. A dramatic effect was given to the discussion by the coincident Fenian invasion of the provinces. The Legislative Council passed an address, express- ing the desire that the Imperial Government would carry out the Quebec scheme. Governor Gordon heartily endorsed theiu 512 HISTORY OF CANADA. action. The Smith ministry, finding itself opposed to both Governor and Council, resigned, and Mr. Tilley was again called to the head of affairs. A popular re-action in favour of confederation took place. A general election resulted in a large majority of supporters of the Tilley administration. Union resolutions were triumphantly passed, and Union delegates pro- ceeded to London to complete the scheme which should bring New Brunswick into the confederation of the British North American provinces. PRIXCE EDWARD ISLAND. 513 CHAPTER XLIV. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. Early History — British Rule, 1763 — Divided by Lottery, 1767 — Organization of Government, 1770 — Quit-rent Claim — Rival Governors, 1786 — Slow- Development — Change of Name, 1798 — Evils of Absenteeism — Governor Smith's Despotic Administration — The Land Question — Arbitration Scheme — Confederation Rejected, 1867 — Railway Construction — Enters Dominion, 1873 — Land Question Settled. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, known till 1798 as St. John's Island, is supposed to have been discovered by Cabot in one of his early voyages. For over two centuries it remained iincolonized, save as a French fishing-station. "WTien Acadia and Newfoundland were ceded to England by the treaty of Utrecht, many of the French inhabitants removed to the fertile island of St. John. This population was still further increased, on the expulsion of the Acadians in 1755, by fugitives from that stern edict. By the treaty of 1763, St. John's Island, with the whole of Canada and Cape Breton, passed into the possession of the British. It continued to form part of the extensive province of Nova Scotia till 1770. It was surveyed by Captain Holland, and reported to contain 365,400 acres of land, all but 10,000 of which was fit for agriculture. It was divided into allotments, which were distributed by the Lords of Trade and Plantations, by lottery, among officers of the army and navy, and other persons conceived to have claims upon the crown, 1767. Certain duties of settlement, and the payment of a small annual quit-rent were stipulated ; but neither received much practical observance. Most of the grantees sold or alienated their land, so that the bulk of it soon fell into the hands of a few absentee proprietors. The grantees petitioned for separation from Nova Scotia, and for the establish- ment of a distinct government. This petition was granted in 1770, when there were only five resident proprietors, and a 65 514 HISTORY OF CAXADA, hundred and fifty families in the island. Captain William Patterson, one of the grantees, was appointed first Governor. He arrived in 1770, and three years later the first parliament sat in Charlottetown. The Government consisted of a Lieu- tenant-Governor, a combined Executive and Legislative Coun- cil, and a Legislative Assembly of eighteen members. The new province was soon involved in financial difficulties. Its revenues were principally derivable from quit-rents ; but, as these were not paid, the Governor employed the £3,000 voted by the House for public buildings to pay the very moderate civil-list. In 1775, two American cruisers pillaged the infant capital, and carried off several of its official persons prisoners. General Washington, however, disavowed the act, and restored the prisoners and plunder. The quit-rent claims continued to be the occasion of much contention. In 1780, Governor Patterson decided to enforce their payment, and a number of estates were sold for little more than the taxes due. The time was inopportune. A great war was in progress, and English capitalists would not invest in colonial property which might be alienated from the crown by the next treaty of peace. The Governor also acquired large tracts of the escheated lands for the benefit of himself and his friends. The proprietors, therefore, petitioned against his action, and the Home authorities, in 1784, disallowed the sales, and restored the lands to their previous owners on payment of the expenses incurred by the recent purchasers. Governor Patterson refused to be guided by the directions of the Colonial Office, twice dissolved the House, and, in 1786, in an Assembly packed with his friends, confirmed the forced sales under the quit-rent claims. The King disallowed the bill, recalled the Governor, and appointed Colonel Fanning his successor. A struggle for power ensued. Governor Patterson refused to yield his authority. Colonel Fanning asserted his ; and, for six months, they distracted the island with their rival claims. In the spring of 1787, Patterson was peremptorily recalled, and retired into obscurity. By a compromise, the escheated lands, which had greatly increased in value, remained in the possession PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 515 of their purchasers, and the quit-rent claims continued still in abeyance. Colonel Fanning continued to administer the government for the prolonged period of eighteen years. The growth of population, however, was slow. In 1798, after thirty-five years' British occupancy, it amounted to only 4,372. In this year, the name of the colony was changed, out of compliment to Edward, Duke of Kent, to Prince Edward Island. The proprietary system, and the apathy of absentee owners, greatly retarded its development. Out of sixty new townships, twen- ty-three had not a single settler, and twelve more had only thirty-six families. The absentee proprietors held the land only for speculation. The Assembly, therefore, petitioned the King to enforce the conditions of settlement and payment of quit-rents, and passed an act re-investing the forfeited land in the crown. The proprietary party, however, had sufficient in- fluence w^th the Colonial Office to procure the disallowing of the action of the Assembly. A compromise was effected, in 1802, whereby proprietors having the stipulated number of settlers on their land might commute the thirty-two years' quit- claim rent now due by a five years' payment. A similar com- promise was effected with other proprietors. As a result of this arrangement about one-third of the island changed hands in the next four years, and active settlement took place. Among the most energetic proprietors was the Earl of Selkirk, the founder of the Red River Settlement, to be shortly de- scribed. During the early years of the century, beginning with 1803, he transferred not less than four thousand hardy Highlanders from his Scottish estates to this fertile island, and contributed vastly to its agricultural development. In 1804, Governor Fanning was succeeded in office by Colonel Des Barres, whose administration was one of steady colonial progress, the war of 1813-14 not perceptibly affecting the insular community. In 1813, Mr. Charles Douglas Smith became Governor. His administration was one of irresponsible and unconstitutional despotism. He seems to have resolved to govern without a parliament. After cavalierly proroguing the 516 HISTORY OF CANADA. House in 1814, he did not summon it again till 1817. Three successive parliaments proving intractable, were promptly dis- solved. For ten years the province was virtually without par- liamentary govemnrent. Yet the Governor was emphatically a man of action. He attempted the collection of the quit-rents by seizure and forced sales. So much property and produce were thrown upon the markets, that many farmers were almost ruined by their efforts to pay this obnoxious tax, so long fallen into desuetude. Public indignation, denied expression through parliamentary channels, found vent in tumultuous popular assemblies. Charges of maladministration were formulated against the Governor, and sent to England by Mr. Steward, a popular tribune, who only escaped imprisonment by precipitate flight. The petition of Mr. Steward received prompt consider- ation. Governor Smith was recalled, and Colonel Ready was charged with the administration in his place. Under Governor Read}', growth of commerce, construction of roads, and improvement of agriculture, attested the progress of the country. The emancipation of Roman Catholics from civil disabilities, 1830, one year after the similar act in Great Britain, demonstrated the liberal character of its legislature. Colonel Aretus W. Young, who succeeded Governor Ready, in 1831, died, greatly respected, in 1835. His successor. Colonel Sir John Harvey, was transferred, at the end of a year, to the government of New Brunswick. Sir Charles A. Fitz Roy, who assumed the Governorship in 1837, attempted to grapple with the land question. The English landlords were draining the land of its wealth, and contributing almost nothing to its expenses. The greater portion of the island had been alienated to absentee proprietors, who left it in a wilderness state for the reversionary interest of its increased value through the labour of others. The House proposed a heavy penal tax on wild land, and the escheating to the crown of the forfeited estates ; but the Colonial Secretary rejected the proposal. From 1841 to 1847, the government of the island was administered by Sir Henry Vere Huntley, not without some friction with its officials. He was succeeded by Sir Donald PRIXCE EDWARD ISLAXD. 517 Campbell, who was received with enthusiasm by his Highland countrymen. The Assembly had long been desirous for respon- sible government, and the control of the public revenues. It now oifered to grant a sufficient civil-list on their surrender, and refused to vote supplies till its demand was conceded. The Colonial Office, at length, granted the petition ; but Sir Donald Campbell dying, in 1850, it was reserved for his successor, Sir Alexander Bannerman, to carry into effect that change of con- stitution. Postal and revenue reforms were effected, and in the session of 1853, the parliamentary suffrage was made universal. In 1854, Sir Dominick Daly became Governor, and, the same year, the island entered into the reciprocity treaty with the United States, to the great stimulus of its trade and general prosperity. With reference to the land question, the Colonial Secretary submitted the consideration, that however improper the original lottery-grants, the lapse of nearly a century with the uninterrupted inheritance and transfer of these lands, ren- dered it impossible to ignore the rights of the present pro- prietors, and recommended the purchase of those rights by the Government. The Assembly asked an Imperial guarantee of the loan of £100,000 for this purpose, but the request was declined. In 1859, Sir Dominick Daly was succeeded by George Dun- das, Esq. The land question still continued to engross public attention. Sir Samuel Cunard and other proprietors suggested to the Colonial Secretary the appointment of an Imperial commis- sion to adjust the conflicting claims of the landlords and tenants of the proprietary lands. To this the Assembly agreed, and the Hon. Joseph Howe, Hon. J. H. Gray, and John W. Ritchie, Esq., were appointed on behalf, respectively, of the tenants, the crown, and the proprietors. After exhaustive investigation, they recommended the purchase of the proprietary lands * on equitable terms, to be fixed by arbitration, and their re-allot- ment at as low rates as possible, to the tenants and to new settlers. The Assembly accepted the recommendations of the * The Government Lad already purchased two large estates — the Worrell and Selkirk estates — embracing 153,000 acres. 518 HISTORY OF CANADA. report, but the Colonial Office, in the interest of the proprietary, rejected the report of the commissioners as exceeding their authority. Thus this promising plan for the settlement of this vexed question fell to the ground. To conclude the subject, we will narrate the final adjustment, although out of chronological order. When the province entered the Dominion of Canada, in 1873, a loan of $800,000 was guaranteed it to purchase and re-allot these proprietary estates. In 1875, commissioners were appointed to determine the value of the estates whose sale, under the jDro visions of the Act, was made compulsory. Thus, at length, after long years of strenuous endeavour, and at a large money cost, this cen- tury-old grievance and incubus upon the prosperity of the prov- ince was removed. We return to take up the interrupted thread of this colonial history. In 1859, Sir Dominick Daly was succeeded as Gov- ernor by George Dundas, Esq. The visit of the Prince of Wales, in 1860, gave a social and patriotic impulse to the prov- ince. The loyalty of the little colony was shown during the ' ' Trent" excitement the following year, by its organizing a volun- teer force of over a thousand men. To Charlottetown belongs the honour of being the birthplace, in a sense, of the confedera- tion movement. The conference at that place in 1864, and that at Quebec, to which it gave place, have been already described. On the return of the Prince Edward Island delegates from Quebec, public opinion was found strongly opposed to con- federation. In the legislative session of 1865, an anti-confed- erate resolution was passed by a vote of twenty-three to five, and the following session, a stronger one by vote of twenty-one to seven. To maintain the unity of our account of the province, we will continue its history to the period of its admission into the Dominion in 1873. In 1870, W. C. F. Robinson, Esq., became Governor. The growing internal trade and travel of the island, and the lack of stone to make macadamized roads, created a necessity for railway communication. In the legislative session of 1871, a bill was passed for the construction of the Prince PRmCB EDWARD ISLAND. 5I9 Edwai'd Island Railway. But the Government found difficulty in raising the money for the undertaking. The province natur- ally looked to the Dominion for assistance. A general election in 1873 resulted in the return of a legislature favourable to union. A deputation visited Ottawa, which effected conditions of union mutually acceptable to the Dominion and the province. The island surrendered its revenues, and the Dominion assumed the cost of the railway, the civil list, and public administration. It also advanced the sum of $800,000 to purchase the pro- prietary estates, assumed a debt computed at $4,701,050, and agreed to pay annually $30,000, and a subsidy of eighty cents per head on an estimated population of 94,021. The island was to receive a representation of six members in the House of Commons and four in the Senate. These terms were accepted in the Assembly by a vote of twenty-seven to two. The union was consummated on July 1, 1873, and was cele- brated with great festivities at Charlottetown. 520 HISTORY OF CANADA. CHAPTER XLV. CONFEDERATION ACCOMPLISHED. Tlie British North America Act passes the Imperial Parliament, March 28, 1867 — Provisions of the New Constitution — The Dominion Parliament — Legis- lative Representation — Respective Jurisdiction of the Dominion and Prov- inces — The Judiciary — Customs, etc. — Local Legislatures — Inauguration of the New Constitution, July 1 — Titles of Honour Conferred — First Cabinet — Elections — Failure of Commercial Bank — A.ssa8si nation of Thomas D'Arcy McGee, M. P., April 7, 1868 — Sir John Young, Governor- General, vice Lord Monck — Anti-Confederation Agitation in Nova Scotia — Petitions for Repeal of the Union — Petitions Refused — " Better Terms " Granted Nova Scotia — Hon. Joseph Howe enters Dominion Cabinet. IN the maritime provinces, as we have seen, the tide of popu- lar feeling had now turned strongly in favour of confed- eration. In New Brunswick, the anti-confederation Govern- ment was compelled to resign, and a new parliament, elected with express reference to this question, declared decidedly for it. In Nova Scotia, Mr. Howe's eloquence in condemnation of the scheme lost its spell, and his opposition in the lobbies of the Imperial parliament proved equally futile. The Canadian and maritime delegates met in London, in December, 1866, to con- clude the terms of the union. They sat continuously at the West- minster Palace Hotel, from the 4th to the 24th of the month. The result of the conference was the slight modification of the provisions of the Quebec Resolutions, chiefly in the direction of increasing the subsidies to the local governments. The resolutions were transmitted to the Colonial Secretary, and upon them was based the Imperial legislation designed to give effect to the union. On the 7th of February, the Earl of Carnarvon, the Colonial 1867. Secretary, introduced the British North America Act into the House of Lords. After slight modification in the House of Commons, it successfully passed through its different CONFEDERATION ACCOMPLISnED. 521 stages, and, on the 28th of March, received the royal assent, and became the law of the empire. The following day was passed the Canada Eailway Loan Act, which empowered the Imperial Government to guarantee a loan of three million poimds sterling for the construction of the Intercolonial Rail- way, now become a political, as well as a commercial and military necessity for the new nationality. The Act of Union provides that the Dominion of Canada, as the new nation was named, should consist of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada (designated, respectively, Ontario, and Quebec), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, the exist- ing limits of which were to continue undisturbed. Provision was also made for the future admission of Prince Edward Island, the Hudson Bay's Territory, British Columbia, and Newfoundland, with its dependency, Labrador. The following are the chief provisions of the new constitu- tion : — The executive authority is vested in the Queen, in whose name run all legislative acts, civil processes, and naval and military proclamations. The Queen's representative in Canada is the Governor-Gen- eral, who is advised and aided by a Privy Council of thirteen members, afterward increased to fourteen, constituting the ministry, who must be sustained by a parliamentary majority. The parliament consists of two chambers, the Senate and the House of Commons. The Senate was at first to be composed of seventy-two mem- bers, — twenty-four for each of the three divisions, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. On the admis- • sion of Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, and British Columbia^ that number was increased to seventy-eight, and may be still further increased to a maximum of eighty-two on the admission of Newfoundland. The members are appointed by the Gov- ernor-General in Council, representing the crown, and hold their seats for life, subject to forfeiture in case of bankruptcy, conviction of crime, treason, or taking the oath of allegiance to any foreign power, or if they shall cease to possess the 522 HISTORY OF CANADA. necessary property qualification, — the possession of real estate to the value of four thousand dollars, and residence in the province (or, if inhabitants of Quebec, in the district) for which they are appointed. The Speaker of the Senate is appointed by the crown. He may vote on all questions, but when the House is equally divided, he can only give a negative vote. The House of Commons, as first constituted, consisted of one hundred and eighty-one members : eight}^-two for Ontario ; sixty-five for Quebec ; nineteen for Nova Scotia, and sixteen for New Brunswick. • On the re-adjustment of representation in accordance with the census of 1871, after the admission of Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, and British Columbia, the number of representatives was increased to two hundred and six. This representation is subject to future re-adjustment on the following basis : sixty-five members is to be the fixed number for Quebec ; the increased representation of the other prov- inces is to bear the same proportion to their population as sixty-five bears to that of Quebec. The House of Commons is elected for five years unless sooner dissolved. It elects its own Speaker, who can vote only when the House is equally divided. The debates may be in either English or French ; but the proceedings are to be recorded in both languages. The property qualification of members was fixed at five hundred pounds sterling, as was also that for members of the local legislatures of Ontario and Quebec. All bills afiecting taxation or revenue must originate in the House of Commons, and must be recommended by a message from the Governor-General. Bills may receive the assent of the Governor-General directly as representing the Queen, or may be reserved for Her Majesty's pleasure. The jurisdiction of the Dominion parliament extends over the public debt, expenditure and public loans ; treaties ; cus- toms and excise duties ; trade and commerce ; navigation, shipping, and fisheries ; lighthouses and harbours ; the postal, naval, and military services ; public statistics ; monetary insti- CONFEDERATION ACCOMPLISnED. 523 tutions, banks, banking, currency, coining, and insolvency; criminal law, marriage, and divorce ; public works, railways, and canals. Where there is common jurisdiction with the local legislatures, as in the encouragement of immigration and agri- culture, the Acts of the Dominion parliament are of paramount authority, and can, in case of antagonism, supersede the ordinances of the inferior legislatures. The appointment and maintenance of the Judges of the Superior, District, and County Courts of the several provinces, is the prerogative and duty of the Governor in Council. The Judges hold office for life, or till forfeitirre for misconduct ; and are selected from the bars of their respective provinces. The duties and revenues of the several provinces form a consolidated revenue fund, out of which the cost of the public service is defray ed , as well as the suljsidies to the provinces, and the specified portions of their debt assumed by the Domin- ion, and special appropriations. All revenues derived from public lands, timber limits, mines, and minerals, belong to the several j^rovinces in which they are situated. Between all the provinces of the Dominion there is free trade in all their natural products, raw or manufactured. The chief executive officer of the several provinces is the Lieutenant-Governor, who is appointed by the Governor-Gen- eral in Council, acting for the crown, for the temi of five years. The local legislatures were granted constitutions agree- able to the wishes of the respective jDrovinces. The legislature of Ontario consists of only one chamber, the Legislative Assembly. It was constituted at first with eighty- two members, which number was afterwards increased to eighty-eight, elected for four years. The other local legislatures consist of two chambers, a Legis- lative Council and Legislative Assembly.* The Acts of the local legislatures may be disallowed by the Governor-General, for sufficient reason, within a year after they have passed. The local legislatures have jurisdiction over direct taxation ; * The Government of Manitoba was organized with a second chamber, which was afterwards abolished. 524 mSTORT OF caxada. provincial loans ; the appointment and maintenance of provin- cial officers ; the management of provincial lands, prisons, hospitals, and asylums ; municipal institutions ; local improve- ments ; education, and matters aflecting property and civil rights. On the first of July, by royal proclamation, the Act of Con- federation came into force, and with the parental blessing of the mother country, the Dominion of Canada set forth on its high career. On that day the new constitution was formally inaugurated at Ottawa, and Lord IMonck was sworn in as the Governor-General of the confederated provinces. He after- wards signalized Her Majesty's approval of the union by con- ferring titles of honour on its chief promoters. The Hon. John A. Macdonald, the first premier, received the dignity of knighthood, and the Hon. Messrs. Cartier, Gait, Rowland, ]\Iacdougall, Tupper, and Tilley, that of Companion of the Bath. Sir N. F. Belleau became Lieu- tenant-Governor of Quebec, and Major-General Doyle, Lieutenant- Governor of Nova Scotia. Mili- tary officers administered the gov- ernment of the other provinces till July, 1868, when the Hon. L. A. SIR N. F. BELLEAU.' ; • i. J T • 4- 4. VVilmot was appointed Lieutenant- Governor of New Brunswick, and the Hon. W. P. Howland, Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario^ The first Privy Council of the Dominion consisted of the following members : Hon. A. J. F, Blair, . . . President. Hon. Sir John A. Macdonald, . Minister of Justice. » The Hon. Narcissus Fortunat Belleau, Kt., was horn at Quebec, in 1808, and was educated at the Quebec Seminary. He was mayor of the city from 1850- 1853. He was a member of the Legislative and Executive Councils of Canada, and successively Minister of Agriculture and Keceiver-General, holding the latter office in his own administration (Belleau-Macdonald Government), at the union of the provinces. He was knighted by the Prince of Wales, 1860. CONFEDERATION ACCOMPLISHED. 525 Hon. H. L. Langevin, . . . Secretary of State of Canada. lion. A. T. Gait, .... Minister of Finance. Hon. W. Macdougall, . . . Minister of Public Works. Hon. Alexander Campbell, . . Postmaster-General. Hon. J. C. Cliapais, . . . Minister of Agriculture. Hon. E. Kenny, .... Receiver-General. Hon. Sir George E. Cartier, . . Minister of Militia. Hon. S. L. Tilley, .... Minister of Customs. Hon. "\V. P. Howland, . . . Minister of Inland Revenue. Hon. P. Mitchell, .... Minister of Marino and Fisheries. Hon. A. G. Archibald, . . . Secretary of State for the Provinces. The elections for the Dominion parliament and for the several local legislatures took j^lace during the summer. The Dominion parliament met at Ottawa for the transaction of business on the 7th of Novcm])er. It was soon apparent that the new order of things was not regarded by all the provinces Avith unmixed satisfaction. A period of financial depression through which the country was passing, the severity of which was augmented by the suspension of the Commercial Bank, one of the oldest monetary institutions of the country, became the occasion of severe adverse criticism of the fiscal administration of the Government. In consequence of the censure thus incurred, the Hon. A. T. Gait, Finance Minister, resigned his office, and the Hon. John Rose received his portfolio. On the 7th of the following April, the country was thrilled with horror at the barbarous assassination of the Hon. ises. Thomas D'Arcy McGee. This eloquent statesman had been one of the ablest and most earnest advocates of confederation, and his death was felt as a national bereavement. He was fol- lowed from the House of Commons, in the early hours of the morning, by a Fenian fanatic named Patrick Whelan, and shot while entering his hotel. The sorrow of the nation was mani- fested by the imposing obsequies of the murdered statesman, and by its generous sympathy toward his bereaved family. The wretch who had stained the annals of his country with the crime of assassination, was arrested, tried and convicted, and expiated his offence on the gallows. In the month of November, Lord ISIonck, having witnessed the successful inauguration of the new constitution of the con- 526 BISTORT OF CANADA. federate provinces, was succeeded in office by the Eight Hon. Sir John Young, Baron Lisgar, P. C, G. C. B., G. C. M. G. His Excellency was bom at Bom- bay, in 1807. He was educated at Eton and Corpus Christi Col- lege, Oxford. He was Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1852 to 1855, and subsequently Lord High Commissioner for the Ionian Islands, and Governor of New South Wales. Considerable dissatisfaction with the terms of union soon xoRD LISGAR. ^^o^^ ^^ ^^ manifested in the province of Nova Scotia. The annual subsidy from the Dominion Government of $60,000, together with eighty cents per head for the population according to the census of 1861, was found inadequate for the civil expenses of the Government. A strong anti-confederation agitation was therefore kept up, led by the Hon. Joseph Howe, and the Hon. Mr. Wilkins, Attorney-General of the province. The first election after the union resulted in the return of a large majority in the local legislature opposed to confederation. A petition was forwarded to the British parliament, requesting the repeal of the British North America Act so far as it con- cerned Nova Scotia; and, during the year 1868, Mr. Howe proceeded again to England, to urge the demands of his native province. He was confronted by his countryman, the Hon. Dr. Tupper, the agent and representative of the Dominion Government. The Imperial parliament refused to entertain the proposition of a repeal of the union, but counselled a com- promise with the recalcitrant province. The Dominion Government offered a liberal re-adjustment of terms with Nova Scotia. The amount of provincial debt 1869. assumed by the Dominion was increased from $8,000,- 000 to $9,186,756, and an additional annual subsidy was granted. The cost of the new Provincial Buildings was also CONFEDERATION ACCOMPLISHED. 527 assumed. Mr. Howe withdrew his opposition, and accepted office in the Dominion Government as President of the Execu- tive Council, and subsequently as Secretary of State for the Prov- inces. This act was bitterly condemned by many of his friends as a breach of trust, and he gained his re-election on his return to his constituents only after a severe contest. The local opposition to the union, however, gradually subsided, and the generous treatment by the sister provinces of the distressed fishermen of Nova Scotia, whose staple industry had proved this year a disastrous failure, also tended to mitigate the anti- confederation feeling. The Hon. Edward Kenny succeeded Mr. Howe as President of the Council, and the following year was appointed administrator of the Government of Nova Scotia. In consequence of resignations and deaths, the follow- ing additional changes were made in the ministry. Sir Francis Hincks having returned to Canada, again entered public life, and became Minister of Finance. Senator J. C. Aikins entered the cabinet, at first without a portfolio, then as Secre- tary of State. The Hon. Christopher Dunkin, and Hon. Alex. Morris, became, respectively, ministers of Agriculture and Inland Ke venue. 528 HISTORY OF C AX AD A. CHAPTER XLVI. RIVAL FUE COMPANIES — RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. The Hudson's Bay Company Organized, 1670 — Prolonged Conflict -with the older French Fur Company — The North-west Company Organized, 1783 — Its Enterprise and Success — Fort William — Lord Selkirk Plants Red River Colony, 1812 — Conflict with North-west Company — Murder of Governor Semple, 1816 — Lord Selkirk Captures Fort William — Disasters at Red River — The Caterpillar Plague — Lord Selkirk's Energy overcomes every Difficulty — The Great Flood of 1825-26 Devastates the Colony — Ill-advised Manufacturing Schemes — Hudson's Bay and North-west Companies Amal- gamate, 1821 — Council of Assiniboia Organized, 1836 — Patriarchal Gov- ernment of. the Hudson's Bay Company — Development of the North-west Territory. THE extension of the Dominion of Canada so as to embrace "within its bounds the whole of the territory of British North America, was the strong desire of the leading Canadian statesmen. To promote this object the Hon. George E. Car- tier, and the Hon. William Macdougall, proceeded to England in 1868. A necessary preliminary to this was the cession to Canada of the rights of the Hudson's Bay Company. It will be convenient here to retrace briefly the history of the great monopoly that for two centuries had controlled those vast, and, in large part, fertile regions of this continent. In the year 1670, at the solicitation of Prince Rupert* and the Duke of Albemarle, King Charles II. created by royal charter the "Company of Merchant Adventurers trading to Hudson's Bay." With characteristic lavishness the King granted to this company the sole trade and commerce of the vast and vaguely defined regions, to which access may be had through Hudson's Straits. Forty years before this, Louis XHI. had made a similar grant to the *' Company of New France," and, for nearly a hundred years, there was a keen and * Hence a large portion of this territory was known as Rupert's Land. ■RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 529 eager rivalry between these hostile corporations. In order to control the lucrative fur-trade, the Hudson's Bay Company I^lantcd forts and factories at the mouths of the Moose, Albany, Nelson, Churchill, and other rivers flowing into Hudson's Bay. Again and again, adventurous bands of Frenchmen, like D'Iberville and his companions, made bloody raids upon these posts, murdering their occupants, burning the stockades, and carrying off the rich stores of peltries. Growing bolder with success, the French penetrated the vast interior as far as the head-waters of the Mississippi, the Mis- souri, and the Saskatchewan, and reached the Eocky Mountains long before any other white men had visited those regions. They planted trading-230sts and small palisaded forts at impor- tant river-junctions and on far-off lonely lakes, and wrote their names all over this great continent, in the designation of cape and lake and stream, and other great features of nature. The voyageurs and coureurs de bois, to whom this wild, adventurous life was full of fascination, roamed through the forests and navigated the countless arrowy streams; and Montreal and Quebec snatched much of the spoil of this profitable trade from the hands of the English company. Every little far-off trading- post and stockaded fort felt the reverberations of the English guns which won the victory of the Plains of Abraham, whereby the sovereignty of those vast regions passed away forever from the possession of France. After the conquest, numerous independent fur-traders engaged in this profitable traffic. In 1783, these formed a junction of interests and organized the North- west Company. For forty years this was one of the strongest combinations in Canada. Its energetic agents explored the vast North-west regions. Sir Alexander Mackenzie, in 1789, traced the great river which bears his name, and first reached the North Pacific across the Eocky Mountains. In 1808, Simon Frazer descended the gold- bearing stream which perpetuates his memory ; and, shortly after, Thompson explored and named another branch of the same gi-eat river. Keen was the rivalry with the older Hudson's Bay Company, 67 530 HISTORY OF CANADA. and long and bitter was the feud between the two great cor- porations, each of which coveted a broad continent as a hunt- ing-ground and preserve for game. The headquarters of the North-west Company were at Fort William, on Lake Superior. McKAY'S MOUNTAIN, FORT WILLIAM. Its clerks were mostly young Scotchmen, of good families, whose characteristic thrift and fidelity were encouraged by a share in the profits of the fur-trade. The partners of the com- pany travelled in feudal state, attended by a retinue of boatmen and servants, "obedient as Highland clansmen." The grand councils and banquets in the thick-walled state chamber at Fort William were occasions of lavish pomp and luxury. Sometimes as many as twelve hundred retainers, factors, clerks, voyageurs, and trappers were assembled, and held for a time high festival, with a strange blending of civilized and savage life. In the early years of the present century, the feud between the rival companies was at its height. At this time, Thomas Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, was the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, and proprietor of a large proportion of the stock. He was a man of indomitable energy, and of dauntless courage. With the skill of an experienced general, he pre- pared for the strenuous conflict which he felt to be inevitable. He perceived that by obtaining control of the Red River, and RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 531 erecting a fort at its junction with the Assiniboine, he would have a strong base for future operations, and Avould possess an immense advantage over his opponents. For this purpose he resolved to establish a colony of his countrymen at that strate- gic position, the key of the mid-continent. He received from the company, in furtherance of this project, a grant of sixteen thousand square miles, or over ten million acres of land, in the nei£]:hbourhood of Kcd Kiver. He built Fort Douglas, the site of which is commemorated in the name of Point Douglas, in the town of "Winnipeg. The oifer of free grants of land, and of sundry special privileges, induced a large number of hardy Highlanders to seek their fortunes in the fur west. In the year 1812, the first brigade of colonists reached Eed River, by way of Hudson's Bay, having spent an entire winter on the l)orders of that icy sea. A stern welcome awaited them. Hardly had they arrived at the site of the proposed settlement, when an armed band of Nor'- Westers, the rival fur-traders, plumed and painted in the Indian style, appeared and commanded the colonists to depart. The latter, overpowered by numbers, were compelled to submit, and to take refuge at the Hudson's Bay post at Pembina, within the territory of the United States. Even the guns that their fathers had borne at Culloden, were taken from them, and the wedding-rings of the women were torn from their fingers. Undaunted by this failure, they returned in the spring of 1813, built log-houses, and sowed their wheat. They were undisturbed till the following year. By this time the decree had gone forth from the councils of the North-west Company, — the colony must be destroyed. It was done, but not without shedding of blood. The settlement became a heap of ashes, its inhabitants exiles in the wilderness. Ee-enforced by a new brigade from Scotland, and by a hun- dred veteran Canadians, the banished settlers returned to their ruined homes. Many hardships ensued. The hapless colonists lived on fish, roots, berries, nettles, and wild parsnips. Many of them were forced to abandon the settlement, — toiling through the wilderness back to Canada. 532 mSTORT OF CANADA. But iu the following year, 1816, there fell upon the little colony a more crushing blow than any it had yet received. In the month of June, a body of three hundred mounted Nor'- "Westers, armed to the teeth, and begrimed with war-paint, attacked the settlement. A little band of twenty-eight men went forth to parley. By a volley of the enemy, twenty-one of them were slain, including Mr, Robert Semple, acting-Gov- ernor of the settlement. The town was sacked and burned, and the wretched inhabitants, driven from the blackened embers of their devastated homes, found refuge at Xorway House. * Lord Selkirk was at New York, on his way to Rupert's Land, when he heard of this attack. He immediately assumed the offensive. The blood of the Douglases was stirred in his veins. He had with him about a hundred Swiss, German, and French soldiers of the De Meuron regiment, disbanded at the close of the continental war, and a few Glengarry men. With these he hastened by way of Penetanguishene, and the north shore of Lakes Huron and Superior to Fort William, dragging with him two small cannon through the wilderness. Here sworn infor- mation w^as laid before him as a Justice of the Peace by some of the sufferers from the recent outrages, charging certain occupants of the fort with the crime of "larceny, riot, and murder." There were in the neighbourhood of Fort William about three hundred French-Canadians and Indians in the em- ploy of the North-west Company. Selkirk demanded the sur- render of the guilty parties, and, under warrant of his justice's commission, broke open the gates and took possession of the fort. The prisoners were sent to York (Toronto) for trial ; but, through incompleteness of evidence, were acquitted, and, for some time, Selkirk held possession of the fort. With a high-spirited philanthropy, Lord Selkirk sought to give homes on the fertile jirairies of Red River to his country- men who had faithfully served their King through a bloody European w^ar, or who were driven from their ancestral hold- ings of land by heartless landlords, who, preferring sheep- * It was afterward noted that twenty-six out of tlie attacking party of sixty- five, died untimely and violent deatlis. RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 533 farming to tenant-culture, turned populous estates into a soli- tude. He again established colonists in the thrice-forsaken settlement, furnishing them with agricultural implements, seed- grain and stock. But the summer was already half gone, the harvest was scanty, famine was impending, and the hapless settlers were again compelled, on the approach of winter, to take refuge at the Hudson's Bay post at Pembina. Their hard- ships were incredible. They were forced to subsist upon the precarious products of the chase. They suffered everything but death, and were reduced to the utmost extremity. In the spring, the Red River colonists returned for the fifth time to their abandoned habitations. Fortune seemed at last to smile upon their efforts. The crops were ripening around the little settlement and hope beat high in every heart ; but an unforeseen catastrophe aAvaited them. Late in an afternoon in the last week in July, a cloud of grasshoppers, — like the Egyptian plague of locusts, more terrible than a destroying army, — darkened the air, covered the ground, and, in a single night, devoured almost every green thing. The land was as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness. It was a piteous sight. Strong men bowed them- selves. The sturdy Highlanders, who had gazed on death unblanched, burst into tears as they thought of the famine- pangs that menaced their wives and little ones. Another weary march, and a miserable winter at Pembina, was their fate. Again, in the spring, that forlorn hope returned to their devastated fields. But agriculture was impossible. The grass- hoppers of the previous season had left a terrible legacy behind them. Their larvee multiplied a thousand-fold. They filled the air, covered the ground, extinguished the fires kindled in the fields as a barrier against them, polluted the water, were strewn along the river banks like seaweed on the ocean shore, and the stench of their dead bodies infected the atmosphere. Pembina must succour the hapless colonists yet another winter. The story of such uniform disaster becomes wearisome. Any one less determined, less dogged, it might perhaps be said, than Lord Selkirk, would have abandoned the colony. Not so 534 HISTORY OF CANADA. he. His resolution rose with the difficulties of the occasion, and surmounted every obstacle. That little company, — the advance-guard of the great army of civilization destined yet to fill the land so bravely won, — returned to the scene of their blasted hopes. At the cost of five thousand dollars, Lord Selkirk brought two hundred and fifty bushels of seed-wheat from Prairie du Chien, on the Mississippi, a distance of twelve hundred miles. It was soTvai, and, by the Divine blessing, after eight years of failure, the harvest was happily reaped. Amid such hardships and jDrivations was the Ked River settle- ment planted. The colony now struck its roots deep into the soil. It grew and flourished year by year. Recruits came from Scotland, from Germany, from Switzerland. They suffered many priva- tions, and encountered some disasters, but none worse than that of the winter of 1825-26. It was a season of extreme severity. Thirty-three f)ersons perished of hunger and cold, and many cattle died. With the spring thaw, the river rose nine feet in a single day. In three days every house had to be abandoned. The inhabitants fled to the highest ground adjacent. They beheld their houses, barns, crops, fences, — everything they jDossessed, — swept by on the rushing torrent to Lake Winnipeg. The waters continued to rise for nineteen days. The disheart- ened colonists proposed a])andoning forever the luckless settle- ment. At this crisis tidings of the abatement of the flood was brought. The weary w^atchers rushed to the water's side. It was even so. They accepted the deliverance as from God. They resolved to remain where they were. A new beginning had to be made. The unfortunate settlement was well-nigh destroyed. In a somewhat visionary attempt to manufacture cloth from buffaloes' wool, the magnates of the fur-trade, at great cost, introduced machinery and workmen from England. This fail- ing, fifteen thousand sheep were purchased in Kentucky, two thousand miles distant. Only two hundred and fifty survived the journey, and those soon died of exhaustion. Flax-culture and tallow exportation were also tried without success. In RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 535 these ill-advised schemes Lord Selkirk sank half a million of dollars. The population of the settlement, however, continued gradually to increase, a considerable proportion of it ])eing composed of the half-breed progeny of the early French or English-speaking employes of the trading companies and the aboriginal race. Exhausted by forty years of conflict, in 1821, the Hudson's Bay and North-west companies ceased their warfare and com- bined their forces, and were confirmed by the Imperial parlia- ment in the monopoly of trade through the wide region stretch- ing from Labrador to the Pacific Ocean. In order to maintain control of the Ked Eiver settlement, in 1836, they paid the sum of £84,000 sterling for the land granted to Lord Selkirk twenty-four years before, except that which had been deeded to settlers. Sir George Simpson became the Governor of the Territory, and continued to administer its afiairs for forty years. The Council of Assiniboia was organized, consisting of the chief officer of the company, and councillors chosen from among the most influential inhabitants of the region, and having jurisdiction for fifty miles around Fort Garry. The rest of the Territory was under the supreme control of the company. Its government, while jealously exclusive of rival influence, was patriarchal in character, and through the exclusion, for the most part, of intoxicating liquors, greatly promoted the welfare of the Indians, and repressed disorder throughout its wide domain. The policy of the company was adverse to the settlement of the country, and its agents endeavoured, as far as possible, to retain the fur-trade and sale of goods and supplies, — the profits of which were very gi-eat, — exclusively in their own hands. The Red Eiver settlement, in 1858, had increased to a popu- lation of about eight thousand, and during the next ten years to about twelve thousand. On the formation of the Dominion of Canada, however, it was felt to be highly desirable that it should be included in the new confederacy, and also that the Dominion should acquire jurisdiction over the vast regions 536 BISTORT OF CANADA. under the control of the Hudson's Bay Company ; and, as we have seen, the Hon. George E. Cartier and Hon. William Macdougall visited Great Britain to promote this object. Some years prior to this date, numerously-signed petitions from the inhabitants of the Eed River settlement were pre- sented to the Government of Canada, soliciting annexation to that country. THE RED RIVER REBELLION . 537 CHAPTER XLVII. THE EED RIVER REBELLION. Nortli--we8t Territory ceded to the Crown, 1868 — The Hon. 'William Mac- douguU at Red River, October 20, 18G9 — Insurrectionary Outbreak — The Insurgents Seize Fort Garry, November 3 -r- Dr. Schultz, and Forty-four Canadians, Captured and Imprisoned, December 7 — Provisional Government Organized, February 9, 1870 — Major Boulton and Forty-seven Loyalists Captured aud Imprisoned, February 17 — Thomas Scott Condemned and Shot, March 4 — Indignation in Canada — The Manitoba Act Passed, May 20 — Colonel Wolseley Organizes Red River Expedition — It Enters Fort Garry, August 24 — Hon. A. G. Archibald Assumes Civil Government, September 3 — Last Fenian Attempt at Trout River and Pigeon Hill, May 25-23 — British Columbia Enters the Dominion, 1871 — Vancouver's Island Discovered, 1762 — Colonized by Hudson's Bay Company, 1843 — Vancouver's Island a Crown Colony, 1849 — Influx of Gold-hunters, 1858 — British Columbia Organized a Separate Colony — Joint Occupation of San Juan by British and Americans, 1854 — Vancouver's Island and British Columbia Re- nnited, 1866 — Terms of Union with Canada — Franco-Prussian War — Outrages of the Commune. THE extension of the Dominion of Canada till it should embrace the whole of the British North American posses- sions from the Atlantic to the Pacific, was destined soon to be accomplished. In 1868, the Rupert's Land Act was passed by the British parliament, aud, under its provisions, the Hudson's Bay Company surrendered to the crown its territorial rights over the vast region under its control. The conditions of this surrender were as follows : — The company was to receive the sum of £300,000 sterling in money, and grants of land around its trading-posts to the extent of fifty thousand acres in all. In addition it is to receive, as it is surveyed and laid out in townships, one-twentieth of all the land in the great fertile belt south of the north branch of the Saskatchewan. It retains also the privilege of trade, but without its former exclusive monopoly. * * The price paid for this magnificent territory amounts to only one-sixth of a cent i)er acre, or one-fifteenth the amount paid per acre by the United States for frozen Alaska. 68 538 HISTORY OF CANADA. The following April the Dominion parliament passed an Act, i869.» granting the necessary appropriation for the indemnity of the Hudson's Bay Company for its territorial rights, and providing for the temporary government of the entire region, under the designation of the North-west Territory. In antici- pation of its speedy cession, which was appointed to take place on the 1st of December, surveying parties were sent into the Red River country for the purpose of laying out roads and townships, with a view to its early occupation. Unhappily jealousies were awakened among the settlers lest this move- ment should in some way prejudice their title to their land. It was unfortunate that no commissioner was appointed at this juncture to explain the proposed change of government, in order to remove the misapprehensions of the inhabitants. In the month of September, the Hon. William Macdougall proceeded to Red River to assume the duties of Governor of the North-west Territory so soon as the cession should take place. He was prepared to establish stage and telegraph lines, and to carry out a vigorous policy of internal development and improvement. He w^as met near the frontier, on the 20th of October, by a band of armed men, and compelled to retreat across the border to Pembina. An insurrectionary council was created, with John Bruce as its president, and Louis Riel as secretary, although the latter was really the leading spirit of the movement. The insurgents set at defiance the authority of Mr. MacTavish, the resident Governor of Assiniboia and the Hudson's Bay Territory, and, on the 3d of November, took forcible possession of Fort Garry, a stone-walled enclosure containing the valuable stores of the Hudson's Bay Company, together with a quantity of small-arms, several pieces of cannon, and a large supply of ammunition. Colonel Dennis, a Canadian militia officer, who had been conducting the land surveys, and was commissioned as Deputy- * During this summer, H. E. H. Prince Arthur joined his regiment in Canada. He made a somewhat extended tour through the country, and was CTerywhere received with the loyal enthusiasm by which Canadians testify their regard for the family of their beloved sovereign. THE RED RIVER REBELLIOX. 539 Governor hy Mr. Macdougall, hereupon organized a force of the loyal inhabitants, for the suppression of the revolt and the vindication of the Queen's authority. A party of these, forty- five in all, were besieged by the insurgents in the house of Dr. Schultz, in the town of Winnipeg, and, on their surrender on the 7th of December, were imprisoned for some months in Fort Garr}'. The number of prisoners was soon increased by illegal arrests to over sixty. The temporary success of the revolt seems to have com- pletely turned the heads of its leaders, and to have isro. encouraged them to more audacious designs. Kiel demanded a loan of two thousand pounds sterling from Governor Mac- Tavish, which, being refused, he seized and broke open the safe of the company and pillaged its stores, as well as the property of Dr. Schultz, and that of the Canadian Govern- ment, deposited in his warehouse. He proceeded further to the arrest of Governor MacTavish, then ill with his mortal sickness. A convention of delegates from the several parishes of the settlement was now summoned by the Kiel faction, and a declaration was issued in vindication of their insurrectionary movement. A provisional government was created, of which Riel contrived to have himself elected president, February 7. A bill of rights was formulated, the principal feature of which was a demand for local self-government, representation in the Dominion legislature, and an amnesty to be granted to the leaders of the revolt. Eiel had now an armed force of some six hundred men under his control, and carried things with a high hand in the settlement, arresting whomsoever he chose, confiscating public and private property, and banishing from the country jDcrsons obnoxious to himself. This usurped authority proving intolerable to the loyal in- habitants, they organized a movement for the release of the prisoners and the suppression of the revolt. A large body of men, numbering, it is said, some six or seven hundred, assem- bled for this purpose in the neighbourhood of Fort Garry. The prisoners in the fort having in the meantime been released, 540 HISTORY OF CANADA. this movement was abandoned. A party of these loyalists, on their way to their homes, were intercepted by an armed force from the fort, and imprisoned, to the number of forty-eight. Their leader. Major Boulton, a Canadian militia oflScer, was thrown into irons, and, after a summary trial by a rebel tribunal, was sentenced to be shot. He was reprieved only after the earnest intercession of the leading persons of the English-speaking population. Shortly after, however, another Canadian prisoner fell a victim to Kiel's usurped and ill-used power. Thomas Scott, a brave and loyal man, for the crime of endeavouring to main- tain the authority of his rightful sovereign, after a mock-trial by a rebel court-martial, was sentenced to be shot at noon the following day. In spite of the remonstrance and intercession of the Rev. George Young, the Wesleyan missionary, at Win- nipeg, who attended the prisoner in his last hours, and of Mr. Commissioner Smith, the cruel sentence of this illegal and self- constituted tribunal was carried into execution. On the 4th of ]\Iarch, Thomas Scott was led from his prison with pinioned arms, and shot in cold blood by a firing party of the insurgents. So unskilfully did the assassins perform their work, that it is said the unfortunate man lived and spoke for some time after he was thrust into his coffin, and was at last despatched with the stab of a knife. The tidings of this assassination produced intense excitement throughout Canada, especially in the province of Ontario. Tumultuous indignation meetings were held, and a loud demand was made for the punishment of the instigators of the crime. A reward of five thousand dollars was subsequently ofiered by the Ontario Government for the arrest of Kiel. Measures were promptly taken by the Imperial and Dominion authorities conjointly, for maintaining the supremacy of the Queen in the North-west. Several commissioners* had, dur- ing the winter, been appointed by the Dominion Government to visit the insurgent territory, to ascertain the wishes of the * Grand Vicar Thibault, Colonel de Salaberry, Donald A. Smith (who was a member of the Hudson's Bay Company), and Bishop Tach6. THE RED RIVER REBELLION. 541 inhabitants, and to convey assurances that all their rights should he respected, and a liberal constitution granted. On the 20th of May, an Act passed the Dominion parliament, creating the new province of Manitoba, and admitting it into the Canadian confederation. Its limits were defined as extend- ing a hundred miles northward from the American frontier, and one hundred and twenty miles from east to west. It was granted a representation of two members in the Senate, and four in the House of Commons. It was also to receive an annual subsidy of $30,000, and eighty cents per head on a population estimated at seventeen thousand. A local legisla- ture was organized, consisting of a Lieutenant-Governor (assisted by an Executive Council of five members), a Legis- lative Council of seven members, and a House of Assembly of twenty-four members. The govern- ment of the con- tiguous North- west Territory was to be administered by the Lieutenant- Governor of Mani- toba, aided by a Council of eleven members (after- wards increased to twenty-two). This Act was accepted by the council of the provisional government on behalf of the peo- ple, and, on the 23d of June the kakabekah falls, kaministiquia kiver. Queen's proclamation for the admission of the new province into the Dominion was issued. In the meantime. Colonel Garnet Wolseley, afterwards dis- 542 HISTORY OF CANADA. tinguished as the successful commander of the British troops in the Ashantee war, organized, in the month of June, a mili- tary expedition to restore the authority of the Queen m the insurrectionary province. A body of twelve hundred picked men, about a hundred of whom belonged to the Sixtieth Regi- ment of the regular army, the remainder being volunteer Cana- dian militia from both Ontario and Quebec, proceeded by way of Fort William and Rainy Lake and Eiver to Fort Garry. For four hundred miles the expedition traversed a wilderness of labyrinthine lakes or rapid rivers. All the military stores and provisions, and the large and heavy boats, had to be borne with incredible labour over numerous portages, — often long and steep and rugged, — around the Jfiills and cataracts, one of which is shown in the engraving. Yet the little army toiled on through innumerable obstacles, and, on the 24th of August, reached its destination, only to find that, as no amnesty for the leaders of the revolt had arrived, Kiel, and his fellow-conspira- tors had fled from Fort Garry. The British troops immediately occupied the fort, and, to the great joy of the loyal inhabitants, the Queen's authority was again acknowl- edged as supreme. On the 3d of September, the Hon. A. G. Archibald arrived, and assumed the functions of Lieutenant-Governor. * The troops of the regular army immediately returned, and the maintenance of order was entrusted to the Canadian „^„ . ^ militia ; most of whom, however, HON. A. G. ARCHIBALD. ' ' ' were shortly after withdrawn. * The Hon. Adams George Archibald, was born at Truro, Nova Scotia, in 1814. He was a member of the Executive Council of his native province, during a period of four years. He was a delegate to the Union Conferences at Char- lottetown, Quebec, and London. He was Secretary of State for the provinces in the first ministry of the Dominion of Canada. In 1873, he resigned the Governorship of Manitoba and the North-west Territory, and, the same year, was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, on the death of the Hon. Joseph Howe. THE RED RIVER REBELLION. 543 The leaders of the Fenian conspiracy in the United States had, in the meantime, been endeavonring to keep up the delu- sion of their countrymen that a serious attack would be made on Canada. At length they found that some active demonstra- tion was necessary to prevent the collapse of the organization. In the spring of the year, therefore, it made its last feeble effort to disturb the peace of Canada. Ou the 25th of May, an ill- organized horde crossed the frontier of the province of Quebec, at Trout River. It was speedily confronted by a small force of regulars and volunteers, and hastily retreated. Three days later a similar raid was made at Pigeon Hill, but it was repulsed, and "General" O'Neil was captured by the United States Marshal. The President of the United States hereupon issued a proclamation forbidding American citizens taking any part in raids against the people of Canada. On the 5th of October, of the following year, the irrepres- sible O'Neil, and O'Donohue, a confederate of Kiel's in isti. the late insurrection, with a Fenian band, crossed the boundary of Manitoba, at Pembina, and seized the Custom-house and Hudson's Bay post. They were, shortly after, followed and caiDtured by a company of United States troops, the precise location of the boundary line being not then settled, and O'Neil and some of his fellow-conspirators underwent the formality of a trial in a United States court, but were discharged. Mr. Archibald was, shortly after, succeeded as Lieutenant-Gov- ernor by the Hon. Chief Justice Morris. In the early part of the year, the Pacific province of British Columbia was admitted into the Dominion of Canada. The previous history of that colony is soon told. In 1762, Captain Vancouver visited and partially explored the islands lying off the North Pacific coast, and gave his name to the largest of the group. Attracted by the spacious harbours, fine climate, fer- tile soil, and wealth of timber, coal, fisheries, and furs, the Hudson's Bay Company, in 1843, received a lease of the island and the adjacent main-land from the crown, and planted trad- ing-posts at Victoria and other places. International difiicul- ties on account of disputed boundary, shortly arising, in 1846 544 BISTORT OF CAXADA. the dividing line between the British territory and United States was defined as one passing through the channel that separates Vancouver's Island from the main-land. This was still ambiguous, as each country claimed the island of San Juan, situated in mid-channel, and of considerable importance for military purposes as commanding the entrance to Frazer Eiver. In 1849, Vancouver's Island became a crown colony, and Sir James Douglas, the local agent of the Hudson's Bay Company, was appointed its first Governor. The contemporaneous dis- covery of gold in California attracted thither thousands of Canadian and American gold-hunters, and the more northern colony was neglected. Rich deposits of the precious metal were shortly after found in British Columbia. Wild miners from California, and adventurous spirits from all parts of the world flocked to the new El Dorado. In 1858, between twenty and thirty thousand men were digging on the terraced slopes of the Frazer, and its tributaries. As a firm local government was necessary for the maintenance of order among the mixed, and, often reckless population, British Columbia was organized a separate crown colony. The following year, 1859, the American military command- ant in Oregon Territory, occupied, with an armed force, the island of San Juan, the possession of which was a matter of dispute between the two nations. The English Admiral promptly landed a body of marines in vindication of the claim of Great Britain. A collision between the two forces seemed imminent, but the rival claimants agreed to a joint occupation of the island till the question of its rightful ownership should be settled by arbitration. In 18G6, Vancouver's Island was re-united with British Columbia, and, on the 20th of July, 1871, that colony was incorporated with the Dominion of Canada. It was granted a representation in the Dominion Senate of three members, and six members in the House of Commons. The chief condition of the union was the construction, withir^ ten years, of a rail- way connecting the tide-waters of the Pacific Ocean with the THE RED RIVER REBELLION. 545 railway system of Outario and Quebec, — a gigantic under- taking, afterwards found impracticable within the allotted time. To aid the construction of the road the province was to grant twenty miles of land on each side of the line throughout its entire territory, for which it was to receive from the central government the sum of $100,000 per year. The debt of the Pacific province was also assumed by the Dominion at the com- puted amount of $1,666,000. It received a subsidy of eighty cents a head on an estimated population of sixty thousand, of which three-fourths consisted of the native Indian tribes. It was also to receive an annual grant of $35,000. Contemporaneously with this national growth and develop- ment, stirring events were shaking the European continent, to which we could not in Canada be indifferent. The declaration of war against Germany by the Emperor of the French, in 1870, was speedily followed by the invasion of France, and the successive defeat of the French armies in the sanguinary conflicts of Woerth, Gravelotte, and Sedan. The Emperor a prisoner, the Empress fled to England and France was de- clared a republic. The victorious German armies pressed remorselessly on to the siege of Paris. Amid frost and famine and fire, amid desperate sorties and gallant resistance, the doomed city held out till January 23, 1871, when it succumbed to the awful bombardment and relentless siege of the enemy. On the 1st of March, the conquering army marched into the captured capital, and inflicted, as the price of their evacua- tion of France, the penalty of the excessive indemnity of 5,000,000,000 francs. No sooner was the strong hand of the Germans removed than the terrible rising of the Commune took place. For three months the Kepublican army of France besieged its own capi- tal, and, in fratricidal conflict, fought its way through scenes of slaughter, blood, and flame, to the possession of the city. A dreadful retaliation followed the stubborn resistance and wanton destruction of property by the frenzied Commune, in the wholesale execution of the defeated faction by their vie- 546 EISTORT OF CANADA. torious fellow-countrymen. These tragical events were the cause of profound sympathy in Canada, and considerable sums of money were contributed by its French and German inhabi- tants for the relief of the wounded of their respective coun- tries. CLOSE OF THE MAC DONALD ADMIS 1ST RATION. 54; CHAPTER XLVm. CLOSE OF THE MACDONALD ADMINISTRATION. The Alabama Claims — The Fishery Question — The Washington Treaty Con- cluded, May 8, 1871 — Hon. Edward Blake, Premier of Ontario — Lord Duf- ferin, Governor-General, 1872 — The Geneva Arbitration — British Sentiment on Colonial Connection — Second Dominion Parliament — Census Returns — Canadian Pacific Railway — Mr. Huntington Charges the Government with Malfeasance) April 2, 1873 — Investigation Committee Appointed — The Oaths Bill Passed — Death of Sir George E. Cartier and Hon. Joseph Howe — Ontario Legislation — New Lieutenant-Governors — Prince Edward Island enters the Dominion, July 1 — "Pacific Scandal " Controversy — Parliament Meets, August 13 — Oatha Bill ultra vires — Parliament Prorogued — A Royal Commission Investigates Charges — Parliament Receives Report of Com- mission — The Macdonald Ministry Resigns, November 5. THE relations of the new Dominion to the neighbouring Eepublic continued for some time to be imperilled by complications arising from Imperial rather than from colonial causes. The question of the liability of Great Britain for the immense damage done to American commerce by the depreda- tions of the "Alabama," "Florida," and other Confederate cruisers sailing from British ports, was the occasion of intense and prolonged discussion in the United States. The political irritation found vehement expression in the public press, on the platform, and even in the pulpit. Another cause of interna- tional difficulty also existed. During the continuance of the reciprocity treaty, the deep-sea and inshore fisheries of the British North American coast were freely thrown open to American fishermen by the conditions of the treaty. On the suspension of reciprocity, of course that privilege ceased. Yet the Americans continued to claim the right of fishing in British waters. The protection by means of armed cruisers of these valuable preserves against this unauthorized intrusion, was both difficult and costly, and was liable to lead to serious interruptions of international peace. In order to discuss, and, as far as possible, remove these 548 BISTORT OF C AX AD A. and other causes of irritation between the two Governments, a joint high commission, composed of eminent statesmen of both nations, met at Washington, in the month of February, 1871. The interests of Canada were represented by Sir John A. Macdonald as one of the commissioners appointed by the Imperial Government. The result of the negotiations was expressed by the Washington Treaty, concluded on the 8th of May. The *' Alabama " claims were jointly referred to a Ijoard of arbitration appointed by friendly powers, by whose decision each nation agreed to abide. The fisheries of both Canada and the United States were thrown open to either country. A money compensation was, however, to be paid to Canada in consideration of the superior value of her fisheries, the amount of compensation to be decided by a sub-commission. The navigation in common of the Canadian and United States canals, and of Lake Michigan, and the transport of dutiable goods in bond through either country, with some minor privi- leges, were mutually granted. The San Juan boundary diffi- culty was referred to the Emperor of Germany, who gave his decision in favour of the United States. The boundaries between the North-west Territory, and that of Alaska, recently purchased by the United States from Kussia, were also defined and soon after surveyed. The claims of the Dominion on account of losses sustained and expense incurred by the Fenian raids were entirely ignored by the commission. This gave much dissatisfaction in Canada, as did also the surrender of her valuable fisheries, for which it was apprehended that no adequate compensation would be obtained. Nevertheless, although the power of veto of the fishing clauses of the treaty was granted to the Dominion par- liament, they were loyally adopted out of consideration for the Imperial policy of Great Britain. The British Government, in consideration of the abandonment by Canada of the Fenian- raid claims, guaranteed a Dominion loan of $3,500,000, and continued its guarantee of the previous fortification loan of $1,100,000. In the Ontario legislature political parties were very evenly CLOSE OF THE MACDONALD ADMINISTRATION. 549 balanced. One result of confederation had been the accumula- tion in the treasury of the province of a large surplus, — the proceeds of crown land and other revenue, and of the Dominion subsidy. It was proposed to employ a considerable proportion of this surplus in aiding the construction of rail- ways in the province. Important narrow-gauge lines, opening up tho Nipissing and Grey and Bruce regions, were projected and prosecuted by the aid of bonuses, voted by the munici- palities benefited. The discussion of these and other subjects was sufficiently acrimonious. In the month of December, 1871, the Hon. John Sandfield Macdonald, in consequence of a vote of the House adverse to the policy of his Government, in appropriating $1,500,000 for railroad subsidies without taking a vote on the appropriations to the several roads, resigned the premiership into the hands of Mr. Edward Blake. * It was objected by the new Opposition that several constituencies were not represented, when the Sandfield Macdonald Govern- ment was obliged to resign ; but Mr. Blake was, nevertheless, able to command a good working majority in a full House. Mr. INIacdonald died the following summer, respected and regretted by all classes of the community. Among the impor- tant measures of the session was one disallowing the practice of dual representation ; that is, the occupancy of seats by the same person in both the Dominion and local parliaments. In consequence of this, Mr. Blake yielded the office of premier to the Hon. Oliver Mowat, who resigned his position on the Bench in order to enter again into political life. * The Hon. Edward Blake is the son of the late Hon. William Hume Blake, a gentleman of good Irish family, who became Solicitor-General of Canada in the Baldwin-Lafontaine ministry, and afterward Vice-Chancellor of Upper Canada. Tho younger Blake was educated at Upper Canada College and Toronto University, where he graduated with honours. He was called to the har in 1856. In 1867, he was elected representative for West Durham in the first Dominion parliament, and for South Bruce in the Ontario legislature, and became in the latter the acknowledged leader of the Opposition. Mr. Blake, on entering political life, at once stepped to the front rank, both at Toronto and Ottawa. His public addresses, both in parliament and out of it, challenge the attention of the country, and he commands the respect even of those who most strenuously oppose his political course. 550 HISTORY OF CAyADA. The marriage of the Princess Louise to the Marquis of Lome, created much social interest in Canada. Toward the close of the year 1871, the dangerous illness of the Prince of "Wales awoke profound sympathy. On his restoration to health, Canada joined heartily in the national thanksgiving of the motherland. In the month of June following, the Right Honourable Sir 1855. Frederick Temple, Earl of Dufferin, K. P., K. C. B., succeeded Sir John Young (now Lord Lisgar) , as Governor- General of Canada. Lord Dufferin was born in Ireland, in 1826, in which country his ancestors for six generations, or two hundred years, have lived. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. He succeeded to the peerage on his father's death in 1841. He was for several years a Lord in waiting to the Queen, and has occupied several public positions of much importance. In 1859, he was British commissioner to Syria to inquire into the massacre of the Christians in that country, which duty he discharged with dis- tinguished ability and success. He was appointed Lord Lieu- tenant of the County Down in 1864. He was Under-Secretary of State for India from that year to 1866, and Under-Secretary for War from 1866 to the following year. He was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Paymaster-General from 1868 to the time of his appointment as Governor-General of Canada. He brought with him a distinguished reputation as an author. His " Letters from High Latitudes " are brimful of humour and graphic description, his "Notes on Ancient Syria" exhibit much learning and research, and his various papers on Irish questions give evidence of rare statesmanship. By his genial courtesy he soon won a very remarkable degree of popular favour. He promptly identified himself with every interest of the country which was calculated to promote its happiness and welfare. After having rejected the preposterous claims of the United States for indirect or constructive damages on account of the piracies of the Confederate cruisers, the Geneva arbitration commission awarded to that country the sum of $15,500,000, CLOSE OF THE MACDONALD ADMINISTRATION. 551 — this amount to be adjudicated to claimants in proportion to their ascertained losses. Thus was an example given of the feasibility of settling vexatious international difficulties by the peaceable arbitration of intelligent and dispassionate neutrals, instead of by appeal to the dread arbitrament of war. The ** Times" newspaper, indeed, in view of the complica- tions in which it conceived that Canada involved the mother country, advocated its political divorce from Great Britain. Tho laureate, Tennyson, however, in a poetical address to the Queen, more correctly interpreted the feelings of the British nation by his indignant repudiation of the sordid feeling that because " so loyal was too costly," would bid that " true North" to *' loose the bond and go." The spontaneous outburst of feeling on both sides of the sea proved that the bond between Canada and the motherland was one of mutually strong and intense attachment. The first Dominion parliament having expired by effluxion of time, a general election was held during the summer and autumn of 1872 (from July 15 to October 12). The political excitement in all the provinces was very great, but it culmi- nated in Ontario and Quebec, where the most strenuous strug- gle took place. The elections resulted in the return of a par- liamentary majority sustaining the ministry of Sir John A. Macdonald. Sir George E. Cartier, however, was defeated in Montreal, but was elected for Provencher, in Manitoba. Sir Francis Hincks was also defeated, but found a seat as represent- ative of Vancouver District, in British Columbia. The returns of the census of 1871 were this year made public. The population of the four leading provinces was reported as follows: — Ontario, 1,620,851; Quebec, 1,191,- 516; Nova Scotia, 387,500; New Brunswick, 285,594; total, 3,485,761. The construction of a Canadian Pacific Railway across the continent was one of the conditions of the entrance of British Columbia into the Dominion. For the purpose of procuring the contract for this gigantic undertaking, two rival companies obtained incorporation, — the " Canada Pacific," with Sir Hugh 552 HISTORY OF C AX AD A. Allan, principal proprietor of the Canadian steamship line, at its head; and the <' Inter-Oceanic," with the Hon. Senator Macpherson as its president. The Government was authorized by Act of Parliament to give the contract for building the road to either company, or to the two companies amalgamated, or to any company distinct from either that would undertake the task. A subsidy of 130,000,000, and a grant of five million acres of land in alternate blocks along the line of railway, were also to be given to the company constructing the road. The financial state of the coun- tiy showed remarkable buoyancy, the surplus of revenue being three and a half millions. In consequence of this satisfactory condition of afiairs, the duty on tea and coffee was abolished, and also the immigrant tax. A charter was at length granted 1873. (February 19) to a new "Canada Pacific Railway Com- pany." The president was Sir Hugh Allan, * and, among the directors, seventeen in number, were members of both the former companies, and representa- tive men from the different provinces of the Dominion, together with several leading American capitalists. SIR HUGH AiLAN. * Sir Hugh Allan is a conspicuons example of the distinction achieved through the energy and enterprise of Scotchmen in Canada. He was born at Saltcoats, in the county of Ayr, in 1810, and is therefore now in his sixty-eighth year. His father was a successful ship-owner and captain, trading between the Clyde and Montreal. The son inherited the tastes of the sire, and early manifested predilections for the shipping business. He came to Canada in 1826, and, establishing himself at Montreal, built up gradually, in connection with his brothers, a large shipping interest. In 1852, his firm, subsidized by the Government of the day, established a fortnightly line of steamers to Montreal, which soon after became a weekly line. This enterprise wonderfully stimu- lated the growth of Montreal, and indeed of the entire country. The firm now controls one of the largest steam-fleets afloat, besides a large fleet of sailing vessels. CLOSE OF THE MACDOXALD ADMIXISTRATION. 553 Parliament met on the 6th of March. The Government had a good working majority. Early in the session grave charges were preferred against the ministry by Mr. Huntington, the member for Shefford. They were accused of malfeasance of office in connection with the granting of the Pacific Eailway charter, and Mr. Huntington moved for the appointment of a committee of investigation of the alleged malfeasance. The ministry regarded the motion as one of want of confidence, and, without debate, called for a division. They were sus- tained, in a house of a hundred and eighty-three members, by a majority of thirty-one. A few days after, however, Sir John A. Macdonald himself brought in a resolution for the appointment of a committee of investigation. A committee was accordingly appointed, con- sisting of Messrs. John Hillyard Cameron, J. Macdonald (of Pictou, N. S.), and Dr. Blanchet, from the Ministerial side of the House, and IMessrs. Blake and Dorionfrom the Opposition. Mr. John Hillyard Cameron, the chairman of the committee, introduced a bill, giving it authority to examine witnesses on oath. Although the legality of the bill was questioned at the time, it was passed without opposition. The committee, on meeting, adjourned till the month of July to give an oppor- tunity for the return of Sir Hugh Allan and other persons con- cerned, who were at the time in Great Britain. The House rose in June, — by adjournment, not by prorogation, which would have destroyed the existence of the committee, — to m6et on the 13th of August for the reception of the committee's report. An Act prohibiting dual representation had been passed, and one providing for election by ballot was introduced, but was not carried beyond its second reading. Early in the year Canada had lost two of her most distin- guished statesmen. On the 27th of May, Sir George E. Car- tier, Minister of Militia, died at London. He possessed great popularity and political influence among his French-Canadian fellow-countrymen. As a national tribute to his official posi- tion, distinguished ability, and the deserved esteem in which 70 554 HISTORY OF CANADA. he was held, his remains were interred with imposing obsequies at Montreal. On the 1st of June, the Hon. Joseph Howe died at the Gov- ernment House in Halifax. He had only a few days previously been appointed Lieutenant-Governor of his native province. He held his first levee lying in state upon his bier. The local legislature of Ontario met on January the 8th. Among the more important Acts of the session was one re- adjusting the Municipal Loan Fund indebtedness in a manner equitable to both indebted and unindebted municipalities ; also an Act giving a new constitution to Toronto University, and one consolidating the Municipal Acts. The crown-land policy of the Government was attacked by the Opposition, and much hostile criticism was incurred by the rejection of the Orange Incorporation Bill. Mr. Scott, on becoming a Privy Coun- cillor, was succeeded as Crown-Land Commissioner by Mr. Pardee, and Mr. Frazer became Provincial Secretary. The immigration to the province of Ontario during the season reached the number of thirty-eight thousand, a considerable number of whom were Kussian Mennonites, against twenty- eight thousand in 1872. Mr. Rowland was succeeded as Lieutenant-Governor by Mr. John Crawford. In British Columbia a new ministry was formed under the premiership of Mr. De Cosmos. In Manitoba, as already mentioned, Mr. Chief-Justice Morris succeeded Mr. Archibald as Lieutenant-Governor, the latter becoming Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia on the death of Mr. Howe. In Quebec, Mr. Caron became Lieutenant-Governor, vice Sir N, Belleau ; and, in New Brunswick, Mr. Tilley succeeded Mr. Wilmot. The country was stirred to sympathy by the tragical wreck on the coast of Nova Scotia, near Halifax harbour, of the steamship "Atlantic," whereby five hundred lives were lost. On the same iron-bound coast the steamship " City of Wash- ington" was also wrecked, but, happily, without loss of life. On the Ist of July (Dominion Day) , Prince Edward Island CLOSE OF THE MACDOXALD ADMiyiSTEATIOX. 555 was admitted into the Canadian confederacy upon conditions described in the chapter on the history of that province. The consummation of the union was celebrated with great festivity at Charlottetown, the capital of the island. A general re-adjustment of the financial relations of the provinces to the Dominion took place. Ontario and Quebec were relieved of a portion of their debt, and the other prov- inces received an increase in their annual subsidy. New Brunswick received, in addition, an annual grant of $150,000 to compensate for the loss of her timber-dues under the Treaty of Washington. During the summer. Lord and Lady Dufferin made a prog- ress through the maritime provinces, winning all hearts by their refined and genial courtesy. They were everywhere received with the most loyal demonstrations. During the recess of parliament certain correspondence between Sir Hugh Allan and some American capitalists, which was published in the newspapers, seemed to inculpate the Gov- ernment in what was now designated the "Pacific Scandal," and seriously damaged their position. The burden of the charge was that the Government had received from Sir Hugh Allan and American capitalists, in consideration of granting them the Pacific Railway charter, large sums of money to be used in carrying the elections in the interest of the Ministerial party. It was contended, on the other hand, that these sums were the contributions of political friends, without corrupt motive. Intense partisan feeling prevailed throughout the Dominion, and, by a large number of persons, the case was prejudged, and the Government already condemned. When parliament met, on the 13th of August, the committee of investigation failed to report, as the Imperial Government had on legal grounds disallowed the Oaths Bill, under which it was authorized to receive sworn testimony. An address, signed by ninety-two members of parliament, chiefly occupants of the Opposition benches, was presented to the Governor-General, praying that he would not prorogue the House until the charges against the Government had been fully investigated. 556 HISTORY OF CAXADA. His Excellency, however, considered himself bound by consti- tutional reasons to carry out the programme announced, and, amid a scene of extraordinary tumult and commotion, and loud cries of " Privilege," the Usher of the Black Rod summoned the Commons to the Senate Chamber for prorogation. A royal commission, composed of Messrs. Justice Day, Justice Polette, and Judge Go wan, was appointed by His Excellency to receive the testimony of sworn witnesses on the charges against the Government. Mr. Huntington refused to appear before the commission, on the ground that he considered its appointment an invasion of the privileges of parliament. The commission proceeded, however, to the examination of witnesses, including the lead- ing members of the Government, and others whose names had been previously cited by Mr. Huntington. The testimony of these witnesses seemed considerably to mitigate the burden of the charges. The Opposition press complained, however, that there was no cross-examination of the witnesses, and the Min- isterial press charged the Opposition with seeking evidence in a surreptitious and underhand manner. Party feeling ran very high, and mutual recriminations were very severe. Parliament met again on the 23d of October, to receive the report of the royal commission, presenting the unprecedented circumstance of being in session three times within five months. The report of the commissioners was an elaborate and exhaus- tive document, but it was confined to a statement of matters of evidence, without expressing any judicial opinion upon the subject. In amendment to the address in reply to the speech from the throne, Mr. Mackenzie, the leader of the Opposition, moved a resolution of censure on the Government. The debate that ensued was one of intense interest. The galleries of the House were crowded day after day with eager listeners from all parts of the country. For seven days the debate continued. Many former supporters of the Government announced their condemnation of the ministry, and their intention to vote against it. At length, without waiting for the House to come CLOSE OF THE MACDOXALD ADMINISTRATION. 557 to a vote, Sir John A. Macdonald announced the resignation of his cabinet, November 5. * * The following changes in the constitution of the Cabinet had taken place during the period covered by this chapter. The Hon. Dr. Tupper, N. S., became successively, in 1872 aud 1873, Minister of Inland Revenue and Minister of Customs; the Hon. J. H. Pope of Quebec, became, in 1872, Minister of Agriculture ; the Hon. J. O'Connor of Ontario, successively President of the Council, Minister of Inland Eevenue, and Postmaster-General ; the Hon. Theo. Eobitaille of Quebec, became, iu 1873, Receiver-General ; the Hon. Thomas N. Gibbs of Ontario, successively Secretary of State for the Provinces, and Minis- ter of Inland Revenue ; and the Hon. Hugh McDonald, N. S., successively President of the Council, and Minister of Militia. Room was made for these changes by the death of Sir George E. Cartier, by appointments to the Bench of Hon. C. Dunkin and Hon. A. Morris, by the appointment to the Governor- ship of Nova Scotia of Hou. Joseph Howe, and by internal transfers of office. 558 HISTORY OF CANADA. CHAPTER XLIX. THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. Constitution of New Government — Parliament Dissolved — Simultaneous Elections, January 29, 1874 — New Pacific Eailway Act — Controverted Elections Act — Qu 'Appelle Treaty with North-west Indians — Ontario Elec- tions, 1875 — Red River Amnesty — Changes in Ministry — Guibord Riot and Pilgrimage Riots — Organization of North-west Council and District of Kewatin, 1876 — Opening of Intercolonial Railway — Canada at the Cen- tennial Exhibition — Internal Development — The Commons Sessions of 1877 — Ontario — St. John's Fire — The Fishery Award — The Commons Session, 1878 — Ontario Parliament -Dismissal of the De Boucherville Ministry, Quebec — The Joly Ministry — Party Riots in Montreal — Boundary Award — Marquis of Lome to be Governor-General — The Queen's Gift — Canadian Loyalty — General Elections. THE Governor-General called upon Mr. Mackenzie * to form a new ministry. He promptly complied, and, on the 7th of November, submitted to ^ His Excellency the follow- ing cabinet : — * Mr. Mackenzie, the new premier, like many others of the public men of Canada, has been the architect of his own fortunes. He was bom near Dunkeld, Perthshire, in 1822. He received his early education in the public school of his nativeparish. Left an orphan at the age of fourteen, he earned his living by the labour of his hands, while he continued his unremitting work of self- education. He emigrated to Sarnia, in Upper Canada, in 1842. He felt a strong interest in the struggle for responsible gov- ernment in his adopted country, and took an active part in the advocacy of liberal principles. In 1861, he was elected mem- ber of parliament for Lambton, which constituency he has ever since represented. On the passage of the Act disallowing dual representation, he resigned his seat in the Ontario parliament for that at Ottawa, where he soon became the acknowledged leader of the Opposition. HON. ALEX. MACKENZIE. THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 559 Hon. Alexander Mackenzie, . Minister of Public Works. Hon. A. A. Dorion, Hon. Edward Blake, . Hon. Albert J. Smith, . Hon. L. De St. Just, . Hon. R. J. Cartwright, Hon. David Laird, Hon. David Christie, . Hon. Isaac Burpee, Hon. D. A. Macdonald, Hon. Thomas Coffin, . Hon. T^lesphore Fournier, Hon. William Ross, Hon. R. W. Scott, Minister of Justice. Without portfolio. Minister of Marine and Fisheries. Minister of Agriculture and Statistics. Minister of Finance. Minister of the Interior. Secretary of State. Minister of Customs. Postmaster-General. Receiver-General. Minister of Inland Revenue. Minister of Militia and Defence. Without portfolio. The new ministers on returning to their constituencies were re-elected by large majorities. As a new issue had come before the country since the general election, and as it was alleged that several members of the House were returned by corrupt prac- tices for the support of the late administration, Mr. Mackenzie requested a dissolution of parliament, and a fresh appeal to the country. During the Christmas recess, therefore, the House was dis- solved, January 3. The nominations, with few excep- 1874. tions, took place on January 22, and the elections, for the most part, one week later. The political contest was very keen and animated. Old party lines were in many cases obliterated, and not a few life-long Conservatives voted against the party which so long had ruled the destinies of the country. The night following the election was one of intense excite- ment. It was the first election for the Dominion parliament at which voting, with the exception of in a few outlying constituen- cies, was simultaneous. Through the midnight hours multi- tudes thronged the streets of the cities to read the successive telegraphic bulletins at the newspaper offices. Tar-barrels blazed, and torchlight processions and music celebrated the triumph of the victorious candidates. The following morning returns from nearly all the constituencies were published in the daily papers, recording a large majority in favour of the Gov- ernment. An administration which had the honour of guiding the early fortunes of the new confederation of provinces, which 560 HISTORY OF CANADA. had exhibited marked ability, and had rendered distinguished service to the country, lost the previously accorded support of a large number of constituencies, especially in the province of Ontario. There were, however, many contested elections. The inves- tigation of these had, by an Act of the previous session, been removed from the jurisdiction of a parliamentary committee, and referred to the civil courts. The hearing of the protests, however, was postponed, from the inability of the judges to overtake the work, till after the summer parliamentary recess. Parliament met on the 26th of March. The Hon. T. W. Anglin of New Brunswick, was elected Speaker of the House of Commons, and the Hon. David Christie was appointed president of the Senate. Arrangements were made for the publication of a Canadian *' Hansard," containing the official report of the proceedings of parliament. The Government had a larger numerical following than that of any previous ministry in Canada. It was claimed that in a House of two hundred and six members, three-fourths were supporters of the administration. The Hon. George Brown, and the Hon. K. W. Scott, entered the Dominion Senate. Before the parliament met, Mr. Blake, who, under a temporary arrangement, held office without portfolio, resigned. Mr. Louis Kiel having been elected representative for Prov- encher, in Manitoba, appeared in Ottawa and signed the roll of the House, taking the oath required of its members. Mr. Mackenzie Bo well moved his expulsion from parliament as a "fugitive from justice," a true bill having been found against him as one of the murderers of Thomas Scott, by the grand jury of Manitoba, and sentence of outlawry pronounced. Evidence substantiating these facts was taken at the bar of the House, and the sentence of expulsion was almost unanimously carried, only two members voting against it. Kiel was subse- quently re-elected by the same constituency of Provencher, but did not again attempt to take his seat. The session was a short but busy one. Sir Hugh Allan had found himself unable, on behalf of the Pacific Railway Com- THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 6G1 pany, to obtain the money in England for the construction of the road, and resigned the charter into the hands of the Gov- ernment. A new Pacific Railway Act was therefore passed, empowering the Governpient to construct the road in sections, and to make use of the water-stretches on the route till the 1 W |: I v,\:\mmu^ \hk.m^\i 111 "!W entire road should be completed. The Lake Superior terminus was fixed at the mouth of the Kaministiquia, Thunder Bay, — a safe harbour on a majestic roadstead guarded by the stately 71 562 HISTORY OF CANADA. bluff, Thunder Cape, a mass of basaltic rock, rising thirteen hundred feet in air. A more stringent Controverted Elections Act than that of 1872 was passed, which contributed very greatly to electoral purity, and the suppression of corrupt practices. A bill was also passed for re-organizing the militia and for establishing a military college at Kingston. Numerous petitions were pre- sented to the House, praying for the abolition of the liquor traffic. The Government appointed a royal commission to investigate the operation of the prohibitory law in those States of the American Union where it had been introduced. The report of this commission established the fact of the general repression of crime and pauperism where the prohibition of the traffic had been enforced. IVIr. Cartwright, the Finance Minister, announced an antici- pated deficit in the public revenue, which he proposed to meet by an increase of the customs duties from fifteen to seventeen and a half per cent. He also effected a Dominion loan of $20,000,000 in the London money market at favourable rates. After the summer vacation, protests against the contested elections were heard. The new election law was found to be prompt, impartial, and effective in its operation. Every mem- ber whose election was protested against was unseated, some- times on purely technical groimds ; but all but three who offered themselves were re-elected. The introduction of the ballot contributed very greatly to electoral purity. The elections for the voided seats largely occupied public attention for the remainder of the year. During the summer negotiations were carried on between Sir Edward Thornton, British minister at Washington, and the Hon. George Brown, representing Canada, and the Hon. Mr. Fish, Secretary of the United States, for the renewing of a reciprocity treaty. On the 23d of June, a draft of a treaty, which had been approved by the Governments of Great Britain and Canada as the best that could be effected under the circumstances, although by no means so advantageous to Canadian interests as was desirable, was submitted by President Grant to the United THE MACKENZIE ADMIXISTRATIOX. 563 States Senate ' ' for advice." It was, however, ultimately vetoed by that body. Its failure caused little regret in Canada, so imfavourable were its conditions. In the Ontario parliament a mass of useful legislation was accomplished. The Public-School Act was consolidated. The representation of the province was re-adjusted. Six new seats were created, increasing the number of members to eighty- eight. The surplus in the treasury arising from accumulated Dominion subsidy, crown land and other revenue, amounted to over $4,000,000. During the summer Lord Dufferin made an extended tour through the upper lakes, and evinced his deep interest in the magnificent scenery and grand resources of that portion of the Dominion. During a brief visit at Chicago, he accepted the hospitality of the city, and reciprocated the expressions of inter- national courtesy which he received. In the North-west the Qu'Appelle treaty was concluded with the Indians having territorial rights between Fort Ellice and the South Saskatchewan, which, in consideration of generous reserves and annual presents, extinguished the Indian title to seventy-five thousand square miles, and prepared the way for its future settlement. Previous treaties had ceded the whole of jManitoba and the Kewatin District. A considerable immi- gration of Mennonites and Icelanders took place into the prov- ince of Manitoba. They received generous Government aid and favourably situated grants of land. One of the chief social events of the year was the marriage of the Duke of Edinburgh with the daughter of the Emperor of Russia, an alliance which seemed the pledge of the renewal of an international friendship, unhappily interrupted by the disastrous Crimean war. Early in the year the province of Ontario elected its third Legislative Assembly. Additional interest was felt in the elec- tion from the fact that voting by ballot was for the first time introduced. No less than tw^enty-four petitions were filed against members elect, under the provisions of the Controverted Elections Act. The result of the trials, however, did not mate- 564 HISTORY OF C AX AD A. rially affect the balance of parties. Though many seats were voided, this seems to have been generally the effect of minor violations of an extremely stringent law, rather than from any grave or general attempt at electoral corruption. Canadian readers of the daily press followed with especial interest the victorious career of Sir Garnet "Wolseley in his conduct of the Ashantee war, and the capture, early in the year, of the barbarian stronghold of Coomassie. The military skill that had been exhibited in penetrating the wilderness of Canada was still more strikingly manifested in conquering the difficul- ties of the African jungle. The Dominion parliament assembled on the 4th of February. 1875. The session, though short, was busy. A prominent sub- ject of discussion was that of granting an amnesty to persons inculpated in the disturbances in the North-west territories dur- ing the years 1869 and 1870. Lepine, the associate of Eiel in the insurrection, had been tried before Chief-Justice Wood of Manitoba, for the murder of Scott, and had been found guilty and sentenced to death. Petitions were presented for his reprieve, and the question of general amnesty became the sub- ject of a prolonged and animated debate. The policy of the Government qualified the amnesty with regard to the two prin- cipal agents in the insurrection, Eiel and Lepine, by imposing on them banishment from the country for the period of five years. This was sustained by a vote in the House of one hun- dred and twenty-six yeas to fifty nays. Kiel was disqualified from sitting in the House of Commons, having been declared an outlaw by the Court of Queen's Bench, and a writ was issued for a new election. O'Donohue, in consequence of his inculpa- tion in the Fenian invasion of Manitoba in 1871, was excluded altogether from the privileges of the amnesty. Another important piece of legislation was the constitution of a Supreme Court of Appeal for the Dominion.* The pro- visions for improved postal service and free delivery of letters * It Avas composed of Chief-Justice Richards and the puisne judges, Mr. Jus- tice Strong, Hon. T. Fournier, Mr. Justice Taschereau, Hon. Mr. Henry, Q. C, and Chief-Justice Ritchie of New Brunswick. THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 5G5 in cities ; and the legislation on banJvS and banking, insurance, raihvay traffic, and other subjects of a like practical nature, were of much benefit to the mercantile community. A bill sanctioning the construction by the Dominion Government of a railway in Yancouver's Island, in accordance Avith an agreement with the province of British Columbia, was passed by the Com- mons, but was thrown out by the Senate. A postal convention was concluded with the United States, providhig for the transmission of letters and papers from either country to the other at single instead of double postage rates. Additional facilities were also giveo for the diffusion of intelli- gence by the large reduction of postage on periodicals. Some important changes took place in the personnel of the Government. The Hon. Edward Blake accepted office as Minister of Justice, the Hon. J. E. Cauchon became President of the Council, the Hon. L. S. Huntington became Postmaster- General, the Hon. Felix Geoffrion became Minister of Inland Revenue, and the Hon. "W. B. Vail, formerly a member of the Government of Nova Scotia, became Minister of Militia ; the previous occupants of these offices having received civil or legal appointments. During the summer Lord Dufferin visited Great Britain, and in an eloquent address before the Canada Club, which was warmly responded to by the country, and which attracted much attention from the English press, highly eulogized the Dominion, and vindicated its claims upon the regard of the mother country. A loan of £2,500,000 sterling was effected in the London money market, at rates that showed the favourable estimate of Canadian securities. A severe monetary stringency, however, which has continued with slight alleviation to the present time, led to much commercial and manufacturing depression, causing many insolvencies, and leading to a wise and necessary de- crease in importation, although at the cost of a lessened customs revenue. In the North-west Territory tne presence of an efficient force of three hundred mounted police, and the appointment of sti- pendiary magistrates, ensured the preservation of peace and 526 nisTORT OF can' ad a. order throughout those wide regions, and prevented the evils of the liquor traffic — that bane of their race — among the Indian tribes. A steamboat successfully sailed up the Sas- katchewan River, the pioneer of the great commercial fleet that shall yet navigate those inland waters. Successful negotiations were also opened with the Plain Indians of the far West, with a view to the visits of commissioners and the formation of treaties with them. The railway interests of the Dominion sufiered from a con- siderable reduction of traffic consequent on the depressed state of trade, both in the United States and Canada. The Canada Southern Railway came under the control of Commodore Yan- derbilt by purchase. A severe attack was made on the Cana- dian railway system in the London papers by Mr. Potter, the president of the Grand Trunk Railway. As a consequence, the promoters of a direct line from Quebec to Montreal and Ottawa were unable to effect the necessary loan in the London money market. The Quebec Government, however, resolved to assume the construction of the road, which will open up a valuable section of country, and will prove an important link in the inter-oceanic railway communication. The tendency to ecclesiastical consolidation, an indirect result of the political confederation, was illustrated by the union of all the Presbyterian Churches of the Dominion, following shortly on that of three branches of the Methodist Church. In two of the principal cities of the Dominion, unhappy riots occurred, which produced intense excitement throughout the country. In Montreal, an attempt to bury the remains of Joseph Guibord, in accordance with an order of the Privy Council of England, in the Catholic cemetery, from which they had been interdicted by ecclesiastical censure, was for a time frustrated by mob violence. The presence of a strong civil and military force, and the pacific counsels of the Catholic clergy, prevented any outbreak of violence on a second attempt, when the interment took place without interruption. A few weeks later, in the city of Toronto, a Catholic proces- THE MACKEXZIE ADMIXISTRATIOX. 5G7 sion proceeding from church to church was attacked on two successive Sundays, — September 26 and Octo])er 3, — by a lawless mob. On the second occasion the procession was escorted by a strong force of police, a military corps being held in reserve. Several stubborn conflicts took place between the mob and the police, in which stones were freely used, several pistol-shots fired, and many persons seriously injured. The riot, however, was rigorously suppressed by the civic authorities, and many of the rioters were arrested, tried, and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. The military college at Kingston, for the education of officers of the Canadian militia, was successfully inaugurated in accord- ance with an Act of the Dominion Legislature ; and a new normal school for the training of teachers was opened at Ottawa under the auspices of the Ontario Government. The Prince Edward Island Eailway was also opened under the management of the Dominion authorities. By a graceful act of justice, the surviving veterans of the war of 1812-14, nearly three thousand in number, received a handsome gratuity, by vote of the Dominion parliament, in recognition of their patriotic services. During the year the country was called upon to mourn the death of one of her most distinguished sons, Sir William Logan, the eminent geologist. Li the month of May also died the Hon. John Crawford, the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, greatly respected by all classes of the community. He was succeeded in office by the Hon. Donald Macdonald, previously Postmaster-General of the Dominion. In New Brunswick, the enforcement of the public-school law led to a disturbance and loss of life at Caraquet, and to the trial and conviction of the chief offenders. The separate school difficulty in that province, — which was the occasion of much acrimonious debate in the Dominion parliament during several sessions, and which involved constitutional issues of the gravest importance as to the relations of the provincial and federal Governments, — deserves a somewhat detailed recapitu- lation. In 1871, the legislature of New Brunswick passed a 568 BISTORT OF CAXADA. Common-School Act, making assessment compulsory, and enacting that all schools, to be entitled to aid from the public funds, must be non-sectarian. The immediate effect of this Act was to deprive all denominational academies and schools of the legislative grants which they had previously received. The ninety-third clause of the British North America Act gives to the provincial legislatures the exclusive right to make laws on the subject of education, but with the provision that nothing in any such law shall limit any privileges existing at the time of the union. The Catholic minority of New Bruns- wick asserted that this exception to the education clause of the Union Act guaranteed their right to legislative grants for their denominational schools. They therefore petitioned tlie Privy Council to advise the Governor-General to disallow the Com- mon-School Act of the New Brunswick legislature. The Privy Council, however, declined so to advise His Excellency, the Minister of Justice, Sir John A. Macdonald, contending that the jurisdiction of New Brunswick was supreme in the matter, and that the exception to the education clause of the Union Act did not apply to the case. This decision proving exceedingly unsatisfactory to the petitioners, Mr. Chauveau, the member for Quebec County, moved a resolution in the Dominion parliament, praying the Queen to cause an Act to be passed amending the Act of Union, in the sense understood by the petitioners, with respect to educational matters. Hereupon the Government of New Brunswick sent to the Privy Council an emphatic protest against what it considered the threatened infringement of the constitutional right of the province to legislate on all educa- tional matters, free from interference from the Dominion par- liament. Mr. Chauveau's motion was lost by a vote of one hundred and twenty-six to thirty-four ; but a motion was car- ried expressing a hope that the public-school law of New Brunswick might be modified so as to remove the discontent of a portion of the inhabitants. To this motion a rider "was appended, referring the legal aspects of the question to the law officers of the crown. These officers confirmed the decision TEE MACiaSNZIE ADMINISTRATION. 569 of the Privy Council, in which oiDinion they were corroborated by the judgment of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick, in a case of appeal against the compulsory assessment clause in the new School Act. In the general election of 1872, the New Brunswick School Act was iu a large degree a test question at the polls. In the first session of the second Dominion parliament, a resolution was carried iu favour of an appeal to the Privy Council of England ; and, the following year, after the change of Govern- ment, a vote of $5,000 was granted to defray the expenses of the appeal. The same year, the people of New Brunswick entered their vigorous protest against the interference of the Dominion parliament iu matters within the jurisdiction of the provincial legislature. The elections for a new local legislature turned upon this question. Out of forty-one representatives, only five were returned in the interest of the minority in favour of a separate school law. The Attorney-General of the province, the Hon. J. E. King, proceeded to London to defend the acts of the Government before the Privy Council of England. That highest court in the realm dismissed the appeal, and sustained the constitution- ality of the New Brunswick school law. Much exasperation was felt on the part of the minority. Several persons refused to pay the obnoxious school-tax, except under pressure of dis- traint and sale of goods. In 1875, as already mentioned, a serious riot took place at Caraquet, Gloucester County. Some rate-payers met at a school-house to vote money for school purposes. A party of French hahitans broke up the meeting, and took possession of the building. In endeavouring to sup- press the riot, one of the ofiiccrs of the law, and one of the rioters, were shot dead, and the militia had to be called out to restore public order. During the session of 1875, the Domin- ion parliament consented, by a large majority, to an address to the Queen, praying Pier Majesty to use her influence with the legislatui-e of New Brunswick to procure such a modification of the School Act as would remove any just ground of discontent to any portion of the population. 72 570 HISTORY OF CAXADA. In Prince Edward Island, in 1875, the elections for the local legislature turned almost exclusively upon the school question. The result of the contest was the return of a large majority of the candidates in favour of the non-sectarian as opposed to the denominational school system. The Government thereupon resigned, and was succeeded by a new ministry under the premiership of the Hon. Louis H. Davies. The third session of the Dominion parliament assembled on 1876. the 10th of February, and continued in session for nine weeks. The actual amount of legislation was not great, but some important measures passed the House. A re-adjustment of terms was made by the Government with Manitoba, by which that province abolished its Upper Chamber or Legisla- tive Council of seven members, and received an annual grant of $90,000 for governmental expenses. Provision was also made for the separation of a portion of the North-west Terri- tory for administrative purposes, under the authority of a Lieutenant-Governor, assisted by a new North-west Council consisting of five members. To this office the Hon. David Laird of Prince Edward Island, who had previously success- fully negotiated the Qu 'Appelle treaty, was appointed. * A portion of the territory north and east of Manitoba was erected into the District of Kewatin, — the " North-land," — and placed under the jurisdiction of the Lieutenant-Governor of the "prairie province." Provision was also made for the ratifying of treaties with the Indian tribes, and for the encour- agement of immigration into the territory. In consequence of the continued commercial depression, the subject of a protective or revenue tariff had been warmly dis- cussed during the recess. These discussions were renewed with much energy in the House. In view of a prospective de- ficiency in the revenue, it was anticipated that the customs * He was succeeded as Minister of the Interior by the Hon. David Mills, and, later in the year, the Hon. Felix Geoffrion was compelled by ill-health to relin- quish the of3fice of Minister of Internal Eevenue to the Hon. Toussaint E. Laflamme. The Hon. L. Letellier de St. Just, toward the close of the year, was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec. He was succeeded as Minister of Agriculture by the Hon. Charles A. P. Pelletier. THE MACKENZIE ADMIXISTRATIOX. 571 tariff would be advanced, thus giving a further incidental pro- tection to the manufacturers. Mr. Cartwright's budget, how- ever, introduced February 25th, met the difficulty by a retrenchment in the expenditure to the amount of two and a half millions. The fiscal policy of the Government was strongly attacked on several occasions, but the ministry was sustained by large majorities. The provisions of the " Shipping Bill" of the Imperial par- liament having infringed on the jDrerogative of Canada, repre- sentations were made to the Home Government guarding the rights of colonial ship-owners, and leading to modifications which made the bill more acceptable. During the early part of the summer the Intercolonial Rail- way was opened for travel and traffic. The magnificence of the scenery through which it passes has attracted much attention, and the increased facilities given to intercolonial trade cannot fail to strengthen the bonds of union between the maritime and western provinces. The opening of the road considerably lessened the time of transit of European mails to and from the West. The public works of the Dominion were pressed forward with vigour, and a very large amount of work has been accomplished on the new constructions and excavations of the "Welland and St. Lawrence canals. Several contracts were let for the con- struction of the Canada Pacific Railway, and considerable progress has been made on some of the sections of this gigantic project. Large quantities of steel rails were purchased and laid down at convenient depots for distribution ; but the commercial policy of the Government in their purchase in a falling market has been made the subject of severe criticism. Telegraphic and postal communication along the projected line of railway, and in the newer portions of the Dominion, has been much extended, and will contribute greatly to the facilitation of business. The United States Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia attracted large numbers of Canadian visitors. The position occupied by Canada in that great industrial congress of the 572 HISTORY OF CAXADA. nations, was in the highest degree creditable to the skill and energy of her people, and was to multitudes an unexpected revelation of the extent and magnificence of her resources. Foremost of the provinces in variety, richness and beauty of exhibits, was Ontario. Its educational department especially, with one exception perhaps, by far the best in the vast palace of industry, challenged universal attention and admiration. It is just ground for patriotic pride, that in this highest outcome of civilization our country takes the lead of the world, and far surpasses so many countries much older and much richer in material wealth. The mechanical industries and manufactures of Canada also commanded wide recognition, and in some cases extensive patronage. Among the foreign patrons were Turkish purchasers of large amounts of iron manufactures, notwithstanding the domestic convulsions and revolt of Christian populations in the Ottoman Empire. Increased vigour was given to the educational administration of Ontario, by the appointment of a minister of the crown to its superintendence, the Hon. Adam Crooks having, early in the year, accepted the office of Minister of Education, in connec- tion with that of Provincial Treasurer, which he previously held. In the month of August their Excellencies, Lord and Lady Dufferin and suite, made a visit to the province of British Co- lumbia by way of the American Pacific Eailway. They were received with demonstrations of loyal enthusiasm in the western- most province of the Dominion, and were impressed with the sublimity of its scenery, the extent and importance of its vast natural resources, and the magnificent promise of its future. Before leaving the country His Excellancy gave an admirable address in justification of policy of the Canadian Government with reference to the construction of the Pacific Railway. For this address, which was most happily adapted to allay the irri- tation of the province * at what was considered the violation of * Early in the year the Government of British Columbia Tvas defeated on a motion of disapproval of its relations to the Dominion Government, in view of the default of Canada to fuMl the pledges of the treaty of union, and a new ministry was formed, with the Hon. A. C. Elliott as premier. THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 573 pletlges on the part of Canada, Lord DufFcnu received the thanks of the Secretary of State for the Colonics of Her IMajce- ty's Imperial Government. The development of the business of the country mider the stimulus of coufoderation, led to the necessity of greater accom- modation for its transaction in the great commerci:il centres. In the city of Montreal, the handsome new post-ofSce shown in the euOTavino; was erected. 574 niSTORT OF CANADA. NEW CUSTOM-HOUSE, TORONTO. The Bcink of Montreal, also shown in the engraving, is surpassed in elegance of architecture, and in finan- cial success, by few bank- ing institutions in the world. The rapid commercial development of the city of Toronto was seen in the construction of large blocks of wholesale stores, consequent upon the growth of the railway system of the province, and the extension of trade with the interior. To accommodate the in- creasing business of the city, the large and handsome new custom-house shown in the engraving was erected. It is a noble structure of elaborately carved stone, and would challenge admi- ration in any European capital. It is elegantly ornamented with a large number of well-executed medallion busts of distin- guished navigators and ex- plorers. Greater postal facilities were also demanded by the growth of correspondence, consequent on the exten- sion of trade and increase of population ; and, by the post-office, Toronto. remarkable development of newspaper and other periodical THE MACKENZIE ADMIN ISTRATIOX. 575 publications. These facilities were furnished by the new post- office building, and by more frequent mail service and free- letter delivery. The o-rowth of architectural taste in the cities is seen in the YOUNG men's CURISTIAN ASSOCIATION BUILDING, MONTREAL. greatly improved character of their public buildings, both ecclesiastical and civil. Many of these are of an exceedingly elegant, and, indeed, magnificent style of architecture. The city of Montreal possesses especial pre-eminence in this HIST OUT OF C AX AD A. respect, — the stone which is almost exclusively employed giving its churches, banks, and other public buildings a noble and stately appearance. The handsome building of the Young Men's Christian As- sociation, shown in the ac- companying engraving, may be accepted as a typical ex- ample. The railway extension of Northern Ontario, and the opening up and settlement of new townships promoted thereby, makes the city of Toronto the great commer- cial centre and shipjiing port LMOX STATION, TOKONTO of the province. The tran- shipment of grain, lumber and produce, and rafting of timber, largely takes place in its harbour. To furnish the requisite ac- commodation for its in- creasing passenger-traffic, the Grand Trunk Railway Company built the capa- cious and elegant Union Station shown in the en- graving, which is the hand- somest and most commo- ^ ST. J.V_MES' CATHEDRAi, TORONTO. dious structure of the sort in the Dominion. THE MACKENZIE ADMIMSTJiATIOX. Scarce any city of its size on the continent will compare with Toronto in the num- ber and elegance of its churches. Of these we give a few examples. St. James' Cathedral (Angli- can), was erected during the episcopate of the Rev. Dr. Strachan, and is a monument of his uuth'ing zeal and energy. It is the third church which has occupied the site, and is one of the most elegaut specimens of Gothic arch- itecture on the continent. METROPOLITAN CHURCH, TORONTO. Its spire is the tallest in America, being three hun- dred and six feet high, twen- ty-one feet higher than that of Trinity Church, New : York. The Metropolitan Church ' (Methodist), is a memorial of the residence in Canada of the Rev. W. Morley Pun- shon, LL. D., by whom it was projected. The com- manding eloquence, the re- markable administrative abil- ity, and the intense energy of JAR\aS ST. BAPTIST CHURCH, TOKONTO, this distinguished divine have greatly promoted the prosperity 73 578 BISTORT OF CANADA. of the church with which he was connected. Among the eccle- siastical movements with which he was prominently identified are the union of the Wesleyan and New Connection Methodists, the raisiLg of a liberal endowment for Victoria University, and the establishment of a Canadian mission in Japan, — all of which, by their success, have signally justified the wisdom by which they were projected. The Jarvis Street Baptist Church is one of the most elegant ecclesiastical structures in the Dominion. It possesses an- advantage over both of the others mentioned, in the more durable material of which it is built, being constructed chiefly of Queen ston and Ohio stone. There are also several new Presbyterian churches, of great beauty of design and costliness of execution. "We resume now our chronological record of recent events. The approach of the new year found the business of the isrr. country disorganized by a strike of the engine-drivers of the Grand Trunk Railway, directed, it was alleged, by the Engineers' Brotherhood of the United States. The mails were delayed, freight and passenger traffic interrupted, and, in some cases, wanton injury done to the engines by the strikers. The intervention of the volunteer militia had to be invoked before the interruption of travel ceased. The Dominion Parliament met on the 8th of February, and continued in session till the 28th of April. A deficit in the revenue was announced, amounting to nearly two million dol- lars. The debates were characterized by a good deal of asperity. The Opposition proposed, as censures upon the administration, a series of amendments to the motion to go into committee of supply ; but the Government was sustained by large majorities. The continued commercial and manu- facturing depression caused the chief interest to centre around the debate on the question of a protective or revenue tariff and free trade. It was Lcre that the most strenuous conflict of the session took place. Sir John A. Macdonald moved a resolution expressing regret that the financial policy of the Government increased the burthen of taxation, without compensating advan- THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 579 tages to Canadian industries, and urging such a re-adjustment of tariff as would benefit and foster the agricultural, manufactur- ing, and mining interests of the Dominion. After a protracted debate, however, the motion was defeated by a majority of forty-uine. The chief legislation of the session was the consti- tution of a new court of maritime jurisdiction, a comprehensive extradition Act, an amended insurance Act, and numerous amendments to the criminal law.* During the recess, politi- cal ' ' picnics " were held throughout the country in the interest of both parties, and were addressed by leading Ministerial and Ojpposition speakers. In the province of Ontario, the important work of consoli- dating the statutes was brought to a close. The Hon. Adam Crooks finding the duties of Minister of Education engross his energies, resigned the Treasurership, and was succeeded by the Hon. S. C. Wood, Provincial Secretary. Mr. Hardy, M. P. for South Brant, took the vacant portfolio of Mr. "Wood, thus giving an additional member to the cabinet. Unusual activity was manifested in the temperance cause. A vigorous agitation in favour of the Dunkin Act by-laws, resulted in their being carried in thirteen municipalities in Ontario and Quebec, and in their defeat in seven others. A great moral education on the subject of temperance was the result of the discussions on the platform and in public jour- nals, and an organized temperance movement obtained the * In the Dominion Cabinet several changes took place. The state of the Hon. Edward Blake's health rendering his relief from departmental duties necessary, he relinquished the portfolio of Minister of Justice, to become President of the Council, in the place of the Hon. Joseph E. Cauchon. That gentleman became Minister of Internal Revenue, vice the Hon. T. R. Laflamme, who succeeded Mr. Blake as Minister of Justice. On the expiration of the term of office of the Hon. Alexander Morris, as Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba, he was succeeded by the Hon. Joseph E. Cauchon, whose vacant portfolio was taken by the Hon. Wilfrid Laurier. The new "minister was defeated in Drummond and Artha- baska, but was elected by a large majority in Quebec East. The Committee of Privileges and Elections reported the seat of the Hon. T. W. Auglin, Speaker of the House of Commons, vacant in consequence of a violation of the Independ- ence of Parliament Act, through his interest in an office in which Government printing was done. The report was received too late for adoption ; but Mr. Anglin resigned, and was re-elected. 580 HISTORY OF CANADA. signatures of many thousands of persons to a total-abstinence pledge. During the summer, their Excellencies the Earl and Countess of Dufferin visited the province of Manitoba. The admirable addresses of Lord Dufferin at A7inuepeg„and in the Icelanders' settlement, captivated the hearts of his hearers, and eloquently dejDicted the almost boundless extent and immense resources of the Dominion of Canada. Large shipments of prairie-wheat from the " garden province," were an earnest of its vast future contributions to the food-supply of the world. The population of the i^rovince has also largely increased, by an intelligent Canadian and foreign immigration. Notwithstanding the continued depression in trade, indi- cations were not wanting of the progress of the country. The very creditable display of Canadian goods at the Sydney Exhibition gave promise of a remunerative trade with the Antipodes. A rapid development has taken place in the exportation to Great Britain of Canadian meat, live-stock, and dairy produce, — a trade which is capable of indefinite expan- sion. The traffic on our great railways also exhibits a marked increase. An active effort is taking place, with promise of success, to make Halifax, with its unrivalled harbour, a winter grain-port. Considerable progress has also been made in the surveys and construction of the Pacific Railway. A great calamity, in the month of June, befell the province of New Brunswick, in the destruction, by fire, on the 20th of June, of a large part of its flourishing seaport, St. John. Two- fifths of the city, or over sixteen hundred houses, occupying two hundred acres of ground, were consumed. The burnt district comprised the most important part of the city, — the great wholesale houses, banks, hotels, new post-office and cus- tom-house, its best churches and finest private buildings. The fire was far more disastrous, in proportion to the size of the city, than that of either Chicago or Boston. A spontaneous outburst of sympathy, and proffers of help from all parts of the Dominion, from Great Britain, and from the United States, BOSTON, B.B.RUSSELL THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 581 very greatly mitigated the sufferings of the victims of this dis- aster. * The energy and enterprise of the merchants of St. John at once essayed the task of rebuilding their ruined city. Already, " like the phcwnix from its ashes," it is rising, fairer than before ; stately blocks of buildings like that shown in the engraving already grace what was a year ago a mound of ruins, f * Among the money donations were the following : Dominion Government, $20,000 ; City of Toronto, $20,000 ; Glasgow, Scotland, $19,000 ; New York, $17,000 ; Chicago, $15,000 ; Liverpool, Eng., $14,600 ; Hamilton, Ont., $13,900 ; Bangor, Me., $12,000 ; Portland, Me., $10,500 ; Fredericton, $10,000 ; Halifax, $10,000 ; Philadelphia, $6,500 ; San Francisco, $5,600 ; Boston, $5,000 ; Windsor, (N. S. ), $4,287.—" Story of the Great Fire." Stewart. t The steel engraving accompanying this chapter presents the portraits of gentlemen distinguished for energy and liberality in the crisis of the Great Fire, of whom we here give brief sketches. The Hon. Samuel Leonard Tilley is descended from U. E. Loyalist stock. He was born at Gagetown, Queen's County, N. B., in 1818. He went to St. John in 1830, and was subsequently engaged in business there for nearly twenty years. In 1850, he was elected to represent the city in the provincial legislature. In 1854, he became a member of the Government as leader of the Liberal party, and, with a few short intervals, continued a member of the Executive Council till the confederation of the provinces. During most of that period he was premier. As a member of the Charlottetown and Quebec conferences, he assisted in framing the Constitution of the Dominion. He was elected representative for St. John in the House of Commons, and, for six years, was a member of the Government as Minister of Customs, and later, as Minister of Finance ; filling the duties of each with great ability and practical sagacity. He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of his native province in 1873. He is an active temperance advocate, and carried his temperance prin- ciples with him into the Government House, — dispensing a generous hospi- tality without the aid of any kind of intoxicating liquor. At the news of the great fire, he at once put himself in communication with his ministers to devise means for alleviating the distress. In the month of July he resigned the Lieu- tenant-Governorship, and again entered political life as Opposition candidate for the House of Commons. He was succeeded as Lieutenant-Governor by the Hon. Edward B. Chandler, a Commissioner of the Intercolonial Eailway, and, for sixteen years, a member of the Executive Council of New Brunswick. Syxvester Z. Eakle, M. D., is a native of New Brunswick; born at Hampton, in 1823. His father, S. Z. Earle, Esq., for many years represented King's County, N. B., in the provincial legislature. Dr. Earle studied with the cele- brated Valentine Mott of New York, and completed his medical education in Great Britain. In 1877, he was elected Mayor of St. John. He was an effi- cient member of the relief committee, and has again been elected, by accla- mation, to the office of mayor. Jonx Boyd, Esq., also an energetic member of the relief committee, is one of 682 HISTORY OF CANADA. THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 583 One of the most notable events of the year 1877, was the meeting of the Fishery Commission at Halifax. At the expira- tion of the reciprocity treaty the Americans were notified that their fishing privileges in Canadian waters had ceased. Yield- ing to the wishes of the Imperial Government, however, the IMinister of Marine and Fisheries, Hon. Peter Mitchell, adopted a system of fishing licenses. In 1866, four hundred and fifty-four licenses were issued. But the American fisher- men ignored the rights of Canada, and, in 1869, only twenty- nine licenses were taken out. In 1870, a police for the pro- tection of the fisheries was organized, and the following year the most active and public-spirited citizens of St. John, and few men, if any, in the province, Tvield a wider and more beneficent influence. Mr. Boyd is a native of the North of Ireland, of sturdy Scottish Presbyterian stock. The old- established firm of Daniel & Boyd has been for forty years the synonym for honour, uprightness, and truth. Its partners have been foremost in every good work and deed of charity, and many of the leading merchants of the province have received their business training as employes of the house. Mr. Boyd is an accomplished writer for the press, and has won a wide popularity for the blended wit and wisdom of his public lectures. His great talents in this respect he most generously employs for philanthropic purposes, having raised by this means for public and private charities, nearly thirty thousand dollars, besides giving large personal contributions. As president of the St. John school-board, — one of the most important trusts of the city, — his wise coun- sels, liberal views, and conciliatory manners, contributed largely to the settle- ment of the disputes on educational matters between the Protestant and Roman Catholic citizens. He was a heavy loser by the fire, but was one of the most active in alleviating the losses of others. Alexander Gibson, Esq., the " lumber king" of New Brunswick, is of Irish descent ; but was born at St. Andrews, N. B., in 1819. He began his remarkable business career as a poor boy, working with his hands in a saw-mill. His energy and enterprise led to his becoming, first a partner, then sole owner of a saw-mill at Leprean, N. B. The earnings of ten years enabled him, in 1864, to purchase the mill-property at Marysville, on the Nashwaak, near its junction with the St. John at Fredericton. This business has grown till it gives em- ployment during the winter season to not less than eight hundred men. Mr. Gibson's shipments of lumber from St. John have reached as high as a hundred and thirty million feet in a year. He is also one of the largest owners of tim- ber-lands in the province. The New Brunswick Railway, of which he has been president from its inception, is designed to extend from Gibson, opposite Fredericton, to Riviere du Loup. It has been built thus far by capital supplied principally by Mr. Gibson. He has also erected at a cost of $60,000, a singu- larly beautiful church of octagonal design, which he has presented aa a free gift to the Methodist body. 584 BISTORT OF CANADA. the whole matter was referred to the high joint commission at Washington. The Treaty of Washington threw open the fisheries of each country to the other for the term of twelve years, the amount of compensation for the alleged superior value of the Canadian fisheries to be decided by three commis- sioners, — one chosen by each Government, and a third by the two Governments jointly. Through various delays it was not till June, 1877, that this commission met at Halifax, N. S. It consisted of Sir A. T. Gait for Great Britain, the Hon. E. H. Kellogg for the United States, and His Excellency M. Del- fosse, Belgian Minister at Washington. The amount claimed by Canada, was $14,880,000. After exhaustive examination of documentary and oral evidence, the sum of $5,500,000 was awarded to be paid within twelve months by the United States. The Hon. E. H. Kellogg dissented from the award, and expressed a doubt whether one could be given without the unanimous consent of the entire commission. A good deal of feeling against the award has been manifested in the United States, but there is no ground for apprehending its repudia- tion. By this award the immense value of these fisheries has been recognised, and Canada retains the right to regulate the traffic in bait and supplies of the American fisherman, and the right to prohibit, at the close of the treaty period, all fishing within three miles from shore. On the 7th of February, the last session of the third parlia- 1878. ment of the Dominion began. * The speech from the throne was largely retrospective in character, a natural result of the approaching close of Lord Dufierin's period of admin- istration. The debate on the address, in both the Senate and the House of Commons was animated, discursive, and pro- * The Hon. T. W. Anglin, the Speaker, having resigned his seat, was again returned during recess. It is a point of etiquette for new members to he pre- sented to the Speaker. Six John A. Macdonald, therefore, objected to the nomination of Mr Anglin as Speaker, on the technical ground that he was not a full member of the House This objection, however, was overruled, and he was re-elected to that office. During the recess, the Hon. Alfred Jones, Hali- fax, entered the Cabinet as Minister of Militia. THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 585 longed. The approach of the general elections seemed to have stimulated party feeling to unusual vigour, not to say acrimony. On the 22d of February, Mr. Cartwright submitted the budget without recommending any changes of tariff. In the animated debate which followed, Sir John A. Macdonald moved an amendment in favour of a " national policy, which, by a judi- cious re-adjustment of tariff, would benefit and foster the agri- cultural, mining, manufacturing, and other interests of the Dominion." The amendment, however, was defeated by a vote of one hundred and fourteen to seventy-seven. The dismissal of the De Boucherville ministry by Lieutenant- Governor Letellier De St. Just of Quebec, was the occasion of much animated discussion, not only in that province, but throughout the Dominion. It was in turn denounced as a violent coup (Tetat^ and defended as the exercise of a constitu- tional right. In the Dominion parliament. Sir John A. Mac- donald introduced a resolution of censure of the dismissal as *' unwise, and subversive of the position accorded to the advisers of the crown since the concession of the principle of responsible government to the British North American colonies." In a vigorous speech, he reviewed the constitu- tional points of the question ; but, on division, was defeated by a vote of one hundred and twelve to seventy. A continued sitting of the House, for twenty-seven hours, caused by an effort of the Opposition to procure an adjournment of the debate, to which the Government would not accede, was the occasion of much noisy and unparliamentary interruption of discussion. The principal legislative results of the session were the following : the Scott Temperance Act for the purpose of enabling municipalities to prohibit, by popular vote, the sale of liquor within their limits ; a bill for winding up insolvent fire and marine insurance companies ; a bill against carrying deadly weapons within proclaimed districts ; and a new election bill, which provides, among other things, for making the identifica- tion of ballots impossible. The Government bill to abolish the Eeceiver-General's office, and to appoint a second law-offi- 74 586 msTORT OF Canada. cer who should be a memljer of the cabinet and Attorney- General, was carried in the Commons by a large majority, but was defeated in the Senate. That body manifested much inde- pendence in its adverse criticism of Government measures, and especially of the Pacific Railway policy. An unfortunate contretemps, arising from question of privilege, raised by the Hon. Donald A. Smith of Selkirk, gave the close of the session a tumultuous and unparliamentary character. A more agreeable incident was the presentation of a complimentary address to Lord Dufi'erin, in view of the approaching close of his popular administration. * The session of the Ontario legislature was comparatively uneventful, although a large number of useful bills became law. Among these were : Acts establishing a new maritime court ; providing for the employment of prison labour outside of gaol walls ; providing for the issue of Government loans for draining purposes ; a joint-stock companies Act ; a civil ser- vice Act, and a great many private bills. The province shared in the prevailing commercial depression ; but, notwith- standing the great expenditure on capital account, there was still a very large surplus in the provincial treasury. In the province of Quebec, as we have already mentioned, the chief event of the year was the dismissal of his ministers by the Lieutenant-Governor. In justification of this act, it was alleged that the ministry, although sustained by a majority of both chambers of the legislature, had, without the authority of the Lieutenant-Governor, published in his name documents and proclamations which he had not signed ; presented mes- sages to the House, respecting which he had not been consulted ; * In the month of May, some little excitement "was created by another Fenian alarm. The militia department promptly prepared for emergencies. Arms and ammunition were served out to tfle volunteers on the frontier, and new batteries were created at Yarmouth, Digby, St. John, and Victoria, B. C, as a precaution against Russian or Fenian attack; but, happily, no occasion for their use occurred. In this month, also, took place the sudden death of the Hon. Allan Wilmot, ex-Governor of New Brunswick, — a statesman of rare ability, whose loss will be severely felt, not only by his own province, but by the entire Dominion. THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 587 and introduced oppressive financial legislation against his advice. * Much popular discontent was manifested at the Government policy in the construction of the north shore rail- way, which was considered more lavish than the financial state of the country would justify ; and several bonuses voted for the road had been repudiated on account of the alleged violation of the conditions on which they had been granted. The legisla- tion to which exception was taken provided for the payment of these bonuses by a direct tax levied on the people, to be col- lected, if necessary, by distraint and sale of their goods and chattels. The jurisdiction of the courts in the matter was set aside, and the decisions of the Executive were final, and, the Lieutenant-Governor affirmed, arbitrary and oppressive. A Stamp Act was also passed, without the Lieutenant-Governor's authority or consent, which taxed almost all business contracts. On the other hand, it was claimed that the Lieutenant-Gov- ernor, by giving signatures in blank, and permission by tele- gram to introduce the financial resolutions, had virtually given his consent thereto ; and that, if he disapproved the legislation of the House, he had the power to prevent its taking efiect. He was, moreover, accused of political animus in refusing his assent to certain appointments made by his ministers, and in the final dismissal of the cabinet, and appointment of their successors. The Hon. Henri Gustavo Joly was called upon to form a cabinet, which he soon succeeded in doing, f The new min- istry was met by a vote of want of confidence, and promptly dissolved the House and appealed to the country. The elec- tion contest was very keen and close. The new parliament * See communication from the Lieutenant-Governor to the Governor-Gen- eral, laid before the Quebec Legislature, March 26, 1878. Under nine sub-sec- tions, the grievances of the Lieutenant-Governor against his ministers, are set forth. t It was constituted as follows : Hon. H. G. Joly, Premier and Minister of Public Works ; Hon. D. A. Ross, Attorney-General ; Hon. Pierre Bachand, Treasurer ; Hon. F. C. S. Langlier, Commissiouer of Crown Lands ; Hon. A. Chauveau, Solicitor-General; Hon. F. G. Marchaud, Provincial Secretary, and Hon. H. Stames, President of the Council. 588 HISTORY OF CAXADA. met, June 4, amid a scene of intense excitement, — the ap- proaches to the House, and every standing place within, being densely crowded with eager spectators. The Government was able to secure the election of Mr. A. Turcotte, a Con- servative, its candidate for Speaker, by a vote of thirty- three to thirty-two. That gentleman was bitterly assailed for alleged violation of pledges, but he avowed his intention of giving the Government an independent support. The House continued in session till the 20th of July, and the Government was sustained in almost every division by the casting vote of the Speaker. Its general policy was one of financial retrench- ment. An attempt to abolish the Legislative Council failed, and, just at the close of the session, an Act was passed for the prevention of party processions, a subject which was the occasion of intense excitement throughout the country. In the city of Montreal, the antagonism between the Orange and Roman Catholic parties had risen to an alarming height. On the 12th of July, 1877, although the Orangemen had relinquished their purpose of walking in procession, as a num- ber of them were returning from church, they were assailed by a mob, and one of them, T. Lett Hackett, was shot dead in the street. Four days later, he received a public funeral, a strong force of troops being under arms for its protection. During the year that followed, frequent collisions took place between the rival parties, in which blood was shed, and very bitter feel- ing engendered. The Orangemen avowed their intention of walking in procession to church on the 12th of July, 1878. Apprehending a breach of the peace, six magistrates of the city made a request for military aid to suppress any disturb- ance. Three thousand troops were held under arms, under the command of Major-General Selby Smith. Mr. Beaudry, the mayor of the city, however, under authority of an obsolete statute for the suppression of illegal and seditious associations, swore in five hundred special constables, — many of whom, it was alleged, w^ere violent anti-Orange partisans, — for the pur- pose of preventing the procession. Several of the leaders of the Orange party were arrested, and subsequently arraigned in THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 5S9 a civil court on the charge of belonging to an illegal organi- zation. The Orangemen submitted, under protest, to this exhibition of force, and no i:)rocession took j)lacc. Intense irritation was felt at the interference with what was claimed as the exercise of a constitutional right. A serious collision sub- sequently took place, August 12, at Ottawa, between members of the antagonistic parties. Labour riots at Montreal and Quebec, during the year, also occasioned much disturbance. On the 1st of August, a commission of arbitrators between the Dominion, and the province of Ontario, as to the northern boundary of the province, met at Ottawa. The commissioners were Sir Edward Thornton, Chief Justice Harrison, and Sir Francis Hincks. After hearing counsel in the interests of both Governments, the northern boundary of Ontario was defined as being the southern shore of Hudson's Bay, the Albany Eiver, St. Joseph and Lonely Lakes, and English Eiver, to a i:)oint due north of the north-west angle of Lake of the Woods ; thence south to the American boundary. Extreme regret was felt throughout the country at the approaching departure of the Governor-General and his esteemed consort. They had won all hearts by the winning courtesy of their manners, and left pleasant recollections of their visits to every part of the Dominion, from the sea-girt peninsula of Nova Scotia to the Pacific province of British Columbia. Lord Dufierin had demonstrated the qualities of a wise constitutional Governor. In his public addresses he exhibited the wide vision and clear insight of a statesman, combined with the eloquence, the wit, and the brilliant fancy of the poet and the orator. The regret which was experienced at the departure of the Earl and Countess of Dufierin, was accompanied by a feeling of gratification that they were to be succeeded in their high place by the Marquis of Lome, and the Princess Louise. It was felt to be a pledge of the deep interest felt by Her Majesty the Queen, in the Dominion, that she chose to be represented among her Canadian subjects, in the person of her daughter and of her son-in-law. The domestic virtues and amiable 590 HISTORY OF CANADA. THB MAKQUIS OF LORNE. character of the Princess, and the cultured taste and states- manly ability of the Marquis will command the love and admiration of all Canadian hearts, and will knit them still more firmly to the throne. The Marquis of Lome is de- scended from one of the oldest Scottish families, as well as one of the foremost in rank and in historic interest. Nine dukes and ten earls of Argyle lead us back to 1457, when the lat- ter title was created. In this august lineage were some of the greatest statesmen and high officers of the Scottish and Eng- lish crowns, including one mar- tyr for the Covenant. The present duke is also a distinguished philosopher and author. The Marquis of Lome was born in 1845, and married, in 1871, the Princess Louise, the fourth daughter of Her Majesty the Queen, — this being the first instance of the marriage of the daughter of a reigning sovereign of England to a subject. He was educated at Eton, St. Andrew's, and Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1868, he was returned to the House of Com- mons for Argyleshire. In 1866, the Marquis made a tour through Hayti, Cuba, Jamaica, the United States, and Canada. He is the author of several volumes of superior merit, in prose and verse. Her Majesty the Queen, has also manifested her sympathy with our country by a generous contribution towards the con- struction of the "Kent Gate," in the proposed Duflferin im- provements at Quebec, — a worthy commemoration of her father, the Duke of Kent, commander of the forces in that city in 1794. These improvements, when completed, will be a lasting memorial of our generous-hearted Governor-General, by whom they were projected. THE MACKEXZIE ADMIN ISTRATIOy. 59I The loyalty of Canadians to the person and crown of their sovereign, was shown in their spontaneous offer to raise a brigade for foreign service when it seemed as if the vexed *' Eastern Question" would involve the mother country in war with Eussia ; and nowhere in the Empire was there more patriotic joy and pride at the triumphant manner in which Her Majesty's ministers returned from the Berlin Congress, bringing '* peace with honour," and increased glory to the British name. On the 17th of August, a special issue of the " Canada Gazette " contained a proclamation ordering the dissolution of the Dominion parliament. The nominations were appointed to take place on the 10th of September, and the polling on the 17th, except in Manitoba, where the nominations were to tak6 place on the 19th. Great political activity was manifested during the summer, which became intensified as the time of the general election approached. In the public journals, and on the hustings, the merits of a revenue as compared with a protective tariff — which were popularly accepted as representing the policy respectively of the Ministerial and Opposition parties — were warmly dis- cussed. As these pages pass through the press, the electors are called upon to assert their prerogative of self-government, through their freely-chosen representatives to the Commons House of the Dominion parliament. 692 HISTORY OF CANADA. j CHAPTER L. THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN CANADA. TINIVERSITY OF TORONTO. Quebec. — Seminary of St. Sulpice, Montreal, 1647 — S6minaire de Quebec, 1663 — Fabrique Act, 1624 — School Legislation after the Union — Higher Education. Ontario. — Early School Legislation — Dr. Ryerson — Organization of Public- School System — Higher Education. Nova Scotia. — Elementary and Higher Education. New Brunsavick. — Elementary and Higher Education. Progress of Education in Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, and British Columbia. NO factor in national prosperity is more important than that of the education of the people. This subject may, therefore, claim succinct treatment in a separate chapter. We will begm our review with the oldest province of the Domin- ion, Quebec. A prominent purpose of early French coloniza- tion was the conversion of the Indian tribes. The Eecollet and Jesuit Fathers, and Ursuline Nuns, therefore, devoted THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IX CAyADA. 593 themselves with assiduity to the religious and secular instruc- tion of the native youth, as well as to those of French parent- age. As early as 1632, Pere Le Jeune began his educational work at Quebec with two pupils, — an Indian and a negro. Humble as were his labours, he vt^ould not exchange them, he said, for those of a professor in the first university of Europe. In 1G39, Madame de la Peltrie and Marie Guyart founded the Ursuline Convent at Quebec, They were soon surrounded by a multitude of Indian children to whom they taught the hymns and prayers of the Church. In 1647, the Seminary of St. Sulpice was founded in Mon- treal, and, in 1663, the "Grande S^minaire de Quebec," by Mgr. Laval. Both of these were designed for the education of candidates for the priesthood. The "Petit S6minaire" was established at the suggestion of Colbert, in 1668, for the train- ing of Huron lads. It failed to accomplish this jDurpose, but, in 1688, we find sixty French youths in attendance. The Jesuit College at Montreal was established in 1728, and, nine years later, the " Freres Chretiens " became the teachers of a number of elementary schools in several parishes, assuming a distinctive garb as such. After the conquest, the "College de IMontreal" was established by the Sulpicians, in 1773. The Jesuit Order was suppressed in Canada in 1774, and, in 1789, a committee of the legislature recommended the establishment of elementary parish schools, with a provincial college at Quebec to be endowed out of the forfeited Jesuit estates, and to be open to Catholics and Protestants alike. This enlightened scheme, however, was opposed by the French ecclesiastics, and was not carried out. Education was at a very low ebb, for, towards the close of the century, the Due de la Rochefoucauld wrote from Quebec that ' * the Canadian who could read was regarded as a phenomenon." In 1800, the forfeited Jesuit estates were assumed by the crown, and an effort was made by the legislature to devote them to purposes of education ; but, through apathy of the hahitans, or opposition of the ecclesiastics, with only very limited success. An educational report of 1824, states that ** generally not above one-fourth of the entire population could 75 594 HISTORY OF CANADA. read ; and not above one-tenth of them could write even imper- fectly." This statement is corroborated by the proportion of " marks " occurring in the voluminous petitions presented to the legislature. To remedy this deplorable popular ignorance, the " Fabrique Act" was passed, in 1824, which provided for the establishment by the cure and church-wardens of each parish of one school for every hundred families. This Act is the foundation of the present school system of Quebec. *' On the union of the provinces," writes Dr. Hodgins, " a comprehensive measure was passed providing for a uniform system of public education for Upper and Lower Canada, and appropriating $200,000 a year for its maintenance. Dr. jNIcil- leur, an active educationist, was appointed to superintend the Lower Canada schools. In 1843, this law was amended, and, in 1846, it was superseded by an improved measure, which first embodied the principle of compulsory taxation. This was, however, modified in 1849, so as to make it permissive. In 1851, an attempt was made to establish a normal school. In 1855, Dr. Meilleur gave place to Hon. P. J. O. Chauveau, LL. D., who infused new life and energy intc the school sys- tem of Lower Canada." Dr. Chauveau prepared important school Acts for the consolidation and improvement of the sys- tems of elementary and higher education. He also procured the establishment of normal schools at Montreal and Quebec. In 1867, he became Minister of Education in the Quebec Gov- ernment, which position he held till 1873, when he retired, and was succeeded by the Hon. Gideon Ouimet. Of the institutions of higher education, the more important are the following having university powers. McGill College, Montreal, founded by the will of the Hon. Peter McGill, in 1811 ; but, owing to a legal difficulty, not chartered till 1821. Dr. J. W. Dawson, a distinguished scientist, is presi- dent. It possesses faculties of arts, law, medicine, and sciences. * Laval University and Seminary, Quebec, is a Eoman * This ■building is seen in the foreground of the view of Montreal, on page 446 — the building vrith the cupola and two wings. The one still nearer is the Meteorological Observatory. THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN CANADA. 595 Catholic institution, with faculties of arts, law, and theology. And Bishop's College, Lennoxville, incorporated 1853, is under the control of the Anglican Church. Ontario. Iu the province of Ontario (Upper Canada), from the very beginning of its history, the cause of education engaged the attention of some of its most eminent scholars and public men, and was early made the subject of legislative enactment. In the year 1785, the Eev. Dr. Stewart opened a classical school at Kingston. Soon after, a garrison school was established at that place, as also at other military posts. One of the enlightened schemes of Governor Simcoe was the estab- lishment of a provincial university, and of a grammar school in each district of the province. In 1797, the legislature, then sitting at York, memorialized King George for a grant of half a million acres of land for this purpose. The afterwards cele- brated Dr. Thomas Chalmers was invited to become principal of the projected university ; but, declining the position, it was offered to Mr., afterwards Bishop, Strachan, a Scottish divinity student and schoolmaster, who accepted it. On his arrival at Kingston, on the last day of the century, he found that Gov- ernor Simcoe had left the country, and this comprehensive educational scheme was for the time abandoned. Mr. Strachan soon opened a classical school at Kingston, and, subsequently, at Cornwall, at which many of the leading men of the province received their scholastic training. The promoters of education in Upper Canada committed the mistake of attempting the establishment of a university and grammar schools before creating their necessary feeders, — elementary public schools. It was not till after the war of 1812-14, that this error was remedied. By an Act of the legislature in 1816, a public-school system, the germ of that which we now possess, was established, and the sum of £6,000 per annum was voted to aid in paying teachers and purchasing books. This sum, however, was, four years later, reduced more than one-half. In 1824, was more fully organized a general system of education, and increased grants were made in aid of common and grammar schools. In the tumultuous agitations 596 HISTORY OF CANADA. accompanying the rebellion, the subject of education received little attention. In the year 1839, however, the Government set apart two hundred and Mty thousand acres of land for the permanent endo^vment of gi'ammar schools, and a bonus of eight hundred dollars was granted counties which would devote a like amount for the erectidn of a grammar-school buildino;. We have mentioned the legislation of the first parliament of the united Canadas, 1841, granting two hundred thousand dollars per annum for educational purposes. Three years later this Act was repealed so far as Upper Canada was concerned, and the important duty of re-organizing the common-school system of Uiiper Canada was entrusted to »• gentleman emi- nently qualified for the task, who has identified his name forever with the history of popular education in his native jDrovince. The Rev. Egerton Eyerson, LL. D., was the son of a United Empire Loyalist, who bore a colonel's commission under King George III. during the American Revolutionary war, Eger- ton was the youngest of three brothers, who all, by their force of character, rose to eminence in the ministiy of the Methodist Church, which they entered at a time when its ministers and members sufiered from serious civil disabilities which have long since been removed. In the prolonged controversy for the disestablishment of the Church of England in Canada, and for the secularization of the clergy reserves, Egerton Eyerson bore an active part. In a series of published papers and pamphlets he contended for those principles of civil and religious liberty which are now happily recognized. When, in 1829, the INIethodist denomination established a religious weekly journal, the "Christian Guardian," he was appointed the first editor, to which office he was twice re-appointed, and which he held for the period of nine years. Through his persistent advocacy it largely was that the Methodist Church acquired the right of holding ecclesiastical property, and its ministers the right of solemnizing matrimony. After holding for three years the office of president of the University of Victoria College, founded 1841, he received the THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN CANADA. 597 appointment of Chief Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada, 1844. For more than thirty years he continued to devote his energies to the development of the school system of the country, crossing the ocean many times in order to examine the educational systems of Europe, and incorporating their best features in that of his native province. In this work he has been assisted by the co-operation of a Council of Public Instruction, composed of the leading educationists of the coun- try. Under the fostering influence of the wise and liberal legislation of successive parliaments, the public-school system of Upper Canada has become one of the noblest of its institu- tions, the admiration of travellers from older lands, and one of the surest guarantees of its future national prosperity. In 1844, after an extensive tour of observation in Europe and the United States, Dr. Ryerson submitted an elaborate report on the subject of elementary education, and prepared the draft of a bill, which, in 1846, became law. The provis- ions of the School Act elicited a good deal of adverse criticism, and, three years later, it was repealed. In 1850, Dr. Ryerson thoroughly revised the organization of the school system, and submitted the draft of a bill to the Baldwin Government, which was adopted by the legislature, and became the basis of our present school law. Successive revisions and improvements of the School Act, in 1860, 1865, and especially in 1871, have made the public-school system of Ontario one of the most effi- cient in existence. It makes provision for compulsory attend- ance, local assessment, Government aid, thorough inspection, complete equipment, graded examinations, and "separate" schools. As already mentioned, a minister of the crown, the Hon. Adam Crooks, gives his whole attention, assisted by able deputies, to the Department of Education. To furnish facilities for the training and practice of teachers, the Provincial Normal School was established at Toronto in 1857. The elegant building shown in the engraving contains also the offices and book-depositary of the Department of Education. In 1877, a brai\ch normal school was opened at Ottawa. Highly successful institutions for the education of 598 HISTORY OF CANADA. the deaf and dumb, and of the blind, have also been established at Belleville and Brantford. The cause of higher, has kept pace with that of elementary education. In 1830, the Upper Canada Academy at Cobourg, was projected by the Wes- leyan Methodists, and was opened four years xater. In 1841 it became, under warrant of a royal charter, the University of Victoria College, with the Rev. Dr. Ryerson as its first jDresi- dent. The college has faculties of arts, law, medi. xt)i{MAL SCHOOL, TORONTO. ciuc, aud dlviuity, and, under the continued presidency ^ for over twenty years of the Rev. Dr. Nelles, has attained a high degree of prosperity. Queen's College, Kingston, under the management of the Kirk of Scotland, about the same time received university powers. The following year, the Univer- sity of King's College, Toronto, was organized, and placed under the control of the Angli- can Church, with Dr. Strachan as its first president. In 1849, the college was thrown ojDcn, as a provincial institution, to all^ denominations, under the dis- tinguished presidency of the Rev. Dr. McCaul, and received the name of Toronto Univer COLLEGE AVENUE, TORONTO. THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN CANADA. m sity. In 1858, the University and University College took possession of the imposing group of buildings shown at the head of this chapter. The no1)le avenue leading up to the college is sho-^ai in the accompanying cut. Bishop Strachan, and a number of leading members of the Church of England, dissatisfied with the change of basis of King's College, determined to have a university under exclu- sively Anglican control. The venerable bishop, then in his seventy-second year, proceeded to England to obtain a charter and procure financial aid, in both which objects he was success- ful. The college has faculties of divinity, arts, and medicine. KXOX COIXEGE, TORONTO. In 184:G, Regiopolis CoUege, Kingston; in 1848, St. Joseph's College, Ottawa, and, in 1852, St. Michael's College, Toronto, were organized under the control of the Eoman Catholic Church. In 1857, the Baptist Church established the Wood- stock Literary Institute ; and the Episcopal Methodists, the Belleville Seminary, which, in 1866, received a university char- ter as Albert College. These institutions are for both sexes. In 1865, Helmuth College for boys, London, was established in the interest of the Church of England; and, in 1869, Helmuth College for girls. 600 HISTORY OF CANADA, Knox College, Toronto, a theological institution, under the control of the Presbyterian Church of Canada, was first estab- lished in 1844. In 1876, it occupied the commodious and handsome buildings shown in the engraving. Provision for the higher education of young ladies has also been made by the estal^lishment of proprietary institutions or colleges, for the most part under denominational control. The more prominent of these are : the Wesley an Ladies' College, Hamilton, and Ontario Ladies' College, Whitby, under ]\Iethod- ist auspices ; the Bishop Strachan School, Toronto, and Helmuth Ladies' College, London, under Anglican control; the Brant- ford Ladies' College, under Presbyterian management ; together with Albert College, and the Woodstock Literary Institute, for both sexes, previously mentioned, and a number of Roman Catholic conventual institutions. Nova Scotia. In this province the cause of elementary education has only of late received that attention to which it is entitled. The legislature, indeed, for a long series of years, made an annual grant in aid of public schools on condition of a similar amount being raised by local effort ; but, for a long period, there was no thorough organization of the school sys- tem. The people in any school district might have a school, or not, as they chose, and they often chose to do without. A great impulse was given to the cause of education by the estab- lishment of the normal school at Truro in 1855, and, a still gi-eater one, by the appointment of Mr. J. W. Dawson, now the distinguished principal of McGill College, as Superintendent of Education. In 1864, Dr. Tupper submitted to the legisla- ture the bill which has organized the school system of the province on an enlightened and efficient basis. It provided that the schools should be maintained by a provincial grant, aided by county and school-section assessment. A council of public instruction and county boards were organized for examining and grading teachers, and otherwise carrying out the j)ro visions of the law. It speaks much for the religious tolerance of the country that no provision was considered necessary for ' ' sepa- rate " or denominational schools. The marked improvement in THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN CANADA. 601 the structure, organization, and attendance of the public schools on the introduction of this system was at once demonstrated, and has every year become more apparent. Taxation being compulsory, and the schools free, even those at first opposed to the new order of things soon embraced its striking advantages. In jiro vision for higher education, few countries of the popu- lation of Nova Scotia are so well supplied. It enjoys the advantages of no less than six universities ; including that at Sackville, belonging jointly to Nova Scotia and New Bruns- wick. The oldest of these is King's College, Windsor, founded in 1788, and thus, by many years, the oldest Protest- ant college in the Dominion. As King's College excluded all but members of the Church of England, Dalhousie College was, in 1820, established at Halifax, chiefly through the efforts of the Presbyterian Church, although not under denominational control. It was sustained partly from the " Castiue Fund," — the proceeds of the capture of Castine, in Maine, in 1814, — and partly by legislative grants. In 1838, was founded Acadia College, in the interest of the Baptist denomination, and, two years later, it received a university charter. In 1843, the AVesleyan Methodists of the maritime provinces, established an academy at Mount Allison, Sackville, N. B., which, however, did not receive university powers till 1862. Two Eoman Catholic Colleges were also established, — St. Mary's, at Hali- fax, in 1840, and St. Frangois Xavier College, at Antigonish, in 1855. All of these institutions receive a yearly grant from the legislature, which is supplemented by fees and denomina- tional contributions. * In 1876 was estal^lished, by an Act of the provincial legisla- ture, the University of Halifax. It takes no part in the work of teaching ; its functions, like those of the London University, being chiefly to hold examinations in arts, law, and medicine, and to Confer degrees. It invites the affiliation of the denomi- national colleges, but their legislative gi-ants are not contingent upon such affiliation. " In 1876, tho income of these six colleges, was $34,921 ; of tliis, $10,800 was granted by the legislature. 76 mSTORT OF CANADA. THE PROGRESS OF EJ^UCATIOX IX C AX ADA. G03 The cut on the opposite page represents the public-school buildings at Yarmouth, containing the seminary and eight departments of the common school. It is one of the largest and most successful m the province. Kew Brunswick. The legislatm-e of New Brunswick, as early as 1823, passed an Act encouraging the establishment of parish schools. Ten years later, a general Act was passed granting aid to the extent of one hundred and sixty pounds in each parish, if as much were raised by local effort, — the aggi-e- gate amount being about twelve thousand pounds per annum. Successive acts of legislation improved the character and organization, and increased the support of these schools till the parish allowance reached the amount of six hundred and sixty pounds a year. A normal and model school were established at St. John, — afterward removed to Fredericton, — and provhi- cial and county superintendents of public instruction appointed. Such was the efficiency of the school system that, in 1865, there were in the province nine hundred schools in successful operation, besides fifty superior and denominational schools. One of the results of confederation was the adoption, in 1871, of a school system modelled on that of Ontario. We have already narrated the agitation and acrimonious debate which resulted from the application of this law to the separate schools of Kew Brunswick. The system of non-sectarian schools was sustained by a large majority. In 1875, as we have seen, a serious school-riot took place, but an effort has been made to remove any just ground of discontent with the school law, from which the best results may be anticipated. The University of New Brunswick, originally known as King's College, was founded as such by royal charter in 1828, and only assumed its present name in 18G0. Established as a Church of England institution, it was considered too sectarian and exclusive in its character, and the several attempts made to modify it failed to give general satisfaction. In the legislative sessions of 1858-59, it was made non-sectarian in character, and eliciting broader sympathies as the University of New Brunswick, entered upon a career of increased efficiency and 604 HISTORY dp CANADA. success. The origin of the Sackville college we have already- described. It enjoys the unique position of receiving legisla- tive aid from both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The Presbyterians have also a college at Woodstock, and an academy at Chatham. UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRTTNSWICK, FREDERICTON. Prince Edward Island. On the first distribution of lands by lottery, in the year 1767, as before described, thirty acres were reserved in each township for a schoolmaster. The legis- lature made annual grants in aid of education from as early as 1808, but they were meagre in amount and meagre in results. Enlightened legislation established free schools in 1852, and the school gi'ant was soon raised to the liberal sura of twelve thousand pounds per annum. Since the period of confedera- tion the school system has been greatly developed and improved, and the popular elections have declared emphatically in favor of non-sectarian education. An academy for higher education was established in Char- lotteto\\ai in 1836, and a normal school in 1856. The educa- THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATIOX 7.V CANADA. G05 tional pyramid was completed in 1861, by the addition of the Prince of Wales College, a memorial of the visit of His Royal Highness the previous year. Manitoba. A school system of a liberal character was organized in the "prairie province " in the first session of its first parliament in 1871. A provincial board of education was constituted, with two superintendents, — one a Protestant, and the other a Eoman Catholic, — and aided by a grant of six thousand dollars. The rapid influx of population, however, demands and receives increased legislative and local appropria- tions. The Presbyterians, Methodists, Church of England, and Eoman Catholics, have their denominational institutions ; and already a Provincial University has been organized, on the model of Halifax and London Universities, for the j^urpose of holding examinations, and giving degrees. The educational future of the great North-west is full of promise. British Columbia. The school system of British Columbia was organized in April, 1872, and was modelled largely upon that of Ontario. The legislature struck a liberal kej^-note by the generous vote of forty thousand dollars a year for educa- tional purposes. This is designed to supersede the levying of rates by school trustees, and to cover, in part at least, the cost of school erections. Thus, in each province of our young Dominion have been laid, broad and deep, in their public-school systems and insti- tutions for higher learning, the foundations of national great- ness and prosperity. The imiversal difi'usion of the elements of education, and the union of intellectual culture with moral worth ; an intelligent love of the noble country which is ours, and an earnest endeavour to seek its highest welfare ; a gen- erous love of liberty, and a firm resolve to maintain the self- government of the people through their freely chosen represen- tatives in the councils of the country, — these shall be the pledges of the stability of our institutions, these shall be the corner-stone of our national greatness. INDEX Abenaquis, ravages of, 172. Abcrcrombie, Lord, 211, 212; defeat of, 222-225. Abraham, Plains of, 247-250. Acadian Neutrals, 194, 205-207 ; expulsion of, 207-209. Acadia colonized, 52 ; under Razille and D'Aulnay, 105-110. See Nova Scotia Acadia College, 601. Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of, 192. Alabama Claims, 547. Allan, Sir Hugh, 552, 555. America, Discovery of, 16-23 ; origin of name, 24 ; whence peopled, 37 American Revolution, 273, et seq. American War of 1812-14 ; causes of, 301-303 ; effects of, 326, 340. American Civil War, 448, 449 ; effects on Canada, 460, 462, 467. Amherst, General, 220, 232 ; captures Ticanderoga and Crown Point, 233, 234 ; at Mon- treal, 255, 256. Amnesty, Red River, 564. Anglin, T. W., 560, 579, iiote; 584, note. Annapolis, 167. See Port Royal. Anti-Confederation Movement, 466, 467, 511, 552. Arbitration, Geneva, 214. Argall, Captain, 55, 56, Arnold, Benedict, besieges Quebec, 277-280. Aroostook War, 503. Arthur, Sir George, 385. Ashburton Treaty, 508. Assiniboia, Council of, 535. Aylmer, Lord, 363. Bagot, Sir Charles, 400-402. Baldwin, Robert, 358, 379, 402, 408, 418, 443. Baltimore, Battle of, 337. Barclay, Captain, 321. Beauhamois, Marquis de, 184. Beaver Dams, exploit at, 317. Belleau,SirN.F.,524, Berlin Decree, 301. «' Better Terms " given Nova Scotia, 526, 527. Bidwells, The, 354, 374. Bigot, M., 195 ; his villainy, 214-218 ; his fall, 259, 260. Blake, Edward, 549, and note. " Bloody Run," fight at, 2G5. Boulton, Major, at Red River, 540. 608 INDEX. Boundary Award, 508. Boundary Disputes, 503, 507, 508. Boyd, John, 582, 583. Bouquet, Colonel, 266, 269. Braddock, General, 199; defeat of, 200-202. Bradstrect, 212, 223, 225, 268. Brant, Joseph, 298. Breheuf, 83 ; his martyrdom, 92, 93. British Columbia, 543, 572. British North America Act, 520-524. Brock, General, Governor of Upper Canada, 296 ; captures General Hull, 304-306 ; death of, 307 ; his monument, 308, and note, 394. Brown, George, 425, 436 ; forms cabinet, 440 ; his "joint authority " resolutions, 444, 445 ; enters coalition ministry, 460 ; leaves cabinet, 469 ; enters senate, 560. Burgoyne, 281 ; surrender of, 283. Bushy Run, Tragedy of, 266, 267. Cabots, The, 25, 26. Caens, De, 64. Callieres, 150, 170. Campbell, Sir Alexander, 505, 506. Campbell, Sir Colin, 490-492. Canada, Discovery of, 28 ; origin of name, 57, note ; under Hundred Associates, 65-104 ; royal government, in,et seq. ; surrender of, 256 ; effects of conquest, 257, 258, 269, 270 (see War of 1812-14) ; Canada trade act, 353 ; American invasion of, 275-282 ; rebel- lion in, 363-389 ; Dominion of, 520, et seq. Canada Land Company, 358. Canada Pacific Railway, 552, 561. Carignan Regiment, 1 16. Carillon, fall of, 233-235. Carleton, Colonel, 499-510. Carleton, Sir Guy, 270-283 ; Lord Dorchester, 115 ; leaves Canada, 299. Caroline, destruction of the, 3S3, 305. Cartier, Jacques, 28 ; explores St. Lawrence, 29 ; at Hochelaga, 30 ; winters at Quebec, 31. Cartier, Su- George E., 425, 441 ; death of, 553. Cathcart, General, 404. Censitaires, 121. Census, 450. Centennial Exhibition, Canada at the, 571, 572. Champlain, Samuel de, 49-69 ; founds Quebec, 57 ; discovers Lake Champlain, and ex- plores the Ottawa, 59; discovers Lakes Huron, Simcoe, and Ontario, 60, 61 ; war with Senecas, 63 ; surrenders to lurk, 67 ; returns to Canada, 68 ; death, ib. ; character of, 69. Charlevoix, Pere, 180. Charlottetown Conference, 462, 463. Chateauguay, Battle of, 324. Chauncey, Commodore, 310, 314, 315, 319. Chauvin founds Tadousac, 49. Chesapeake, The, taken, 327. Chippewa, Battle of, 331. Chrj-sler's Farm, Battle of, 323. Clergy Reserves, 394, 421, 426. Colleges, Canadian, 592, 605 ; ladies' do., 600. INDEX. 609 Colbert, 112, 114. Colbornc, 3.3S-3G2; suppresses rebellion, 369-371. Columhiis, Christopher, 20-23. Commission, Joint High, 548. Commune, The, 545. Company of the Hundred Associates, 65, 77, 104, 111. Confederation Proposed, 461-465, 497 ; adopted, 466 ; accomplished, 478, 498, 520. Conquest of Canada, 237, et seq. ; etfects of, 257, 258, 269, 270. Constitutional Act, 289, 290. Constitution of Canada, 521-524. Cortereal, 27. Corrigau Trial, The, 432. Courcclles, M. de, 117, 118. Coureurs de bois, 122, 185, 528. Craig, Sir James, 300, 301. Creve Coeur, 137. Crimean War, 428, 429. Crooks, Hon. A., 572, 579. Crown Point, 203, 204. Da Gama, 24. D'Aillcboust, M., 101. ' ■ Dalhousie College, 601. Dalhousie, Earl of, 345-348. Daniel, Pore, murdered, 91. D'Argenson, 102, 103. Dates of Early Settlements, 44, note ; 74, note. D'Aulnay in Acadia, 105-109. D'Avaugour, 103, 104. Dawson, 594, 600. Dead-Lock, Political, 458, 459. Dearborn, General, routed at Lacolle, 310 ; at York, 314 ; beleaguered in Fort George, 317. De Boucherville Ministry, 585-587. Deerficld, Massacre of, 173, 174. De Mezy, 112, 114, 116. De Monts, 51-57. Dennis, Colonel, at Fort Erie, 475 ; at Red River, 538. Denonville, M. De, 150, 151. De Tracy, 116-120. Detroit founded, 171 ; Pontiac at, 262-268 ; captured by Brock, 304-306. D'Ibervillc, 1G5-167, 169. Dieskau, defeat of, 203, 204. Dighton Rock Inscription, 19, 20. Donnacona, 30. Dorchester, Lord, 288-299. Dorion, A. A., 426, 456. "Double Majority," 397, 449. "Double Shuflae," The, 442. Douglas, Lord, 530. Drake, 45. Draper, 394, 402, 407. Drummond, General, 332, 342. 77 610 ' INDEX. Dnfferin, Lord, 550-589. Du Quesne, Fort, 196, 200 ; fall of, 226, 227. Du Quesne, M., 195. Durham, Lord, 370 ; his report, 371, 390. Earliest Settlements, Dates of, 44, note ; 74, note. Earle, S. Z., 581. Earthquake in Canada, 104. Education in Canada, 592-605. Egg Islands, Catastrophe at, 177, 178. Elgin, Lord, 406 ; mobbed, 410-412 ; resigns, 428. English Colonization, 70-74. Erie, Fort, Battle of, 333 ; Fenians at, 475. Erie, Lake, Battle on, 321. " Family Compact," The, 350, 353, 356, 358, 490. Fenians, The, 471 ; invasion of, 472-477; repulse of, 475-477; trials, 479; last raids of, 543. Fishery Award, 583, 584. Fitzgibbon, Lieutenant, gallant exploit of, 312. Five Nations, The. See Iroquois. Fort Garry, 538. Franco-Prussian "War, 545. Franklin, Benjamin, 198; at Montreal, 281. French Towti surprised, 313. Frobisher, 45, Frontenac, 129-148 ; second administration of, 155-168 ; death of, 168. Frontenac, Fort, founded, 131-133. Fugitive Slave Extradition, 448. Fur Companies, rival, 558, et seq. Fur Trade, 114, 122, 185, 528-530. Gallows Hill, fight at, 380. Gait, Sir A. T., 441. Gavazzi riots, 412, 413. Geneva Arbitration, 214. George, Battles of Lake. See Ticonderoga. Ghent, Treaty of, 339. Gibson, Aleixander, 583. Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 46. Gore, Francis, Governor of Upper Canada, 295 ; returns, 349-353. Gosford, Lord, 365-370. Gourlay, Robert, 351, 352. Grand Pre, tragedy of, 208, " Great Eastern," The, 480. Griffin, The, 136. Guibord riots, 566. Guyart, Marie (de 1' Incarnation), 76. Haldimand, General, 282. Halifax founded, 193, 194 ; in war time, 285 ; University of, 601. Hampton, General, 324. Harrison, General, invades Upper Canada, 321. LWDEX. 611 Harvey, Sir John, 493-495, 507. Haverhill, massacre of, 174. Head, Sir Edmund, 430-450. Head, Sir Francis, 362, 371 ; awaits rebellion, 375 ; recalled, 385. Hennepin, Father, 135-137, 139. Henry, Captain, 302, 303. Hertel dc Rouville, 157, 158. Hincks, Francis, 401, 418, 423, 424, 428. Hochelaga, 30. Hodgins, Dr., quoted, 594. Howe, Joseph, 470, 490, 492, 493, 498, 526, 554. Howe, Lord, death of, 223. Hudson, Henry, 48, note. Hudson's Bay, French and English in, 127, 168. Hudson's Bay Company, 528, et seq. Hudson's Bay Territory, 525 ; ceded to Canada, 537. Hull, General, surrenders, 306. Hundred Associates, The, 65, 77, 104, 111. Hunter, Major-General, 293-295. '♦ Hunter's Lodges," 382, 386. Huntington, Mr., charges of, 553. Hurons, 60-62, 84-96. Huron Missions, 84, 90 ; destroyed, 90-96. Immigration, large, 364, 407. Indians, Origin of name, 34 ; the mound-builders, 34-37 ; characteristics, 38 ; wars, 40 ; superstitions, 41 ; tribes, 42 ; present locations, 43. See Hurons, Iroquois, etc. Intendant, The, Duties of, 112. Intercolonial Railway, 494. Iroquois, 42 ; wars with, 58, 63, 79, 148 ; incursions of, 90-94, 96, 139, 152, 153, 163. Jamestown, founding of, 70-72. Jesuits in Acadia, 55 ; in Canada, 64, 75, 80 ; missions of, 81-100 ; explorers, 82, 125, 130, 185. Jognes, Pere, 82, 83. Johnson, Sir William, 198, 203, 204, 230-232, 268, " Joint Authority Resolutions," 444, 445. Jolict, 130. Joly Ministry, 587, 588. Jonquiere, M. de la, 191-195. Judges, appointment of, 523. Jumonville, M., 196. Kehecca Liherata, 162. Kempt, Sir James, 363. King's College, Toronto, 595, 598 ; Windsor, 601 ; Fredericton, 603. Kingston, seat of government, 396, 397. Kirk, Admiral, captures Quebec, 67. Knox College, 600. Kondiaronk, the Rat, treachery of, 152, 153 ; death of, 171. Lachin^, massacre of, 153. Lafontaine, Sir L. H., 400. 612 INDEX. Lalemant, Pere, 87. La Salle, 131 ; Iiis explorations, 134-146; plants Texan colony, 142-144; death of, ib. La Tours, Tbe, 67, 68 ; the younger, adventures of, 105-109. La Tour, Madame, heroism of, 106-108. Lauson, De, 102. Laval, Abbe, 102, 111, 112, 148, 594. Legislatures, Dominion, 521, 522 ; local, 523. Lepine, 564. Lescarbot, 53. Levi, M. De, 253, 254. Lincoln, Death of, 467. Lome, Marquis of, 550, 590. Loudon, Lord, 211, 215. Louisburg, Siege of, 188-190 ; second siege, 220-222. Louise, Princess, 550, 590. Lower Canada, Organization of, 300 ; rebellion in, 363-372. Loyalists, United Empire, 385-387, 485, 486. Lundy's Lane, Battle of, 332, 333. Macdonald, Colonel, 307. Macdonald, J. Sandfleld, 426, 549. Macdonald, Sir John A., 433, 435 ; resigns government, 557. Macdougall, Hon. William, 458 ; at Red River, 538. Mackenzie, Hon. Alexander, 558, and note. Mackenzie, William Lyon, 356, 357, 360, 361 ; rebels, 376 ; attacks Toronto, 377-380 ; at Navy Island, 381 ; in prison, 388, 389 ; his death, 450. Maisonnenve, 77. Maitland, Sir Peregrine, 344, 353. Manitoba Act, 541 ; education in, 605. Marquette, Pere, 125, 130. McClure bums Niagara, 325. McGee, T. D'Arcy, 439 ; shot, 525. McGill College, 594. McLean's Sedition, 300. McNab, Colonel, and Sir Allan, 380, 383, 403, 424, 425, 432. Metcalfe, Sir Charles, 402-404. Meigs, Fort, Siege of, 320. Michilimackinac, 334. Miramichi, great fire of, 502, 503. Missions, Huron, 81-90 ; destruction of, 91-96 ; Onondaga, 98-100 ; Abenaquis, 181-184. Mohawks, expeditions against, 117, 119, 164. Monck, Lord, 451-528. Montcalm, Marquis de, 211-215, 220, 223-225, 227, 239-249; death of, 250-251. Montgomery, Richard, 276-279. Montmagny, 74. Montmorency, fight at, 243-245, Montreal named, 30; founded, 77-79; surrender of, 256; public buildings, 573, 575; party riots in, 588 ; parliament buildings burned, 410, 411. Moodie, Colonel, killed, 378. Moravian Town, Battle of, 321, 322. Mound-builders, The, 34-37. Mounted police, The, 565. Municipal Institutions, 398, 415. IXDEX. 613 Municipal Loan Fund, 419. Murray, General, at Quebec, 253-255 ; military governor, 258-270. Navy Island, 381. Nelson, Robert, 371. Nelson, Wolfred, 367, 368. New Brunswick, 486; organization of government, 499; great fire in, 502,503; crown- Land grievances, 505 ; boundary disputes, 503, 507, 508 ; anti-Confcderatc, 466, 467, 511; school-law troubles, 567-569 ; education in, COS. New England Colonies, 72. Newfoundland discovered, 26; fisheries, 27, 45; French and English in, 127, 167, 176, 483. New Orleans, Battle of, 337-339. Newport Tower, 19. New York, taken from Dutch, 115. Niagara, Fort, captured from the French, 430-432; seat of government (Newark), 490- 492; captured by Americans, 315, 316, 325, 326; burned, 325. Normal Schools, 597, 600, 603. Norsemen, The, 18-20. North-west Company, 529. North-west Territory', 537, 538. Nova Scotia colonized, 52 ; charter granted, 66 ; government organized, 193, 194, 482 ; in war time, 285, 483-485, 487 ; " Family Compact " in, 490, 491 ; anti-Confederate. 526; "Better terms " granted, 526, 527; education in, 600", 601. Odelltown, fight at, 329, 371. Ohio Company, 195. Onondaga Mission, 98-100. Orange processions, 588. " Order of the Good Time," The, 54. Ormeaux, Dulac des. Heroism of, 100, 101 Oswego taken, 211-213. Ottawa selected as capital, 440 ; becomes seat of government, 468. • " Pacific Scandal," The, 553-556. Packenham, General, at New Orleans, 337-339. Papineau, Louis, 344, 347, 365-367. Paris, Peace of, 269. Parliament Building at Montreal burned, 410, 411. Parliament, first, of United Canadas, 396, 397; first, of Dominion, 525. Parr Town, founding of, 485. Party riots in Montreal, 588. " Patriot " 'War, 382-389. Peltrie, Madame de la, 76. Pemaquid, Fort, taken, 165, 166. Pepperell, William, captures Louisburg, 188-190. Perry's Victory on Lake Erie, 321. Phips, Sir William, takes Port Royal, 15^; attacks Quebec, 160-162. Pilgrimage riots at Toronto, 567. Pitt, William, 210, 219, 228, 260. Plains of Abraham, 247-250. Plattsburg, attack on, 334. Plymouth, founding of, 72 614 INDEX. Pontiac, Conspiracy of, 262-269. Tort Royal founded. 53-5o ; pillaged by Argall, 56 ; taken by Kirk, 66; by Phips, 159. rontgrave, 49. Poutrincoui-t colonizes Port Royal, 53, 54, 56. Prescott, General, 300. Prevost, Sir George, 301 ; at Sackett's Harbour, 318 ; retreat from Plattsburg, 344, 345. Prince Edward Island, 513 ; enters the Dominion, 519. Prince Albert, death of, 452. Prince of "Wales in Canada, 445-447 ; marriage of, 457. Privy Council of Dominion, first, 524 ; second, 559. Proctor, Col., at French Tovm, 313 ; at Fort Meigs, 320 ; at Moravian Town, 321. Protection Resolutions, 577, 585. Punshon, W. Morley, 577. Qu' Appelle Treaty, 563. Quebec founded, 57 : origin of name, ib., twte ; captured by Kirk, 67 ; besieged by Phips, 160-162; Walker's attempt against, 177, 178; Wolfe before, 237-247; fall of, 251, 252 ; Quebec Act, 271 ; besieged by Arnold, 279, 280 ; fixes, 403, 467, 479 ; Quebec Conference, 463, 464. Queenston Heights, Battle of, 306-308. Quit-rents, 488, 514-518. Queen Anne's War, 170. Railways— Northern, 416 ; Grand Trunk, 417 ; Intercolonial, 494, 571 ; Canada Pacific, 552, 561. Railway strike, 578. Raleigh, Sir Walter, 46, 47. Rasles, Father, 181-184. RebelUon Losses Bill, 404, 408, 412. Rebelhon, The, Lower Canada, 363-372 ; Upper Canada, 373-389. Reciprocity Treaty, 414, 423, 469, 470, 5G2. Red River Settlement founded, 530 ; conflicts, 531 ; privations, 533, 534 ; prosperity, 535 ; rebellion, 538-542 ; Red River expedition, 541, 642 ; amnesty, 564. Representation by population, 455. Resolutions, The Ninety-frvvo, 365 ; the Ten, 375. Responsible Government, 396-405. Revolutionary War, causes of, 273-274. Riall, General, at Chippewa, 331 ; at Lundy's Lane, 332. Richelieu, Cardinal, 65. Richmond, Duke of, 343, 344. Ridgeway, fight at, 474. Riel, revolt of, 538-542; expelled from Parliament, 560. Roberval, 32, 33. Robinson, Sir J. B., 350. Rogers, Major, 225, 236, 261. Rolph, Dr., 356, 379, 382, 418. Rouvillc, Hertel de, 157, 158, 172-175. Rupert's Land Act, 537. Russell, Lord John, 375. Ryerson, Rev. Dr., 377, 596, 597. Ryswick, Peace of, 168. INDEX. 615 Sackett's Harbour, attack on, 318, 319. Sackvillc College, 601. Salaberry, De, 324. Salle, La. See La Salle. San Jnan ditficulty, 544. Schenectady (Corlaer) sacked, 157. Schultz, Dr., 539. Schiiltz, Von, 387. Scott, Thomas, shot, 540. See 564. Sea-Fights, 310, 319, 327. Secession, War of. Sec American Civil "War. Secord, Mrs., bravery of, 317. Seigneurial Tenure, 121 ; abolished, 427. Selkij-k, Lord, 528. Senate, The, 521. Senecas, War with, 151. Seven Years' War, 210. Sheafle, General, 307, 308, 315. Sherbrooke, Sir John, 342, 343. Simcoe, Governor, 291-293. Six Nations, The. See Iroquois, etc. Smith, Captain John, 70, 71. Smythe, General, 308, 309. Spanish Explorations, 44. Stadacona, 30-32. Stamp Act, 274. St. Castine, 166. St. Croix, disastrous winter at, 52, 53. Ste. Foye, Battle of, 253-254. St. Germain-en-Laye, Treaty of, 68, 105. St. John, French on site of, 105-109 ; founded, 485, 499 ; riots, 508 ; great fire, 580. St. Just, Letellier De, 585. St. Lawrence discovered, 29. St. Marie, Mission of, 89-94. Stony Creek, Battle of, 316. Strachan, Rev. Dr., 365, 356, 577, 595, 599. Southern Raiders, 46C. Supremo Council, The, French, 112; English, 564. Sydenham, Lord, 391-399. Tache, 432, 433. Talon, M., 116-128; able administration of, 120, 121, 124. Tecumseh, 305, 320; death of, 322. Temperance Legislation, 562, 579, 585. Ten Resolutions, The, 375. Thompson, Hon. Charles. See Lord Sydenham. Thorpe, Judge, 395. Thunder Cape, 561. Ticonderoga, attacks on, 203, 204, 222-225 ; fall of, 233, 235. Tilley, S. L., 581. Timber-trade, 501, 504. Times, The, on Canada, 551. 616 INDEX. Toronto founded, 292 ; captured, 314, 319 ; attacked by rebels, 379, 380 ; seat of govern- ment, 415, 431 ; public buildings of, 574, 576, 577, 592, 598, 599. Tracy, Marquis de, 116. Trent Affair, The, 451, 452, 511. Trinity College, 599. Turcotte, Hon. A., 585. Union Scheme, 391, 392; Union Act, 393, 394; Union accomplished, 396. United Empire Loyalists, 285-287, 485, 486, 499. Upper Canada, Settlement of, 286, 287 ; early legislation, 291-293 ; origin of parties in, 294; early condition of, 296, 297; "Family Compact" in, 350, 353, 356, 358; rebel- lion in, 373-389 ; union with Lower Canada, 391-396 ; military strength of, 391. Utrecht, Treaty of, 178. Universities, Canadian, 592-605. Vancouver's Island, 544. Van Egmond, 380. Vaudreuil, Marquis de, 171. Verendryes, The, 185. Versailles, Peace of, 284. Vespucci, 24. Victoria Bridge, 445. Victoria College, 598. Vincent, Colonel, 315, 316, 325. Virginia, Settlement of, 70-72. Villebon, on the St. John, 165-167. "Walker, Sir Hovenden, his attempt against Quebec, 177, 178. Wampum, 41. War of 1812-14 ; causes of, 301-303 ; effects of, 326, 327, 340. Washington burned, 335, 336 ; treaty of, 547, 546, 584. Washington, George, 195-197, 226, 284, 285. Weir, Lieut., 369. Wilkinson, General, 322 ; defeated at Chrysler's Farm, 323 ; at Odelltown, 329. William Henry, Fort, 214; massacre of, 215, 216. Williams, Sir Fenwick, 447, 448. Wilmot, Hon. L. A., 506. Windmill Point, Battle of, 387. Wolfe, General, 220, 222, 227, 228 ; before Quebec, 237-247 ; slain, 250. Wolseley, Colonel, 541, 542, 564. Yeo, Sir James, 318, 330. York founded, 292; captured, 314, 315; second capture, 319. Young, Rev. George, at Red River, 540. Young, Sir John, 526. P» 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. TTfig^ RECD -LD MAY 4 ' 65 -3 PM SEP 2 1976 ^J-z- I'?'"- It wkea, OCT 4 ■76 LD 21A-60to-3,'65 (F2336sl0)476B General Library University of California Berkeley llilillli ii Hi iilll CD3ailbfl34