The close of the
War—State of the Country— Sir John Cope Sherbrooke, Governor-General
-1816. The Duke of Richmond, Governor-General —1818. His Tragical
Death-1819. Death of George III. and accession of George IV.—1820. The
Earl of Dalhousie, Governor-General —Union of the Provinces
Proposed—1822. Imperial Commission on Canadian affairs—1828. ^Its
report—Nova Scotia and New Brunswick after the War.
At the conclusion of
the war the fictitious prosperity created by the military expenditure
rapidly declined, and its financial burdens, in the form of militia
pensions and gratuities to the widows and orphans of the slain, were
severely felt. Grants of money were made by the Legislature of Lower
Canada for the construction of the Lachine and Rideau canals, and the
accurate survey of the country was projected. Domestic manufactures,
such as those of leather, hats, paper, and to some extent of iron, had
been introduced; and saw mills and grist mills multiplied on the inland
streams. From the ashes of the forests, burned in the clearing of the
land, a considerable quantity of potash and pearlash was produced.
Colonization roads were greatly extended and improved. Shipbuilding was
actively prosecuted, especially at Quebec. The Banks of Montreal, Quebec
and Kingston were established, and greatly facilitated the trade of the
province. Immigration, in consequence of the depression of trade in the
old countries, largely increased, and the new settlers were liberally
aided by the Government with rations and implements. Steam navigation
was extended on the St. Lawrence and the lakes, and the transatlantic
trade of Quebec sprang into importance.
Still the population
was sparse—averaging in Upper Canada only seven per square mile.
Schools, teachers, and medical men were few and not always the most
efficient. Lower Canada was divided into parishes, each with its
resident cure; but in the upper province the people were dependent for
religious instruction largely on the zeal of itinerant missionaries,
chiefly of the Methodist and Presbyterian persuasions.
Sir Gordon Drummond,
the hero of Lundy's Lane and a native of Quebec, administered the
government, in the place of Sir George Prevost, recalled, till the
arrival of Sir John Cope Sherbrooke, from Nova Scotia, in 1816.
In 1818, the Duke of
Richmond, previously Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, succeeded Sir John
Sherbrooke as Governor-General. He made a progress through Upper Canada,
and on his return met with a tragical fate. While at, Ottawa he was
bitten by a tame fox, and shortly after died amid the pangs of
hydrophobia, August 27th, 1819. The administration of public affairs
devolved upon his son-in-law, Sir Peregrine Maitland, the
Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada.
On the 29th of January,
in the sixtieth year of his eventful reign and in the eighty-second year
of his age, infirm, blind, beclouded in intellect but beloved by his
subjects, King George III. died, and amid the, ringing of joy bells and
the firing of cannon George IY. was proclaimed King.
The Earl of Dalhousie,
a veteran soldier of distinguished experience, became the new
Governor-General. The growing English-speaking population, dissatisfied
with the feudal land tenure and inconvenient administration of justice
in accordance with the French code, urged the union of the two Canadas,
and the suppression of the French language in the legislature, the
French laws in the courts, and the French tenure of land. The French
resented the union scheme as a denationalizing policy and a violation of
their guaranteed rights and privileges. The Assembly strongly protested
against the union, and numerously-signed antiunion petitions were sent
to the Imperial Parliament. That body withdrew the union scheme, and
passed the Canada Trade Act, providing for the distribution of revenue
arising from duties more equitably to the increased population of the
upper province.
A commission was
appointed by the Imperial Parliament to investigate the civil condition
of Canada. It reported in favour of liberal concessions and reforms. The
report of the% commissioners produced the most lively gratification in
Lower Canada. A week before its arrival, Lord Dalhousie sailed for
England, and was thus spared the mortification of witnessing a policy of
conciliation substituted for one of coercion. He was subsequently
appointed Governor-General of India, and there won merited distinction
by his vigorous administration.
The provinces of Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick had felt little of the direct burdens of the
late war, but had benefited, the former especially, very greatly by the
increased military and naval expenditure. The vast fleets of Great
Britain rendezvoused in the spacious harbour of Halifax, the guns of the
citadel continually welcomed the arrival of prizes in tow of British
cruisers, and the Imperial dockyard was busy with repairs. With the
peace all this ceased, the revenue was greatly reduced, and numbers of
workmen were thrown out of employment. The Earl of Dalhousie and Sir
James Kempt successively administered the affairs of the colony, and
wisely fostered education, agriculture, and public improvements. In
1820, Cape Breton was incorporated as a county of Nova Scotia.
In 1818, New Brunswick
received its first Governor, General George Tracey Smythe. The
irrepressible conflict-between the two branches of the legislature
became the occasion of acrimonious disputes till his death in 1823. Sir
Howard Douglas, his successor, greatly promoted the internal development
of the province, the construction of roads and the cultivation of the
soil—too much neglected in the almost exclusive devotion to lumbering
and shipbuilding. In the autumn of 1825, a terrible disaster overwhelmed
the colony. A long drought had parched the forest into tinder. Numerous
fires had laid waste the woods and farms. On the 7th of October, a storm
of flame swept over the country for sixty miles—from Miramichi to the
Bay of Chaleurs. A pitchy darkness covered the sky, lurid flames swept
over the earth, consuming the forest, houses, barns, crops, and the
towns of Newcastle and Douglas. One hundred and sixty persons perished
in the flames or in their efforts to escape, and hundreds were maimed
for life. The loss of property was immense. The # generous aid of the
sister provinces, and of Great Britain and the United States, greatly
mitigated the sufferings of the hapless inhabitants made homeless on the
eve of a rigorous winter. |