Diary in America, Series Two

by Frederick Marryat

It was fortunate for the country that there was such a man as Sir John Colborne, and aided by Sir Francis Head, at that period in the command of the two provinces. Of the first it is not necessary that I should add my tribute of admiration to that which Sir John Colborne has already so unanimously received. Sir Francis Head has not been quite so fortunate, and has been accused (most unjustly) of rashness and want of due precaution. Now the only grounds upon which this charge can be preferred is, his sending down to Sir John Colborne all the regular troops, when he was requested if possible so to do. I was at this period at Toronto, and as I had the pleasure of being intimate with Sir Francis, I had fell knowledge of the causes of this decision. Sir Francis said, “I have but two hundred regular troops; they will be of great service in the Lower Province, when added to those which Sir John Colborne already has under his command. Here they are not sufficient to stem an insurrection if it be formidable. I do not know what may be the strength of the rebels until they show themselves, but I think I do know the number who will support me. Should the rebels prove in great three, these two companies of regular troops will be overwhelmed, and what I consider is, not any partial success of the rebel party, but the moral effect which success over regular troops will create. There are, I am sure, thousands who are at present undecided, who, if they heard that the regular troops, of whom they have such dread, were overcome, would join the rebel cause. This is what I fear; as for any advantage gained over me, when I have only militia to oppose to them, that is of little consequence. When Sir John Colborne has defeated them in Lower Canada, he can then come up here, with the regular troops.”

I believe these to be the very words used by Sir Francis Head when he asked my opinion on the subject, and I agreed with him most cordially; but if any one is inclined to suppose, from the light, playful, and I must say, undiplomatic style of Sir Francis’s despatches, that he had not calculated every chance, and made every disposition which prudence and foresight could suggest, they are very much mistaken. The most perfect confidence was reposed in him by all parties; and the event proved that he was not out in his calculations, for with the militia alone he put down the rebellion. During the short time from Sir Francis Head’s going out, until he requested to be recalled, he did more good to that province, and more to secure the English dominion than could be imagined, and had he not been governor of the province for some time previous to the rebellion, I strongly surmise that it would have been lost to this country.

The events of the rebellion are too fresh in the reader’s memory to be mentioned here. It is, however, necessary to examine into the present state of affairs, for it must not be supposed that the troubles have yet ceased.

First, as to the French Canadian party. If I am not very much mistaken, this may be considered as broken up; the severe lesson received from the English troops, and the want of confidence in their leaders from their cowardice and inability, will prevent the French Canadians from again taking up arms. They are naturally a peaceable, inoffensive, good-tempered people, and nothing but the earnest instigation of a portion of their priests, the notaries, and the doctors, (the three parties who most mix with the habitants), would have ever roused them to rebellion. As it is, I consider that they are efficiently quelled, and will be quiet, at least for one generation, if the measures of the government at home are judicious. The cause of the great influence obtained by the people I have specified over the habitants is well explained in Lord Durham’s Report. Speaking of the public seminaries, he says:—

“The education given in these establishments greatly resembles the kind given in the English public schools, though it is rather more varied. It is entirely in the hands of the Catholic clergy. The number of pupils in these establishments is estimated altogether at about a thousand; and they turn out every year, as far as I could ascertain, between two and three hundred young men thus educated. Almost all of these are members of the family of some habitant, whom the possession of greater quickness than his brothers has induced the father or the curate of the parish to select and send to the seminary. These young men, possessing a degree of information immeasurably superior to that of their families, are naturally averse to what they regard as descending to the humble occupations of their parents. A few become priests; but as the military and naval professions are closed against the colonist, the greater part can only find a position suited to their notions of their own qualifications in the learned professions of advocate, notary, and surgeon. As from this cause these professions are greatly overstocked, we find every village in Lower Canada filled with notaries and surgeons, with little practice to occupy their attention, and living among their own families, or at any rate among exactly the same class. Thus the persons of most education in every village belong to the same families, and the same original station in life, as the illiterate habitants whom I have described. They are connected with them by all the associations of early youth, and the ties of blood. The most perfect equality always marks their intercourse, and the superior in education is separated by no barrier of manners, or pride, or distinct interests, from the singularly ignorant peasantry by which he is surrounded. He combines, therefore, the influences of superior knowledge, and social equality, and wields a power over the mass, which I do not believe that the educated class of any other portion of the world possess.”

The second party, which are the discontented, yet loyal English of Upper Canada, are entitled to, and it is hoped will receive the justice they claim they well deserve it. It is the duty, as well as the interest of the mother country to foster loyalty, enterprise, and activity, and it is chiefly in Upper Canada that it is to be found. One great advantage has arisen from the late troubles, which is, that they have driven most of the Americans out of the province, and have created such a feeling of indignation and hatred towards them in the breasts of the Upper Canadians, that there is no chance of their fraternising for at least another half century. Nothing could have proved more unfortunate to the American desire of obtaining the Canadas than the result of the late rebellions. Should the Upper Canadians, from any continued injustice and misrule on the part of the mother country, be determined to separate, at all events it will not be to ally themselves with the Americans. In Lord Durham’s Report we have the following remarks:—

“I have, in despatches of a later date than that to which I have had occasion so frequently to refer, called the attention of the Home Government to the growth of this alarming state of feeling among the English population. The course of the late troubles, and the assistance which the French insurgents derived from some citizens of the United States, have caused a most intense exasperation among the Canadian loyalists against the American government and people. Their papers have teemed with the most unmeasured denunciations of the good faith of the authorities, of the character and morality of the people, and of the political institutions of the United States. Yet, under this surface of hostility, it is easy to detect a strong under-current of an exactly contrary feeling. As the general opinion of the American people became more and more apparent during the course of the last year, the English of Lower Canada were surprised to find how strong, in spite of the first burst of sympathy, with a people supposed to be struggling for independence, was the real sympathy of their republican neighbours with the great objects of the minority. Without abandoning their attachment to their mother country, they have begun, as men in a state of uncertainty are apt to do, to calculate the probable consequences of a separation, if it should unfortunately occur, and be followed by an incorporation with the United States. In spite of the shock which it would occasion their feelings, they undoubtedly think that they should find some compensation in the promotion of their interests; they believe that the influx of American emigration would speedily place the English race in a majority; they talk frequently and loudly of what has occurred in Louisiana, where, by means which they utterly misrepresent, the end nevertheless of securing an English predominance over a French population has undoubtedly been attained; they assert very confidently, that the Americans would make a very speedy and decisive settlement of the pretensions of the French; and they believe that, after the first shock of an entirely new political state had been got over, they and their posterity would share in that amazing progress, and that great material prosperity, which every day’s experience shows them is the lot of the people of the United States. I do not believe that such a feeling has yet sapped their strong allegiance to the British empire; but their allegiance is founded on their deep-rooted attachment to British, as distinguished from French institutions. And if they find that that authority which they have maintained against its recent assailants, is to be exerted in such a manner as to subject them to what they call a French dominion, I feel perfectly confident that they would attempt to avert the result, by courting, on any terms, an union with an Anglo-Saxon people.”

Here I do not agree with his lordship. That such was the feeling previous to the insurrection I believe, and notwithstanding the defeat of the insurgents, would have remained so, had it not been for the piratical attacks of the Americans, which their own government could not control. This was a lesson to the Upper Canadians. They perceived that there was no security for life or property—no law to check outrage—and they felt severely the consequences of this state of things in the destruction of their property and the attempts upon their lives by a nation professing to be in amity with them. Fraternise with the Americans the Upper Canadians will not. They may be subdued by them if they throw off the allegiance and protection of the mother-country, as they would be hemmed in between two hostile parties, and find it almost impossible, with their present population, to withstand their united efforts. But should a conflict of this kind take place, and the Upper Canadians be allowed but a short period of repose, or could they hold the Americans in check for a time, they would sweep the whole race of the Lower Canadians from the face of the earth. Their feelings towards the Lower Canadians are well explained in Lord Durham’s Report:—

“In the despatch above referred to I also described the state of feeling among the English population, nor can I encourage a hope that that portion of the community is at all more inclined to any settlement of the present quarrel that would leave any share of power to the hostile race. Circumstances having thrown the English into the ranks of the government, and the folly of their opponents having placed them, on the other hand, in a state of permanent collision with it, the former possess the advantage of having the force of government, and the authority of the laws on their side in the present state of the contest. Their exertions during the recent troubles have contributed to maintain the supremacy of the law, and the continuance of the connexion with Great Britain; but it would, in my opinion, be dangerous to rely on the continuance of such a state of feeling, as now prevails among them, in the event of a different policy being adopted by the Imperial government. Indeed the prevalent sentiment among them is one of any thing but satisfaction with the course which has been long pursued, with reference td Lower Canada, by the British legislature and executive. The calmer view, which distant spectators are enabled to take of the conduct of the two parties, and the disposition which is evinced to make a fair adjustment of the contending claims, appear iniquitous and injurious in the eyes of men who think that they alone have any claim to the favour of that government, by which they alone have stood fast. They complain loudly and bitterly of the whole course pursued by the Imperial Government, with respect to the quarrel of the two races, as having been rounded on an utter ignorance of, or disregard to the real question at issue, as having fostered the mischievous pretensions of French nationality, and as having, by the vacillation and inconsistency which marked it, discouraged loyalty and fomented rebellion. Every measure of clemency, or even justice, towards their opponents, they regard with jealousy, as indicating a disposition towards that conciliatory policy which is the subject of their angry recollection; for they feel that being a minority, any return to the due course of constitutional government would again subject them to a French majority: and to this I am persuaded they would never peaceably submit. They do not hesitate to say that they will not tolerate much longer the being made the sport of parties at home, and that if the mother country forgets what is due to the loyal and enterprising men of her own race, they must protect themselves. In the significant language of one of their own ablest advocates, they assert that ‘Lower Canada must be English, at the expense, if necessary, of not being British.’”

The third party, which is the American, is the only one at present inclined to move, and in all probability they will commence as soon as the winter sets in; for however opposed to this shameful violation of the laws of nations the President, officers, and respectable portion of the American Union may be, it is certain that the majority are represented by these marauders, and the removal of our troops would be a signal for immediate aggression.