The session passed peacefully, and at its close, when all the members had returned to their homes, Bédard was quietly and unconditionally released by the executive. It was the last public act of Sir James Craig's administration.
The act which had been the cause of so much trouble, namely that of excluding the judges from the assembly, was one of the laws passed, and strange to say, in proroguing the House, the governor said, "Among the acts to which I have just declared His Majesty's assent, there is one which I have seen with peculiar satisfaction. I mean the act for disqualifying the judges from holding a seat in the House of Assembly."
The opinions of the official and military class as to the proceedings of the House, may be gathered from a letter of Colonel Baynes to Brock, in March. "You will see by Sir James' speech the very complete triumph his firmness and energy have obtained over the factious cabal of this most contemptible assembly. Bédard will shortly be released. That fellow alone of the whole gang has nerve, and does not want ability or inclination to do mischief whenever opportunity offers; the rest, old Papineau and the blustering B. (Bourdages), are all white livered renegades to a man; but when Sir James' back is turned they will rally and commence the same bullying attack on his successor, who, I trust, will follow his example."
In the meantime, Mr. Ryland in England had not found his task an easy one, nor had he met with the reception he had hoped for. Mr. Perceval, the prime minister, Lord Liverpool, the minister of war, and Mr. Robert Peel, the under secretary for the colonies, received him with perfect courtesy, and asked many questions, but Mr. Ryland made no progress in his design of changing the constitution. One point he particularly wished to press, namely, the necessity of controlling the patronage of the Roman Catholic Church so that the clergy would be on the government side. The assembly in its session of 1810, had offered to undertake the expenses of the civil government hitherto borne by England. Ryland's scheme was to take possession of the Jesuit estates and also of those of the seminary at Montreal. From these he proposed to grant a certain sum for education, and to apply the rest to the civil government, and thus do away with the necessity of supplies being voted by the assembly. In fact, his intention was to break the power of the Roman Catholic Church in Canada by taking away its endowments. Mr. Ryland also proposed that the province should revert to government by the legislative council without the assembly, as it was previous to the Canada Act.
Ryland's mission
Lord Liverpool was afraid, if the act of 1791 was annulled, that Lord Grenville, the father of the act, would rally his followers in favour of the French Canadians. He suggested a redivision of constituencies so as to obtain a greater number of English representatives, and also thought that members might be conciliated by other means.
Several matters were referred to the attorney-general, who said that it was possible for parliament to unite the two provinces under a single government, but that he thought no new division could be made of electoral districts, nor in the number of representatives. As to the question of Le Canadien, the ministers did not think the passages quoted from it were strong enough to fix on its publishers a charge of treason, and it might be difficult, they thought, to justify what had been done in the matter of their arrest and imprisonment. They were inclined to call the passages quoted seditious libels. The extreme measures taken were, perhaps, excusable, but not strictly justifiable. In fact, the attorney-general said that such an arbitrary measure as the suppression of Le Canadien would not have been tolerated in England.
Mr. Ryland's mission was a failure, but in order to conceal his discomfiture he decided to remain in England for the winter, nor did he return to Canada until the spring of 1812. In the meantime this poor governor's health broke down utterly. General Brock wrote in March, 1811: "Sir James cannot long survive the frequent attacks of his disorder. His death will be bewailed by all who possess the feelings of Englishmen in this country."
[[1]] Dr. James Bain, of the Public Library, Toronto, discovered this list amongst some old papers left in the residence of the late Hon. G. W. Allan.
[[2]] As to the occupation of Florida, Monroe declared that no satisfaction had been made by Spain for spoliation on the commerce of the United States in 1798-9, nor for denying to the United States the right of deposit at New Orleans. He also contended that West Florida was a part of Louisiana, which had been acquired by purchase from France.