[[8]] To a friend, dated Ottawa, April 20, 1869.
[[9]] See Pope's Memoirs of Sir John Macdonald, vol. i, p. 103.
[[10]] The seigneurial system was a survival of the French régime. The reader is referred to The Seigneurs of Old Canada by Professor Munro in the present Series.
CHAPTER II
MIDDLE LIFE
The Liberal-Conservative Government formed in 1854 was destined to a long and successful career, though not without the usual inevitable changes. Very shortly after its accession to power, Lord Elgin, whose term of office had expired, was succeeded by Sir Edmund Head. The new governor-general was a man of rare scholastic attainments. During the previous seven years he had occupied the position of lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, and he was to administer, for a like period, the public affairs of Canada acceptably and well. One thing, however, greatly interfered with his popularity and lessened his usefulness. A story was spread abroad that Sir Edmund Head had called the French Canadians 'an inferior race.' This, though it was not true, was often reiterated; and the French Canadians persisted in believing that Sir Edmund had made the remark—even after an explanation of what he really did say.