|
The storm of the American
Revolution failed to uproot the settled loyalty of the northern
colonies. It does not appear that the Stamp Act, or any of those other
ill-advised measures which, under Grenville and North, deprived England
of thirteen Provinces, excited any commotion in Canada and Nova Scotia.
On the contrary, they became the home of those loyal refugees from the
south who had cast in their lot, for weal or woe, with the Crown. The
effect of the struggle was, therefore, to intensify, rather than weaken,
the ties which bound these colonies to the Empire. When peace was
proclaimed, in 1783, public affairs began to settle down into normal
shape, and under the Constitutional Act of 1791, the Franco-Canadians
were, if not quite satisfied, at least tranquil and submissive.
The old Province was divided into two, and thenceforward, for nearly
fifty years, their affairs flowed side by side, apart, yet not
unconnected. Upper Canada, having been freed from all vexed questions
concerning French law and feudal tenure, started afresh as a purely
British colony. Lower Canada, on the other hand, had been pacified, so
far as the French population were concerned, by the establishment of
their "religion, language, and laws." That there lingered, for
many years, a feeling of discontent amongst the growing British
population may be well supposed. The remonstrances they had pressed,
through Adam Lymburner, had been summarily cast aside as unworthy of
serious consideration. Pitt cherished, above all things, a desire to
conciliate the French population. The threatening aspect of affairs in
France, no doubt, urged him to this course, rather than risk having a
second Paris on the banks of the St. Lawrence. His suspicions were
certainly ill-founded; and yet, on the whole, he acted with sagacity,
and in a liberal spirit.
On the other hand, it is
undoubtedly true, as Garneau remarks, [Book xiii., chap. i.] that the
new constitution failed to give the Canadian Provinces that full measure
of self-government which had been anticipated from it. The Colonial
Office in London was too hasty in dictating a policy for the new
governments, and the Lieutenant-Governors too often supposed that they
occupied an exceptional position as heads of the Executive. The chief
officers of the State were arbitrarily chosen by the representatives of
the Crown, and so were the members of the Upper House. Responsible
government, in the modern acceptation of the term, was unknown, indeed,
at first, unsought for. The Assemblies could debate, no doubt; but no
one had as yet hinted that the course of public policy, the tenure of
Cabinet offices, or the control of public lands and interests, should be
in the hands of the people’s representatives. At that early period in
the history of Upper and Lower Canada, it is by no means certain that
any other course would have been prudent. When the agitation for
complete self-government began in Lower Canada, as will be seen
hereafter, the French population and their few British allies were
evidently struggling wildly, without possessing that prudent balance and
soberness of aim which could alone enlarge the basis of the structure
without overturning it altogether.
The first years under the
new constitution need not be described in detail, inasmuch as sketches
of Sir James Craig’s administration, and of some of the more prominent
Scots antecedent to the time of 1812, were given in earlier pages. The
first Lower Canadian Legislature was called together on the 30th of
December, 1791. The lists of Legislative Councillors, members of
Assembly, and Executive Councillors, contain, from time to time, a
number of Scots, of whom little record remains except their names. Hon.
Wm. Grant, a Quaker merchant, was an Executive Councillor; so was Hugh
Finlay, who gave his name to the Finlay Market. Sir Alexander Mackenzie,
of whom we shall have more to say in connection with the North-west, was
originally a Canadian merchant. He was born at Inverness, and
represented the County of Huntingdon in 1804. Hon. James McGill, who sat
in several parliaments and was an Executive Councillor for some years,
has already been referred to at length. There are other names such as
those of J. Young, shipbuilder, John Craigie, David Munroe, John Murray,
and John Lees. Most of the Scotsmen who attained positions in public
life at that time, were engaged in mercantile or shipping houses, at
Quebec, Three Rivers, or Montreal. Of course the House was
preponderatingly French. In the Assembly of 1800, for example, out of
fifty members only fourteen names indicate British origin, and one was
Dutch, or more probably a settler from New York State, all the rest
being French Canadians. [Christie, Vol. i. p. 214. Garneau complains
that, in the Council, the Canadians were not properly represented,
"except at the outset when they were four to eight; but by the year
1799, out of twenty-one members in the Council, only six were
Canadians."] Sir James Craig arrived in the autumn of 1807, and the
signs of an approaching storm began to appear upon the political
horizon. In the Assembly of 1809, we note the names of Ralph Gray, James
Stuart, W. McGillivray and J. Blackwood. The Stuart mentioned, was
afterwards Sir James Stuart, of U. E. Loyalist origin; his nationality
can scarcely be doubted, as his grandfather was a Presbyterian.
During Sir James Craig’s
administration, there was a critical struggle between the advanced
spirits of the French Canadian party and the Executive. Le Canadien was
suppressed, and a number of gentlemen arrested. Into this controversy it
is unnecessary to enter. The embers of discontent, however, kept alive
during the war of 1812, and broke out with renewed fury during the next
period of our history. One symptom of this discontent, in its
preliminary stages, was a gradual decrease in the number of
representatives of British origin. In 1809, only nine were elected. The
dissatisfaction at this period arose, not from any defects in the
constitutional system, but in the method of its administration. "An
irresponsible executive," says McMullen, "was at the root of
most public disorders, and as time progressed, it became evident that
Lower Canada would pass through the same revolutionary ordeal as its
western sister. In both Provinces identical modes were producing similar
results, and at nearly the same time." [History, p. 231.
Also Christie, vol. i. pp. 347-50. Garneau, who always takes the extreme
French Canadian view, dignifies Craig’s term by the name of "the
reign of terror." Bell’s trans. Book xiii. chap. ii.]
The first years of Upper
Canadian history have been briefly sketched in a previous chapter. It
only remains to indicate the general course of affairs during the early
period as far as the limited resources at command will permit. Simcoe’s
career, as Governor, was too short for the welfare of the Province. He
was a man of broad, constitutional views; and, had he remained here for
a longer period, the seeds of discontent and disorder would not have so
soon brought forth fruits. At the close of the first session of the
first Legislature, he said, "At this conjuncture, I particularly
recommend to you to explain (i. e. to their constituents) that this
Province is singularly blest with, not a mutilated constitution, but
with a constitution that has stood the test of experience, and is the
very image and transcript of that of Great Britain." How far that
view of the colonial system was shared by those subsequently in power
will appear in the sequel; meanwhile, it may be concluded from Simcoe’s
own words, that his views of administration were not reconcilable with
the irresponsibility of the executive, as afterwards maintained by his
successors. The early grievances of the settlers were not connected with
this subject. It was the land system of which complaint was earliest
made, as will appear more fully hereafter. The rapid influx of
immigrants from Europe and from the United States might have been taken
advantage of, had a sound and equitable disposal of the soil been made.
This, however, was what the old residents were determined to prevent.
They looked upon themselves as the legitimate disposers of the
territory, and proceeded to parcel it out amongst their friends and
relatives, simply for purposes of speculation. Actual occupants were
thus either driven away, or had to pay fancy prices for their land; in
lots separated from one another by forests, as effectually locked up as
if in mortmain. [McMullen: History, p. 238.] It was in these
early years that the nucleus of the so-called "Family Compact"
was formed, chiefly of U. E. Loyalists, half-pay officers and poor
gentlemen. These families constituted a sort of ready-made aristocracy,
and, in the primitive time of which we are speaking, their influence was
largely for good. They monopolized, as was natural, all the culture and
polish of the colony, and were therefore not indisposed to look upon new
settlers with something approaching disdain. The Government was in their
hands, and although Upper Canada secured the form of representative
institutions, their power and efficacy were entirely wanting. There was
a House of sixteen, and a Legislative Council of six; an irresponsible
Executive, [As Dr. Scadding remarks, offices were then literally held
during pleasure. Some Trustees complained to Governor Hunter that they
could not get their patents. Hunter, after questioning all the rest,
fixed the blame upon Mr. William Jarvis, Secretary and Registrar, and
this is how he addressed him: "Sir, if they are not forthcoming,
every one of them and placed in the hands of these gentlemen in my
presence at noon on Thursday next, by George! I’ll un-Jarvis
you." Toronto of Old, p. 478.] and a judiciary which, while
not independent, was made worse by the participation of the judges in
political life. The oligarchy was in fact supreme in every department;
whilst the people, at that time absorbed in reclaiming the soil,
attended but little to public affairs, and cared less. Upper Canada was
passing through that primitive stage of colonial society out of which it
began to emerge shortly after the war. It is too much the habit of
historians to look at that simple state of politics with jaundiced eyes.
They persist in looking at the rude systems of the past through
spectacles provided by the present. As will be seen hereafter, great
injustice has thus been done to the pioneers in the management of public
affairs. Meanwhile it is only necessary to make this remark by the way.
In the Upper Canada
Almanac for 1803 there is a list of all the public men of the time.
The Macdonells appear in great force. Alexander and Angus Macdonell
represented Glengarry and Prescott, while another Angus sat for Durham,
Simcoe and East York. John Macdonell was Lieutenant of Glengarry county,
and Archibald Macdonell, of Prince Edward. In the Militia lists of the
same date there were nine Macdonells of the Glengarry battalion—the
Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel, two Captains, three Lieutenants, and two
Ensigns. Robert Gray was at that time member for Stormont and Russell,
and Donald McLean, Clerk of the House.
Before entering on the
next, or as it may be termed the first, political period, some reference
must be made to the Hon. William Allan. Concerning Mr. Allan’s early
career beyond the fact of his Scottish origin we are without
information. He first appears as the holder of a number of offices, none
of which taken alone could, in those simpler times, have been over
lucrative. He was the first postmaster of Toronto, and the office was
situated on his own premises on the west side of Frederick Street. South
of that on the water side was the Merchants’ Wharf, also his property,
and the Custom House of which Mr. Allan was collector. ["We gather
also from the Calendars of the day that Mr. Allan was likewise Inspector
of Flour, Pot and Pearl Ash; and Inspector of Shop, Stall and Tavern
duties. In an early, limited state of society, a man of more than the
ordinary aptitude of affairs is required to act in many
capacities." Scadding, p. 39.] Mr. Allan, however, was not a mere
office-holder; but a public spirited citizen ready to serve his fellows
in any useful work. He was one of the trustees for the Mall, a pleasure
promenade which, like its successor, the Prince of Wales’ Walk, has
disappeared forever. Largely interested in the development of the
district he busied himself with road-making, the levelling of hills, the
improvement of Yonge Street, and the opening up of Queen Street to the
Don. As an ardent churchman he took part in the erection of the first
Church of St. James, and was a liberal contributor to the fund for its
support. A justice of the peace at an early date, he subsequently became
a member of the Legislative Council. During the war he was in active
service as Major in the York Militia, and fought, we believe, at
Queenston.
The period antecedent to
1812 may now be dismissed as eminently barren and unfruitful.
Notwithstanding some fitful efforts after political vitality—merely of
the embryo sort—there really was no public life worthy of the name.
The struggle for existence, under the pressing necessities of early
settlement, absorbed all human activities, and society, if not in the
patriarchal stage, approached it in its rude activity. One has only to
turn over any of the dingy yellow journals of the period to perceive
that the future life of the Provinces, ultimately to form a nation, was
only in the making. Trade was in a refreshing state of simplicity,
although there seems to have been no lack of vigorous enterprise
conducted under adverse conditions. The sparse population, devoted to
agriculture, was sufficiently occupied with the exigent duty of subduing
nature, and politics were abandoned practically to those who made
office-holding a profession. Then, as always hitherto in Canada, the
lawyers, doctors and other fairly cultured classes monopolized the
government prizes. The forms of constitutional rule existed; yet
practically the representatives of the people were chosen from an
extremely limited circle; and the legislature, after all, exercised but
little control upon public affairs. The early settlers, many of whom
were tolerably educated, having been officers in the army and navy, or
the sons of U.E. Loyalists, mainly gentlemen in the conventional sense,
assumed the leading places, and filled all the lucrative offices as a
matter of prescriptive right. The Governors naturally depended on them
for counsel and support, and, in return, rewarded them lavishly with
such gifts as were at the disposal of the Crown. It is easy to cast
reflections now upon a state of things which was then more or less
inevitable. The country as a whole had not yet been aroused to political
activity, and it was certainly better that the country should be ruled
by an oligarchy than not ruled at all. On the whole it was well
governed, and with the exception of some personal grievances, as well as
a few glaring instances of personal aggrandizement at the public
expense, there is not much fault to be found with the regime
preceding the war.
|
