This Act to be proclaimed in Lower Canada and

Bermuda respectively.

provided, and shall further allow to him his double costs of suit in all such cases as aforesaid.

II. And be it enacted that this Act shall be proclaimed in the said Province of Lower Canada and in the said Islands of Bermuda by the Governor, or by the person authorized to execute the Commission of Governor of the said Province and of the said Islands respectively, forthwith after he shall have received a copy of the same from one of her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State.

CXXXII

LORD DURHAM TO LORD GLENELG

[Trans. Imperial Blue Books Relating to Canada, 1839. Vol. X.] (EXTRACT OF A DESPATCH FROM EARL OF DURHAM, G.C.B., TO LORD GLENELG) Dated-Castle of St. Lewis, Quebec, 16 October, 1838.

In my despatch (No. 68) which announced my intention of returning to England at an early period, for the purpose of resigning my commissions', I explained the grounds on which I had formed that decision after mature deliberation. I felt that the moral power of my government was so completely destroyed, and the difficulties of my position so greatly augmented by the proceedings of Her Majesty's Ministers and the Imperial Parliament, that the attempt to conduct the government of these provinces on better principles than those which have hitherto been adopted was one which must be made by other hands than mine. I grieve to find that I did not by any means exaggerate the probable effect which would be produced on the public mind on this continent by the occurrences in England. In the course of one week I have found the tone of the British inhabitants changed from the loudest professions of loyalty and attachment to the connexion with the mother country to a calm anticipation and discussion of the chances and consequences of separation. From the same mouths that a short while ago expressed the most passionate resentment of wrongs supposed to have been received from the people of the United States, I hear significant approval of the course which I have all along taken to conciliate the good-will of a kindred people, whose sympathies with the English race it is judged politic to cultivate. I have been startled at the rapid growth of this dangerous state of mind; and when the mass of the British population of this city were assembled to present me with an address, expressive of the kindest feeling towards myself, and the strongest condemnation of the policy which severs the official connexion between us, I shrunk from any other than a formal and deliberate expression of my feelings, from fear lest an indiscreet word or gesture on my part, or any one of those unforseen accidents which carry large popular assemblies beyond the influence of human control, might lead to a general expression of the angry feeling that pervaded the excited numbers whom I beheld before me.

A perfectly different feeling exhibited itself at first among the French Canadians. They naturally exulted in the victory which appeared to have been gained by those who put themselves forward as their especial advocates in the mother country, and the disaffected rejoiced at perceiving that the arm of authority was weakened. Since the receipt of the first news from home which might lead them to believe, on high authority, that I did not really possess the powers with which they once imagined me to be invested, I can have no doubt that the disposition to secret machinations

1 Durham accidentally learned from an American newspaper of Sept. 19, 1838, that his Ordinance of June 28 had been disallowed. On October 9 he defended him self in a proclamation, the tone of which so displeased the Colonial Office that he was recalled. His resignation had, however, been previously sent in, and the despatch recalling him did not reach Quebec before he sailed. On the history, see L. C. Sanders, Lord Melbourne's Papers (London, 1889), and W. M. Torrens, Memoirs of William, Viscount Melbourne (2 vols., London, 1878).

and preparations for insurrection, which had been for some time checked, has sprung into renewed activity; and though I do not feel much dread at the prospect of any unsupported attempts which the French population may make against the military force now in this country, I cannot doubt that there is now in existence an organization of the disaffected in this province, which may lend a most pernicious aid to any attack which may be made from without.

I have already forwarded to your Lordship an address expressive of the feelings of the delegates from the lower provinces of British North America; and the accounts which I have recently had show that the same feelings have been generally expressed in those provinces in the calm manner in which their happy immunity from actual civil war enables their inhabitants still to express their political sentiments; but throughout Upper Canada where the memory of recent suffering is fresh and vivid, and where the terror of near and visible peril constantly alarms the public mind, a more passionate and general feeling of regret and alarm has pervaded all classes. Unaccustomed to the state of feeling generated by actual insurrection, I have been struck by the extent of that terror with which all parties and all classes see, in the disturbance of my policy, the harbinger of a winter similar in its political character to the last. The sudden unanimity of all parties in that most divided province has been as alarming as extraordinary; for when those in power, and those who in attempting to snatch it from them advanced to the brink of rebellion, signed the same address, when the leaders of the reformers seconded the resolutions moved by the heads of the family compact,-I could not but infer that an unanimity so strange must have been produced by the indication of sure and awful peril.

Of what nature that danger is, the enclosed communications from Her Majesty's Ministers at Washington will inform your Lordship. I grieve to say, that all the information which I have received within these few days, from all quarters, confirms the alarming intelligence conveyed therein. I have no doubt that the numbers, means and projects of the conspirators are greatly exaggerated, but I have little doubt also, that there is a great reason to apprehend that there has been suddenly formed throughout the bordering states, among a population capable of such enterprises, a widely ramified conspiracy, bent on repeating in Canada the scenes of Texas, invading the British dominions with a horde of those lawless and daring adventurers, who are to be tempted by the promise of sharing in the plunder of private and public property in these ample and fertile provinces.

It is of great importance that your Lordship and your colleagues should know the present state of feeling, both in these provinces and in the neighbouring states, and that you should know it betimes. I take, therefore, the opportunity which is afforded me by the postponement of the Royal William's departure, to supply you, though in a hurried manner, with the information which has reached me.

The mind of the British population throughout all the provinces has been deeply agitated by the prospect of a new change in the system of government. I am happy to be able to adduce the great number and the kind language of the addresses which I have received from all parts of the two Canadas, as proofs of the favourable feelings with which my policy has been regarded. Your Lordship must not imagine that I attach undue importance to documents so flattering to myself; for I feel that these are expressions of a deeper and more serious feeling than any that regards my individual conduct or treatment. The expressions of regret at my resignation, and of condemnation of the disallowance of my ordinance, proceed from those who disapproved of that part of my policy, just as much as from those who had most warmly supported it. The measures which I had adopted with a view to the disposal of the political prisoners had been a long time in operation; and however freely they had been canvassed.however much a certain portion of the population had thought it right to censure them, that discussion had run its course, and all had acquiesced in a policy which they judged to be definitely adopted. The disturbance

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of this settled policy by the acts of the home Government has been regretted and condemned, not more by those who most cordially approved of the particular course adopted by me, than by those who originally wished that I had acted with greater severity. Both equally condemn the precipitate interference, which has obviously been undertaken in utter ignorance of the state of these provinces. They see with dismay that the difficulties which my policy had succeeded in removing are again placed in the way of the Government; that the authority from which they expected at least vigour and steadiness is powerless to enforce its determinations and to maintain the course on which it has entered; and that these unhappy provinces are, during the trying emergencies which are generally anticipated, to be still subjected to the mischievous influence of that wavering and temporizing policy which has hitherto paralysed the efforts of their energetic and loyal inhabitants.

Your Lordship will not be surprised to learn that regret is not the only feeling that has in consequence pervaded the British portion of the population, and that they have not beheld without anger their dearest interests thus made, as they express it, the sport of parties at home, who do not participate in either the danger or the desire to avert it. I have warned your Lordship, that the patience and the loyalty of our countrymen in these provinces may be tried overmuch; I have not been surprised, therefore, that their despair at the failure of that support which they had justly expected from home, has led them to think on what they can do for themselves; but I do assure your Lordship that I was not prepared for the extent of the change which I cannot doubt that these events have produced in the public mind here.

I am compelled abruptly to close this despatch, of the means of forwarding which, I received a very short notice.

CXXXIII

LORD DURHAM TO LORD GLENELG

[Trans. Imperial Blue Books Relating to Canada, 1839. Vol. X.]

My Lord,

Castle of St. Lewis, Quebec,
20 October, 1838.

Since my despatch (No. 84) which I forwarded to your Lordship on the 16th inst., I have seen Sir John Colborne, and had the advantage of a good deal of communication with him on the present state of affairs. His information respecting the probability of serious disturbances during the ensuing winter, I am sorry to say, tallies very exactly with that which I have received from all quarters; and his opinion of the gloomy aspect of affairs is just as strong as that which I have lately endeavoured to impress on your Lordship. I am happy to say that the most perfect understanding continues to prevail between us. Looking on him as the, person with whom the whole conduct and responsibility of the Government during the next six months will in all probability rest, I have thought it best for the public service that he should enter as speedily as possible on that course, by which he purposes to maintain the tranquility and the possession of these provinces. I have requested him at once to take whatever military precautions he may deem necessary for enabling him to carry out his own views for the security of the provinces, against foreign invasion, or internal disaffection. He has readily availed himself of this offer, and is busily engaged in taking steps for calling out the volunteers and guarding the frontiers. The indications of mischief are so numerous and so urgent, that it is no longer possible to conceal, or advisable to attempt concealing, the consciousness of danger entertained by the Government; its only course is openly and resolutely to proclaim and avert that danger. The early adoption of these measure of military precaution must of necessity entail

great expense on the Government. It will too clearly demonstrate to the province and to neighbouring states the melancholy condition of its internal and external relations; and it will in all probability produce a state of things in which the present exasperation of parties will be aggravated by fresh causes of irritation; but these are evils which must be borne, if we mean to provide, as far as is in our power, for the retention of the two Canadas. While, therefore, I cannot but lament the necessity of them, I must approve the adoption, under existing circumstances, of these measures by the Commander of the Forces.

The result of my communication with Sir John Colborne, as well as of fresh intelligence which I have received, has been a confirmation of the propriety of my relinquishing the government of these provinces. It is quite clear that at the present season it is useless for the Government to Occupy itself with any schemes of extension and permanent amelioration. The sole object of its care must for the present be the retention of the province during the winter. As this must be attained by military means, the business of my pacific mission is, if not at an end, in abeyance; and it is best that for a while the civil and military authority of this province should be in the same hands. A civil governor here would, during the next six months, have no legitimate business, save that of rendering that subordinate aid to the military authorities which will be better secured if the entire direction and responsibility be allowed to rest with the Commander of the Forces; and this is also Sir John Colborne's view of the case. My only sphere of utility to these colonies must, I am more than ever convinced, be henceforth in the Imperial Parliament, where, if I can force on the knowledge of my countrymen the true state of these provinces, and the true policy to be adopted for their future good government, I may contribute towards rendering available the last opportunity which I believe will ever be afforded to Great Britain of maintaining an useful and honourable connexion with her possessions on the North American Continent.

With this object in view, I think it my duty to return without any delay. I have therefore, with great regret, on public as well as private grounds, abandoned my intention of visiting the United States, where I hoped that my communications with the President might be of service. I now intend to sail from this port in Her Majesty's ship Inconstant, direct to England, on the 3rd of November.

The nature and extent of the danger with which Sir John Colborne will probably have to contend, I endeavoured to point out to your Lordship in my despatch (No. 84), which I prepared at a few hours' notice, availing myself of the postponed departure of the Royal William. Time and deliberation have not enabled me to supply your Lordship with more precise information on the points on which I then touched, for the fresh intelligence which every day brings is of the same vague nature, and confirms our belief in the existence of unknown perils, without informing us as to the time, the mode, and the extent to which we are to be exposed to them.

There is great danger to be apprehended from the rapidly increasing familiarity with which the idea of separation from the British empire is expressed and canvassed by the British in these provinces. I do not mean to disparage their severly tried and well proved loyalty to the Crown and attachment to the British empire. Their preference of monarchical institutions,their affection for the mother country, are as strong as ever; but their hope of maintaining either has been suddenly and materially weakened; and in this state of feeling they naturally look with great anxiety to the form of government under which it is possible they may soon have to live, and to the connexions which they may be under the necessity of forming when the ties of their present dependence are severed. The chances and the desirableness of the different possible results are daily canvassed among them; their minds become familiarized with the thoughts, which a short time ago they held it a crime to entertain; and however favourable the decision of their judgment may be, the strong feeling which

bound them to the British empire is weakened by the mere fact of its soundness becoming a matter of question.

To what extent this feeling prevails, or how soon and in what form it may exhibit itself, it is impossible to say. It is one of no recent growth. Do not imagine, my Lord, that it owes its origin to my recall, or that it could be obviated by my retention of the government. Long lurking in the minds of even those inhabitants of these provinces in whom it had not been openly manifested in the course of the late discontents and disturbances, it was in great measure removed by the apparent indications of a better policy, which were hailed in the appointment of a Governor armed with the extensive and sufficient powers which I was supposed to wield when I landed on these shores. This feeling has sprung into sudden and rapid growth from the hour in which the public mind was disabused as to the extent of my previously exaggerated powers by the weightiest authority in the British legislature, which deprived me of moral influence by asserting without contradiction, that I "possessed only the ordinary legal powers of a common Governor." From the same moment and from the same cause sprang the other feelings of which the wide diffusion among perfectly different classes menaces even greater danger.

The same cause called into renewed and vigorous action the hopes of the disaffected in both provinces. Of the designs of the disaffected within the Upper Province we know nothing. In this, the indications of conspiracy and dangerous designs are numerous and undeniable. A formidable organization bound together by secret oaths and secret signs, undoubtedly exists, and extends over the French population, at least of the district of Montreal. The object of the oath does not appear to be specific; it merely binds the conspirators to be ready to obey whatever orders they may at any time receive from their chiefs. When this machinery is to be called into action does not appear. I am, on the whole, inclined to be of opinion, that there is no intention of immediate outbreak in this province, unless in case of invasion from without; to that it is at all times ready to serve as a formidable auxiliary; but in the meantime it produces all the alarm which actual insurrection would occasion. Terrified by signs of this formidable and mysterious organization, and sometimes by secret menaces or warnings of murder and massacre, the loyal inhabitants of the country quit their exposed and isolated habitations, and either at first seek refuge in the towns, or at once secure their safety by quitting the British dominions. In both provinces alike this emigration, from utter insecurity of person and property, has taken place to an alarming extent; and both provinces have thus been, to a great extent, deprived of the most valuable class of their inhabitants, of those whose peaceful energies contribute most to their improvement, and who most demand and deserve the steady protection of a parental government.

The same cause has given life to the worst spirit among the bordering population of the United States, and extended, if not created, that formidable secret combination, of which the existence has been announced to me, not only by a host of concurrent and consistent private communications, but by the most solemn warning which the government of the United States could give.

I do not believe that this conspiracy is the result of that somewhat generous, but utterly misdirected, sympathy which last winter prompted our republican neighbours to interfere in behalf of a people whom they erroneously imagined to be making a hearty struggle for liberty. It seems rather to result from the aspect of the weakness of the Government in these provinces, which has latterly been presented to the bordering_population, and which offers to the ambition or avarice of the bold and lawless settlers of the American wilderness the ample and fertile lands which appear to invite occupation by the strongest. They think to repeat the conquest of Texas from a nobler foe, with proportionately greater means of aggression; and if they know that they will have to contend with something more than a Mexican army, they count on an internal aid, which was not found in the solitary wilds of Texas.