 |
[Footnote 42: Robson, Six Years' Residence in Hudson's Bay, 1752.]
This advantage enabled the older Company to reach the stations on the Bay at an earlier season of the year than was possible for their rivals by the overland route. Yet such was the zeal animating the Canadian companies that, conquering all difficulties of season and situation, they delivered goods to the Indians in their villages and tepees, thus anticipating their journey to the north; and some time after the Conquest forty canoes of about four tons burden each left the St. Lawrence every year for the interior.
The fall of Quebec marked a crisis in the affairs of the Hudson's Bay Company, and for a time indeed it seemed as if it also would pass away with the old regime. Their foes at this time began to multiply; for while the veteran coureurs de bois of Canada were ready enough, after the Conquest, to take service under their new masters, the Colonial forces were now further augmented by a large body of Scotch settlers, partly Jacobite refugees, and partly soldiers of the Highland regiments of Amherst and Wolfe. With vitality thus renewed the Canadians now turned to the west, their emissaries penetrating as far westward as Sturgeon Lake on the Saskatchewan, where a trading station was erected to divert the Indians from the forts at Hudson's Bay. But suddenly the "Adventurers of England" awoke from their long sleep, and Hearne, their agent, was forthwith sent to open up new territories, across which a chain of stations soon marked the successive stages of their progress, from Cumberland House to distant Athabasca. The spirit of competition was now aflame, and on many occasions in the course of the next fifty years it caused the opposing Companies to pass the limits of commercial strife and contend in open warfare, until mutual interest and vice-regal authority at last combined to reconcile them.
A great and threatening rival to the Hudson's Bay Company had come. The North-West Company, founded at Montreal in 1782, under the leadership of Simon McTavish, was founded on principles which made it a power against the older organisation, its agents receiving a stimulus to enterprise from a share in the profits of the undertaking and pay double that given by the English Company. These advantages proved so potent, that soon after beginning operations the North-Westers were able to send abroad skins to four times the value of those exported by their great rival.
But this zeal was met in a new and robust spirit which held the issue of the conflict long in doubt. The beginning of the new century saw its force increase—a civil war carried on beyond the vision of the nations in the vast forests of the north. The story of this Homeric struggle, however, with its romantic episodes and opposing heroes—Cuthbert Grant, Colin Robertson, Duncan Cameron, and the rest—the battle of Greys against Blues, in which the chiefs of the north, issuing with their wild bois brules from the stronghold of Fort William,[43] raided and harried the despised "old countrymen," the "Pork-eaters," the "Workers in gardens," or suffered reprisals from these underestimated rivals; the history of Lord Selkirk's settlement in the Red River, around which the final battle wound in the year when Europe was witnessing the last great effort of Napoleon—all this does not fall within the scope of the present work.
[Footnote 43: Founded in honour of William M'Gillivray in 1805.]
In 1821, under pressure from the Duke of Richmond, the Greys and Blues agreed to merge their forces in an equal partnership, which, retaining the name of the older Company, was framed on the co-operative principle so effective in the success of the North-Western concern. Having received a fresh charter from the Government, the new Company began a peaceful and not less profitable career, until in exchange for an indemnity of three hundred thousand pounds, and a grant of seven million acres in the best districts of the North-West Territories, the feudal rights of the Hudson's Bay Company were at last taken over by the Dominion of Canada. The Company, however, still pursues its prosperous way. Its forts and posts are sources of influence, centres of safety; its officers and men a devoted and upright band who have proved their right to the gratitude of the empire—unliveried policemen of good government and national integrity.
CHAPTER XX
THE NEW CENTURY
Quebec entered upon the nineteenth century equipped with the machinery of constitutional government, which was, however, clogged in action by unhappy divisions within the city. The four years of Sir James Craig's rule were disturbed by a truceless war between the Legislative Assembly and the Governor, whose arbitrary temper ill qualified him to lead a people still groping for standing-ground within the area of their new constitution. He looked at popular institutions with the distrust natural to an old soldier, and the period of his administration became known in the annals of the province as "the reign of little King Craig." Born at Gibraltar, he had entered the army at the tender age of fifteen, and having earned rapid promotion on many battlefields, he finally reached the rank of major-general at the close of the American revolutionary war. Further experience in India and the Mediterranean increased his reputation, and in the autumn of 1807 he arrived in Quebec full of military honours, and imbued with the high political views then held by the most exclusive wing of the Tory party. The members of the Legislative Council and the administrative clique drew close about the person of this new champion, and in the same degree the French majority in the Legislative Assembly held aloof. The burning questions of the day, whether the judges should sit and vote in Parliament, whether the Assembly could communicate directly with the Home Government—these were but the occasions of an antagonism really due to diversity of race and temperament; for, as Lord Durham discovered a generation later, "this sensitive and polite people" revolted, not so much against political disability, as against the exclusive manners and practices of a ruling class far removed from themselves by language and mode and code, who ruffled their racial pride at every turn.
The new Governor was now the forcible instrument of this unsympathetic power. With an undue sense of the importance of the vice-royalty, the ipse dixit of "the little king" dissolved Parliament on more than one occasion. On the other side, Le Canadien, the journal of the French party, rhetorically stood for liberty, fraternity, and equality as against arbitrary government. Moderate men, wavering for a time, were at last scandalised by its editorial violence, and rallied to the side of the Governor. The situation quickly became acute, and stringent measures of repression were adopted by Sir James Craig and his councillors. The offending journal was suppressed; five recalcitrant officers of militia were relieved of their command; and, finally, the city guards were strengthened to meet the peril of a possible insurrection. Soon a new element of danger appeared in the threatened war between England and the United States, offering to the aggrieved party a tempting occasion for redress. Fortunately, however, neither the unwisdom of the English Government nor the neighbourhood of a hostile power availed to drive or lure the Canadians into the crooked path of rebellion. As the past had already proved, their country's peril was sufficient to unite in hearty concord all parties, French and English, in the defence of the common heritage; the experience of half a century of British rule having convinced even the survivors of the Ancien Regime that however haughty or aloof officials might be, security, order, and justice prevailed under the British flag.
Considering the especial temptations to treason bearing upon the French population at this crisis, such loyal conduct is the more praiseworthy. In the first place, it was maintained throughout a war which was part of England's life-and-death struggle against France, the mother-country of French Canadians. Again, apart from this natural affinity with the chiefest enemy of England, material causes operated yet further to strain their faith; for the enterprise of Montgomery and Arnold was about to be resumed; and the French must choose either to suffer the terrors of a hostile invasion, or to join the armies of the United States in driving the British power for ever from the Continent. Finally, as if these tests of loyalty were not enough, the port of Quebec was invaded by English press-gangs, who terrorised the quays of the Lower Town and kidnapped able-bodied youths of both races. But notwithstanding so many temptations to swerve from allegiance, when news came in June, 1812, that the Americans had declared war against England, the loyal sentiment of the Canadians was unanimous, the Maritime Provinces joining their forces with those of Lower and Upper Canada to repel the invaders; and Major-General Isaac Brock, the Lieutenant-Governor, in his speech to the Legislature of the Upper Province, thus expressed the feeling of the entire country:—
"We are engaged," he declared, "in an awful and eventful contest. By unanimity and despatch in our councils, and vigour in our operations, we may teach the enemy this lesson, that a country defended by free men enthusiastically devoted to the cause of their king and constitution can never be conquered."
Thus, instead of the support on which they calculated, the invading army was to encounter a resolute and united foe. Nor were the causes of Canadian loyalty far to seek. The French population, by nature loyal and content, were unwilling to sever the ties of noble monarchical tradition binding them to the past, and embark upon the troubled seas of American politics, there to be lost among loose and powerful majorities out of sympathy with their conservative ideals, their temperament, and those racial rights so fully acknowledged by England after the Conquest. Also east and west, the Maritime Provinces and Upper Canada contained an element already devotedly attached to the Crown. The sacrifices of the United Empire loyalists made almost sacred the soil of Upper Canada, now Ontario. Men who had already braved the anger of their fellow-citizens in the American Colonies, and abandoned their homes to witness to the ideal of a united empire, were not likely at the last to throw away their crown of service and stultify themselves before the world.
Upper Canada was already a flourishing colony, containing at the outbreak of this American war about a quarter of the population of the two provinces combined. To balance inferiority in point of numbers, the peculiar circumstances of the English colonists—affinity of race to the mother-country, a fertile territory, the memory of special benefits received—combined to bring the zealous British sentiment of the new province into special prominence at this crisis. Inspired by the wise counsels of Sir Guy Carleton, the British Government had there formerly pursued a generous policy now about to bear opportune fruit; for when, at the end of the War of Independence, the loyalist refugees were crowding to the appointed places of rendezvous along the northern frontier, facing the future unprovided, the large sum of L3,000,000 sterling had been granted to recompense their losses, in addition to further help allowed more needy settlers. Under the four years of Colonel Simcoe's sympathetic rule (1791-95), the province had trebled its population, a vigorous immigration policy enticing crowds of wavering loyalists or enterprising speculators from the south. "Where," asks Brock in his proclamation at the opening of the war, "where is to be found, in any part of the world, a growth so rapid in prosperity and wealth as this colony exhibits?"
Yet the inhabitants of Upper Canada, for all their special interest in the British connection, hardly exceeded the Lower Province in the zeal with which they rose to meet the new invasion. Indeed, the United States had entirely miscalculated the strength of this spirit of loyalty, which proved a more potent inspiration than their own vaunted superiority in resources and population: for, on the American side, recruits came slowly forward, and the movement had none of the spontaneity evident among their adversaries. The "Loyal and Patriotic Society," established by Bishop Strachan, then rector of York, undertook to provide for the national wants of Canada created by the war. The sum of L120,000 was raised in Upper Canada and the Maritime Provinces, while the Quebec Legislature contributed no less than L250,000 towards preparations for defence. At the same time, the colonials were zealously enlisting, all men between the ages of sixteen and forty-five being required to serve in the militia; and their strength was further supplemented by more than four thousand regulars, scattered throughout the country.
The Commander-in-Chief of these forces was Sir George Prevost, who had come to Quebec as Governor in succession to Sir James Craig, a change much welcomed by the French Canadians; for although the new Governor was not an able general, he possessed the gentle art of conciliation, a gift of almost equal value at that critical time. As the New England States had been averse to war from the beginning, the adjoining Maritime Provinces of Canada were spared the trial of invasion, and the quarrel was fought out along the southern border of Upper and Lower Canada.
The American Commander, General Dearborn, divided his army of invasion into three parts, intending first to secure a base of operations at the three important points of Detroit, Niagara, and Queenston, and thence to overrun the Upper Province. He was confident that, with the help of the disaffected colonists, these columns would soon be able to converge and march together upon the capital. General Hull, of Michigan, commanded the army of the west; Van Rensselaer led the army of the centre against Niagara and Queenston; while the army of the north, under Dearborn himself, moved from Albany by Lake Champlain towards Ontario.
On the Canadian side, Major-General Brock appeared to realise most clearly the need for decided measures. His commanding presence—he was six feet three inches in height—and his immense muscular strength were joined to an intense and chivalrous spirit which was a deciding influence in uniting the colonists to energetic defence. His practical sense appears in an order directing officers "On every occasion when in the field to dress in conformity to the men, in order to avoid the bad consequence of a conspicuous dress,"—an expedient only lately adopted in more modern warfare, and not until bitter necessity forced it.
In other respects, however, we have outgrown the ideas entertained at that time on the subject of martial appearance, for the writer of the Ridout Letters[44] says, immediately after the battle on Queenston Heights—
"The American prisoners, officers, and men are the most savage-looking fellows I ever saw. To strike a greater terror in their enemies they had allowed their beards on their upper lips to grow. This, however, had no other effect upon us than to raise sensations of disgust."
[Footnote 44: Ten Years of Upper Canada in Peace and War, 1805-1815, being the Ridout Letters, with Annotations, by Matilda Edgar, 1891.]
Brock was a native of the Island of Guernsey, and had served with the armies of Britain in many parts of the world, being also present with Nelson at Copenhagen; but had already served officially in Canada for ten years before the war. He now found himself opposed to the vainglorious Hull; nor was it long before he justified his reputation and won glory for the arms of Canada by capturing the American General at Detroit, together with 2500 troops and thirty-three cannon. Brock's ally on this occasion was the Chief Tecumseh, an Indian of reputed supernatural birth, the natives having been induced to throw in their lot with the British colonists in consequence of the seizure of the old port of Michillimackinac by a small force of regulars and Canadian voyageurs. Following his career of victory, Brock was soon afterwards confronted by the army of the Centre, consisting of six thousand Americans, and engaged in the memorable battle on Queenston Heights. Here, after a long and doubtful fight, the colonial forces were once more successful, though they paid a heavy price for victory in the loss of their wise and brave commander, whose name is endeared to all Canadians, and whose renown grows with succeeding generations.
Meanwhile General Dearborn had undertaken the invasion of Lower Canada with the army of the north, setting out from Albany to attack Montreal by way of Lake Champlain; and to oppose him Colonel De Salaberry, at the head of the French Canadian regiment of Voltigeurs, together with three hundred Indians and a force of rural militia, held an advanced post on the River Lacolle. De Salaberry was distinguished by long experience of foreign service in the British army, having already confronted the Americans, when as a mere boy-subaltern he had covered the evacuation of Matilda. In 1795 he commanded a company of Grenadiers in the expedition to Martinique; and some years later held the post of honour with the Light Brigade at the capture of Flushing. And now at last he brought his experience to the defence of his native province, where his name and fame are not more deeply venerated than in the English provinces.
Reaching the outpost of Lacolle late in November, a strong force of Dearborn's army found the Canadian militia securely intrenched at Blairfindie. But the season was already far advanced; and now successive blows fell in the news of Hull's surrender at Detroit and of the defeat on the Oueenston Heights; so that at last the American commander despaired of success against the spirited defenders of Lower Canada, and decided to abandon the plans against Montreal and to fall back forthwith on Albany. Thus, apart from some successes won by the United States upon the sea, the result of the first campaign was altogether favourable to the Colonies.
The second year of the war put the loyalty of Lower Canada to more crucial tests. Once more the Americans planned and exploited a threefold attack, in the west, centre, and east. In the west, they were repulsed at Frenchtown by General Proctor; but in the centre this loss was more than counter-balanced by the control of Lake Ontario by American vessels, leading to the capture of Fort York,[45] the capital of the Upper Province, and of Fort George, near Niagara, the Canadian generals, Sheaffe and Vincent, being compelled to fall back upon Kingston and Burlington Heights. In following up these successes, however, the Americans were severely checked at Stoney Creek, near Hamilton; while another blow was inflicted upon them by the skilful strategy of Lieutenant Fitzgibbon, who, having been warned of the enemy's advance by the heroic Laura Secord, devised a trap in which, with a handful of Canadians and Indians, he captured a large force under Colonel Boerstler, at Beaver Dams.
[Footnote 45: Now Toronto.]
But the tide of war turned once more against the Canadians, when the British fleet on Lake Erie surrendered to Commodore Perry, and Proctor, the victor of Frenchtown, met with a humiliating defeat at the hands of General Harrison, a future President of the Republic, Chief Tecumseh being among the slain. On the ocean, however, British naval prestige was restored, and among the events of this year was the celebrated duel between the Shannon and the Chesapeake. But while, in the west and centre, the issue was hanging thus in doubt, events more decisive were happening in the east.
The army of the north was sent once more against Montreal and Quebec, this time in two divisions, the first of which was to march northward from Albany, and at Chateauguay to effect a junction with the second division, coming down the St. Lawrence in three hundred boats from Sackett's Harbor. The St. Lawrence army, commanded by General Wilkinson, was intercepted by a force of French Canadians, and sustained a memorable defeat at Chrystler's Farm, near Long Sault Rapids; and the force from Albany was now to meet a similar fate. Late in September this first division, under General Hampton, crossed the Canadian frontier south of the historical outpost of Isle-aux-Noix; but as De Salaberry was once more in command of the advanced line of defence, again holding a strong position at Blairfindie, the enemy, in order to effect the necessary junction with the other division, was compelled to make a long detour by way of the Chateauguay River. In spite of the difficulties of the route, they pressed forward towards the shore of Lake St. Louis. De Salaberry was not dismayed by this new movement, and hastening westward from Blairfindie, he ascended the Chateauguay and took up a strong position on ground intersected by deep ravines. The same tactics which had destroyed Braddock's legion at Monongahela in 1775, were now brought to bear with equal effect upon the Americans themselves. The Canadian general, having destroyed the bridges, erected a triple line of defence, under cover of which he held his force, consisting of only three hundred Canadians, a band of Indians, and a few companies of Highlanders. Early in the morning of October 26th, the American army advancing to the ford, the banks of the river suddenly blazed with musketry fire. For four hours the invaders strove in vain to force the passages of the river in the face of De Salaberry's death-dealing trenches, bravely attempting to outflank the Voltigeurs; but before those unyielding breastworks, numbers and impetuosity were both unavailing; and, at last, after heavy losses, Hampton was constrained to recall his men and retire from the field. This victory, nobly fought and won by the French Canadians, ranks with Carillon in the annals of the Lower Province, and the bullet-riven flags of both engagements are still shown among the trophies of Quebec. The loyalty and courage of the French population had decided the issue of another campaign in favour of Great Britain.
In 1814 the chief events of the war in Canada happened once more about Lake Champlain and Niagara. The invaders were again driven back with loss at Lacolle Mill; but at the end of the season they recovered ground in this quarter by dispersing the British army and the fleet of Lake Champlain at Plattsburg, an engagement which led to the recall of Sir George Prevost, whose bad generalship was blamed for this reverse. Meanwhile, the hottest battle of all the war had been fought in the Upper Province, when the American armies, planning to reach Kingston, and having won some minor successes, were finally scattered at Lundy's Lane, near Niagara Falls, and compelled to fall back upon Lake Erie.
But apart from the fortunes of war, when peace was finally proclaimed by the Treaty of Ghent in 1814, the chief gain to the British cause, so far at least as Canada was concerned, lay not so much in the undoubted advantage held throughout those three trying years, but rather in the sure knowledge that the people of French Canada had remained loyal at a crisis when their disaffection would have turned the scale and lost to England her remaining North American colonies. As De Salaberry wrote to the House of Assembly, in reference to the victory at Chateauguay: "In preventing the enemy from penetrating into the province, one common sentiment animated the whole of my three hundred brave companions, and in which I participated, that of doing our duty, serving our sovereign, and saving our country from the evil of an invasion. The satisfaction arising from our success was to us adequate recompense...."
Temptations to treason had been multiplied; for besides many grievances at home, the French inhabitants were constantly exposed to the emissaries of the United States, who preached specious doctrines of liberty throughout the parishes of Quebec; and it was indeed fortunate that the unique influence of the Catholic clergy, powerfully led by Bishop Plessis, was actively exerted on the side of loyalty, just as at a later time they earned a sincere tribute from Lord Durham, and "a grateful recognition of their eminent services in resisting the arts of the disaffected."
"I know of no parochial clergy in the world," wrote Lord Durham, "whose practice of all the Christian virtues, and zealous discharge of their clerical duties, is more universally admitted, and has been productive of more beneficial consequences.... In the general absence of any permanent institutions of civil government, the Catholic Church has presented almost the only semblance of stability and organisation, and furnished the only effectual support for civilisation and order."
But the loyalty of the French population, which would not permit them to take advantage of the foreign difficulties of their rulers, was soon to be further tried and shaken through a prolonged period of political agitation.
CHAPTER XXI
THE MODERN PERIOD
The history of Quebec in the period succeeding the war of 1812 is a long record of internecine strife, due to certain conditions of the Canada Act of 1791, a measure halting midway between military rule and responsible government. The Act had been well intended, and it was, maybe, a necessary stage in constitutional development; but its immediate result was to organise opposing factions into formal assemblies, each bent on checking the policy of the other, and bringing the government of the country to a deadlock. On one side, the interests of the English were identified with the Legislative Council, a body appointed by the King for life, and owing no responsibility to the suffrages of the people; while, on the other, a French majority ruled in the popular assembly, whose authority, powerful in influence, impotent in administration, controlled neither the executive officers nor financial affairs. Accordingly, the dispute between the Assembly and the English ascendency, or "Family Compact," soon resolved itself into a struggle for and against responsible government.
An insoluble problem was now presented to successive governors—Sherbrooke, Richmond, Dalhousie, Kempt, Aylmer, Gosford. All in turn addressed themselves to the work of pacification, and all retired baffled by that racial egotism which granted favours with airs of patronage, or met continued concessions with ever increased demands. The English were naturally apprehensive of a French dominance, which might prove dangerous to the security of constitutional union; the French Canadians were too keenly alert for signs of tyranny, too suspicious of a power sullied by nepotism and greed of office. Of all the long series of viceroys, perplexed, discomfited, yet honourably bent on doing their duty to both races and to the constitution, one of the wisest was Sir John Cope Sherbrooke, to whom Prevost resigned the reins of government in 1815. He early saw the expediency of liberal measures, and his wise administration led moderate men to believe that a peaceful era of constitutional progress was forward. Unhappily, however, these hopes were dashed by the succession of the Duke of Richmond two years later—a chivalrous but uncompromising advocate of the extreme views of his party in England. The Duke, however, almost atoned for the political narrowness of his administration by the stimulus he brought to the social life of the capital and the sincerity of his belief that by personal influence he could harmonise contending factions. Under his magnificent patronage Chateau St. Louis became once more the scene of lavish hospitality. Dinners, dances, and theatricals were the order of the day; and fashionable officers, issuing from their quarters in the citadel, found distractions in St. Louis Street and the Grande Allee, due compensation for all they had left at home. For the exiled sportsman, too, there was the racecourse on the Plains of Abraham, riding to the hounds on the uplands of Lorette, snipe at Sillery Cove, and ducks on the St. Charles Flats.
With pomp and circumstance the Duke of Richmond made progress through his dominions, everywhere speaking, entertaining, endeavouring to conciliate. He travelled up the St. Lawrence by steamer and thence by canoes along the shore of Lake Ontario to Toronto and Niagara. Next, he undertook the more arduous journey in the course of which he was to meet a tragic end.
The little settlement of Richmond, named after the Governor himself, lay thirty miles from Perth, at some distance west from the Ottawa river. Here, following the trail through the woods, the Duke had penetrated in search of adventure. That night he and his small staff stayed at the village inn, and the next day they started in canoes on their way down to the junction with the Rideau river. Hardly had they commenced their journey, however, when the Duke's actions began to excite alarm. The attendants sought in vain to restrain his violence, and the boats drawing in to shore the party landed. Breaking loose from all control, the Duke plunged into the woods, and was found soon afterwards lying exhausted in a fit of hydrophobia, the result of a bite by a tame fox two months before at Sorel. He died the same night; and the body was presently carried back to Quebec, where for two days it lay in state at the Chateau. An impressive service was held in the English cathedral, and the body of one who had been Canada's most splendid governor since the days of De Tracy and Frontenac, was deposited in the cathedral vault. Minute guns boomed forth from the citadel, and Quebec was plunged from gaiety into mourning.
The social brilliance of the Duke of Richmond's rule, however, could not blind the popular party to the inadequacy of the policy for which he stood; and discontent soon began to take a bitter and dangerous form. The concessions grudgingly doled out by Dalhousie and Kempt, succeeding governors, did not touch the main issue of the question, and even when Lord Aylmer removed the last serious grievance, only withholding from the Assembly the right to vote upon the salaries of civil officers, it might have seemed that there was no further ground for agitation. But the essential grievance lay not so much in material disabilities as in the limitation of the abstract right to self-government; and Joseph Papineau, the eloquent and ardent leader of the movement, summed up his party's political creed in the new watchword—La nation Canadienne. Parry and thrust, the fight grew faster, and the temper of the combatants became heated. Papineau was elected to the speakership of the Assembly, a challenge the Governor answered by prorogation. Next, the Progressives demanded an elective council, and the Government replied that such a step would mean abandoning the province wholly to the French, who were yet unprepared to wield complete popular power, and would moreover endanger the interests of the English minority. The demand was formally rejected by Lord John Russell on the return of Lord Gosford's commission in 1835.
The fiery eloquence of Papineau now led the more ardent of his followers to the point of rebellion; and for a time it seemed as if Lower Canada would throw away the name for steadfast loyalty she had earned through so many years. The rebellion of 1837, however, met with no serious support throughout the Province of Canada; and, except as an original centre of agitation, Quebec did not figure in it at all. At the same time defensive measures were not omitted, the leading citizens, both French and English, forming themselves into a regiment at the disposal of the Governor-General. Parliament House was set apart for a drill-hall and guard-house, and garrison duty was performed here during the whole of an anxious winter. Montreal, however, suffered violence at the hands of a misguided mob; and in the country parishes the habitants were harangued after Mass on Sunday by deputies of the Fils de Liberte. Yet, while they punctuated these fervent addresses with shouts of "Vive Papineau" and "Point de despotisme!" they neither knew nor cared what the struggle for responsible government really meant. In the parishes along the Richelieu, indeed, Papineau and his followers made a greater commotion; but, except in Bellechasse and L'Islet, the contented habitants of the St. Lawrence forgot the seditious procession almost as soon as it passed. These ingenuous enfants du sol had no political aspirations beyond the preservation of their religion, their language, and their ancient customs; and, in spite of the bitter prophecies of peripatetic agitators, they refused to believe that their peace and comfort and quiet life were in any real danger from English oppression. The Government easily coped with this factitious rising, which nowhere reached the importance of an organised revolt. But while the military problem was soon solved, important political results followed hard upon such palpable tokens of discontent. English ministers now turned most serious attention to the constitutional defects of the colony, and decided to make a full and authoritative inquiry. Gosford's successor, Sir John Colborne, was now recalled; and on April 24th, 1838, the Earl of Durham sailed for Canada as High Commissioner, and he proved to be the keenest statesman, save Frontenac, who had figured in the history of the country.
Lord Durham was at this time forty-six years of age, and into that comparatively short life he had already crowded a remarkable political record. At twenty-one he entered the House of Commons as member for the county of Durham, at once identifying himself with the party of parliamentary reform—indeed, he is even credited with the drafting of the first Reform Bill. An experience of five years in the cabinet with Grey and Palmerston, and of two years as ambassador at St. Petersburg, marked him out as a politician and diplomatist of the first rank. A certain stateliness and formality of character appears, however, to have made him many enemies in England, and they did not scruple to gratify their dislike or jealousy during his mission to Canada. Their enmity is echoed in a trivial paragraph in The Times, describing an incident which happened on the outward journey:—
"A letter from Portsmouth states that on the evening of Lord Durham's arrival in Portsmouth, his lordship and family dined at one table and his staff at another, in the same room and at the same hour. We suppose we shall soon hear of Lord Durham's reviving the old custom of arranging his guests above and below the salt-cellar."[46]
On the 27th of May, 1838, H. M. S. Hastings and a squadron of gunboats and frigates dropped anchor in the harbour of Quebec. Flags were flying gaily from tower and bastion to welcome the High Commissioner, who was attended ashore by a retinue eclipsing in brilliance even that of the Duke of Richmond, and further guarded by two cavalry regiments, on their way to reinforce the regular forces in the country. As such a suite could not be accommodated in the old Chateau, Parliament House was fitted up as a residence; and here Lord Durham established himself with a magnificence suitable to a monarch, but unusual in a viceroy of Quebec. On his daily drives he was accompanied by three or four equerries in scarlet and gold, who galloped before his carriage to clear the road; and at his frequent entertainments guests received only the most stately hospitality. It is not unnatural that this large ceremony in a new and poor country impaired his influence, and at first increased the difficulties of his mission.
[Footnote 46: The Times, 3rd May, 1838.]
The situation was indeed one requiring the wisdom of a ripe diplomatist. Previous to the rebellion of 1837, government had become impossible owing to the antagonism of the racial elements existing together in the province; and on Lord Durham's arrival he found the constitution of the Colony suspended, supreme power being lodged in his own person as High Commissioner, whose slightest indiscretion might lose the vast territory to the Crown. That he was keenly alive to the delicacy of his task is shown by the chivalrous, almost romantic generosity with which he met the natural prejudices of the French, and tolerated their utmost bitterness against his own compatriots; and although this imaginative and liberal spirit met with disapproval from the ruling powers in England, and was finally the cause of his withdrawal, his conciliatory policy was amply justified by the event. Indeed, it is certain that the insular assurance—by no means absent from subsequent public life in England—which prompted Lord Gosford, the previous Governor, to declare that the ulterior object of the French Canadian politicians was "the separation of this country from England, and the establishment of a republican form of government," and who met the imaginary demand with a sharp and scornful negative, would soon have brought Canada to the verge of a revolutionary war.
The proclamation published immediately on Lord Durham's arrival in Canada gave promise of fair dealing to all parties. "I invite from you," he assures them, "the most free, unreserved communications. I beg you to consider me as a friend and arbitrator, ready at all times to listen to your wishes, complaints, and grievances. If you, on your side, will abjure all party and sectarian animosities, and unite with me in the blessed work of peace and harmony, I feel assured that I can lay the foundations of such a system of government as will protect the rights and interests of all classes....
"In one province the most deplorable events have rendered the suspension of its representative constitution, unhappily, a matter of necessity; and the supreme power has devolved upon me. The great responsibility which is thereby imposed on me, and the arduous nature of the functions which I have to discharge, naturally make me most anxious to hasten the arrival of that period when the executive power shall again be surrounded by all the constitutional checks of free, liberal, and British institutions."[47]
The problem to be solved is stated and partly solved in the famous report on the affairs of Canada subsequently published by the High Commissioner—perhaps the most remarkable document in British colonial history. It showed the keenest insight into knotted complications, and at the same time it made practical and far-seeing suggestions, which reduced the problem to its simplest terms, and prepared the way for a legislative union upon a sovereign scale, and with a provincial autonomy having the happiest results.
"I expected," he declared, "to find a contest between a government and a people; I found two nations warring in the bosom of a single state."
[Footnote 47: Quebec Gazette, 29th May, 1838.]
Nor could any lasting reform be accomplished unless the hostile divisions of Lower Canada were first reconciled. As far as the French population were concerned, he found an explanation of their antagonism, not so much in their unjust exclusion from political power, as in the grudging and churlish patronage with which privileges were one by one conceded; while, on the other hand, the Loyalists were intolerant to a degree, regarding every favour shown to their rivals as a slight put upon themselves, and professing principles which were thus summed up by one of their leaders: "Lower Canada must be English at the expense, if necessary, of not being British." Elsewhere Lord Durham confesses the overbearing character of Anglo-Saxon manners, especially offensive to a proud and sensitive people, who showed their resentment, not by active reprisal, but by a strange and silent reserve. The same confession might still be made concerning a section of English-speaking Canadians, who seem to consider it a personal grievance that French Canadians should speak the French language. Lord Durham would probably have reminded them that conquest does not mean that birthright, language, and custom, spirit and racial pride, are spoils and confiscations of the conqueror.
As for the grievances he came to remedy, Lord Durham dwells upon the circumstances which practically excluded French Canadians from political power, leaving all positions of trust and profit in the hands of the English minority; for although they numbered only one in four of the inhabitants, this privileged class claimed both political and social supremacy as though by inherent right. Owing no responsibility whatever to the legislature, they could afford to smile at the protestations of that superfluous body, and pursue their own wilful course.
Coming to practical counsel, the High Commissioner pointed out that there was no need for any change in the principles of government, or for any new constitutional theory to remedy the disordered state. The remedy already lay in the British constitution, whose principles, if consistently followed, would give a sound and efficient system of representative government. His first suggestion was the frank concession of a responsible executive. All the officers of state, with the single exception of the Governor and his secretary, should be made directly answerable to the representatives of the people; these officers, moreover, should be such as the people approved, and should therefore be appointed by the Assembly. He further advised that the Governor should be forbidden to employ the resources of the British Constitution in any quarrel between himself and the Legislature, resorting to imperial intervention only when imperial interests were at stake.
His second recommendation was to bring the Upper and Lower Provinces together by a legislative union. He met the threatened danger of a disaffected people endowed with political power by an appeal to arithmetic: "If the population of Upper Canada is rightly estimated at 400,000, the English inhabitants of Lower Canada at 150,000, and the French at 450,000, the union of the two provinces would not only give a clear English majority, but one which would be increased every year by the influence of English emigration....I certainly shall not like," he continues, "to subject the French Canadians to the rule of the identical English minority with which they have so long been contending; but from a majority emanating from so much more extended a source, I do not think that they would have any oppression or injustice to fear."
This plea for unity among all the elements of political life in Canada, premature as it was, marked, perhaps, the limitation of Lord Durham's scheme. But although he was mistaken in the degree of allowance to be made for the distinct individuality of the French province—a defect afterwards made good on Dominion Day—the work he did, the counsel he gave, made an epoch in the progress of Canadian nationality, and prepared the ground for the completer measures of the future.
The treatment of rebels was the most critical question with which Lord Durham had to deal, and it was ultimately the cause of his withdrawal, so timid and unchivalrous was the Government of the day in the face of political and journalistic criticism. While granting a general amnesty to the rank and file of the offenders, the High Commissioner offended constitutional pedants by deporting eight of the leading revolutionists without trial to Bermuda; and although this measure was taken advisedly, with the purpose, as it turned out, of saving the prisoners from the heavier penalty they would certainly have received from a regular court, the Viceroy's numerous enemies did not scruple to use this technical omission as a basis for attacks upon his policy. Moreover, when he was bitterly denounced in the House of Lords by Brougham and Lyndhurst, the ministry of Melbourne offered but a feeble defence of their representative; with the result that Durham, on hearing of this desertion by the Cabinet which had appointed him, sent in his resignation.
The departure of the High Commissioner was deeply regretted by those who were able to appreciate the wisdom and sincerity of his administration, though indeed it was otherwise regarded by the leaders of that social clique in Quebec whose family compact he had resolutely condemned. Yet he had builded better than England or Canada or himself then knew, and his tireless energy and imagination left behind him the material for a sound structure. Besides the masterly report of his commission, a visible, if less important, monument to his beneficent work for Canada still stands in the magnificent terrace at Quebec, known to-day under an improved form and by another name, yet in a larger measure his conception and his achievement. He sailed from Quebec on the 1st of November, 1838, the ceremony of his departure being hardly less imposing than that marking his arrival five months before. Troops lined the streets from the Governor's residence to the Queen's wharf, the bands playing "Auld Lang Syne" to express the regret felt at parting from a sincere and strong administrator, thus sacrificed to his enemies by a vacillating Ministry. At this last evidence of sympathy and appreciation the hauteur of the Viceroy relaxed, and, as he passed on board the frigate Inconstant homeward bound—as he himself records—his heart went out towards the people of Canada, by whom, at least, his motives were understood and honoured; and this feeling of gratitude to perhaps the most simple and sincere of all British peoples remained with him to the end.
By an act brought forward by Lord John Russell, the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada were formally united, and the first Parliament of the two Canadas was opened in the city of Kingston in June, 1841. This experiment partly meeting the needs of the country, and satisfying that high civic and national sense which make Britishers confident that they can govern themselves, opened up the way for that freer union which has since 1867 made a nation of a series of scattered territories.
The legislative union of the Upper and Lower Provinces had not been concluded without sharp opposition; for the citizens of Quebec foresaw that her influence must inevitably wane under the new conditions, and they set themselves strongly to defeat the measure. However, the ancient city lay too far east to remain the capital of the expanding territories, and with an almost exclusively French population it could not remain the political pivot of a British dependency. Opposition was overborne in due time, and the Act of Union shifted the national centre of gravity farther west.
Canada was now embarked upon a course of self-government, and was never again to feel the hand or obey the voice of England in her internal politics. So much the union had accomplished. The problems of the succeeding period concerned Canada alone, and she was now free to seek a better way to her national organisation. A responsible legislature had been conceded, yet with defects in constitution bearing hardly upon the character and traditions of the French element. Thus, although the population of the Lower Province numbered two hundred thousand more than that of her partner, the two provinces were allowed an equal number of representatives in the new house; the French language was cast aside; and the united assembly was saddled with the heavy debts previously contracted by the western province. It was not long before an agitation was started to readjust the relations between Upper and Lower Canada, and free the French from conditions which pressed heavily upon their material interests and racial sentiment. The new problem was, to find a way by which the principle of self-government recently conceded to Canada as a whole might be reconciled with the free action and growth of its component provinces; and for twenty-five years this question engaged the politicians of the country.
Time, however, brought a decided change in the attitude of the two opposing sections of the legislature, as one by one the grievances of the French were removed. In 1848 the restrictions placed upon the use of their language in the Parliament were done away; and by the surprising advance of the West, the hardship of disproportionate representation was taken over by Upper Canada. Twenty years after the Union, the Western Province had already a population greater by three hundred thousand than that of her rival. In the later period of the discussion, therefore, the position of parties was reversed, the French defending the existing order, the Upper Province calling out for reconstruction. But statesmen on both sides now began to aim at larger and more patriotic ends than the exclusive advantage of their own province; and in 1860 a scheme for a federal government was proposed by George Brown, a Liberal statesman, intended to bring the interests of the provinces into line with those of the country at large. The movement was premature; but four years later a convention met at Quebec to discuss the union of all the provinces of British North America, the chairman being Etienne Paschal Tache, who died before the work was consummated. There met the fathers of Confederation, John A. Macdonald, chief of them all—George Brown, George Etienne Cartier, Alexander Galt, Thomas D'Arcy M'Gee, William M'Dougall, Alexander Campbell, Hector Langevin, James Cockburn—together with Charles Tupper and other representatives of the Maritime Provinces. It was agreed that "the system of government best adapted under existing circumstances to protect the diversified interests of the several provinces, and secure harmony and permanency in the working of the Union, would be a general government charged with matters of common interest to the whole country; and local government for each of the Canadas, and for all the Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, charged with the control of local matters in their respective sections."
These proposals were well received in London, and in 1866 the Canadian Legislature met for the last time under the old conditions. The British North America Act became law in March of the following year, the Earl of Carnarvon being Colonial Secretary; and on the 1st of July the new Dominion, under command of John A. Macdonald, was launched by Governor-General Viscount Monk on that prosperous course which still conducts the premier colony of England into an ever brighter future.
Valiant in asserting her predominance there was, however, a siege against which the fortress and bastions of Quebec were of no avail. Left behind in the march of progress, commercial and political, her prestige as a centre of national influence slowly declined, and Montreal and Toronto took over that pre-eminence which had been hers for centuries. Yet nothing could rob the city of her maternal grandeur. She saw no longer in the West the wild prospects and the fertile wastes, but a sturdy nation settling down to its destiny, and spreading out over half a continent; so realising her ancient prophecy, so fulfilling her laborious hopes, the reward of zealous toil and martyrdom. Colbert's dream was now come true, save for the flag which floated over the happy homesteads in the peaceful land. These homesteads of the West, in the region of the great lakes, were indeed to be centres of growth and progress and vast wealth; yet the venerable fortress on the tidal water ever was, and still remains, the noblest city of the American continent. There still works the antique spirit which cherishes culture and piety and domestic virtue as the crown of a nation's deeds and worth. There still the influence of a faithful priesthood, and a university in some respects more distinguished than any on the American continent, keep burning those fires of high tradition and a noble history which light the way to national grace of life, if not to a sensational prosperity. Apart from the hot winds of politics—civic, provincial, and national—which blow across the temperate plains of their daily existence, the people of the city and the province live as simply, and with as little greedy ambition as they did a hundred years ago.
The rumble of the caleches and the jingling of the carrioles in the old streets are now pierced by the strident clang of the street-car; and the electric light sharpens garishly the hard outlines of the stone mansions which sheltered Laval, Montcalm, and Murray; but modern industry and municipal emulation sink away into the larger picture of fortress life, of religious zeal, of Gallic mode, of changeless natural beauty. No ruined castles now crown the heights, but the grim walls still tell of
"Old, far-off, unhappy things, And battles long ago."
The temper of the people is true. Song and sentiment are much with them, and in the woods and in the streams—down by St. Roch and up by Ville Marie—chansons of two hundred years ago mark the strokes of labour as of the evening hour when the professional village story-teller cries "cric-crac" and begins his tale of the loup-garou, or rouses the spirit of a pure patriotism by a crude epic of some valiant atavar; when the parish fiddler brings them to their feet with shining eyes by the strains of O Carillon. They are not less respectful to the British flag, nor less faithful in allegiance because they love that language and that land of their memories which they know full well is not the Republican France of to-day when their Church suffers at the hands of the State. If ever the genius of the Dominion is to take a high place in the fane of Art, the soul and impulse of the best achievement will come from Old Quebec, which has produced a sculptor of merit, Hebert; a renowned singer, Albani; a poet crowned by the French Academy, Louis Frechette; and has given to the public life of the country a distinction, an intellectual power, and an illuminating statesmanship in the persons of Etienne Tache, Sir George Cartier, and Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Enlarged understanding between the two peoples of the country will produce a national life marked by courage, energy, integrity, and imagination. Though Quebec has ceased to be an administrative centre of the nation, the influence of the people of her province grows no less, but is woven more and more into the web of the general progress. The Empire will do well to set an enduring value on that New France so hardly won from a great people, and English Canada will reap rich reward for every compromise of racial pride made in the interests of peace, equality, and justice.
APPENDIX I
GOVERNORS OF CANADA
Early Viceroys and Lieutenant-Generals.
Sieur de Roberval, 1540.
Marquis de la Roche, 1598.
Charles de Bourbon, Comte de Soissons, 1612 (Champlain Governor).
Henri de Bourbon, Prince de Conde, 1612.
Duc de Montmorency, 1619.
Henri de Levis, Duc de Vantadour, 1625.
Governors under the Company of One Hundred Associates.
Samuel de Champlain, 1633.
M. Bras-de-fer de Chastefort, 1635.
M. de Montmagny, 1636.
M. d'Ailleboust, 1648.
M. Jean de Lauson, 1651.
M. Charles de Lauson, 1656.
M. d'Ailleboust, 1657.
Viscomte d'Argenson, 1658.
Baron d'Avaugour, 1661.
Governors-General under Royal Government.
M. de Mezy, 1663.
Seigneur de Courcelles, 1665. (Marquis de Tracy, Viceroy, 1665-67.)
Count Frontenac, 1672.
M. de la Barre, 1682.
M. de Denonville, 1685.
Count Frontenac, 1689.
M. de Callieres, 1699.
Marquis de Vaudreuil, 1703.
Marquis de Beauharnois, 1726.
Count de Galissoniere, 1747.
Marquis de la Jonquiere, 1749.
Marquis du Quesne, 1752.
Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnac, 1755.
Governors of the Province of Quebec.
Gen. Sir Jeffrey Amherst, 1756.
Gen. James Murray, 1763.
Gen. Sir Guy Carleton, 1768 (Lieutenant-Governor from 1766).
Gen. Sir Frederick Haldimand, 1778. (Henry Hamilton and Col. Henry Hope Lieutenant-Governors, 1785-87.)
Lord Dorchester (Sir Guy Carleton), Governor-General of British North America, 1787.
Governors-General during the Fifty Years when Canada was divided.
Lord Dorchester, 1791.
Gen. Robert Prescott, 1797-1805 (Lieutenant-Governor, 1796).
Sir James Craig, 1807.
Sir George Prevost, 1811.
Sir John Cope Sherbrooke, 1816.
Duke of Richmond, 1818. (Hon. James Monck and Gen. Sir Peregrine Maitland administrators, 1819-20.)
Earl of Dalhousie, 1820.
Sir James Kempt, 1828.
Lord Aylmer, 1830.
Lord Gosford, 1835.
Sir John Colborne, 1838.
Lord Durham, 1838.
Hon. C. Poulett Thompson (afterwards Lord Sydenham), 1839.
Governors-General from the Union of the Canadas until Confederation.
Lord Sydenham (C. P. Thompson), 1841.
Sir Charles Bagot, 1842.
Lord Metcalfe, 1843.
Earl Cathcart, 1846.
Earl of Elgin, 1847.
Sir Edmund Bond Head, 1854.
Viscount Monk, 1861-67.
Governors-General of the Dominion.
Viscount Monk, 1867.
Lord Lisgar (Sir John Young), 1868.
Earl Dufferin, 1872.
Marquis of Lorne, 1878.
Marquis of Lansdowne, 1883.
Earl of Derby (Lord Stanley of Preston), 1888.
Earl of Aberdeen, 1893.
Earl of Minto, 1898.
APPENDIX II
LEADERS AND PREMIERS AFTER THE UNION OF 1841
Hon. Robert Baldwin and Louis H. Lafontaine, 1841.
Sir Dominick Daly, 1843.
Hon. W. H. Draper, 1844.
Hon. H. Sherwood, 1847.
Robert Baldwin and Hon. Louis H. Lafontaine, 1848.
Sir Francis Hincks, and Hon. A. N. Morin, 1851.
Sir Allan M'Nab and Sir E. P. Tache, 1855.
Sir John A. Macdonald, 1856.
Hon. George Brown, 1858.
Sir George E. Cartier and Sir John A. Macdonald, 1858.
Hon. John Sandfield Macdonald and Hon. Antoine A. Dorion, 1861.
Sir E. P. Tache, 1864.
Sir N. Belleau, 1865.
Prime Ministers since Confederation, 1867.
Sir John A. Macdonald, 1867-73.
Hon. Alexander Mackenzie, 1873-78.
Rt. Hon. Sir John A. Macdonald, 1878-91.
Sir J. J. C. Abbott, 1891-92.
Rt. Hon. Sir J. S. D. Thompson, 1892-94.
Sir Mackenzie Bowell, 1894-96.
Sir Charles Tupper, Bart., 1896 (April-July).
Rt. Hon. Sir Wilfrid Laurier, 1896.
APPENDIX III
LISTE DES GOUVERNEMENTS DE LA PROVINCE DE QUEBEC DEPUIS L'ETABLISSEMENT DE LA CONFEDERATION 1867
Ministere Chauveau 1867
Ministere Ouimet 1873
Ministere de Boucherville 1874
Ministere Joly 1878
Ministere Chapleau 1879
Ministere Mousseau 1882
Ministere Ross 1884
Ministere Taillon 1887
Ministere Mercier 1887
Ministere de Boucherville 1891
Ministere Taillon 1892
Ministere Flynn 1896
Ministere Marchand 1897
Ministere Parent 1900
INDEX
Abercrombie, General, 248, 253, 256
Abraham, Heights of, origin of name, 396
Acadians, expulsion of, 203
Adet, M., 384
Aiguillon, Duchesse d', 52
Ailleboust, D', 238
Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of, 191
Albanel, Pere, 396
Albemarle, Duke of, 145
American Revolution, 342 sqq., 428
Amherst, General, 253, 266, 273, 295, 307, 313, 317, 324
Andaraque, attack on, 93
Andrews, Miss, 370
Angelique des Meloises, 199, 227, 380
Annapolis, so named, 178
Anne of Austria, 166, 225
Anse du Foulon, 292, 317
Anson, Admiral, 191
Anstruther's Regiment, 295, 317
Anville, Duc d', 190
Argenson, D', Governor, 166 sqq.
Arlington, Lord, 400
Arnold, Benedict, 344 sqq.
Arnoux, the surgeon, 300
Austrian Succession, 187
Autray, D', on the Mississippi, 128
Avaugour, Baron d', 85, 167
Aylmer, Lord, 301, 308, 444, 447
Baffin, the explorer, 394
Bailey, Governor, 404 sqq.
Beauharnois, Marquis de, 162 n., 184
Beaujeu, Captain, 131, 215
Beaumanoir, 199
Beaver Company, 395
Beaver Dams, Battle of, 434
Belleisle, M. de, Minister of War, 265
Bellona, statue of, 320
Berryer, French Colonial Minister, 262
Bienville, Celoron de, 192
Bigot, Francois, 195 sqq., 244, 261, 303, 336, 337, 380
Bizard, sent to Montreal, 119
Black, the informer, 389
Blasphemy, law against, 102
Boerstler, Colonel, 434
Bois brules, 419
Bonne, M. de, 270
Boscawen, Admiral, 212, 253
Boucher, Pierre, 86
Bougainville, General de, 196, 246, 250, 262, 270, 279, 283, 302 sqq., 307, 310 sqq.
Bourdon, Jean, 395
Bourlamaque, General, 246, 266, 289
Braddock, Major-General, 211 sqq., 436
Bradstreet, Colonel, 260
Bragg's regiment, 295, 317
Breakneck Stairs, 43
Brebeuf, Pere, Jean de, 34, 41, 67 sqq., 80 sqq.
Bressani, Pere, 81
Bridgar, Governor, 406
British North America Act, 468
Brock, Major-General Sir Isaac, 426, 431 sqq.
Brougham, Lord, 462
Brown, George, 466
Brule, Etienne, 32
Brunswicker Regiment, 366
Burke, Edmund, 374
Burton, Colonel, 295, 298, 317
Buttes-a-Neveu, 105
Cabot, the brothers, 3, 4
Cadet, 196, 335, 336
Caen, Emery de, 34, 39, 40
Cahiague, the Huron capital, 32
Callieres, M. de, 163 sqq., 175
Cambrai, Peace of, 5
Cameron, Duncan, 418
Campbell, Alexander, 467
Campbell, Donald, 342
Campbell, Duncan, 257
Campbell's Highlanders, 257
Canada, Act of, 1791, 443
Canada, population in 1700, 179
Canada, Upper, 374, 427
Carignan-Salieres, regiment of, 89 sqq., 92, 94, 96, 100, 161, 226, 380
Carillon, 249, 255 sqq.
Carion, Lieutenant, 119
Carleton, Sir Guy. See Dorchester, Lord
Carnarvon, Earl of, 468
Carnival, 172
Carroll, Charles, 364
Cartier, George Etienne, 466
Cartier, Jacques, life and voyages of, 5 sqq.
"Castle Dangerous," 161
Cataraqui, or Fort Frontenac, now Kingston, Ont., 124, 373
Censitaires, 94
Chabanel, Pere, 82
Chabot, Philippe de Brion, 5, 12
Champigny, Intendant, 142
Champlain, Samuel de, life and discoveries of, 19 sqq., 238
Champlain's Chapel, 43
"Chariot, the," 314
Charles I., execution of, 104
Charles II., 406
Charles V., The Emperor, 5, 12
Charlesburg-Royal, 14, 16
Charlevoix describes Quebec, 106
Chase, Samuel, 364
Chastes, Sieur de, 20, 45
Chateau Bigot, 199
Chateauguay River, battle of, 436
Chatham, William Pitt, Earl of, 252 sqq.
Chaumont, Pere, 76
Cheeseman, Captain, 356
Chesapeake and Shannon, 435
Chien d'Or, 201
Chrystler's Farm, battle of, 436
Church, and the French Revolution, 384
Church, influence of, 45, 54, 66 sqq., 85, 238 sqq.
Church, the first in New France, 30
Clarence, Prince William Henry, Duke of, 368
Clergy, influence of, 441
Clive, General Robert, 262
"Clive of Quebec, the," 110
Cockburn, James, 467
Colbert, Jean Baptiste, 86, 96, 117, 120, 168, 169, 468
Colborne, Sir John, 451
Colombo, Francisco, 20
Colonisation, French and English contrasted, 39, 45, 46, 48, 100
Columbus, Christopher, 3, 4
Colville, Admiral, Lord, 313, 322
Compagnie des cents Associes. See Hundred Associates, Company of One
Compagnie du Nord, 405
Conde, Prince de, 29
Confederation, 466 sqq.
Conseil Superieur, 239
Constitutional Act, 375 sqq.
Cook, Captain James, at Quebec, 271
Copernicus, 3
Corlaer, or Schenectady, 91, 144
Cortes, Hernando, 5
Coudouagny, Indian god, 10
Couillards, family of, 38
Courcelles, Daniel de Remy, Sieur de, 88, 110
Coureurs de bois, 33, 102, 119, 143, 171, 408, 417
Coureurs de cote, 327
Cradock, Richard, 407
Craig, Sir James, 422 sqq.
Criminal law, 102
Crown Point, 212
Daine, Mayor of Quebec, 304
Dalhousie, Earl of, 444, 447 Obelisk to Wolfe and Montcalm, 308
Dalling, Major, 317
Daniel, Pere, 41, 49, 69 sqq., 79 sqq.
Daulac, or Dollard, Adam, 60
Davis, the explorer, 394
Davison, Alexander, 368
Davost, Pere, 41, 70 sqq.
Dearborn, General, 431, 433
Declaration of Rights (1689), 404
Denis of Honfleur, 4
Denonville, 140
Deschenaux, 196
Des Ormeaux, Sieur. See Daulac
Dieskau, 212
Dinwiddie, Governor, 206
Dolbeau, Father, 31
Dollard. See Daulac
Dominion, formation of the, 468
Dongan, Governor of New York, 140
Donnacona, Indian chief, 8, 10
Dorchester, Lord (Sir Guy Carleton) 288, 341, 343, 373, 385, 428
Drucour, Chevalier de, 253
Duchambon, 190
Duchesneau, Intendant, 134, 168, 405
Dufferin Terrace, 308
Du Lhut, discoveries of, 138, 410, 414
Du Milliere, General, 386
Dunkirk of America, i.e. Louisbourg, 255
Du Peron, Pere, 76
Dupuy, Paul, sentence on, 104
Duquesne, Marquis, 206
Durantal, Indian chief, 33
Durham, Earl of, 423, 441, 451 sqq.
Dussault, Marie Anne, 391 sqq.
Duvert, Dr., 388
Du Vivier, attacks Annapolis, 187
Earthquake, in Quebec, 136
"Echom," Indian name for Brebeuf, 70
Edgar, Matilda, Ridout Letters, 431
Emigration from France to Canada, 96
Esquimaux, 32
Estates General, 116
Estournelle, Admiral D', 191
Exploration, French and English, 411
"Family Compact," 444, 462
Federation, 466 sqq.
Fenelon, Abbe Salignac de, 119
Feudal system, imported into New
France, 94
"Fils de Liberte," 450
Fire in Quebec, 135
Fitzgibbon, Lieutenant, 434
"Five Nations." See Indians, Iroquois
Fontaine, Mlle. Marguerite, 164
Forbes, General, 260
Fort Charles, 400
Fort Crevecoeur, 125 sqq.
"Fort des Sauvages," 83
Fort Duquesne, 185, 210, 260
Fort Necessity, 211
Fort William, 419
Fort William Henry, 213, 217, 250
Fort York, now Toronto, 434
Forts built by the French, 185
Fox, Charles James, 375
Francis, of Angouleme, 5
Francis I., 45
Franciscans, arrival at Quebec, 30
Franklin, Benjamin, 338, 364
Fraser, Captain Malcolm, 352
Fraser, Colonel, 317
Fraser's Highlanders, 295
Frederick the Great, 246, 252, 262
Freemasons' Hall, 368
French exploration, character of, 19
French Revolution, 383
Friponne, La, 109, 201
Frobisher, 394
Frontenac, Count, 110 sqq., 134, 143 sqq., 168 sqq., 175, 380, 404
Froude, J. A., 3
Fur trade, 395 sqq.
Gage, General, 326
Gallows Hill, 390
Gait, Alexander, 466
Gamache, Marquis de, 49
Garneau, Dr., 389
Garnier, Pere, 74, 82
Gaspe, De, Les Anciens Canadiens, 234, 332, 387
Genet, French Ambassador to U. S., 383
Gensing root, 183
George II., death of, 328
George III., Court of, 380
Ghent, Treaty of, 440
Gillam, Captain, 400
Glandelet, Sieur, 172
Gosford, Lord, 444, 449, 454
Goupil, a Jesuit, 78
Governors of Canada, 473
Grant, Cuthbert, 418
Gray's Elegy, 292
Grey, Earl, 452
Groseilliers, Medard Chouart, called, 396 sqq.
Guimont, Louis, 224
Habitants, described, 218 sqq.
Habitation, built by Champlain, 24
Haldimand, Governor, 366, 367
Haldimand House, 380
Halifax, founding of, 203
Hamilton, Treasurer, 383
Hampton, General, 436, 439
Hanoverian regiments, 366
Hanseatic League, 2
Harrison, President, U.S.A., 435
Hart, John, sentence on, 391
Haverhill, destruction of, 177
Haviland, General, 324
Hazen, Moses, 342
Hazen's Rangers, 317
Hearne, Samuel, 395, 417
Hebert, family of, 38
Hebert, Louis, 39, 47, 55
Hennepin, Pere, 125
Henrietta Maria, Queen, 39
Henry, John Joseph, Siege of Quebec, 352
Henry IV., of France, 20
Hessian regiment, 366
Highlanders, 256 sqq., 295, 297, 311, 317, 417
Hill, Brigadier John, 181
Hochelaga, the site of Montreal, discovery of, 10
Holbourne, Admiral, 249
Holmes, Admiral, 283, 284, 323
Hospital General, 282
Houses of Quebec in 1750, 235 sqq.
Howe, General Lord, 253, 256
Hudson, the explorer, 394
Hudson's Bay Company, 395 sqq.
Huguenots excluded from France, 35
Hull, General, 432
Hundred Associates, Company of One, 35, 48, 87, 395
Iberville, Sieur d', 155, 408, 410
Ignatius Loyola, Saint, motto of, 74
Ihonatiria, village of, 70, 77
Indian fair at Quebec, 40
Indians, 6, 8, 10, 39, 44 sqq., 175 sqq., 211, 252, 412 Abenakis, 140, 144 Algonquins, 28, 39, 44 Assiniboins, 138 Foxes, 139 Hurons, 28, 32, 44 sqq., 68 sqq., 80, 139 Iroquois, 21, 28, 32, 44, 91 sqq., 139, 160, 175 Mohawks, 77, 78, 212 Montagnais, 28, 31 Ojibwas, 139 Oneidas, 171 Onondagas, 171 Ottawas, 139 Pottawattamies, 139 Senecas, 80, 139 Sioux, 138 Tobaccos, 82
Intendant's Palace, 106, 349
Inverawe Castle, 257
Isabella of Castile, 3
Italy, influence of, in the Middle Ages, 2
James II., American estates, 140 dethroned, 142
James Stuart, the Chevalier, 176
Jansenists and Jesuits, 167
Jaquin, Nicholas, 201
Jay, John, 384
Jefferson, Thomas, 3rd President, U.S.A., 383
Jervis, Captain, Wolfe's companion, 290
Jesuit Missions, 49 sqq., 121
Jesuit Relations, 135, 395
Jesuits, 34, 56 sqq., 118
Jesuits and Jansenists, 167
Jogues, Isaac, 77
Johnson, Col. William, 212, 217
Johnstone, Chevalier, 314
Joliet, Pere Louis, 121 sqq.
Joseph, in Egypt, 200
Jumonville, Captain, 210
Kempt, Sir James, 444, 447
Kennedy's regiment, 295, 317
Kent, H.R.H. the Duke of, 376
"King's Girls," 97
Kirby, Mr., novel by, 227
Kirke, Sir David, 36
Kirke, Sir John, 399
Kirke, Lewis, 38
Kirke, Thomas, 38
Knox, Captain, Journal of the Siege, 236, 310, 322
La Barre, Governor, 129, 135 sqq., 410
La Chesnaye, Aubert de, 135
La Chesnaye, massacre of, 161
Lacolle Mill, battle of, 439
La Corne, Captain, 332, 334
La Durantaye, M. de, 138
La Friponne, 109, 201
La Galissoniere, Marquis de, 192
La Grange-Trianon, Anne de, 111
La Hontan, opinion of the female emigrants, 97
La Jonquiere, Admiral, 191
Lake of the Woods, discovery of, 186
Lalement, Pere, 34, 75 sqq., 80 sqq., 85
Lambert's Travels quoted, 232
La Monnerie, M. de, 164
La Motte Cadillac, 172
La Motte de Lussiere, 125
"La nation Canadienne," 448
Land tenure, 95
Langevin, Hector, 467
Language question, 327, 341, 458
La Peltrie, Madame de, 50 sqq.
La Pompadour, Mme. de, 195
La Potherie describes Quebec, 106
La Salle, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de, 122, 134
Lascelles' regiment, 295, 317
Laval, Bishop Francois-Xavier, 85 sqq., 167
Laval Seminary, students at the siege, 275
La Verendrye, Sieur de, 185 sqq., 410, 414
Laws, Captain, 355
Le Canadien, 424
Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, 206
Le Jeune, Pere, 39, 40, 49 sqq., 67 sqq.
Le Masse, Enemond, 34
Le Mercier, Pere, 76
Le Moine, Sir James, 368
Le Moyne, Charles, commands force of colonists, 92
Le Moyne, family of, 155 n.
Levis, Chevalier de, 196, 246, 250, 270, 307, 310, 313 sqq., 331
Ligneris, Commandant de, 260
Liquor traffic, 86, 118
Longfellow, H. W., Evangeline quoted, 203
Loudon, General, 248, 249, 253
Louis XIII., 110
Louis XIV. and New France, 86 sqq., 96 sqq., 120, 129, 168, 174
Louis XV., 195
Louisbourg, fortifications at, 183, 188, 249 sqq., 253
Louisbourg Grenadiers, 295, 298
Louisiana, 128
Loyalty, French, 426 sqq., 436, 441
Lundy's Lane, battle of, 440
Lymburner, Adam, 374
Lyndhurst, Lord, 462
M'Donald, Captain Donald, 313, 317
Macdonald, Rt. Hon. Sir John A., 466 sqq.
M'Dougall, William, 467
M'Gee, Thomas D'Arcy, 467
M'Gillivray, William, 419
M'Lane, 388
Maclish, Governor, 416
M'Pherson, Captain, 356
M'Tavish, Simon, 418
Madison, James, 4th President, U.S.A., 383
Madras exchanged for Louisbourg, 191
Magdelaine de Vercheres, Recit de Mlle., 161
Maison de la Montagne, 199
"Malbrouck s'en va-t-en guerre," 233
Maple sugar season, 236
Mareuil, Sieur de, excommunicated, 173
Marguerite, Roberval's niece, 14 sqq.
Maria Theresa, 187
Marie de l'Incarnation, 52
Market at Quebec, 226
Marlborough, Duke of, 409
Marquette, Pere, 121
Martin, Abraham, 396
Matagorda Bay, 131
Mazarin, Cardinal, 86, 166
Medicine men, 72
Melbourne, Lord, 462
Mercoeur, Duc de, 20
Mezy, M. de, 167
Michillimackinac, mission at, 121
Military dress, 431
Minorca lost by England, 252
Mission of the Martyrs, 78, 93
Mississippi exploration, 122 sqq.
Moliere's plays acted in Quebec, 172
Monckton, General, 287, 310
Monckton's brigade, 273, 281
Monro, Captain, 250
Montcalm, Marquis de, 196, 227, 246 sqq., 249, 255 sqq., 260 sqq., 299
Montgomery, General Richard, 342 sqq.
Montmagny, M. de, 48, 54, 58, 185, 238
Montmorency, Duc de, 34
Montpensier, Mlle. de, 112
Montreal, address by the citizens in 1760, 328
Montreal Gazette, 338
Montresor, Lieutenant, 313
Monts, Sieur de, 21
Moranget, La Salle's nephew, 132
Morrin College, 392
Murphy, Patrick, executed, 390
Murray, General, 240, 245, 276, 283 sqq., 287, 295, 310 sqq., 314, 323, 339
Napoleon Bonaparte, Prince, 320
Nelson, Lord, 368 sqq., 432
Nesbit, Mrs., 370
Newcastle, Duke of, 247, 248
New England's claims in the West, 206
New England colonies, population, 179, 248
New Orleans, 363
Nicholson, Colonel, 177
Nicollet, an interpreter, 49
Nika, in La Salle's company, 132
Noblesse, Canadian, 100 sqq.
Norembega, Lord of, 13
Northmen in America, 4
North-West Company, 418
"Notre Dame de la Victoire," 157
"Notre Dame des Victoires," 182
Noue, Anne de, 39, 79
Noyan, Commandant de, 260
Ohio valley, war in, 206
Old Lorette founded, 84
"Old Regime," 218, 324, 336
"Onontio," Indian name for Frontenac, 143, 171
Ontario in 1812, 427
Osgoode, Chief-Justice, 387
Oswego, capitulation of, 249
Otway's regiment, 295, 317
Palais de Justice, 106
Palmerston, Lord, 452
Papineau, Joseph, 448 sqq.
Parkman, Francis, quoted, 14, 60, 126, 214, 259, 314
Parliament House, 375
Pean, 335
Penisseault, 335
Pepperell, General Sir William, 189 sqq.
Perrot, Nicolas, Governor of Montreal, 119, 120, 138
Perry, Commodore, 435
Philibert, or Nicholas Jaquin, 201
Philip of Anjou, 176
Phipps, Sir William, 145
Pitt, William, the elder. See Chatham, Earl of
Pitt, William, the younger, 374
Planchon, Etienne, house of, 135
Plattsburg, battle of, 440
Plessis, Bishop, 441
Political progress, 422 sqq., 443 sqq.
Polo, Marco, 1
Pontbriand, Bishop, 283
Pontgrave, 27
Population of Canada in 1700, 179; in 1758, 248
Population of Quebec in 1660, 85; in 1750, 227
Population, Upper and Lower Canada, 460, 466
Portneuf, Captain, 144
Port Royal, capture of, 178
Portuguese, discoveries by, 3
Premiers of Canada, 476
Prentice, Widow, 356
Prescott, General, 385 sqq.
Press-gangs, 425
Prevost, Mayor of Quebec, 149
Prevost, Sir George, 429 sqq., 440, 445
Proctor, General, 434, 435
"Provincials," 341
Quebec Act of 1774, 341, 370
Quebec Chronicle, 337
Quebec Gazette, 337, 457
Quebec Literary and Historical Society, 392
Queenston Heights, battle of, 432
Queylus, Abbe de, 166
Radisson, Pierre, 396 sqq.
Ragueneau, Pere, 76, 81
Ramezay, Commandant de, 181, 270, 300, 304 sqq.
Rattier, Jean, sentence on, 393
Rebels, treatment of, 461
Recollets, arrival at Quebec, 30 expelled, 41 farm of the, 47
Recollets, re-introduced into America, 168
Regne militaire, 325
Rensselaer, General Van, 431
Repentigny, commander of colonial force, 92
Richelieu, Cardinal, 35, 48, 395
Richmond, Duke of, 419, 444 sqq.
Ridout Letters, 431
Robertson, Colin, 418
Roberval, Sieur de, 12, 16, 45
Robson, Joseph, 416
Rupert, Prince, 400
Rupert's Land, 404
Russell, Earl, 449, 463
Ryswick, Treaty of, 173, 175, 409
Saget, La Salle's servant, 132
Sainte-Anne de Beaupre, 224 sqq.
Ste. Foye, battle of, 315 sqq.
St. Germain-en-Laye, Treaty of, 39, 66
Sainte-Helene, Captain, 155
St. Lawrence, Gulf of, discovery of, 7
Saint-Luc, La Corne de, 196, 332
Ste. Marie, mission at, 77
Saint-Ours, M. de, 101, 196, 270, 295, 302
Saint-Simon, Duc de, Memoirs, 112, 227
Saint-Vallier, Bishop, 170
Salaberry, General de, 380, 433 sqq., 435 sqq., 439
Sault Ste. Marie, 121
Saunders, Admiral, 266, 289, 293, 305, 310
Sawyer, Commodore, 379
"Scholars' Battle," 275
Scotch settlers, 417 sqq.
Secord, Laura, 434
Seigneur, position of the, 218 sqq.
Selkirk, Lord, 419
Selwyn, John, 406
"Seminaire de Laval," 168 sqq.
Senezergues, Brigadier, 270, 295, 302
"Seven Years' War," 246
Shannon and Chesapeake, 435
Shawanoe, in La Salle's Company, 132
Sheaffe, General, 434
Sherbrooke, Sir John Cope, 444 sqq.
Shirley, Governor, 188, 212
Sillery, M. de, 49
Simcoe, Colonel, 428
Simpson, Miss Mary, 370
Smith, Prof. Goldwin, 110
Social life, 218 sqq., 366 sqq.
Soissons, Comte de, 29
Southey, Robert, Life of Nelson, 370
Spanish, discoveries by, 3
Spanish succession, war of, 176
Stadacone, the site of Quebec, discovery of, 9
Stamp Act, 339
Stoney Creek, battle of, 434
Subercase, Commandant at Port Royal, 178
Tache, Etienne Paschal, 466
Talon, Intendant, Jean Baptiste, 88, 96, 116, 118, 120, 168, 405
Tecumseh, Indian chief, 432, 435
Tessouat, Algonquin chief, 29
Theatre in Quebec, 172
Thompson, James, diary of, 343
Thunder, Indian beliefs, 73
Ticonderoga, or Carillon, 259
Tiers Etat, 337
Times, The, 452
Tonty, Henri de, 125
Townshend, Brigadier, afterwards Marquis of, 276, 287, 295, 302 sqq., 310
Tracy, Marquis de, 88, 172, 225, 376
Trading, Indian, 412 sqq.
Tupper, Sir Charles, 467
Turenne, Vicomte de, Marechal de France, 111
Umfreville, Present State of Hudson's Bay, 412, 416
Union, Act of, 460, 463
United Empire loyalists, 365, 370, 427
United States and Canada, 364 sqq., 424 sqq.
Ursuline nun, quoted, 136, 238
Utrecht, Treaty of, 182, 404, 409
Varin, 335
Vauban, engineer, 159, 183
Vaudreuil, Mme. de, 227
Vaudreuil, Marquis de, 179, 195, 212
Vaudreuil, Pierre Francois Rigaud, Marquis de, 247, 260 sqq., 302 sqq., 313 sqq., 324, 335
Vauquelin, Commander, 323
Ventadour, Henri Levis, Duc de, 34
Vercheres, M. de, 161
Vercheres, Mlle. Magdelaine de, 161
Vercheres, Seigneury de, 161
Vergor, Captain, 293
Verrazzano, 3 sqq., 45
Vespucci, Amerigo, 2
Vetch, Samuel, 177, 180
Vignau, Nicolas de, story of a route to Cathay, 29
Ville Marie, or Montreal, 60
Villiers, Coulon de, 211
Vincent, General, 434
Voltigeurs, 433 sqq.
Walker, Sir Hovenden, 178 sqq.
Walley, Major, at Quebec, 154
Walpole, Horace, 307
Ward, the executioner, 388
Warren, Commodore, 189
Washington, George, 206 sqq., 213 sqq., 340, 383
Webb, General, 248, 250, 253
Webb's regiment, 317
Western exploration, 192 sqq.
Wilkinson, General, 436
William III., 142, 408 sqq.
Willson, Beckles, The Great Company, 406
Winthrop, Governor, 146
Wolfe, General, 253, 254 sqq., 266, 302, 307, 342
Young, Colonel, 317
Young, Sir William, 407
* * * * *
Transcriber's notes:
1. Spelling of 'Cap la Heve' was retained, even though geographically incorrect.
2. Page 271—typographical error 'spirts' corrected to 'spirits'
3. Page 338—typographical error 'Engish' corrected to 'English'
4. Page 349—typographical error 'posession' corrected to 'possession'
5. Several instances of hyphenation have been changed for the sake of consistency.
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