The Story of the Upper Canada Rebellion - John Charles Dent (best historical biographies .TXT) 📗

by no means be supposed that all the good blood in the Province was confined to the Compact. There were many persons among the pioneers of Upper Canada of gentle nurture and breeding, who nevertheless scorned to pose in the character of aristocrats in a land where such assumptions were altogether out of place, and who manfully accommodated themselves to their primitive surroundings. As has been well remarked by Mr. MacMullen,[56] "While they learned to wield the axe and swing the cradle with the energy and skill of the roughest backwoodsman, they retained their polished manners, their literary tastes, their love for the beautiful and the elegant; and thus exercised the most beneficial influence upon their rustic neighbours. In the absence of schools, of churches, of most of the refining influences of civilized society, this class of the early settlers of Upper Canada were foremost in usefulness. Their superior education, their well-bred manners, their more refined habits, raised them in the estimation of the rural population, who soon tacitly admitted a superiority which would never have been conceded [had it been] more directly asserted." Most, though not all, of these gentlemen were Tories, and, with hardly an exception, preserved their loyalty through all chances and changes. During the War of 1812-15, and again during the agitation arising out of the Rebellion, they proved true to their Tory instincts, and rallied to the side of the Government with ready fervour. Their social proclivities were equally removed from the rude boorishness of the ordinary settler as from the pretence and ceremonial of the clique of self-constituted aristocrats. They generally preserved a modicum of state in the regulation of their household affairs, though they kept aloof from the Compact and its practices, and devoted themselves to various branches of industry--among others, to the education of youth; to the practice of the learned professions; to the opening and cultivating of new avenues of commerce; and to reducing the pathless forests to arable and smiling fields.
One other fact it is essential to bear in mind, in estimating the effects of the Compact's _regime_. In seizing upon all the official and other spoils within their reach, and in trampling upon the liberties of the people, the magnates of Upper Canada were merely treading in the footsteps of the Tite Barnacles of Great Britain. The period was one of transition, all over the civilized world. Popular rights were but imperfectly understood, and the idea that good government is best served by the extension of justice and equal rights to all classes was only beginning to dawn upon the minds of public men, even in old and long-established communities. That Canada was not in advance of the times is not to be wondered at; but the ordeal through which she was compelled to pass on the way to full and assured liberty forms an epoch highly necessary to be understood and frequently remembered by all who appreciate the blessings which are the birthright of every Canadian of the present day. A knowledge of the principles and practices of the Family Compact in the olden days constitutes the most effectual guarantee that such days can never return, and that neither our children nor our children's children will ever be compelled to fight over again the battle which was so long and so patiently waged by their ancestors.
FOOTNOTES:
[45] It may perhaps be thought by some readers that the closing sentences of this paragraph are pitched in too high a key. Those who entertain that opinion will receive light on the subject by a careful perusal of various official reports issued just prior to the passing of the Quebec Act in 1774, and more especially of _A Cry from Quebec_, published at Montreal in 1809.
[46] _Report on the Affairs of British North America_, English folio edition, p. 53.
[47] _Ib._
[48] How far Lord Durham was justified in saying that there was "little of family connexion" among the members of the Compact will appear from the following "curious but accurate statement," prepared by Mr. W. L. Mackenzie for his _Sketches of Canada and the United States_, published in England in 1833. It will be found on pp. 405-409 of that work. "When I left Upper Canada last year," writes Mr. Mackenzie, "some of the offices, sinecures, and pensions of the Government were divided as follows:--No. 1. D'ARCY BOULTON, senior, a retired pensioner, L500 sterling. 2. HENRY, son to No. 1, Attorney-General and Bank Solicitor, L2400. 3. D'ARCY, son to No. 1, Auditor-General, Master in Chancery, Police Justice, etc. Income unknown. 4. WILLIAM, son to No. 1, Church Missionary, King's College Professor, etc., L650. 5. GEORGE, son to No. 1, Registrar of Northumberland, Member of Assembly for Durham, etc. Income unknown. 6. JOHN BEVERLEY ROBINSON, brother-in-law to No. 3, Chief Justice of Upper Canada, Member for life of the Legislative Council, Speaker of ditto, L2000. 7. PETER, brother to No. 6, Member of the Executive Council, Member for life of the Legislative Council, Crown Land Commissioner, Surveyor-General of Woods, Clergy Reserve Commissioner, etc. L1300. 8. WILLIAM, brother to Nos. 6 and 7, Postmaster of Newmarket, Member of Assembly for Simcoe, Government Contractor, Colonel of Militia, Justice of the Peace, etc. Income unknown. 9. JONAS JONES, brother-in-law to No. 2, Judge of the District Court in three districts containing eight counties, and filling a number of other offices. Income about L1000. 10. CHARLES, brother to No. 9, Member for life of Legislative Council, Justice of the Peace in twenty seven counties, etc. 11. ALPHEUS, brother to Nos. 9 and 10, Collector of Customs, Prescott, Postmaster at ditto, Agent for Government Bank at ditto, etc. Income L900. 12. LEVIUS P. SHERWOOD, brother-in-law to Nos. 9, 10, 11, one of the Justices of the Court of King's Bench. Income L1000. 13. HENRY, son to No. 12, Clerk of Assize, etc. 14. JOHN ELMSLEY, son-in-law to No. 12, Member of the Legislative Council for life, Bank Director, Justice of the Peace, etc. 15. CHARLES HEWARD, nephew to No. 6, Clerk of the District Court, etc. Income L100. 16. JAMES B. MACAULAY, brother-in-law to Nos. 17 and 19, one of the Justices of the Court of King's Bench. Income L1000. 17. CHRISTOPHER ALEXANDER HAGERMAN, brother-in-law to No. 16, Solicitor-General. L800. 18. JOHN MCGILL, a relation of Nos. 16 and 17, Legislative Councillor for life. Pensioner, L500. 19 and 20. W. ALLAN AND GEORGE CROOKSHANKS, connexions by marriage of 16 and 17, Legislative Councillors for life, the latter President of the Bank. L500. 21. HENRY JONES, cousin to Nos. 9, 10, etc., Postmaster of Brockville, Justice of the Peace, Member of Assembly for Brockville, Income unknown. 22. WILLIAM DUMMER POWELL, father of No. 24, Legislative Councillor for life, Justice of the Peace, Pensioner. Pension, L1000. 23. SAMUEL PETERS JARVIS, son-in-law to No. 22, Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, Deputy-Secretary of the Province, Bank Director, etc. Income unknown. 24. GRANT, son to No. 22, Clerk of the Legislative Council, Police Justice, Judge Home District Court, Official Principal of Probate Court, Commissioner of Customs, etc. Income L675. 25. WILLIAM M., brother to 23, High Sheriff Gore District. Income from L500 to L800. 26. WILLIAM B., cousin to Nos. 23 and 25, High Sheriff, Home District, Member of Assembly. Income L900. 27. ADIEL SHERWOOD, cousin to No. 12, High Sheriff of Johnstown, and Treasurer of that district. Income from L500 to L800. 28. GEORGE SHERWOOD, son to No. 12, Clerk of Assize. 29. JOHN STRACHAN, their family tutor and political schoolmaster, archdeacon and rector of York, Member of the Executive and Legislative Councils, President of the University, President of the Board of Education, and twenty other situations. Income, on an average of years, upwards of L1800. 30. THOMAS MERCER JONES, son-in-law to No. 29, associated with No. 19, as the Canada Company's Agents and Managers in Canada. This family connexion rules Upper Canada according to its own good pleasure, and has no efficient check from this country to guard the people against its acts of tyranny and oppression. It includes the whole of the judges of the supreme civil and criminal tribunal (Nos. 6, 12, and 16)--active Tory politicians. Judge Macaulay was a clerk in the office of No. 2, not long since. It includes half the Executive Council or provincial cabinet. It includes the Speaker and other eight Members of the Legislative Council. It includes the persons who have the control of the Canada Land Company's monopoly. It includes the President and Solicitor of the Bank, and about half the Bank Directors; together with shareholders, holding, to the best of my recollection, about 1800 shares. And it included the crown lawyers until last March, when they carried their opposition to Viscount Goderich's measures of reform to such a height as personally to insult the government, and to declare their belief that he had not the royal authority for his despatches. They were then removed; but, with this exception, the chain remains unbroken. This family compact surround the Lieutenant-Governor, and mould him, like wax, to their will; they fill every office with their relatives, dependants, and partisans; by them justices of the peace and officers of the militia are made and unmade; they have increased the number of the Legislative Council by recommending, through the Governor, half a dozen of nobodies and a few placemen, pensioners, and individuals of well-known narrow and bigoted principle; the whole of the revenues of Upper Canada are in reality at their mercy;--they are Paymasters, Receivers, Auditors, King, Lords, and Commons!"
[49] See his evidence annexed to the Committee's Report, p. 86.
[50] Gourlay, commenting upon this episode, remarks: "Who pardoned all the poor sinners that for years had been getting bastards, and who legitimized these, was not determined when I bade farewell to Upper Canada."--_Statistical Account_, Vol. 2, p. 348.
[51] Those who wish to gain an insight into some of the most revolting features of this traffic may consult _Claws and the Clauses_, a pamphlet published at Buffalo in 1818; also _Gourlay_, vol. 2, pp. 486, 487; together with Jackson's pamphlet referred to in the text.
[52] This must have been Chief Justice Thomas Scott, after whom Scott Street, Toronto, was called. He was Chief Justice from August, 1806, to Michaelmas Term, 1816. He is referred to by Dr. Scadding in _Toronto of Old_, p. 51, as "a man of fine culture, spoken of affectionately by those who knew him." A picture of him in his decline is presented on page 130 of the same work.
[53] For a full account of these infamous proceedings, the reader is referred to _The Upper Canada Guardian_ of February 6th and March 18th, 1808, quoted by Gourlay in his _Statistical Account_, Vol. 2, pp. 655-662.
[54] See an extract from the minutes of the proceedings in the Assembly, 10th March, 1810, quoted by Gourlay, Vol. 2, pp. 328, 329. See also Gourlay's remarks thereon, Vol. 2, pp. 334, 335.
[55] There is reason to believe that the discontent begotten of the abuse of power in Canada was one of the inducements to this attempt on the part of the United States, the Government of which was led to believe that Canadians generally would welcome any relief from the yoke which the Compact had placed upon their necks.
[56] _History of Canada_, p. 243.


CHAPTER IV.
FATHERS OF REFORM.
The history of Upper Canada, from the time of Mr. Gourlay's banishment, in 1819, down to the actual outbreak of rebellion, is largely made up of a succession of abuses on the part of the Executive, and of more or less passive endurance on the part of the great body of the people. As has been intimated, the Gourlay prosecutions and their attendant circumstances aroused much popular indignation, and led to the formation of an organized Opposition. During the session of 1820 the "Gagging Bill," as it was called, which had been introduced and carried through the Assembly under the auspices of