Frederick Elliot was finding his new life in Quebec rather novel and entertaining, in spite of the round of interviews and meetings during the day and numerously attended dinner parties at night, during which one had to be courteous and attentive to all manner of strangers.
His first impression of the city, as the Pique had sailed slowly up the St. Lawrence, was that it was a fortress. High on the promontory, 350 feet over their heads, towered the citadel, its British flags flying. Surrounded by strong battlements, it had looked splendid and impregnable atop the rock which rose steeply from the large harbour, filled with sailing ships, tugs, and small craft, the whole framed by the dark forests in the distance and the serene blue expanse of the wide river below. The steeples of several churches had glinted in the sunshine, blending with the house tops of the Upper Town, partly hidden by the green leaves of numerous trees.
The Lower Town, however, had quickly dissipated the charm. The narrow ledge at the foot of the precipice was packed with houses stuffed side by side along narrow, dirty streets. It had an old-world look, the houses with their small windows and iron shutters more cluttered and confused than the ancient town of Edinburgh. And the crooked street their carriage had struggled up, Côte de la Montagne, was steeper even than the Royal Mile.
Upper Town, where the residence of the Commissioners and his and Jane's own apartments were located, was the seat of Government and the location of large houses and well-to-do establishments. Although the original Governor's Chateau was nothing more than a ruin of blackened stone and the old Chateau building was more of a barn than an elegant residence, efforts had been made to provide some comfortable living space.
The streets were rather narrow, but at least they were fairly clean and tolerably well paved. The houses were built of stone or wood covered with tin. An air of respectability, of fashion, a certain je ne sais quoi, gave the impression of a metropolitan city.
He and Jane had explored the city together in their rented carriage, but Fred could not spend much time with her and she was bored. She was not included in most of the dinners, which were for a political purpose, and she had, as well, to bear most of the frustrations of setting up their home.
"I thought I spoke French," she commented one evening, rather chagrined, "but when the workmen keep their pipes clenched in their teeth and speak with that strange accent they have, I don't know what they're telling me. They smile and I think they're promising that the work will be done, but it isn't."
It was difficult too for her to make friends, as everyone was taking sides. He tried to spend as much time with her as he could, but they had little social life since most of the Canadians he met, though friendly and polite, did not invite them to their houses, and he distrusted the Constitutionalists.
As a result, they were both lonesome for home and disturbed at the lack of news. By late October, having been in the city for almost three months, they had received no letters. It was possible some ships had gone astray.
Elliot sat down to write a third letter to Henry Taylor. After telling his friend how lonesome they were and how much they wanted to hear what was going on in London, he set out to describe to Taylor a picture of Lower Canada:
Although I have kept my letters to you free from politics, I should not like you to be altogether ignorant of the Nature of the scene in which we are acting; and now, on the eve of the Assembly meeting, I propose to send you as good a tableau as I can yet present of this Community. Whether or not it be correct, at least it has not been imbibed from any single source, nor adopted ready made, but is the honest result of very general and diligent inquiries.
People have been accustomed in England to hear of only two Parties in Canada, the English and the French; but there are in fact three parties, the official, the English, and the French, besides some important French classes altogether distinct from the party which goes by that name.
The official, or as the French term it, "Bureaucratic" Party, is composed of a few old men holding the highest offices. They seem to be fond of privilege, jealous of interference, and ready to take offense at any inquiry into the popular allegations; most of them are dull, and those who are the reverse are said to be interested.
It is of very little consequence what they are. Whatever influence they may have formerly exercised through the instrumentality of weak Governors, they are now destitute of any of the real elements of power, having neither connexion at home or weight in the Province. - I take pleasure in stating this broadly, because once from a quarter whence trifling objections too often come, my ears were shocked on board ship with some talk of danger from these men. - "They would write to their friends in England, they would give their own version of things, and would raise a clamour against the Commission, if they were annoyed". Why if their friends were legion, I should wish that no Missions sent on such an errand as ours could shrink from exposing any Abuses that might be detected amongst them; but the truth is that if there be a Body in the world which may without fear be handled according to its merits (who would wish more?) that Body is the high official Party in Canada. In the Province itself, it is difficult to say by which of the great divisions of the people it is disliked the most.
Elliot broke off to gaze unseeingly through the window of his office in the chateau, where a squad of soldiers was drilling in the courtyard. Sir Charles Grey was proving to be as stuffy and conservative as they had feared. It was clear his sympathies were with the Old Guard.
Yet it was shocking when you thought about it how men like Chief Justice Sewell, old Herman Ryland and the like had held on to their positions, determined to try to control the Governor and to force him to see affairs in the Colony through their eyes. It was well past time they were swept away.
Very different from this feeble corpse is the real "English Party." It is composed of almost all the Merchants, with an admixture of considerable Land-holders, and of some of the younger and more intelligent Civil Officers. It possesses much intelligence, much wealth, and still more credit; and in addition to these, it has all that material confidence & that precision and unity of purpose, which, to do our Country Men justice, they know better than any other People how to confer on Political associations. This imposing body moreover has great advantage at the present moment in the moderation of tone it can assume in contrast to the violence of its Adversaries; thus gaining the goodwill, if not the vocal support, of that numerous portion of society which prefers security and a tranquil life to every thing else.
Yet I do not like the English Party. It is fully as ambitious of Dominion as the French Party, and in my opinion prepared to seek it by more unscrupulous means. Whenever either of the two at the present moment speaks of Separation, I look upon it as mere Bombast, or artifice to bend the course of Government; but depend upon it that if ever these heats in Lower Canada should go so far as to regard the Connexion with the Mother Country, the English will be the foremost to cut the tie. They, of the two parties, are by far the best disposed to sympathize with Republican Principles, and, I must add, the most capable to wield Republican ambitions; they are the most rancorous for they remember the power they have lost, and hate their rivals as a body of usurpers; finally, if ever the opportunity is presented to them of joining in some Common Cause with their English fellow Colonists in the Upper Province, they will see that to combine with such allies in renouncing the control of the English Government in Europe will be their surest means to overwhelm the influence of the French race in America. If ever the Project of the Union of the Canadas be revived, it will be well for us if the part of England be not left out of the Plot.
"And that's not overstating the matter," Elliot thought grimly. "The Montreal merchants are all in favour of union with Upper Canada, and it's clear they would be happy enough to be united also with their Southern Neighbour if only they could set the terms. James Stuart here in Quebec makes no bones about it, and he is joined, if I understand it rightly, by men like Molson, McGill, and Moffatt in Montreal." He smiled briefly at the alliteration. "Good Scotch names. We Scots have always been prepared to make the best of our situation."
Here in Quebec, there was a group that was hard to place, fitting in between the English merchants and the French Party, former Members of the Legislative Assembly, men like stern old Neilson, James Stuart's brother Andrew, thin-skinned Thomas Young, Canadians like John Duval, Georges Faribault, and Louis Fiset. He'd heard there were a number in Montreal too - Cuvillier, Quesnel, Cam Walker - but had yet to meet them.
Neilson, now, a remarkable man - than whom there breathed no one more honest on either side of the ocean. "He seems to have been the very Atlas of the Assembly, carrying them through their duties, keeping them within limits, the epitome of vigorous good sense. What a tragedy he was defeated," Elliot sighed. "Lord Gosford will sorely miss, I'm afraid, a leader in the House who can shew that judgment and command that kind of respect. Oh well -" He turned back to his page.
The French Party, if you confine the term to those who have thoughts, projects, and feelings of their own, seems to be nearly synonymous with the Majority in the House of Assembly, or rather, with that small portion of it which has any Mind in Politics. In conformity with the description we have always had, the Assembly consists mainly of Advocates, Physicians, and Farmers - the last very ignorant of politics and indifferent to them; and ambitious of their seats, as it is said, for no other object than the Gain. The daily pay of two dollars enables them to make no contemptible showing, especially in a long Session, as their wives are usually competent to manage their farms in their absence.
It is true, as you may have heard it reported, that two or three of the Members cannot write their names; and it is said that others, who have had the spirit to learn to trace the Characters composing their Signature, have no farther insight into the mysteries of reading or writing. Without entering too much into detail, I may tell to you once for all, that the Bulk of the Assembly is inert, and that the few Members possessed of activity and intelligence work in entire subordination to Papineau of whom they stand in Profound Awe.
This is perhaps the most remarkable feature in the aspect of Affairs here; that men who by their unbounded Confidence and assent of their Constituents have so great Power, quarrel so little for the shares, but willingly surrender the whole into the hands of one Individual.
"Here you have a huge Province," Elliot mused, "divided into four Districts, each controlled by a few men, and they have given up their powers to Papineau. I've met Mr. Bédard, for example. He seems to be a leader, the former Mayor, an ardent Reformer yet a man of good sense when you talk to him, anxious for constructive change, yet in Papineau's fist. I don't understand it. Perhaps I'll have a better sense of it after watching the House in action."
The Quebec leaders, I have learned, flatter themselves that they act from Prudence; because, as they argue, while they are outnumbered by the Montreal Members who are under Mr. Papineau's more immediate influence it would be an unjustifiable disturbance of the Assembly to insist on any but Funda-mental Differences of Opinion. Others again comfort themselves with the Notion that Papineau is their Instrument (Heaven help their wits) that being the most audacious among them, they place him in the front of the battle - but voluntarily and with power to set him aside at pleasure.
These ideas may be agreeable salves to people's self love. The real explanation of the Case, I fear, is that the Canadians want nerve and enterprise in Public Affairs. And that just as they used to follow the lead of three or four Englishmen, so now the impetuosity and oratorical talents of Papineau command from them an unrealized Submission. He is in truth their Master. Their natures crave for support, and they will always seek it in Characters more vigorous than their own.
I never saw any one who seemed better versed than the Canadian Speaker in the Arts and Demeanour by which one man wields Dominion over the minds of many, and he is daily becoming more confirmed in his Sway, as they are in their Obedience. Such is the Man that a few of his followers have the presumption to suppose they can set aside when no longer Serviceable. It is just as likely that all your sheep in England will rise up and address the sheep dogs, and say "While we wanted you, it was well, but there are no more wolves and we will take care of ourselves and dispense with your Canine generalship." One look from Papineau's eye would quell the whole Canadian flock. Continue