RENE TE

266 The Last Forty Yeurs.

that Her Majesty's Ministers would consent to give effect to the promise made by their predecessors. ‘l'he debate on these resolutions lasted four days, and was participated in by nearly every leading member of the House. Mr. Brown made a long and vigorous speech on the subject, in which he attacked the Ministry because, although they had tried to obtain power to deal with the subject, they had not committed themselves to any definite policy in the event of such power being committed to their hands by the Imperial Parliament. Before the debate -losed, Mr. Morin pledged himself unequivocally to secularization. Mr. Hincks had already done so, and there could no longer be any doubt that the Ministry were formally committed to that step. The resolutions passed by a majority of 54 to 22. An Address to the Queen founded upon them was prepared and forwarded across the Atlantic, which circumstance marks another step towards the solution of the great problem.

On the 23rd of October :hree additions were made to the Legislative Council, in the persons of Narcisse Fortunat Belleau, Charles Wilson (Mayor of Montreal), and Louis Panet, Mr. Belleau had a long and dignified public career before him, and we shall meet him more than once in the subsequent course of the narrative. He was a member of the Lower Canadian bar, and resided at Quebec, where he had long been active in the City Count‘ and identified with various public enterprises.

By the beginning of November it had come to be known that there was to be an adjournment of the session for several months, and on the 10th the adjournment actually took place. The Acts passed during this first part of the session received the royal assent at the same date, and the Bureau of Agriculture having thus become an established fact, Mr, Cameron was duly installed as the head of that department. It may here be mentioned that from that date down to the 20th of March, 1862, the Presidents of the Executive Council were eæ-officio Ministers of Agriculture,

Hincks— Morin. 267

The principal reason assigned for the adjournment was the existence of cholera in Quebec. That this may really have had something to do with the matter is probable enough, but the fact was that the Government had had so many matters cf detail on their hands that they were not ready with some important measures which it was essential that they should submit to the House, and they were desirous of gaining time. The resignation of Mr. Young, moreover, which took place on the 20th of September, caused some temporary embarrassment to the Government. Mr. Young’s demission of office was due to the ministerial determination to impose difterential duties against United States vessels using the Canadian canals. Mr. Young, as we have seen,* was an out-and-out free-trader, and could not reconcile his mind to remaining in a Cabinet which sanctioned a commercial policy with which he had no sympathy. He also objected to Mr. Hincks's scheme of constructing the Grand Trunk Railway by means of a private company. Mr. Young was a man of undoubted ability, as well as of unquestioned integrity, though he had certain visionary crotchets which interfered to some extent with his usefulness as a Cabinet Minister, Upon his resignation his portfolio of Commissioner of Public Works was offered to Mr. George E. Cartier, who, however, did not think proper to accept it. It was then offered to and accepted by Mr, Chabot, who had held the same portfolio in the preceding Administration. It may be added that the ministerial proposal to establish the differential duties proved so unpopular throughout the country that it was abandoned.

The adjournment was until the 14th of February, 1853, An intervening event to which it is necessary to refer was the accession to power of a new Ministry in England during the month of December, At the end of an important budget debate, which was prolonged through four sittings of the House, the Ministry were

# Ante, Vol, I., pp. 215, 216,

268 The Last Forty Years.

left in a minority of nineteen. This event was followed by their resignation, and by the formation of a Coalition Ministry, with the Earl of Aberdeen as Premier and the Duke of Newcastle as Colonial Secretary. One of the last official acts of the ex-Secretary, Sir John Pakington, was the preparation of a draft despatch to Lord Elgin, in reference to the Address which had been forwarded to the Queen from the Canadian Assembly, as above mentioned. Owing to Sir John's demission of office the despatch was never forwarded, but it was at his own request laid before Parliament. Having thus obtained publicity, its contents were erelong known in Canada. It was to the effect that iler Majesty's Government felt themselves nnable to comply with the wish of the Assembly by committing the Reserves to their charge. All intention of violating the constitutional rights of the Canadian Parliament was explicitly

Hp) disclaimed, but an opinion was expressed that the repeal of the NÉ Imperial Act involved interests which excepted it from the general #2: rule.* This was discouraging enough, and a few excitable persons

PT would doubtless erelong have begun to inveigh against the “ bane- LR ful domination” to which the colo:., was subjected by the mother ER country. Fortunately, however, the same mail which brought the contents of the draft despatch across the Atlantic brought intelligence of the change of Government. Yet a few weeks, and it became knowr. in Canada that the new Ministry had determined

pa HIS < LE to reverse the policy of their predecessors on the Clerg: Reserves LA question, and to recommend the passing of an Act authorizing

the Provincial Legislature to deal with it, subject to the preservation of existing interests, A despatch announcing this decision

$ A * The Imperial Government would in any case have been compelled to face this quesfe \ tion early in 1853, On the 3rd of December, 1852, Sir William Molesworth gave notice É k that immediately after the Christmas recess he would move for leave to bring in a Bill to RS à enable the Canadian Legislature to deal with the Clergy Reserves, The change of : 4 Government, and the different policy pursued by the incoming one, rendered it unnecessary il ju for Sir William to proceed with his motion. RUE à RE LUE È Ne Lie » : LAB À J'TE & LE SE

Hinclks—Morin. 269

was forwarded to Lord Elgin by the new Colonial Secretary on the 15th of January, 1853. It was first made public when Parliament reassembled in February. When the news became known throughout the Province there was much jubilation on the part of a great majority of the Upper Canadians, accompanied by a corresponding amount of chagrin on the part of those favourable to preserving the then-existing state of things.

The last address which had been passed by the Canadian Assembly and forwarded to England was, as has been seen, conceived in a very urgent tone, and could scarcely fail to produce some effect there. The resolution at which the new Imperial Ministry had arrived was doubtless largely due to it. The Canadian Opposition, however, were not disposed to give Mr. Hincks’s Government any credit on this score. Mr. Brown's opposition was especially vigilant and unceasing, and with such a formidable engine at his back as The Globe had by this time become, he was able to cause the Government much uneasiness, and even frequent discomfiture. The reasons why Mr. Brown originally went into opposition have already been referred to.* À not uncommon opinion prevails in Canada to the present day that he was also animated by personal enmity towards Mr. Hiucks. The present writer has not been able to discover any traces of such enmity, nor does he believe that it ever existed. There was unquestionably a very pronounced antagonism between Mr. Brown and Mr. Hincks during the whole period of the latter gentleman's tenure of oftice as Premier, but it seems to have been one of cireumstance rather than of temperament, and to have been exercised on public grounds alone. Mr. Brown was ehemently opposed to every measure of concession to Roman Catholies. The existirq Administration was largely made up of Roman Catholic members, and those members who were Protestants were remarkably tolerant in their opinions, and disposed to a policy of concilia-

* Ante, p. 234,

tion. An Administration so constituted could not hope to receive much favour at the hands of Mr. Brown. It is certain, however, that that gentleman’s antagonism grew by what it fed upon, and that it became steadily intensified so long as Mr. Hincks remained in office. Mr. Brown's opposition, indeed, was the prime factor which was destined to bring about the defeat of the Government.* During the recess intervening between the two divisions of the session of 1852-53, he appeared at public gatherings in various parts of Upper Canada, and inveighed against the existing régime with all the vigorous eloquence at his command.

Parliament reassembled, pursuant to adjournment, on the 14th of February (1853). There was no parade or other display at the opening, it being merely a reassembling of an adjourned session, and not a new one, The Duke of Newcastle’s despatch was formally announced to and laid before the Assembly on the day following. The members, as usual in such cases, stood up in their places while the reading was proceeded with, and at the close there were long and emphatic demonstrations of applause. In spite of the efforts of the Opposition to make little of the cireumstance, there was a general feeling throughout the land that the Government were entitled to credit for the result of Mr. Hincks’s resolutions of the preceding September. The ensuing part of the session extended over four months, It was fruitful of an altogether exceptional

* Mr. Hincks, addressing the Assembly on the 8th of September, 1854, practically admitted this fact. ‘The Administration,” said he, ‘was opposed at the outset by the honourable member for Lambton”—Mr. Brown—‘‘and in adverting to him I must do him the justice to say that there is one thing I like about him, andit is that he has always been straightforward in his opposition, There is no misunderstanding him, at all events. He toux his course ; he was determined to destroy the Government, I wish not to disparage my opponents, I wish to believe that the course they take is the one which they consider best calculated to promote the interests of the country. I am willing to give the honourable member for Lambton the same credit which I trust he would accord to me. Iam willing to believe that he thought he would promote the best interests of the country by obstructing the progress of the Administration, He at all events took that course at the beginning, and has persevered in it ever since.”

Hincks—Morin. 271

amount of legislation, including nearly 200 Acts, whereof no fewer than 28 related to railways. The railway mania was at its height, and the wildest schemes were projected, in many cases, apparently, in the utmost good faith. A number of educational institutions also applied for and obtained Acts of incorporation. A measure for regulating the currency was passed, whereby the decimal system was introduced, and the legal denominations and values of current money were ascertained. Another Act extended the franchise, and provided a system of registration of voters. An Act introduced by Mr. Brown abolished the existing penalties for usury. An animated debate ensued upon the introduction by Mr. Drummond of a Government measure relating to the Seigniorial Tenure. It proposed to reduce such of the rents as were held to be exorbitant, and to obtain judicial decisions as to their legality. In the case of such rents as were adjudged to be legal, compensation to the seignior for any excess over two pence per acre was provided for, and two pence was to be the maximum rent for the future. Where the rents were adjudged to be illegal the seignior was to submit to the reduction without compensation. Mr. Christopher Dunkin, an able Montreal lawyer who was destined to become widely known in political life, appeared at the bar of the House, and occupied two entire evenings in presenting the q''estion from the seignior’s point of view. His argument displayed great erudition, and was very effectively delivered. He was replied to by Mr. Drummond, and the subject was fully discussed, The measure was finally passed by the Assembly, but rejected in the Legislative Council. The action of the Upper House at this time tended to increase the agitation on the subject of applying the elective principle to that body ; an agitation which had been set on foot several years before, and which was now intensified to such an extent that an Address was passed by the Assembly and duly forwarded to England, praying that authority might be given to the Canadian Legislature to deal with the question. The agitation, as will hereafter be seen, was erelong successful,

272 The Last Forty Years.

À measure providing for an increased representation had once more been presented to the Assembly during the first part of the session in the preceding year, but the adjournment had prevented it from being proceeded with. Its consideration was now resumed. Mr. Morin was its sponsor, and upon him chiefly devolved the task of explaining its provisions. There was a vigorous opposition to some of its details on the part of Messrs. George Brown, John A. Macdonald, Sir Allan MacNab, W. L. Mackenzie, and others, but, after having been defeated at three consecutive sessions, it was now conducted through its various stages and passed, Fiftyeight members voted in its favour, the requisite two-thirds vote being fifty-six. It increased the number of representatives from 84 to 130—65 for each section of the Province. This arrangement rendered necessary a new distribution of constituencies, which was duly effected by the Act. All the more important counties were divided for electoral purposes, and additional representation

was assigned to the principal cities. In the cases of the towns of Brockville, Niagara and Cornwall, adjoining townships were 4 added to them for electoral purposes. The representation, in a word, was adjusted on a more equitable basis, and extended so

PRE 7e Pl pere ten nee DRE dar,

as to be more in accordance with the progress which had been

made by the colony since the Union. Another good purpose effected by the measure was that it unquestionably teuded to prevent undue or corrupt influence being brought to bear upon

Érnnger-ne haie

members, by reducing the value and importance of individual votes.*

The Act was conditioned not to go into operation until the end of the Parliament then in being.

The opposition to the Representation Act was chiefiy due to the

Enr M RES TAPIE

14 { Dm pur em mms im am am mans

1 # * ‘With s0 small a body as eighty [-four] members, when parties are nearly balanced, ÿ $ individual votes become too precious, which leads to mischief, I have not experienced this evil to any great extent since E have had a Liberal Administration, which has always been strong in ta Assembly ; but with my tirst Administration I felt it soverely.”—

pui À Letter of Lord Eigin ; see Watrond, p. 144.

Hincks—Morin. 273

advocates of the principle of representation by population. The census of 1852 disclosed the fact that Upper Canada had a population of more than 60,000 in excess of that of Lower Canada. It was argued by the Upper Canadian Opposition that Parliamentary representation should be based on population, and that as Upper Canada contained more people than the Lower section of the Province she was entitled to send a greater number of representatives to Parliament. But, prior to the Union, and for nine years thereafter, the population of Lower Canada had been in excess of that of Upper Canada; yet the former section of the Province had been permitted to have only an equal representation, and a Union had been forced upon Lower Canada on those terms. After submitting to such a state of things ever since the Union had been effected, it was scarcely to be supposed that the Lower Canadians would now willingly sanction the giving to Upper Canada of a representation greater than was conceded to themselves. Mr. Brown, by his advocacy of an unequal representation in favour of Upper Canada, still further widened the breach between the Lower Canadians and himself,

The last few weeks of the session were marked by increased activity on the part of the Liberal Opposition in Upper Canada. This activity was due to several causes, one of which was the alleged tergiversation of the Government on the Clergy Reserves question. Towards the end of May news reached Canada that on the 9th of that month the Imperial Clergy Reserves Act had reccived the royal assent. By its provisions power was given to the Canadian Legislature to vary or repeal all or any part of the Act of 1840, and to make such other provisions for or concerning the sale, alienation or disposal of the Clergy Reserves or the proceeds thereof as to the said Legislature might seem meet, The last clause of the Act prohibited interference with the annual stipends or allowances which had already been assigned to clergymen, during the lives or incumbencies of the persons interested. All restrictions against Provincial

274 The Last Forty Years.

legislation on the subject having thus been removed, it would have been quite practicable for the Government to introduce and carry through a measure for secularization before the adjournment, and Mr. Brown and others of his way of thinking vehemently urged such a proceeding upon them. When it was known that they did nt intend to deal with the question during the existing session a suspicion of their good faith began to be entertained, even by many of their supporters. The Globe, and such of the Provincial papers as reflected the opinions of that journal,* of course made the most of the situation, and the Government felt the effect of their assaults. The terms upon which Mr. Hincks had let the contract for building the Grand Trunk Railway were also denounced as extravagant and prejudicial to the interests of the country. The numerous grants to sectarian schools and colleges formed still another ground of sweeping denunciation. The combined effect of these various onslaughts was undoubtedly to weaken the Ministry, insomuch that on more than one occasion they were only able to carry their measures by exceedingly narrow majorities.

A few days before the adjournment certain events occurred which the Opposition contrived to turn to such account as to still further prejudice the Government in public estimation. During the spring of 1853 the celebrated Italian patriot Alessandro Gavazzi, an ex-monk of the Order of St. Paul, visited America. He had even at that time acquired a more than European fame by his exertions in the cause of Italian liberty. In England he had been haiïled with the enthusiasm justly due to one who has fought and suffered in a righteous cause, and his reputation as an eloquent and impassioned orator had preceded him across the ocean. During a tour in the United States he delivered a succession of powerful lectures, chiefly

* To speak with absolute precision, The Globe was not a journal at that time. Its daily issue did not begin until Saturday, October 1st, 1853, three months and a half after the session had closed,

Hincks—Morin. 275

devoted to what he regarded as the errors of Romanism. Early in June, 1853, he reached Quebec, and on the evening of the Gth, pursuant to previous announcement, he proceeded to deliver a discourse in the Free Church, in St. Ursule Street, on the subject of the Inquisition. A large audience assembled to hear him When he had been speaking for somewhat more than an hour he was interrupted by violent and abusive exclamations on the part of a gang of lawless ruffians who had distributed themselves here and there among the audience, and who had doubtless repaired to the lecture for the purpose of assailing the orator of the evening. The interruption was the signal for action on the part of other ruffians outside. À volley of stones came crashing through the windows of the

church, and immediately afterwards a crowd of persons armed with

bludgeons made a forcible entrance into the building. A scene of wild confusion ensued. The shrieks of terrified women and children sounded in all directions. The intruders pressed forward in spite of such resistance as decorous, law-abiding citizens, hampered by the presence of their wives and daughters, were able to offer, and a number of them reached the pulpit where Father Gavazzi awaited their assault, They had to deal with no craven, but with a brave and resolute enthusiast who had more than once been compelled to take his life in his hand, and to fight for it against overwhelming odds. The mob precipitated themselves up the pulpit stairs with intent to hurl him to the floor. He was a man of large and powerful build, with the courage of a Luther and the thews of a prizefighter. He faced his assailants with dauntless front, and with eyes flashing like royal jewels. Armed with a stool, he struck right and left with lightning-like rapidity, and with such tremendous effect that sixteen of his assailants bit the dust before him. The contest, however, was too unequal, and after maiïntaining his position for some minutes he was thrown violently over the ledge of the pulpit on to the heads of those beneath. Regaining his feet, he fought

276 The Last Forty Years.

his way to one of the doors. A division of the military providentially arrived on the scene, and soon all danger was over. Father Gavazzi escaped with a few contusions, but his secretary was so badly beaten that for several days fears were entertained for his life. After leaving the church the mob stationed themselves in front ot the Parliament buildings, and roared in stentorian tones for Mr. George Brown, whose championship of Protestantism had made him an object of their hatred. That gentleman happened to be absent from his place in the House on that evening, and did not fall into their clutches. It was necessary to saummon additional military assistance before the mob was finally dispersed. The civil authorities were shamefully remiss in dealing with the rioters, and the matter was brought before the Assembly by Mr. Christie on the following day, when an informal discussion took place on the subject.

On Thursday, the 9th, a much more serious affray occurred at Montreal, in consequence of the delivery of a lecture there by Father Gavazzi. The place of delivery was Zion Church, Haymarket Square. In order to guard against a recurrence of a scene similar to that which had been enacted three nights before at Quebec, a strong body of police were stationed opposite the church. Another occupied the middle of the square ; and a small body of troops was kept in readiness near by. While the lecture was in progress there was an attempt on the part of à band of Roman Catholic Irish to force their way into the church. In this attempt they would have succeeded in spite of the police but for a number of persons in the audience, who sallied forth and repelled the intruders. A few minutes afterwards the latter returned to the assault, and were again driven back. One of them fired a pistol in his retreat, and was immediately shot down by a Protestant. Several other shots followed, and in the confusion that ensued the lecture was hurriedly brought to a close, and the audience started for their respective homes, During their progress along the streets several shots were

Hincks— Morin.

t SI a

fired at them, and many of them were wounded by stones and other missiles. Two women were struck down and trampled almost to death. A child of nine years of age had its arm broken at the wrist. The streets resounded with the roars of murderous, half-drunken navvies, and the shrieks of terror-stricken women. Mr. Charles Wilson, the mayor of the city, for some unaccountable reason, ordered the troops, who had issued from their place of concealment, to fire upon the crowd. The order was obeyed, and five men fell dead. For a moment it seemed as though the massacre of St. Bartholomew was to be reënacted in the streets of Montreal; but the firing by the troops put an end to aggression on the part of the mob. The dead and wounded were conveyed to their homes. It is impossible even to approximate the number of the wounded, but among them were at least a score of respectable men, women and children, whose only offence was that they had sanctioned, by their presence, a lecture by Father Gavazzi.

Such an occurrence might well create tremendous excitement from one end of Canada to the other. The lawless character of the Montreal mob had never been more signally displayed, even during the excitement consequent on the Rebellion Losses Bill As for the mayor, the most charitable supposition is that he was so carried away by the excitement of the hour as to lose his head.* But he was a Roman Catholic, and the Protestant population generally were not charitable in judging of his motives. The Upper Canadian Opposition press made the calamity a ground of attack upon the Govern-

* Sir Francis Hincks is of opinion that the troops fired without orders, and he gives his reasons for believing that the mayor was guiltless of the massacre. —See his lecture on “The Political History of Canada,” pp. 78, 79. Sir Francis is doubtless sincere in giving expression to such a belief ; but a careful perusal of more than a score of contemporary accounts, and of the evidence given at the Inquest, together with repeated conversations with several persons who were present on the unfortunate occasion, have prevented the author from concurring in that view. It is fair, however to record the fact that Mr. Wilson himself, in his evidence before the Coroner’s Jury, denied on oath that he hud given any order to fire—a statement which was contradicted by several other witnesses,

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278 The Last Forty Years.

ment, who were charged with cowardice and heartlessness for not ordering an immediate and searching investigation. Mr. Hincks and the mayor of Montreal were both prominent members of the St. Patrick’s Society, and the former was charged with being under Roman Catholic influence for political ends. In this way even the Gavazzi riots were made to subserve party purposes. The Government perhaps fairly earned a measure of censure for not immediately setting on foot a rigorous investigation, and subjecting the breakers of the law to adequate punishment.* For bringing Gavazzi to Canada they were of course not responsible, nor can Mr. Hincks with any approach to justice be held personally accountable for the shorteomings of the mayor of Montreal.

Parliament adjourned on the 14th of June. Several ministerial changes occurred in the course of the summer. On the 22nd of June Attorney-General Richards was elevated to the place on the Bench which had become vacant in the previous April through the death of Judge Sullivan. He was succeeded in the Attorney-Generalship by the Hon. John Ross, whose place as Solicitor-General was taken by the Hon. Joseph Curran Morrison. In the middle of August Mr. Caron alsc accepted a seat on the bench of the Superior Court in his native Province. He was succeeded as Speaker of the Legislative Council by Mr. (James) Morris. The latter’s place of Postmaster-General was taken by Mr. Cameron, who was succeeded in the offices of President of the Council and Minister of Agriculture by Dr. Rolph. The Commissionership of Crown Lands was thus left vacant. After being offered to Mr. Sicotte, and refused by that gentleman, it was at the end of August assumed by Mr. Morin, who relinquished the Provincial Secretaryship to Mr. Chauveuu, The Solicitor-Generalship for Lower Canada was then filled by the appointment of Mr. Dunbar Ross, who had sat in the Assembly

* An investigation took place some time afterwards by the direction of the Government,

but there would seem to have been unnecessary delay, and it was charged that the enquiry was not conducted with that rigour which the circumstances called for,

Hincks—Morin. 279

for Megantic during the last Parliament, but who at this time had no seat in Parliament, nor was he required to find one until the next general election. These numerous changes did not tend to strengthen the Government. Mr. Richards’s demission of office was a decided loss, and the transference of some of the other portfolios was not popularly regarded with favour. The combined effect of these various modifications and the persistent attacks to which the Ministry were subjected by the Opposition press was that they were decidedly weaker than they had been at the beginning of the year. The composition of the Government underwent no further change while it remained in existence.

CuaPrEerR XXXIII.