The Bill was passed in the Assembly by forty-seven votes to eighteen. On analysing the votes, it was found that out of thirty-one members from Upper Canada who voted on the occasion, seventeen supported and fourteen opposed it; and that of ten members for Lower Canada, of British descent, six supported and four opposed it.
These facts (wrote Lord Elgin) seemed altogether irreconcilable with the allegation that the question was one on which the two races were arrayed against each other throughout the province generally. I considered, therefore, that by reserving the Bill, I should only cast on Her Majesty and Her Majesty's advisers a responsibility which ought, in the first instance at least, to rest on my own shoulders, and that I should awaken in the minds of the people at large, even of those who were indifferent or hostile to the Bill, doubts as to the sincerity with which it was intended that constitutional Government should be carried on in Canada; doubts which it is my firm conviction, if they were to obtain generally, would be fatal to the connection.
[Sidenote: and receives the Royal Assent.]
Accordingly, when, on April 25, 1849, circumstances made it necessary for him to proceed to Parliament in order to give the Royal Assent to a Customs Bill which had that day passed the Legislative Council, he considered that, as this necessity had arisen, it would not be expedient to keep the public mind in suspense by omitting to dispose, at the same time, of the other Acts which still awaited his decision, among which was the 'Act to provide for the indemnification of parties in Lower Canada whose property was destroyed during the Rebellion in 1837 and 1838.' What followed is thus described in an official despatch written within a few days after the event:—
[Sidenote: Riots.]
When I left the House of Parliament I was received with mingled cheers and hootings by a crowd by no means numerous which surrounded the entrance to the building. A small knot of individuals, consisting, it has since been ascertained, of persons of a respectable class in society, pelted the carriage with missiles which they must have brought with them for the purpose. Within an hour after this occurrence a notice, of which I enclose a copy, issued from one of the newspaper offices, calling a meeting in the open air. At the meeting inflammatory speeches were made. On a sudden, whether under the effect of momentary excitement, or in pursuance of a plan arranged beforehand, the mob proceeded to the House of Parliament, where the members were still sitting, and breaking the windows, set fire to the building and burned it to the ground. By this wanton act public property of considerable value, including two excellent libraries, has been utterly destroyed. Having achieved their object the crowd dispersed, apparently satisfied with what they had done. The members were permitted to retire unmolested, and no resistance was offered to the military who appeared on the ground after a brief interval, to restore order, and aid in extinguishing the flames. During the two following days a good deal of excitement prevailed in the streets, and some further acts of incendiarism were perpetrated. Since then the military force has been increased, and the leaders of the disaffected party have shown a disposition to restrain their followers, and to direct their energies towards the more constitutional object of petitioning the Queen for my recall, and the disallowance of the obnoxious Bill. The proceedings of the House of Assembly will also tend to awe the turbulent. I trust, therefore, that the peace of the city will not be again disturbed.
The Ministry are blamed for not having made adequate provision against these disasters. That they by no means expected that the hostility to the Rebellion Losses Bill would have displayed itself in the outrages which have been perpetrated during the last few days is certain.[3] Perhaps sufficient attention was not paid by them to the menaces of the Opposition press. It must be admitted, however, that their position was one of considerable difficulty. The civil force of Montreal—a city containing about 50,000 inhabitants of different races, with secret societies and other agencies of mischief in constant activity—consists of two policemen under the authority of the Government, and seventy appointed by the Corporation. To oppose, therefore, effectual resistance to any considerable mob, recourse must be had in all cases either to the military or to a force of civilians enrolled for the occasion. Grave objections, however, presented themselves in the present instance to the adoption of either of these courses until the disposition to tumult on the part of the populace unhappily manifested itself in overt acts. More especially was it of importance to avoid any measure which might have had a tendency to produce a collision between parties on a question on which their feelings were so strongly excited. The result of the course pursued is, that there has been no bloodshed, and, except in the case of some of the Ministers themselves, no destruction of private property.
The passions, however, which appeared to have calmed down, burst out with fresh fury the very day on which these sentences were penned. The House of Assembly had voted, by a majority of thirty-six to sixteen, an address to the Governor-General, expressive of abhorrence at the outrages which had taken place, of loyalty to the Queen, and approval of his just and impartial administration of the Government, with his late as well as with his present advisers. It was arranged that Lord Elgin should receive this Address at the Government House instead of at Monklands. Accordingly, on April 30, he drove into the city, escorted by a troop of volunteer dragoons, and accompanied by several of his suite. On his way through the streets he was greeted with showers of stones, and with difficulty preserved his face from being injured.[4] On his return he endeavoured to avoid all occasion of conflict by going back by a different route; but the mob, discovering his purpose, rushed in pursuit, and again assailed his carriage with various missiles, and it was only by rapid driving that he escaped unhurt.[5]
None but those who were in constant intercourse with him can know what Lord Elgin went through during the period of excitement which followed these gross outrages. The people of Montreal seemed to have lost their reason. The houses of some of the Ministers and of their supporters were attacked by mobs at night, and it was not safe for them to appear in the streets. A hostile visit was threatened to the house in which the Governor-General resided at a short distance from the city; all necessary preparation was made to defend it, and his family were kept for some time in a state of anxiety and suspense.[6]
For some weeks he himself did not go into the town of Montreal, but kept entirely within the bounds of his country seat at Monklands, determined that no act of his should offer occasion or excuse to the mob for fresh outrage.[7] He knew, of course, that the whole of French Lower Canada was ready at any moment to rise, as one man, in support of the Government; but his great object was to keep them quiet, and 'to prevent collision between the races.'