The immediate result of the rebellion in Lower Canada was the intervention of the imperial authorities by the suspension of the constitution of that province, and the formation of a special council for purposes of temporary government. Lord Durham, a nobleman of great ability, who had won distinction in imperial politics as a Reformer, was sent out to Canada as governor-general and high commissioner to inquire into and adjust provincial difficulties. This distinguished statesman remained at the head of affairs in the province from the last of May, 1838, until the 3rd of November in the same year, when he returned to England, where his ordinance of the 28th of June, sentencing certain British subjects in custody to transportation without a form of trial, and subjecting them and others not in prison to death in case of their return to the country, without permission of the authorities, had been most severely censured in England as quite unwarranted by law. By this ordinance Wolfred Nelson, Bouchette, Viger, and five others, then in prison, were banished to Bermuda, while Papineau, Cartier, O'Callaghan, Robert Nelson, and others beyond Canadian jurisdiction, were threatened with death if they returned to the province. Lord Durham's action was certainly in conflict with the principles of English law, but it was an error of judgment on the side of clemency. He was unwilling to resort to a court-martial—the only tribunal open to the authorities. A trial in the courts of justice was impracticable under existing conditions, as it was shown later. Lord Durham left Canada in deep indignation at the manner in which his acts had been criticised in England, largely through the influence of Lord Brougham, his personal enemy. The most important result of his mission was a report, the credit for the authorship of which was long denied to him through the misrepresentations of his enemies, though it is now clear that he and not his secretary was the author.
Soon after the departure of Lord Durham, who died a few months later, Sir John Colborne became governor-general. He was called upon to put down another rebellious movement led by Robert Nelson, brother of Wolfred Nelson, then in exile. At Caughnawaga, Montarville Mountain, Beauharnois, and Odelltown the insurgents made a stand from time to time, but were soon scattered. Bands of marauders inflicted some injury upon loyal inhabitants near the frontier, but in a few months these criminal attempts to disturb the peace of the province ceased entirely. The government now decided to make an example of men who had not appreciated the clemency previously shown their friends. Twelve men were executed, but it was not possible to obtain a verdict from a jury against the murderers of Weir and Chartrand—the latter a French Canadian volunteer murdered under circumstances of great brutality while a prisoner.
The rebellion opened the eyes of the imperial government to the gravity of the situation in Canada, and the result of Lord Durham's report was the passage of an imperial act reuniting the provinces into one, with a legislature of two houses. The constitutional act of 1791, which had separated French and English, as far as possible, into two sections, was clearly a failure. An effort was now to be made to amalgamate, if possible, the two races. The two provinces were given an equal representation in one legislature, and the French language was placed in a position of inferiority, compared with English in parliamentary and official proceedings and documents. At the same time the British Government recognised the necessity of giving a larger expansion of local self-government.
Judge Haliburton ("Sam Slick").
During the period of which I am writing Canada had given evidences of material, social, and intellectual progress. With the close of the War of 1812, and the downfall of Napoleon, large bodies of immigrants came into the province and settled some of the finest districts of Upper and Lower Canada. Scotch from the highlands and islands of Scotland continued until 1820 to flock into Nova Scotia and other maritime provinces. Although the immigration had been naturally stopped by the troubles of 1836 and 1838, the population of Canada had increased to over a million of souls, of whom at least four hundred and fifty thousand were French Canadians. The Rideau, Lachine, and Welland Canals date from this period, and were the commencement of that noble system of artificial waterways that have, in the course of time, enabled large steamers to come all the way from Lake Superior to tide-water.[1] In 1833 the Royal William, entirely propelled by steam, crossed the ocean—the pioneer in ocean steam navigation. A few years later Samuel Cunard, a native Nova Scotian, established the line that has become so famous in the world's maritime history. In Lower Canada the higher education was confined to the Quebec Seminary, and a few colleges and institutions, under the direction of the Roman Catholic clergy and communities. Among the habitants generally there were no schools, and the great majority could neither read nor write. In Upper Canada high schools for the education of the upper classes were established at a very early day, and the Cornwall Grammar School, under the superintendence of Dr. John Strahan, for some years was the resort of the provincial aristocracy. Upper Canada College dates from these early times. But in 1838 there were only twenty-four thousand children at school out of a total population of four hundred thousand. In the maritime provinces things were not much better, but in Nova Scotia the foundation of King's,—the oldest university in Canada—Dalhousie, and Acadia Colleges, as well as Pictou Academy, shows the deep interest that was taken in higher education. In all the provinces there was an active and even able newspaper press, although its columns were too much disfigured by invective and personalities. In 1836 there were at least forty papers printed in Upper Canada alone. The names of Cary, Neilson, Mackenzie, Parent, Howe, and Young are among the names of eminent journalists. It was only in the press, in the pulpit, at the bar, and in the legislature that we can look for evidences of intellectual development. The only original literary works of importance were those of Judge Haliburton, who had already given us the clever, humorous creation of "Sam Slick," and also written an excellent history of Nova Scotia. In the happy and more prosperous times that followed the union of 1840, and the establishment of political liberty, intellectual development kept pace with the progress of the country in wealth and population.
[1] Governor Haldimand first established several small canals between Lakes Saint Louis and Saint Francis, which were used for some years.