Elliot paused, tickling his chin meditatively with the plume of his pen. He had met Mr. Papineau for the first time the evening of October 24th at a fairly small dinner party of 17 persons. The Speaker and the Hon. Mr. Denis-Benjamin Viger had attended, along with the Hon. Mr. Debartzch. Mr. Papineau gave the Governor to understand his calling, on the very evening of his arrival in Quebec, was a measure of support for him. Lord Gosford had been pleased, considered it somewhat of a coup. "Come any time," he told him heartily, in his usual unaffected way. Two mornings later, when Mr. Papineau paid his official call, Elliot had been invited to be present. He was impressed with the Patriote leader's command of English, his gentlemanly manner, and his polite but firm insistence on the rights of the Assembly. It was clear there was going to have to be change. Mr. Papineau stressed that nothing would satisfy the House but the Elective franchise. He kept returning to the grievances that had been put forth. Nothing but the full redress of them could be viewed with favour by the people.
Lord Gosford, without entering into any detail, assured him he would not have accepted the position with any other intention than to take a liberal view to the whole situation. Knowing what he did of the limits on the Governor's Instructions, Elliot could appreciate how uncomfortable he felt as Mr. Papineau assumed he was here with full powers to remedy what was most objectionable, evidently meaning the Executive and Legislative Councils. The best Lord Gosford could do was to make it clear he had come to bring about change and that if he was thwarted or opposed in putting into effect the principles which had induced him to come nothing would lead him to remain, that the redress of all real grievances was what he was determined rigidly to adhere to and that he only required a little patience & calmness from all sides to give them practical proof of it - that liberality subsisted in affording every man an opportunity to declare his opinion, and so on. Mr. Papineau made no attempt to conceal his evident disapproval of the Commission. He also spoke in strong reprobation of Lord. Aylmer's conduct and how much it was at variance with his former feelings and opinions - clearly warning Lord Gosford. The Speaker would certainly prove a worthy opponent!
The truth is that Papineau, with all his faults, is rather a fine Fellow. I dare say we shall find him perverse and suspicious, and that if ever he quarrels with us he will be coarsely abusive. Still, the good points of his Character are not to be denied. He seems to be irreproachable in his private life; in social intercourse he is mild and gentlemanlike and if, in politics he is too hot and unmeasured in his proceedings, I do not find that reasonable men accuse him of being dishonest. His principal faults are Violence, a want of the plainer sort of sense, and, I fear, an inveterate Prejudice against the English. Whatever else he be, it is impossible to set eyes on him, and not perceive that he is by Nature, as much as by the Station he has won for himself, the First of the French Canadian race.
Independently, however, of temporary causes and the influence of ambitious men, there appears to me to be a deeper motive calculated to bind the French party together, and give a general direction to their Policy. They can hardly fail to see that the English have possessed themselves of the whole Wealth and Power of every country in which they have acquired a footing. In all parts of the world, civilized or savage, whether as British Subjects in the East, or as revolted Colonists on this Continent, there has shown itself in the English People the same impossibility of amalgamating with others, the same necessity of gaining the Upper Hand themselves.
This, it must be admitted, can form a pleasing Topic of Conversation for the mild and uncontentious race who find themselves here, imbedded in the midst of growing settlements and nations of Englishmen. Whatever political power they may for the moment possess within the limit of their own Province, even there their more active Rivals have hold of all the Commerce of the Country; and beyond the artificial boundaries which distinguishes them from adjacent Regions, they are surrounded on all sides by millions using the language and the customs of which they have so much reason to dread the Ascendancy. Looking to the circumstances, I cannot think that the French Canadians would be very unreasonable to dread some future Extinction of their own Tongue and peculiar habits; and whether or not any of them extend their Views so far, it is not to be doubted that some amongst them fear a lapse into Insignificance.
In fact, the real question between the parties in this Country is the question of Time. The French cannot in their hearts be ignorant that they have a full measure of Power at the moment, but they see it continually inclined, as it were to pass into the Grasp of others, and so they are restless and jealous.
The English, on the other hand, must be confident that the Dominion of the Country will eventually centre in their race, but they are impatient, and wish to seize the prize before it is legitimately theirs. Both parties are at present in their proper Places; each however, is striving, one to precipitate the other to avert or at any rate to postpone the Transition which will eventually be the proper effect of the Institutions of the Province. ...
The Government will not be esteemed according to its independent Merits or its courageous Impartiality. It will be judged by the Extent to which its views may fall in with the Purposes of one or other of the Factions. Lord Aylmer's Administration was at the outset the ridicule & scorn of the Constitutionalists (as they are now mis-named) yet when the fractiousness of the French drove Lord Aylmer from that class, the English received him with open arms, and I myself saw them following him to the Beach with their acclamations and their praises and almost their tears.
It was another two days before Elliot resumed his letter. He had given considerable thought to what position the Colonial Office should take. "Taylor will show this to 'King' Stephen," he thought, "and, I expect Stephen will pass it on to Lord Howick. He's the man most likely to influence the Cabinet, even though he's still only War Minister. Stephen has no confidence at all in Lord Glenelg, I know. I'm afraid we have little real support at home. But, here goes!"
After this review of the Composition and Motives of the parties into which this Country is divided, it may seem natural that I should draw some practical Conclusions from the whole. I have already said that if Separation were the object to be feared I should look upon the party which is continually clamouring for British Laws and British concessions as by far the most likely to revolt. But dismissing the idea of Separation (as I think you may safely do) and considering our difficulties as mere difficulties of Administration from day to day, the French party, as being possessed of the Representative Institutions of the Country, is obviously the most formidable, and the one of which the favour is most necessary to the conduct of public affairs.
Turning from these considerations of immediate Convenience to bigger and more permanent objects, I will not deny that, while I dissent from their Influences, I see much weight in the facts on which the English reason. Although they can seldom prove that the French act unconstitutionally, they often shew that they use the Constitution unwisely.
It is not unconstitutional, for instance, that a joint co-ordinate Branch of Parliament, entrusted moreover with the special Custody of the Public Purse, should state the amount of its contingent expenses broadly, and refuse to submit to any canvassing of the details by the other portion of the Legislature; at the same time, it is lamentable that, by almost general confession, this Privilege is likely to be made the means of bestowing excessive salaries on the Partisans of the Majority of the Assembly, and perhaps of defraying the disbursement of unauthorized Committees of Correspondence and voluntary congregations of Members out of Session. The proper remedy for this would be the indignation & resentment of the People; but, it is no doubt to be regretted, in common with the English Party, that for Political purposes there is scarce such a thing as a People in Lower Canada. Just as with regard to the Contingencies, so also with regard to the vast Influence of Individuals who can command thousands of voters and signatures (if I may be allowed the term) at pleasure. I dissent from the English as to its being Unconstitutional but I agree with them so far as to think it an anxious thing to try the working of the British Constitution in a Country where there is no Public Opinion, and hardly Spirit enough in the possessors of Representative Power to quarrel amongst themselves and form some sort of natural check.
Having thus stated the fullest extent to which I can concur in the views of the English, Party, I will add without a moment's hesitation, that I do not see sufficient reason to follow those views to their only legitimate Conclusion (they lead to no other) viz: to deprive the Lower Canadians of the free Exercise of their Constitution.
1st - There is the obvious objection of the Odium and possible Danger of the attempt.
2ndly - To leave this humblest class of objections for one of Principle and Feeling, I would shrink, until the last necessity, from mulcting a people of Institutions calculated to develop their Energies & Intellect.
This necessity is not nearly arrived in Lower Canada. On the contrary, I see no cause whatever to despair of the French Canadians learning to wield their privileges discreetly. It is but recently that they have come to know and feel their Power, and already the most experienced men in the Country admit that there are dawnings of Improvements. I have extorted this admission from more than one member of the miscalled "Constitutional Association".
The events of the last two years will have done much to educate the French Canadians in Politics. If you could see the gloom which has been hanging over the City, the shame to private families, the difficulty to honest-headed men, the want of employment for the Operatives; if after your ears were filled with complaints here, you could go (as I have done) into the country, and at distances of ten or twenty miles find the Peasants deploring the loss of their usual market in the Capital, you would see that the Assembly, by its denial of all public money, has made an experiment on the patience of the people which it cannot be rash enough lightly to repeat. Wherever I have been, I have taken care - with expressions of profound submission - to explain to the Good Folks that it was not the Government that withheld, but the Assembly which refused the ordinary Expenditure of the place; and I was happy to find the "Habitans" tolerably enlightened on the Subject. The leading Men, you may be sure, have opened their own eyes to the risk of a Reaction, and this is the secret of the Compliments they begin to pour forth to our Conciliatory Qualities. I am glad of it; for I would rather they were brought back to considerate conduct by their own discernment of its necessity than by any paltry acts of ours.
Like boys for the first time entrusted with a gun, they could not resist the delight mingled with trepidation, of discharging it; but having once experienced the shock and the effects, they will reserve their fire another time for the presence of some real Necessity. This then is the sum of my creed:- that to conciliate the French Canadians, and train them up in the arts of Government is the safest and most convenient Policy for the present; and likewise the one most conducive to solid and lasting Advantages hereforth, but that the Experiment is likely to be obstructed by perversity and selfishness on various sides, and that, in the Mêlée, some of us who are now employed in Canada may chance to lose our Reputations. So let it be.
I may with the most perfect truth declare that from the moment I found I really had gained admittance into this great Field, I whistled all personal thoughts to the winds; and hitherto, the more the Storm has threatened, as the Session draws near, and the greater the rumours of alarm, the more my spirits have risen. It was to encounter this we came here and things must go very hard indeed before I part with my peace of mind.
With this comfortable sentiment, I had better prepare to conclude so long a disquisition.
I had thought of saying something of the Catholick Clergy, and the Powers of Seigneurs, among whom I have made several acquaintances, but time is wanting, and your patience doubtful. And as it is as well that a letter should be either one thing or another, I will not, on this occasion, enter into private matters, further than to say that my Wife and I are well and living on good terms with various Members of every class I have above passed in review. I know some of the Constitutionalists well enough to vex them by saying that if they would take their really appropriate title of Anti-Constitutionalists, and avow their opinion that the British System was unsuited to this Province there would be much more coherency in their reasonings, and more difficulty (tho' far from insuperable) in answering them. On the other hand, some of the Quebec Members, to whom I have alluded, are on terms with us approaching to real Friendship, and lately had a project to take Jane and me on a Tour through the District, stopping every night at the house of some friend or relation; but the weather was provoking enough to defeat the plan. If we had made that expedition we would have seen more of the intimate life of the French Canadians than one English family in a thousand does. In short, we feel no lack of novelty either of acquaintance or scenes, and in spite of Business or Political Crosses, a man must manage ill who could not spend a year or two at Quebec very pleasantly.
It was too bad the trip had not come off. Jane and Henriette Bédard had struck up a friendship, which pleased Frederick as Mr. Elzéar Bédard promised to be one of the most important of the Governor's supporters in the House, as crucial in many ways as Messers. Debartzch and Viger in the Legislative Council.
"After all this time to prepare, we're on the threshold of our adventure," he told Jane at dinner that evening, one of the few dinners in the week he enjoyed at home. "And I would venture to predict Lord Gosford will be successful."
"Henriette hopes so too," she replied. "All the Canadians we have met so far have been taken aback by the Governor's friendly manner. They're so used to pomp and circumstance they can't believe it when someone shakes their hand."
"It's just the reverse for the old Tories, of course," said Frederick. "That's one of the biggest problems in governing this Colony. What works for one side is anathema to the other. Well, we haven't long to wait for the opening salvoes at least. Tomorrow is the opening of Parliament."
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