CHAPTER XXVIII

AFTERMATH.

RAT PS er QE Ag SRI:

“Within that land was many a malcontent.” Lara, Canto II.

Governor and his Ministers. A state of more or less ft excitement continued to prevail throughout the entire É: Province, though the manifestations of it were much &a more conspicuous in Montreal than elsewhere. Some of ô #?. the larger centres of commerce suffered from a visitation KR of Asiatic cholera, which did not tend to improve the tone of the : publi: mind. After the close of the session the carrying out of the provisions of the Rebellicn Losses Bill was proceeded with, and no

pains were spared by the Government to effect an equitable distri-

bution of the amount appropriated by the Legislature. The Com-

missioners who had been deputed by the late Government to enquire

into the claims of persons seeking compensation were now re-

appointed ; and ir, order to frrther conciliate Tory susceptibilities,

they were directed to construe 1e Act in the most restricted sense

it could be made to bear in favour of loyalists. But in spite of all

efforts at conciliation the Tory press kept up the agitation against

the Government, Nor was taie agitation confined to the press. A

British American League, as it was called, was formed at Montreal,

& with branches at Toronto, Kingston, and elsewhere in Upper Canada, The objects of this association were various, and would seem to have been not always consistent with each ocher, Persistent opposition

Aftermath. 173

to the existing Government, a return to a protective policy, the election of members of the Legislative Council, and—most important of all—a general union of the British North American Provinces, were among the most conspicuous planks in the platform. A convention of delegates from all parts of the Province was held at Kingston towards the close of July, and an attempt was made to weld the discordant elements of which the association was composed into a harmonious whole. Among the principal speakers were Ogle R. Gowan of Brockville, Henry Sherwood, George Duggan and Philip M. M. S. Vankoughnet of Toronto, George Moffatt and Hugh E. Montgomerie of Montreal, John A. Macdonald and John R. Breckenridge of Kingston, Rolland Macdonald of St. Catharines, Edward Ermatinger of St, Thomas, Edmund ‘iurney of Belleville, and Daniel Gilbert Miller of Woodstock. The convention remained in session for some days, and discussed the political and social aspect of affairs from various points of view. Among other extraordinary matters debated was a proposal by Mr. Gowan to impeach the Governor-General in the House of Lords. But there was too little community of idea among the members to admit of their working effectively together, and nothing came of the movement, Some of the more extreme among them, as will presently be seen, allied themselves with other elements in the population, and proceeded to form a distinct association having objects which would not have been tolerated by the majority of the members of the League.

The riotous proceedings in Montreal and the burning of the Parliament Buildings excited a good deal of feeling in the mother country. The Canadian Tories, with a view to influencing public and Parliamentary opinion there, had sent over Sir Allan MacNab and Mr, Cayley to represent the matter from their point of view. About the same time Mr, Hincks was sent over to counteract their influence, and to transact important business relating to the Provincial finances. The question of the Rebellion Losses Bill was taken

174 The Lust Forty Years.

up by both Houses of Parliament. In the Commons the discussion was long and velement. Among those who spoke in favour of the disallowance oi the measure by Her Majesty was Mr. Gladstone, who, however, as was clearly indicated by his remarks, had studied the question from one side only. Lord John Russell, Sir Robert Peel, and other distinguished men defended both the principle of the Bill and the statesmanship which had originated it, The result of the discussion in both Houses was that Lord Elgin’s course was fully sustained, and that the eulogies of the most eminent statesmen in the nation were pronounced upon it,

Intelligence of the discussion and its result in due course reached Canada, and had a tranquillising effect on public opinion there. But Montreal was destined to be the scene of a second formidable riot. The conciliatory policy adopted by the Government with respect to the Rebellion Losses Bill was also followed with respect to the persons implicated in the destruction of the Parliament Buildings. There was no disposition to press matters to extremity, and proceedings were deferred until true bills should be found by a grand jury. Owing to the presence of cholera in Montre], however, no grand jury ould be got together during the August term, and the Court adjourned without transacting any business. It was not deemed advisable that the indictments should lie over for three months longer. The accused were accordingly arrested about the middle of August. Bail was forthwith given and accepted, but this did not satisfy the mob, and abovt nine o’clock on the night of Wednesday, the 15th of the month, they proceeded to make a second attack upon the house of Mr. Lafontaine, who, as Prime Minister, was regarded by them as a legitimate object of their wrath. A rumour had got abroad during the day that such an attack was likely to be made, and a miniature garrison was organized in the house. Some of the assailants, having made themselves hoarse with yells and execrations, forced their way into the yard, whence they proceeded to

Aftermath. 175

enter the building from the rear. The occupants were not disposed to submit tamely to a forcible entry, and, after giving due warning, fired upon the assailants. Several of the latter were wounded, and one, a youth named William Mason, son of a livery-stable keercr, was shot so seriously in the thigh that it was feared he would bleed to death. One of the rioters called out, “The poor fellow is killed !” The mob were roused to murderous fury by this exclamation, and shouts arose: “The blood of a Saxon has been shed by a Frenchman!” For a short time it seemed not unlikely that the house would be destroyed, and that Mr. Lafontaine himself would be torn in pieces. Military assistance, however, opportunely arrived on the scene, and the mob retreated, carrying with them the insensible body of their wounded comrade. The unfortunate youth died early on the following morning. An inquest was subsequently held, and Mr. Lafontaine was by a unanimous verdict acquitted of all blame or responsibility. Great excitement prevailed throughout the city for some days. The funeral was attended by a concourse of people wearing red scarfs and ribbons. It was deemed advisable to close the shops fronting on the streets along which the procession passed. For several successive nights there were disturbances on the streets, accompanied by the extinguishing and smashing of lamps, and similar manifestations of disregard for law. Several fires occurred, and there was reason for believing they were due to incendiaries. The popular fury soon spent itself, and further catastrophes were averted, but these last riotous proceedings convinced both the Governor and his Ministers that it would be unadvisable to retain the seat of Government at Montreal. The city had long since obtained an unenviable notoriety for the turbulent character of its mobs. Many members of Parliament, indeed, had declared before the prorogation that nothing would induce them to return thither for another session, The Assembly, as has been seen, had recommended that the capital should be alternately at

176 The Last Forty Years.

Toronto and Quebec. Lord Elgin himself, notwithstanding the indignities to which he had been subjected at Montreal, had for some months clung to the idea of retaining the seat of Government there. That idea he now felt bound to abandon. The subject required careful deliberation, and it was not till near the end of October that the Governor was able to signify to the Colonial Secretary that the question had been settled. The arrangement was that the remaining two sessions of the existing Parliament should be held at Toronto, after which there should be a transfer to Quebec and Toronto alternately every four years. It was hoped that this plan, by bringing representatives of each of the different nationalities into more intimate relations with the people and institutions of the other, would tend to remove the barriers between the two sections of the Province, and lead the inhabitants to look upon each other as members of the same community, having a common interest in its welfare. The scheme was carried out, and Montreal, by the inconsiderate folly of a few misguided persons, lost the distinction and pecuniary advantages inseparable from the seat of the Provincial Government. The decision thus arrived at was intended as a salutary lesson, not only to Montreal, but to other towns which had shewn a disposition to set the populace above the law.

Nearly two months before the seat of Government question had been definitely settled, his Excellency thought prner to pay a visit to Upper Canada. He left Monklands during the first week of September, and proceeded to Lachine, where he embarked on board a steamer for Prescott, whence he proceeded by another steamer to Niagara, without disembarking at any intermediate port. At Kingston, then one of the great strongholds of Toryism, the Mayor and corporation boarded the steamer and presented his Exce:iency with a complimentary address, to which the recipient made a suitable reply, but did not go on shore, “ Certain lewd fellows of the baser sort” had collected at the wharf, and, mingling with other citizens,

Aftermath. 177

indulged in hostile demonstrations against the Governor ; but they formed only a small proportion of the crowd, and Lord Elgin did not seem to be in the least moved by their display. His object in proceeding thus direct to the head of the lake was to meet General Zachary Taylor, President of the United States, who was then visiting Niagara, and with whom his Excellency was desirous of conferring with regard to the project of reciprocity which he had so much at heart. He was received with the utmost enthusiasm by the people of the Niagara District, who deluged him with complimentary addresses, and assured him of their confidence and devotion. After remaining a few days in the neighbourhood of the Falls he proceeded westward, and visited all the more important towns. During the entire tour he was attended only by an aide-de-camp and one servant, his object being to prove that he could traverse the Province in safety without any bodyguard for his protection. The result fully justified his expectations. He encountered enthusiasm everywhere, and only on two or three occasions was there any manifestation of hostility. At Toronto a few missiles were hurled at him as he was driven along the streets, but they fell wide of their mark, and were merely the last impotent demonstrations of a defeated and disappointed faction.*

* The following extracts from a hitherto unpublished letter written by the Hon, Robert Baldwin to an intimate friend in Toronto, under date of Sth September, 1849, throw much light on the aspect of the seat of Government question, which, it will be borne in mind, was not finally settled until some weeks afterwards :—

“TI wrote you a short note the day before yesterday, informing you of the departure of his Excellency, and of his intention of going to the Falls at once, in order to try and meet General Taylor, who was expected there immediately, . I think the citizens of Montreal are becoming very uneasy about the seat of Government question. T'hey have reason to be, for certainly the late renewal of disturbances cannot be considered as increasing their claims to favourable consideration, They were in great hopes his Excellency would have come to town before he went west. His not having done 80 strikes them as perhaps an indication that he does not mean to come back to them at all. It is true they half flatter themselves that he is going home, Sir Allan has talked oracularly, I suppose, to them on the subject in his letters, and, like all dupes, they interpret the oracle to their own liking. ‘They will be miserably disappointed if that is all they have to rely upon for

masters mode mn terme one manne muirtineene mn

178 The Last Forty Years.

The Governor felt much gratified at the result of his tour. “I do not believe,” he wrote to a friend, “that the function of the Governor-General under constitutional government, as the moderator between parties, the representative of interests which are common to all the inhabitants of the country, as distinct from those which divide them into parties, was ever so fully and so frankly recognized. I do not believe that I could have achieved this if I had had blood upon my hands.” * He moreover had other, if not higher, grounds for self-gratulation. Every mail from England brought out additional evidences of official approval of his policy. Within a short time after completing his tour in the west he received an intimation that he had been raised to the peerage of

the preservation of their metropolitan position, They have some doubts themselves, and are doing all they can to get the people in the west to play their game by insulting the Governor-General there, and are particularly anxious that he should be ill-received at Toronto, Kingston, and Bytown. . . I have reason to believe they are making the most strenuous exertions to accomplish this, appealing to their friends not to desert them, etc., ete. The question then is, will they succeed in getting their friends to make the attempt, and if they do, will the lovers of order of all parties allow it to be successful? If they do, the Montrealers will have reason to chuckle over the gullibility of their western friends. For it is not to be denied that should the Government determine on a removal from Montreal, the regard for order and respect for the representative of the Sovereign that the different places in Upper Canada may shew on the occasion of his Excellency's visit will have a powerful effect in determining the particular place to remove to, In fact, what could I say if, after urging the claims of Toronto, all my previous assurances that there, at all events, such insults would either not be offered, or would be put down at once, were to be met by an appeal to recent facts contradicting them? . . . The people of Kingston are more wise. I saw a letter from a gentleman there a day or two ago, in which it was said that, particularly since the return of their delegates from England, they are, all parties of them, setting to work to insure his Excellency a good reception. They say they were misled by their Parliamentary representatives telling them that Lord Elgin had little or no influence in England, and that he would be sure to be recalled, I suppose they are now undeceived in these particulars. Be that as it may, they are at work in earnest. And unless Toronto is equally active and determined, farewell to her hopes. Apart from all other considerations, I am of course, as a Torontonian, most anxious that my native city should not lose the chance that has been thrown in her way of sharing, at least, in metropolitan honours and advantages, And I would willingly do all in my power consistently with my duty to the Province at large to secure her that advantage, . . . Depend upon it, the time is now or never.”

* Walrond, p,. 96,

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the United Kingdom under the title of Baron Elgin of Elgin, an honour which he prized most highly, not merely on account of the dignity itself, but as a proof of the estimation in which his conduct was held at home. No stronger proof could have been given of the change which had come over the spirit of the Imperial Government with respect to their views on colonial relations to the Empire. Only five years had elapsed since Sir Charles Metcalfe had been raised to the peerage for pursuing a course the very reverse of that recently adopted by Lord Elgin. It was another noticeable fact that the policy of the latter’s administration had commended itself to the judgment of leading British statesmen of such divergent schools of politics as Lord John Russell and Sir Robert Peel. It was evident to the Canadian people that the Tory delegates had utterly failed in their mission to England, and that the tactics of the Canadian Opposition were discredited there. This knowledge, combined with the honours to Lord Elgin and the universal condemnation of the violence of the Montreal mob, tended to improve the position of the Canadian Administration both in Upper and Lower Canada. There were many loyal Canadians who were unable to approve of the Rebellion Losses Bill, but an overwhelming majority in the Provincial Parliament had decided in favour of it, and the principles of Responsible Government had by this time attained pretty general assent; so that few were now found to defend the tactics of the leaders of the Opposition in appealing to England against a Canadian Parliamentary majority. As for the Ministry and their supporters, they were not unnaturally jubilant at their success. They regarded the support of Lord Elgin by the Imperial Government as a pledge that that Government would not again tamper with the constitutional rights and privileges of the colony, or vouchsafe their countenance to any Governor who should attempt to do so.

The Government policy was thus completely successful; but, in