Sir John Sherbrooke was, at his own request, recalled. His health had been indifferent for some time. He was relieved of his government soon after he had requested to be so by His Grace the Duke of Richmond. Sir John sailed for England on the 12th of August, with his character either in a military or civil point of view untarnished. Richmond, Lennox and Aubigny, the new Governor-in-Chief, had been Lord Lieutenant General of Ireland. His hereditary rank, his previous position, as well as his present station obtained for him a consideration greater than any mere military knight could reasonably look for. He was accompanied by Major-General Sir Peregrine Maitland, K.C.B., his son-in-law appointed to the Lieutenant-Governorship of Upper Canada. His Grace was looked upon indeed as a semi-deity. But the Duke was exceedingly poor, and perhaps owed his own appointment as well as that of his son-in-law, as much to the influence of the Duke of Wellington, who was his friend, as to his own. He summoned the legislature of Canada together on the 12th of January, 1819, but merely intimated that the Queen had died, and adjourned the public business, out of respect to Her Majesty's memory, until the 22nd of the month. The opening speech on that day was a wretched affair. The Duke did not recommend anything beyond a provision for the expenses of the civil government, which the illness of Sir John Sherbrooke had prevented him from completing; and the reply to his Grace was as tame as His Grace's speech. It was very like two individuals in meeting, saluting each other with the words—"good morning, Sir,"—"a good morning to you, Sir,"—"shalom elachem," as the Jew has it, to be returned with "alaichem shalom," "peace be unto you,"—"with you be peace." His Grace was not slow in submitting the estimates of the expenses of the civil government for the year 1819. Instead of £73,646 currency, as before, the estimate was now £81,432. The House could not understand the sudden increase. Was it necessary to pay £15,000 extra for a Duke? That was gracious goodness to an appreciable extent! The estimate was referred to a select committee, who were to make as ostensible as possible the necessity for the increased demand, and if that could not be done, to say why not. The committee reported that the interests of the country would best be served by making an unqualified reduction of those sinecures and pensions, which, in all countries had been considered the reward of iniquities, and the encouragement of vice, and which had been and still were subjects of complaint in England, and would, in Canada, lead to corruption, and that too while the estimates contained the item of £8,000 sterling a year, to be placed at the disposal of His Majesty's representative, for rewarding provincial services, and for providing for old and reduced servants of the government and others. Mr. Ryland had already been in correspondence with the Duke's Secretary, Colonel Ready, and hence the provision in the civil list for decayed servants of the government. When this manœuvre failed, an attempt was made to obtain a permanent provision for the civil government of the province, during the reign of the sovereign, and that failing, another was made to vote the civil list money en bloc; but the Assembly would only listen to one proposition, however democratic it might be, and that was to vote the civil list annually, item by item, so that the House might increase or diminish particular salaries at will. The Assembly then went through the civil list, affixing to each office a salary, and passing over without any appropriation such offices as were either positive sinecures or little else. A bill was introduced and carried through the third reading, granting to offices particularly specified, particular salaries. It was sent to the Legislative Council for concurrence, and was there at once rejected. The Council looked upon the mode adopted by the bill of granting a supply to His Majesty as unprecedented and unconstitutional, as an assumption of the prerogative of the Crown, as calculated to prescribe to the Crown the number and description of its servants, and as certain to make the Crown officers dependent on an elective body, whereby they might be made instrumental in overthrowing the Crown itself. Thus was the civil list bill lost. A company was incorporated to construct a canal between Montreal and Lachine. £3,000 was appropriated towards the apportionment of lands to the militia who had served during the war; and Pierre Bedard, Esquire, Judge for the District of Three Rivers, was impeached by Mr. C. R. Ogden. Mr. Ogden accused Bedard of prostituting his judicial authority to the gratification of personal malice; of tyranny; of imposing fines upon his enemies on pretence of punishing contempts of Courts; of uttering expressions derogatory to the other judges of the Court in which he sat; of having accused the barristers of Three Rivers frequently of high breaches of moral and professional rectitude; of having wickedly imprisoned in the common gaol of Three Rivers, Charles Richard Ogden, Esquire, then and still being His Majesty's Counsel for the said district, for an alleged libel and contempt against the provincial Court, in which Mr. Bedard was the judge; for having illegally fined Pierre Vezina, Esquire, an advocate practicing in Court, ten shillings, for pretended contemptuous conduct; and for having grossly and unjustifiably attacked the character of Joseph de Tonnancour, a barrister. The articles of impeachment were referred to a committee which reported in favor of the judge, and the House did not, therefore, impeach him.
While this was going on a message was received from His Grace the Governor-in-Chief, acquainting the members of the Legislative Council that the commands of the Prince Regent had been received respecting the proceedings of the Assembly against Mr. Foucher. The Regent directed that the Assembly, previous to any ulterior proceeding, should lay before the Governor-in-Chief such documentary evidence as they might consider adequate to support the charges which they had brought against Mr. Justice Foucher, and that copies of such charges, of such documentary evidence, and of the examination already taken and annexed to the charges should be then transmitted by His Grace the Governor-in-Chief to Mr. Justice Foucher for his answer and defence, which answer and defence would be submitted to the Assembly for their reply, when the whole of the documents would be submitted to the Regent for such further course as the case might require. The Legislative Council were quite shocked at this message. They had been told that they might adjudicate upon cases of impeachment, and now it was commanded that they should gather evidence and send it to the Regent for adjudication. The Council dutifully remonstrated, feeling it due to itself to state to His Grace that at the time of receiving the late Governor's message it was prevented from taking more upon itself than to return its humble thanks for the "decision" of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, on the subject of its address of the 3rd of March, 1817, by representations made in the Council, that the state of His Excellency's health was such that a further agitation of the business at the moment might endanger his life. But the House confidently relied on the communication, contained in the message, that the "arrangement" therein announced with respect to the adjudication of impeachments by the Council was final. If representations had subsequently been made tending to withdraw from the Council the favor and confidence of the Crown, all doubt would be removed by the communication which they solicited from His Excellency as to the Royal intervention, and the House would finally be able, with His Grace's powerful support, to secure the full and free exercise of a privilege, without which the balance of an admirable constitution would be destroyed, and the second estate of the provincial legislature be reduced to insignificance and contempt. The answer to this address was most emphatic. Mr. Justice Foucher was ordered to resume his functions as a Judge of the Court of King's Bench, at Montreal; and the Duke turning from the Council, drew the attention of the Assembly to the necessity which existed for a reform in the judicature. The Assembly had indeed already expressed an opinion to the effect that it was necessary for the independence of the judges that they should not be withdrawn from their judicial duties by holding any other offices in the civil administration of the government. The House of Assembly paid very little heed, however, to the recommendation of the Duke. There was, indeed, no ministry in the confidence of the majority to originate any business in the Lower House, and for one of a minority, the creature of the government in the Assembly, and without the shadow of influence in it, to take the matter up, would have been worse than useless. The Lower House was, indeed, like a ship without a helm. It was uncontrollable. All that a governor could do was to look upon the most popular man in the Assembly, as if he were a minister of State, and govern in such a manner as to suit his views. The expediency of erecting the Eastern Townships into a judicial district had been represented to the Assembly at its previous session. It was considered a denial of justice to require people situated as the Eastern Township farmers were, in a new and rather far off country, when the want of good roads is considered, to sue and be sued in the Courts of Montreal, Three Rivers, or Quebec. But they stirred not. They merely appointed a committee to draw up a statement of the receipts of the provincial revenue of the Crown, and of the disbursements by the Receiver General from the date of the constitution to 1819; and also a statement of all the appropriations made by the legislature, and of the amount paid upon each of them by the Receiver General, the balance to be stated and the monies to be counted. There was evidently a suspicion in the minds of some of the members of the Assembly that the National Bank had been paying interest out of the new deposits and that the managers were living in the same style of novelty. However that may have been, the business of legislation was now concluded, and His Grace the Duke of Richmond, Lennox and Aubigny, Governor-in-Chief of Canada, and Captain General of British North America, came down to the Legislative Chambers in State. He took his seat upon the throne quickly. He seemed to speak to his attendants testily. He sent for the Commons impatiently. And he looked sternly. Colonel Ready, as soon as the Commons had appeared, handed His Excellency, who was not particularly gracious, a paper to read. "Gentlemen of the Legislative Council," were the first words uttered, and all eyes were upon the Duke. "You have not disappointed my hopes. I thank you for your zeal and alacrity. Gentlemen of the Assembly:—It is with deep concern that I cannot thank you in connection with the result of your labors and of the principles upon which they rest. You proceeded to vote a part of the sum required for the expenses of 1819, but the bill of appropriation which you prepared was founded upon such principles that it had been most constitutionally rejected by the Upper House, and so the government has been left without the supplies necessary for the support of the civil administration for the ensuing year, notwithstanding the voluntary offer given to the King in 1810." His Grace had recommended by special message the consideration of the Judicature Act so that it might be amended, and the Assembly had not even proceeded with it so far as to enable the Governor-in-Chief to transmit the result of the parliamentary proceedings to the King's ministers, with the view of obtaining the opinions and assistance of the law officers of the Crown in England. He did trust, therefore, that at an early day in the next session the matter would be proceeded with. He had assented to the militia bill with reluctance. It was not necessary that the officers should be natives of the province. There were many half-pay officers of the army who were much better fitted for holding commissions in the militia than wealthy habitants were; and there were clerks, and other enterprising young men about cities and towns, who, on any emergency, were equally as well adapted for officers of militia as any seigneur whatever. The population of the province afforded excellent materials for a defensive army, but a general and proper selection of officers was necessary to make it formidable to an active and enterprising enemy. The selection of officers must only belong to the executive power. This speech did not raise the Duke of Richmond in the estimation of the Commons of Canada. Some were inclined to laugh at His Excellency, while not a few were offended. His Grace had been evidently tampered with. He was not looked upon as a free agent. While perfectly willing to defray the expenses of the civil administration, the Commons felt no disposition to build up a pension list or to be in any way burthened with life annuities to officers of the imperial army, for whom the imperial government was bound to provide. All the officers required in the civil government of the country, the Commons were prepared amply to remunerate, but they were not at all prepared to award salaries for the perpetuation of sinecure offices, the holders of which had never set a foot in the country. The Commons, in a word, desired to have some control over the government itself, as, in a free country all power should proceed from the people. This was denied to them. They were required to do whatever the government desired, and refusing obedience, they were castigated, castigated by the representative of the sovereign of a free country, of which Canada formed a part. In spite of this rugged mode of governing, the country was nevertheless, making progress. Business was brisk. The population was rapidly increasing. A steamer had been placed on the Ottawa. The Rideau Canal to connect the Ottawa with Lake Ontario, at Kingston, had been commenced, at the expense of the imperial government, as a military work. Quebec contained 2,008 houses, and a population of 15,257 souls, of whom 11,991 were Roman Catholics, and 3,266 were Protestants. Four new vessels had been built at Quebec in the course of the past year, and 409 vessels of 94,657 tons of shipping had been cleared at the port of Quebec, while merchandise to the amount of £772,373 had been imported. The gross revenue amounted to £58,332 sterling for Lower Canada, and £18,673 sterling for Upper Canada. The expenditure amounted to £127,379 sterling, including £9,720 for the purchase of seed wheat in 1817; £45,270 in payment of army bills: £14,988, the fifth of the whole duties collected for 1817 and due to Upper Canada, by agreement. The cost of mere legislation was this year £13,420 currency. In 1819, from the opening of the navigation to the 12th of October, 612 vessels had arrived, and 12,434 immigrants had come to enrich the country by their labor and benefit trade by their necessities.
In the Lower Province two Banks had already been established; there was now one in operation at Kingston, in Upper Canada. It is not a little curious, however, that when efforts were first made to establish the Kingston Bank the current of public opinion set so strongly against the measure, that although supported by men of intelligence and respectability, it was abandoned without the presentation of petitions to the legislature. A bill, as may have already been perceived, was, nevertheless, passed, for the incorporation of the bank, but reserved for His Majesty's pleasure by Governor Gore. The roads, in Upper Canada, were at this period so indifferent that there were but few common carriages, while the inns were so indifferent that in the summer season travelling was for the most part accomplished by water. Indeed the facilities afforded by water for travelling in some very considerable degree impeded the improvement of the roads, between towns situated very far apart.
Sir Peregrine Maitland having assumed the government of Upper Canada, met the parliament of that province, for the first time, on the 12th of October, 1818. His "maiden" speech from the throne was noticeable for the remark that parliament would feel a just indignation at the attempts which had been made to excite discontent and to organize sedition, accompanied by the hint and suggestion that should it appear to parliament that a convention of delegates could not exist without danger to the constitution, in framing a law of prevention, parliamentary wisdom would be careful that it should not unwarily trespass on that sacred right of the subject to seek a redress of his grievances by petition. Mr. Robert Gourlay, of Craigrothie, Fifeshire, in Scotland, had emigrated to Upper Canada, with the view of settling himself and family and indeed of making a settlement in some suitable spot. Mr. Guthrie had peculiar ideas with regard to emigration, free trade, and liberty of speech. He was a democrat, but not, by any means, a republican. He was not politically connected with either Cobbett or Hunt, although he seems to have known both of these gentlemen. He was not in the habit of attending such meetings as those that were held at Spa-fields and were then termed "radical" meetings, although he had been at a meeting in Spa-fields. He had been both in Ireland and in the United States, but he was neither an Irish rebel nor an American revolutionist. He had only a bee in his bonnet, which has since buzzed in the bonnets of a very great number of men, whose loyalty or patriotism has not been even doubted, and, who, consequently, have never been marked "dangerous" by a colonial Justice of the Peace. Mr. Guthrie conceived that Canada was capable of absorbing about 50,000 of the poor of England, Ireland, and Scotland, annually; that a land tax was preferable to taxes on trade and manufactures, especially in a new country; that there should be three description of roads—provincial, district, and township; that it would be advantageous to connect the lakes of the St. Lawrence together, and permit the free navigation of the Canadian inland waters from Lake Superior to the sea; that free trade should exist; and that there should be no hindrance to the expression of public opinion, however offensive to the authorities such public opinion might be. Mr. Guthrie arrived in Canada in the summer of 1817, and after looking around him, determined upon establishing himself as a land agent. He had, in truth, conceived schemes for a grand system of emigration, and set about obtaining statistics with the view of setting forth the capabilities of the country to the people of England. He addressed the landowners of Upper Canada for information. He sent circulars to the people, but unfortunately made allusion to the able resolutions brought forward at the close of the last session of the provincial parliament. He brought the matter before the parliament itself, but that body having been suddenly prorogued, by Governor Gore, the idea of a convention suggested itself to Mr. Gourlay. The Executive of Upper Canada took alarm. The desire, for a knowledge of the condition, circumstances, and requirements of the townships and districts, was in connection with some radical schemes for upsetting British authority in the Canadas. Mr. Guthrie was misrepresented and, with the view of creating a general panic, he was arrested. Nevertheless, deputies were chosen and a convention was held at York. In this convention the political restraints to which the colonists were liable were fully discussed. There was undoubted mismanagement on the part of the executive government, and Gourlay advised a petition to the Prince Regent, soliciting the appointment of a commission from England to make enquiries. Such a proposal could not fail to give offence. Gourlay was arrested and carried before the most virulent of his political enemies. He was tried and twice acquitted, but the London Courier, of the 8th of July, 1818, arrived, in which he was alluded to as "one of the worthies, who had escaped after the disgraceful proceedings of Spa-fields." That was enough. Mr. Gourlay was brought before a magistrate, Mr. Dickson, M.P. "Do you know Mr. Cobbett?" asked the magistrate. "Yes," answered the culprit. "Do you know Mr. Hunt?" "Yes." "Were you at Spa-fields?" "Yes." "Were you ever in Ireland?" "Yes." "Were you lately in the Lower Province?" "Yes." "Were you lately in the United States?" "Yes." "Was it you that wrote the article in the Spectator, headed "Gagged, gagged by jingo?"" "It was." "Then," said Mr. Dickson to his fellow magistrates, "it is my opinion that Mr. Gourlay is a man of desperate fortune, and would stick at nothing to raise insurrection in the province." He was committed to gaol charged with treasonable practices! There was then, indeed, no real liberty in the province, and Mr. Gourlay had made use of words which only could be used safely in England. The magistracy were completely in the hands of the Executive Council, and a considerable number of both Houses were inclined to do whatever they were ordered. Indeed there were few politicians in the country, politics not having yet become a trade. The Commons replied to Sir Peregrine Maitland just as he wished. They were convinced that a convention of delegates could not exist without danger to the constitution. Nay, they even went further, and on the 19th of October, presented an address expressing just indignation at the systematic attempts that had been made to excite discontent and organize sedition in the province, and they deeply regretted that the designs of one man should have succeeded in drawing into the support of his vile machinations so many honest men, and loyal subjects of His Majesty. A bill was passed indeed to prevent the organization of persons, who might degrade the character of the province, and after assenting to several bills Sir Peregrine Maitland closed the session by thanking parliament for the seasonable aid of "An Act for preventing certain meetings within the province." He conceived that if the people were aggrieved they could send a petition to the foot of the throne. The Surveyor General's Department was to be abolished. He was proud of the sentiments expressed by the House of Assembly and would send them to His Majesty's government. Had the public mind been tranquil, he would have brought before the Houses a few objects of general importance, one of which was a remedy for the unequal pressure of the road laws. Mr. Gourlay was retained in gaol, then ordered to leave the province, and, on refusing to go, was tried for disobeying an Act of parliament. He was forcibly ejected from the province, and it was not until 1847 that the province of Canada offered him redress in the shape of a pension of some fifty pounds a year, Mr. Gourlay being then resident in Scotland. Governor Maitland again met the parliament of Upper Canada on the 7th of June, 1819. He informed the parliament that the Queen had closed a long life, illustrious for the exemplary discharge of every public and private duty; that the Regent had authorised the governors of both Canadas to bestow lands on certain of the provincial army and militia, "which served" during the late war; that recent purchases from the natives had been so far effected, as would enable him to set apart tracts in the several districts, to accommodate such of their respective inhabitants as were within the limits of the royal instruction; but that he (Governor Maitland) did not consider himself justified in extending that mark of approbation to any of the individuals, who composed the late convention of delegates, the proceedings of which were properly the subject of very severe parliamentary animadversion. The royal assent had been given to the bill for the establishment of a provincial bank, but, from some delay, it did not arrive in time for promulgation, within the period limited by law; the form of an enactment would, therefore, be necessary to render it available. He was deeply impressed with the necessity of an amendment to the road law; neglected grants of an early day were becoming a serious evil. The exemption of any land belonging to individuals, from the operation of the assessment law, was found to be detrimental: a new bill so modified as to protect the land from sale by distress until due notice could be given to the proprietors would receive His Majesty's assent. The public accounts would be laid before the House of Assembly with the estimates for the ensuing year. The growth of the province in population and wealth, justified a reasonable expectation that the measures adopted to encourage it would receive the fullest support: and the expediency of affording the new settlers, situated remotely from the great lakes and rivers, an easy approach to market was apparent, and with other matters would, he hoped, be attended to. The speech in reply was satisfactory, but there was an under current of public opinion, not quite so satisfactory. It was considered that Governor Maitland had exceeded his authority in withholding in part that which the Regent had instructed him not to withhold at all. Conventions were not illegal. The right to meet and discuss public measures had never been called in question. The convention was composed of men who were altogether loyal. To upset the government of the province or to get rid of imperial authority was never contemplated. All that the members of convention desired was the repeal of several grievances, and they meant only to petition the Regent for their removal. The executive influence in the legislature was overwhelming and mischievous. The governor had not only the disposal of every civil office, and of every civil and military commission, but of land to a boundless extent. That influence had been repeatedly misapplied. The lamentable effects of such a misapplication of influence had been too frequently witnessed. Public duty was neglected. The whole face of the country was pining with disease. Nature was everywhere struggling with misrule. And civilization itself was on the decline. In Upper Canada the image and transcript of the British constitution was now only reflected by Major-General Sir Peregrine Maitland, and five executive councillors. Legislation was embraced in a governor's speech from the throne.
About the time of the prorogation of the session, His Grace, the Duke of Richmond, came to Upper Canada, on a tour of inspection. His Grace and his son-in-law went to Niagara together. Important internal improvements were contemplated, and the two governors were desirous of ascertaining how they might be effected. The Duke, after a short stay in Upper Canada, bade farewell to his relative, and, with Colonel Ready, his secretary, was on his way to Quebec, when, somewhere between Kingston and Montreal, he became seriously ill. It is not very certain what ailed him. He was said to have been bitten by a fox. However, he died, in a few hours, of excruciating suffering. He supported, for the brief period, a disease, supposed to be hydrophobia, with undaunted constancy, and yielded up his spirit on the 28th of August, 1819. His remains were brought to Quebec, and there interred with great pomp and ceremony, beneath the altar of the Church of England Cathedral, but as yet no monument has been erected to his memory.
The administration of the government of the province of Lower Canada was, on the death of the Duke of Richmond, assumed by the senior member of the Executive Council, Mr. Monk, and President Monk issued his proclamation to that effect, on the 20th of September. He summoned the legislature to meet for the despatch of business on the 21st of February, 1820. Mr. Monk had, however, hardly assumed the government when Sir Peregrine Maitland arrived in Quebec, from Upper Canada, to take the administration of affairs into his hands, according to instructions which, on his appointment to the Lieutenant-Governorship of Upper Canada, he had received from the imperial government. He did not stay long. He merely advised Mr. Monk, whom he left in charge of the government, and on the 9th of February he set out again for Upper Canada, to dissolve the parliament. The existing parliament had been very refractory and had been admonished even by the late Governor-in-Chief. The Parliament was dissolved and writs for an election, returnable on the 11th of April, issued. Gaspé being very remotely situated was an exception. The Gaspé writ was not returnable until the 1st of June. Nothing was gained to the administration by the resort to dissolution. The new parliament was even more hostile to the government than the old one. The people approved of the course pursued by the late Assembly in the matter of the civil list and indeed approved of their proceedings generally. Sir Peregrine returned to Quebec on the 17th of March, after he had prorogued the parliament of Upper Canada, and having assumed the management of the public business, he convened the parliament on the 11th of April, the very day on which the writs were returnable, Gaspé only excepted. He opened the House with a speech remarkable for nothing but its brevity. Mr. Papineau was re-elected Speaker and the choice approved of. But this was no sooner done than the Assembly found themselves incompetent for the transaction of business. The House must, by law, consist of fifty members, and only forty-nine had been returned. The Gaspé writ was not returnable until the 1st of June. There was no House. Business could not legally be carried on. A message came down from the Governor recommending the renewal of certain Acts of the legislature. The House paid no attention to the message. The House at last resolved that it could do no business. The twelve months within which a session was necessary would expire on the 24th of April, and there could be no return of the Gaspé writ until the 1st of June. The Governor was informed of his "fix," but was by no means pleased. He did not believe in such nonsense as the unavoidable non-return of a single member being a matter of such importance as the Assembly alleged. He begged that they would go on with the public business. The House would not budge. A message came from the Legislative Council, and the messenger knocked, but the door of the Assembly remained closed. The government had dissolved the parliament stupidly and the parliament meant stupidly to dissolve the government. It was the 24th of April when the news of the death of King George the Third reached Quebec, by way of New York, when the Administrator was offered an excuse for another dissolution, by which the accident threatened by the previous dissolution could be escaped. Parliament was dissolved, during the firing of minute guns and the tolling of bells; and a new king was proclaimed by the sheriff, after a salute of 100 guns had been fired, on the Place d'Armes, in presence of the Governor, the heads of departments, the troops and a crowd of people. There was no other occurrence of moment until the arrival of the new Governor General, the Earl of Dalhousie, who arrived from Halifax, where he had administered the government of Nova Scotia, on the 18th of June, in H.M.S. Newcastle. Lord Dalhousie was a soldier. He had been altogether educated in the camp. To the trickery of diplomacy he was quite a stranger. He had not long arrived when the general elections took place. Mr. Papineau, the Speaker of the late Assembly, was at the hustings addressing a Montreal constituency. How strong the feeling was in favor of British constitutional rule in comparison with the Bourbon fashion of ruling colonies, the Earl of Dalhousie learned from Mr. Papineau's own lips. A great national calamity had made it imperative upon Mr. Papineau to court the favor of his constituents a second time in one year. A sovereign who had reigned over the inhabitants of Canada since the day in which they had become British subjects, had ceased to breathe. To express the feeling of gratitude which was due to him, or to say how much his loss was mourned would be impossible. Each year of his long reign had been marked by new favors bestowed on the country. A comparison between the happy situation of Canada at present, with the situation of Canada under "our" fore-fathers, when George the Third became their legitimate monarch, would sufficiently indicate the extent of the calamity which Canada had sustained in the death of the good old king. Under the French government the rule was arbitrary and oppressive. Canada had been neglected by the French Court, and mal-administered by the French Viceroys. The fertility of the soil, the salubrity of the climate, and the extent of territory which might even then have been the peaceful abode of a numerous and happy population was not considered. Canada was looked upon as a mere military post. The people were compelled to live in perpetual warfare and insecurity. There was no general trade. Trade was in the hands of companies. Famine was of frequent occurrence. Public and private property were insecure. Personal liberty was daily violated. Year after year the inhabitants of Canada were dragged from their homes and families to shed their blood, and carry murder and havoc from the shores of the great lakes and the banks of the Mississippi and Ohio, to the coasts of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Hudson's Bay. And now, how changed! The reign of law has succeeded to that of violence. Religious toleration; trial by jury; the Habeas Corpus; and the right to obey no other laws than those of our own making, have taken the place of perpetual warfare and perpetual insecurity. Such was the news received by Lord Dalhousie, on his arrival, and that too immediately preceding a deplorable period of agricultural distress in both of the Canadas; when the absence of all demand for wheat had compelled several farmers in the district of Montreal to send hay, oats, and vegetables, in boats, down the river, for the chance of a market at Quebec; when in some of the parishes of Montreal, which formerly sold great quantities of wheat for exportation, farms partly cleared, with a log house and barn, had been sold at sheriff's sales, for less than the usual law expenses incurred to effect the sale; and when one immediate consequence of this distress was expected to be on the part of the farmers a compulsory resort to family manufactures for their supply of clothing, as they must soon otherwise have been without the means of protecting their bodies against the inclemency of the seasons. Commercial operations had, however, been tolerably brisk. 585 vessels of 147,754 tons had arrived from sea, in 1820, and 7 new vessels had been built at Quebec. £674,556 worth of merchandise had been imported.
Lord Dalhousie met the legislature of Lower Canada on the 14th of December. Mr. Papineau was re-elected Speaker and approved of when the Governor-in-Chief opened the business of the session. His Lordship made a semi-theatrical allusion to the death of the late king; mixing it up with the death of the Duke of Richmond, whom he had known and honored during thirty years, when he immediately descended to pounds, shillings and pence. He called attention to the accounts of the general expenditure for the past two years; he would lay before the Assembly the accounts of the expense annually incurred in the administration of the government, and he would add a statement of the annual product of the permanent taxes, and hereditary territorial revenues of the Crown. By these documents the Assembly would perceive that the annual permanent revenue of the province was not equal to the amount of annual permanent charges upon the provincial civil list, but was deficient in about £22,000. The king had commanded him to say that having, from past experience, the fullest confidence in the loyalty and sense of duty of the Canadian people, he expected that a proper and permanent provision would be made to supply the deficiency, so that the civil government of the province might be sustained with honor and advantage to his subjects. He had made a tour of the province, but could not take upon himself to point out with confidence those measures of improvement which would prove of the most advantage to the country. He concurred, however, in all that had been said on the subject by the late Duke of Richmond, and the Duke's recommendations were worthy of consideration by the parliament. A permanent revenue law or a revenue law not liable to be suddenly changed, would benefit trade. Agriculture should be encouraged. The militia laws should be renewed. The waste lands should be settled. A tide of immigration had set in, which promised to continue. Many of the new comers were poor, and some had been grievously afflicted with sickness. Not a few had abundant means. The settlement of these immigrants should not have been impeded by the want of legislative aid. There were great advantages to be derived from a new population. Lower Canada, he was aware, had a population sufficiently numerous to settle the waste lands. There were, undoubtedly, prejudices against the introduction of strangers to be overcome, and there were also prejudices in the minds of strangers, affecting their settlement in Lower Canada, fertile as it was, offering as it undeniably did, so many facilities for manufacturing operations, and presenting, as was apparent, so wide a field for internal trade. Inducements should be held out to new comers, with the view of making them spread more widely. Parochial churches should be erected. Roads affording access to distant woodlands should be laid out. For himself, he would assure the Assembly that he had no object in view but the good of the country. The Assembly liked the frankness of the Governor-in-Chief. They had no idea, however, of permanently appropriating, in the then uncertain state of trade, an amount for the civil list, exceeding half the usual amount of the whole revenue. They would vote annually, in accordance with their promise to Sir John Sherbrooke, all the necessary expenses of the government if His Excellency pleased, and no more. With regard to permanent taxes they believed such a mode of taxation to be impracticable. They would, however, investigate the effects that might result from a long duration of the revenue laws. They would, if it were possible, inspire the commercial classes with confidence. Legislation was then proceeded with. The civil list was first considered. The estimate divided the list into classes. There was the Governor-in-Chief and his staff; the Legislature and its officers; the Executive Council and its officers; the Judges, Sheriffs, Clerks of Courts, and Tipstaffs; the Secretary and Registrar of the Province; the Receiver General and his clerk; the Surveyor General and clerks; the Surveyor of Woods; the Auditor of Land Patents; the Inspector General and clerks; and the contingencies of the whole. The estimate amounted to £44,877. The Assembly proceeded to the discussion of the items con amore. Item after item was read over and commented upon, much after the present fashion. John Neilson was then a member of the Assembly. Mr. Neilson was then as much an economist as Mr. Mackenzie is or pretends to be now. He was wisely jealous of the government. Mr. Neilson, the editor of the Quebec Gazette, was in the highest degree intelligent. He was honest and, consequently independent. He could say more in a sentence than Charles Richard Ogden could combat in a speech. He was a tall, spare man, with rugged, but yet prepossessing features. He had always two black eyes, overshadowed by a low protruding forehead. From the occiput to the os frontis, his head was quite level and extraordinarily long. It was possibly due to Mr. Neilson's intelligence that, after some reductions had been made, the required supply was voted, not in a bill, providing for the payment of stipulated sums to certain individuals, but in a bill in which allowances were made for six different departments and a supply voted for the whole. The sum voted, notwithstanding certain reductions was more than the estimate. £46,000 sterling was appropriated towards defraying the expenses of the civil government. £3,083, the charge upon the pension list, and £1,543, the annual cost of the militia staff were added to the civil list. The supply was voted en bloc, or almost so, with the view of reconciling the Legislative Council to an annual appropriation, and because that House had objected to the previous supply bill in which certain sums were appropriated for the payment of certain functionaries. Nevertheless, the bill was rejected by the Legislative Council. The bill had not made a permanent provision for the civil list, and it interfered with monies already appropriated. The Council resolved that it would not proceed upon any bill of supply, which should not have been applied for by the king's representative; the Council would not proceed upon any bill appropriating public money that should not have been recommended by the king's representative; the Council would not proceed upon any bill of appropriation, for money issued, in consequence of an address of the Assembly to the king's representative, unless upon some extraordinary emergency; the Council would not proceed upon any appropriation of public money for any salary or pension hereafter to be created, unless the quantum of such salary or pension had been recommended by the king's representative; and the Council would not proceed upon any bill of appropriation for the civil list, which should contain specifications therein, by chapters or items, nor unless the same should be granted during the life of the king. The Assembly were also quite resolved as to the course to be pursued by them. They would pass no bill of supply without specifications, nor for any period longer than a year. They would not pass any bill at all for the purposes of defraying the expenses of the government, unless the right of applying and apportioning by vote, the monies previously appropriated towards the support of the civil government, was also conceded to them. This quarrel between the two Houses was an exceedingly interesting one. The members of the Upper House, or the majority of them, felt themselves to be personally interested—and were uneasy, while the Assembly, having no other interest in the matter, than principle and a sense of expediency, could maintain their position, without flinching, for almost any length of time. Nay, the Assembly were positively generous. As the rejection of the supply bill had left the Executive without the means of defraying the civil expenditure for the year, the Assembly tendered the sum of £46,060 sterling to His Excellency, pledging themselves to make good the amount by a bill at the ensuing session. But His Excellency would not have it. He was of opinion that the grant, now proposed, was wholly ineffectual without the concurrence of the Legislative Council. There was no answer. Mr. Neilson moved, and the Assembly resolved that, the speech of His Grace the Governor-in-Chief, on the 24th of April, 1819, contained a censure of the proceedings of the Assembly; that all censure of any proceeding of the Assembly, by either of the branches of the legislature, was an assumption and exercise of power contrary to law, a breach of the undoubted rights and privileges of the House of Assembly, and subversive of the constitution of the government, as by law established in the province; and that it was the undoubted right of the Assembly, in voting aids or supplies, or offering money bills for the consent of the other branches of the legislature, to adopt such order or mode of proceedings, as it might find conformable to its rules, and to propound such matter as in its judgment should seem fitted and most conducive to the peace, welfare, and good government of the province.
Mr. Andrew Stuart, a man of brilliant attainments, was busily engaged in the exposure of the enormous abuses that had prevailed in the improvident and prodigal grants of the Crown lands. A bill was brought forward in the Assembly for more effectually ascertaining the state of the public funds in the hands of the Receiver General. The Receiver General was to account annually to the legislature for his expenditures, and he was to tell over, for its disposal by the Assembly, the balance which he should have remaining in hand. He was to be allowed a commission on all monies paid into his hands, in lieu of a salary. And he was not to be engaged in trade. The bill did not, however, receive a third reading, and the Receiver General still continued to carry on the business of a lumber merchant. A bill was also introduced for the trial of impeachments by the Legislative Council, but was afterwards relinquished. An effort was made to obtain a per diem allowance for the members of the Assembly, but it was not successful. Mr. James Stuart was named agent for the province in London, and the sum of £2,000 was voted to defray his expenses in that capacity; but the appointment was set aside by the Council, because a Mr. Gordon, who held a situation in the Colonial Office, had been previously appointed agent for the province by the Executive government, with a salary of £200 a year. Several messages, relative to public improvements were sent down to the Assembly in the course of the session, but the House only promised to consider them next session. One bill, of great importance, was, however, passed:—that to open a canal between Montreal and Lachine, at the public expense. Before the close of the session the House represented that if a Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, with a salary of £1,500 a year, was necessary, he should be resident in the province; that the Lieutenant-Governorship of Gaspé, to which a salary of £300 a year was attached, was a sinecure; that the Secretary of the Province, with a salary of £400 a year, resided in London, while his duties were performed by a deputy, who only received the fees incidental to the office; that the agent of the province, who received £200 a year, did nothing for his salary, and had no services to perform, being merely the agent of the Executive; and that it was the opinion of the Assembly that no salary should be allowed to any of the members of the Executive Council, non-resident in the province. It was further represented that the offices of Judge of the Vice-Admiralty and Judge of the Court of King's Bench were incompatible, and that the offices of Judge of the King's Bench and of French Translator to the Court could not be held by the same person. The exaction of fees, too, by the Judge of the Vice-Admiralty, while he received a salary of £200 a year, in lieu of fees, was improper and contrary to law. And the Governor-in-Chief was requested to effect remedies. On the 17th of March, the session was prorogued. Lord Dalhousie could not express his satisfaction at the general result of the Assembly's deliberations. He regretted that the expectations of His Majesty, with respect to the civil list, had not been realised. He was disappointed. The administration of the civil government had been left without any pecuniary means, but what he should advance upon his own personal responsibility. Individuals would suffer under severe and unmerited hardships, caused by the want of that constitutional authority necessary for the payment of the expenses of the civil government; the improvements of the country were nearly at a stand; and the executive government was palsied and powerless. When parliament should be again summoned for legislation, it would be summoned to decide whether government should be restored to its constitutional energy, or whether the prospect of lasting misfortune was to be deplored by a continuance of the present state of things. The Assembly inwardly chuckled as the Governor concluded his speech. All that they wanted had been in part effected. The government had acknowledged itself to be constitutionally dependent on the Assembly for its energy and for its pecuniary means. It was hoped, indeed, that sooner or later, the propriety of permitting the Assembly to vote the supplies, after its own fashion, would be conceded.
Shortly after the prorogation, Mr. Papineau, the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr. Hale, a member of the Legislative Council, and Colonel Ready, Civil Secretary, were added to the Executive Council.
On the 7th of July, the construction of the Lachine Canal was commenced.