|
|
views of local or personal interest, instead of uniting on broad
principles of social and political agreement.
Such were the antecedents of the party which now, for the first time,
found itself admitted to the counsels of the Governor. Well might he write
to Lord Grey, that 'the province was about to pass through an interesting
crisis.' He was required, in obedience to his own principles, to accept as
advisers persons who had very lately been denounced by the Secretary of
State as well as by the Governor-General, as impracticable and disloyal.
On the other hand he reflected, with satisfaction, that in these
sentiments he himself had neither overtly nor covertly expressed
concurrence; while the most extravagant assertors of responsible
government had never accused him of stepping out of his constitutional
position. He felt, therefore, that the _onus probandi_ would rest on
his new councillors if they could not act with him, and put forth
pretensions to which he was unable to accede. At least he was determined
to give them a fair trial. Writing on the 17th of March he says:--
The late Ministers tendered their resignations in a body on Saturday
4th, immediately after the division on the address, which took place
on Friday. I received and answered the address on Tuesday, and then
sent for Messrs. Lafontaine and Baldwin. I spoke to them in a candid
and friendly tone: told them that I thought there was a fair prospect,
if they were moderate and firm, of forming an administration deserving
and enjoying the confidence of Parliament; that they might count on
all proper support and assistance from me.
They dwelt much on difficulties arising out of pretensions advanced in
various quarters; which gave me an opportunity to advise them not to
attach too much importance to such considerations, but to bring
together a council strong in administrative talent, and to take their
stand on the wisdom of their measures and policy....
I am not without hopes that my position will be improved by the change
of administration. My present council unquestionably contains more
talent, and has a firmer hold on the confidence of Parliament and of
the people than the last. There is, I think, moreover, on their part,
a desire to prove, by proper deference for the authority of the
Governor-General (which they all admit has in my case never been
abused), that they were libelled when they were accused of
impracticability and anti-monarchical tendencies.
[Sidenote: News of the French revolution.]
It was only a few days after this that news reached Canada of the
revolution of February in Paris. On receipt of it he writes:--
It is just as well that I should have arranged my Ministry, and
committed the Flag of Britain to the custody of those who are
supported by the large majority of the representatives and
constituencies of the province, before the arrival of the astounding
intelligence from Europe, which reached us by the last mail. There
are not wanting here persons who might, under different circumstances,
have attempted, by seditious harangues if not by overt acts, to turn
the example of France, and the sympathies of the United States, to
account.
[Sidenote: Three difficulties.]
But while congratulating Lord Grey on having passed satisfactorily through
a crisis which might, under other circumstances, have been attended with
very serious results, and on the fact that 'at no period, during the
recent history of Canada, had the people of the province generally been
better contented, or less disposed to quarrel with the mother-country,'
Lord Elgin did not disguise from himself, or from the Secretary of State,
that there were ominous symptoms of disaffection on the part of all the
three great sections of the community, the French, the Irish, and the
British.
Bear in mind that one-half of our population is of French origin, and
deeply imbued with French sympathies; that a considerable portion of
the remainder consists of Irish Catholics; that a large Irish
contingent on the other side of the border, fanatics on behalf of
republicanism and repeal, are egging on their compatriots here to
rebellion; that all have been wrought upon until they believe that the
conduct of England to Ireland is only to be paralleled by that of
Russia to Poland; that on this exciting topic, therefore, a kind of
holy indignation mixes itself with more questionable impulses; that
Guy Fawkes Papineau, actuated by the most malignant passions,
irritated vanity, disappointed ambition, and national hatred, which
unmerited favour has only served to exasperate, is waving a lighted
torch among these combustibles--you will, I think, admit, that if we
pass through this crisis without explosions it will be a gratifying
circumstance, and an encouragement to persevere in a liberal and
straightforward application of constitutional principles to
Government.
I have peculiar satisfaction therefore, under all these circumstances,
in calling your attention to the presentment of the grand jury of
Montreal, which I have sent you officially, in which that body adverts
to the singularly tranquil and contented state of the province.[8]
[Sidenote: The French question.]
With regard to the French he constantly expressed the conviction that
nothing was wanted to secure the loyalty of the vast majority, but a
policy of conciliation and confidence. In this spirit he urged the
importance of removing the restrictions on the use of the French
language:--
[Sidenote: Use of the French language.]
I am very anxious to hear that you have taken steps for the repeal of
so much of the Act of Union as imposes restrictions on the use of the
French language. The delay which has taken place in giving effect to
the promise made, I think by Gladstone, on this subject, is one of the
points of which M. Papineau is availing himself for purposes of
agitation. I must, moreover, confess, that I for one am deeply
convinced of the impolicy of all such attempts to denationalise the
French. Generally speaking they produce the opposite effect from that
intended, causing the flame of national prejudice and animosity to
burn more fiercely. But suppose them to be successful, what would be
the result? You may perhaps _Americanize_, but, depend upon it,
by methods of this description you will never _Anglicize_ the
French inhabitants of the province. Let them feel, on the other hand,
that their religion, their habits, their prepossessions, their
prejudices if you will, are more considered and respected here than in
other portions of this vast continent, who will venture to say that
the last hand which waves the British flag on American ground may not
be that of a French Canadian?
In the same spirit, when an association was formed for facilitating the
acquisition of crown lands by French _habitans_, he put himself at
the head, of the movement; by which means he was able to thwart the
disloyal designs of the demagogue who had planned it.
[Sidenote: French unionisation.]
You will perhaps recollect that some weeks ago I mentioned that the
Roman Catholic bishop and priests of this diocese had organised an
association for colonisation purposes, their object being to prevent
the sheep of their pasture (who now, strange as it may appear,
emigrate annually in thousands to the States, where they become hewers
of wood and drawers of water to the Yankees, and bad Catholics into
the bargain) from quitting their fold. Papineau pounced upon this
association as a means of making himself of importance in the eyes of
his countrymen, and of gratifying his ruling passion by abusing
England. Accordingly, at a great meeting convened at Montreal, be held
forth for three hours to the multitude (the bishop in the chair),
ascribing this and all other French-Canadian ills, real or supposed,
to the selfish policy of Great Britain, and her persevering efforts to
deprive them of their nationality and every other blessing.
In process of time, after this rather questionable start, the
association waited on me with a memorial requesting the co-operation
of Government, M. Papineau being one of the deputation.
In dealing with them I had two courses to choose from. I had nothing
for it, situated as I was, but either, on the one hand, to give the
promoters of the scheme a cold shoulder, point out its objectionable
features, and dwell upon difficulties of execution--in which case (use
what tact I might) I should have dismissed the bishop and his friends
discontented, and given M. Papineau an opportunity of asserting that I
had lent a quasi sanction to his calumnies; or, on the other, to
identify myself with the movement, put myself in so far as might be at
its head, impart to it as salutary a direction as possible, and thus
wrest from M. Papineau's hands a potent instrument of agitation.
I was tempted, I confess, to prefer the latter of these courses, not
only by reason of its manifest expediency as bearing upon present
political contests, but also because I sympathise, to a considerable
extent, with the views of the promoters of the movement. No one
object, in my opinion, is so important, whether you seek to retain
Canada as a colony, or to fit her for independence and make her
instinct with national life and vigour, as the filling up of her
vacant lands with a resident agricultural population. More especially
is it of moment that the inhabitants of French origin should feel that
every facility for settling on the land of their fathers is given them
with the cordial assent and concurrence of the British Government and
its representative, and that in the plans of settlement their feelings
and habits are consulted. The sentiment of French Canadian
nationality, which Papineau endeavours to pervert to purposes of
faction, may yet perhaps, if properly improved, furnish the best
remaining security against annexation to the States.
I could not with these views afford to lose the opportunity of
promoting this object, which was presented by a spontaneous movement
of the people, headed by the priesthood--the most powerful influence
in Lower Canada.
The official correspondence which has passed on this subject I hope to
send by the next mail, and I need not trouble you with the detail of
proceedings on my own part, which, though small in themselves, were
not without their effect. Suffice it to say, that Papineau has retired
to solitude and reflection at his seignory, 'La Petite Nation'--and
that the pastoral letter, of which I enclose a copy, has been read
_au prone_ in every Roman Catholic church in the diocese. To
those who know what have been the real sentiments of the French
population towards England for some years past, the tone of this
document, its undisguised preference for peaceful over quarrelsome
courses, the desire which it manifests to place the representative of
British rule forward as the patron of a work dear to French-Canadian
hearts, speaks volumes.
With the same object of conciliating the French portion of the community,
he lost no opportunity of manifesting the personal interest which he felt
in their institutions. The following letter, written in August 1848, to
his mother at Paris, describes a visit to one of these institutions, the
college of St. Hyacinthe, the chief French college of Montreal:--
[Sidenote: A French college.]
I was present, the other day, at an examination of the students at one
of the Roman Catholic Colleges of Montreal. It is altogether under the
direction of the priesthood, and it is curious to observe the course
they steer. The young men declaimed for some hours on a theme proposed
by the superior, being a contrast between ancient and modern
civilisation. The greater part of it was a sonorous exposition of
ultra-liberal principles, '_Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite,' 'Vox
populi, vox Dei_,' a very liberal tribute to the vanity and to the
prejudices of the classes who might be expected to send their children
to the institution or to puff it; with an elaborate _pivot a la
Lacordaire_--that the Church had achieved all that had been
effected in this genre hitherto. _Au reste_, there was the
wonderful mechanism which gives that church such advantages--the
fourteen professors receiving no salaries, working for their food and
that of the homeliest; as a consequence, an education, board and
lodging inclusive, costing only 15 _l._ a year; the youths
subjected to a constant discipline under the eye of ecclesiastics day
and night. I confess, when I see both the elasticity and the machinery
of this church, my wonder is, not with Lacordaire that it should do so
much, but that it should not do more.
[Sidenote: The Irish question.]
More formidable at all times than any discontent on the part of the quiet
and orderly French _habitans_ was the chronic disaffection of the
restless, roving Irish; and especially when connected with a threatened
invasion of American 'sympathisers.' When such threats come to nothing, it
is generally difficult to say whether they were all mere vapouring, or
whether they might have led to serious results, if not promptly met; but
at one time, at least, there appears to have been solid ground for
apprehending that real mischief was intended. On the 18th July, 1848, Lord
Elgin writes:--
[Sidenote: Irish republicans.]
At the moment when the last mail was starting a placard, calling an
Irish repeal, or rather republican, meeting was placed in my hands. I
enclosed it in my letter to you, and I now proceed to inform you how
the movement to which it relates has progressed since then.
An M.P.P.[9], opposed in politics to the present Government, waited on
me a few days ago and told me, that he had been requested to move a
resolution at the meeting in question by a Mr. O'Connor, who
represented himself to be the editor of a newspaper at New York, and a
member of the Irish Republican Union. This gentleman informed him that
it was expected that, before September, there would be a general
rising in Ireland; that the body to which he belonged had been
instituted with the view of abetting this movement; that it was
discountenanced by the aristocracy of the States, but supported by the
great mass of the people; that funds were forthcoming in plenty; that
arms and soldiers, who might be employed as drill sergeants in the
clubs, were even now passing over week after week to Ireland; that an
American general, lately returned from Mexico, was engaged to take the
command when the proper time came; that they would have from 700,000
to 800,000 men in the field, a force with which Great Britain would be
altogether unable to cope; that when the English had been expelled,
the Irish people would be called to determine, whether the Queen was
to be at the head of their political system or not. He added that his
visit to Canada was connected with these objects; that it was
desirable that a diversion should be effected here at the time of the
Irish outbreak; that 50,000 Irish were ready to march into Canada from
the States at a moment's notice. He further stated that he had called
on my informant, because he understood him to be a disappointed man,
and ill-disposed to the existing order of things; that with respect to
himself and the thousands who felt with him, there was no sacrifice
they were not ready to make, if they could humble England and reduce
her to a third-rate power.
The place originally selected for the monster meeting, according to
the advertisement which I enclose, was the Bonsecour Market, a covered
building, under the control of the corporation. When this was
announced, however, the Government sent for the mayor (a French
Liberal) and told him that they considered it unbecoming that he
should give the room for such a purpose. He accordingly withdrew his
permission, stating that he had not been before apprised of the
precise nature of the assembly. After receiving this check, the
leaders of the movement fixed on an open space near the centre of the
town for their gathering.
It took place last night, and proved a complete failure. Not a single
individual of importance among the Irish Repeal party was present.
Some hundreds of persons attended, but were speedily dispersed by a
timely thunder shower. O'Connor was violent enough; but I have not yet
ascertained that he said anything which would form good material for
an indictment. I am of opinion, however, that proceedings of this
description on the part of a citizen of another country are not to be
tolerated; and, although there is an indisposition in certain quarters
to drive things to an extremity, I think I shall succeed in having him
arrested unless he takes himself off speedily.
[Sidenote: The British question.]
But the French question and the Irish question were simple and unimportant
as compared with those which were raised by the state of feeling recently
created in a large and influential portion of the British population,
partly by political events, partly by commercial causes.
[Sidenote: The Family Compact.]
The political party, which was now in opposition--the old Tory Loyalists,
who from their long monopoly of office and official influence had acquired
the title of the 'Family Compact'--were filled with wrath at seeing
rebels--for as such they considered the French leaders--now taken into
the confidence of the Governor as Ministers of the Crown. At the same time
many of the individuals who composed that party were smarting under a
sense of injury and injustice inflicted upon them by the Home Government,
and by that party in the Home Government by whose policy their own
ascendency in the colony had, as they considered, been undermined. Nor was
it possible to deny that there was some ground for their complaints. By
the Canada Corn Act of 1843 not only the wheat of Canada, but also its
flour, which might be made from American wheat, had been admitted into
England at a nominal duty. The premium thus offered for the grinding of
American wheat for the British market, caused a great amount of capital to
be invested in mills and other appliances of the flour trade. 'But almost
before these arrangements were fully completed, and the newly built mills
fairly at work, the [Free-Trade] Act of 1846 swept away the advantage
conferred upon Canada in respect to the corn-trade with this country, and
thus brought upon the province a frightful amount of loss to individuals,
and a great derangement of the Colonial finances.'[10] Lord Elgin felt
deeply for the sufferers, and often pressed their case on the attention of
the Secretary of State.
[Sidenote: Discontent due to Imperial legislation.]
I do not think that you are blind to the hardships which Canada is now
enduring; but, I must own, I doubt much whether you fully appreciate
their magnitude, or are aware of how directly they are chargeable on
Imperial legislation. Stanley's Bill of 1843 attracted all the produce
of the West to the St. Lawrence, and fixed all the disposable capital
of the province in grinding mills, warehouses, and forwarding
establishments. Peel's Bill of 1846 drives the whole of the produce
down the New York channels of communication, destroying the revenue
which Canada expected to derive from canal dues, and ruining at once
mill-owners, forwarders, and merchants. The consequence is, that
private property is unsaleable in Canada, and not a shilling can be
raised on the credit of the province. We are actually reduced to the
disagreeable necessity of paying all public officers, from the
Governor-General downwards, in debentures, which are not exchangeable
at par. What makes it more serious is, that all the prosperity of
which Canada is thus robbed is transplanted to the other side of the
lines, as if to make Canadians feel more bitterly how much kinder
England is to the children who desert her, than to those who remain
faithful. For I care not whether you be a Protectionist or a
Free-trader, it is the inconsistency of Imperial legislation, and not
the adoption of one policy rather than another, which is the bane of
the colonies. I believe that the conviction that they would be better
off if they were 'annexed' is almost universal among the commercial
classes at present, and the peaceful condition of the province under
all the circumstances of the time is, I must confess, often a matter
of great astonishment to myself.
[Sidenote: How to be remedied.]
His sympathy, however, with the sufferings caused by the introduction of
Free-trade was not accompanied by any wish to return to a Protective
policy. On the contrary, he felt that the remedy was to be sought in a
further development of the Free-trade principle, in the repeal of the
Navigation Laws, which cramped the commerce Canada by restricting it to
British vessels, and in a reciprocal reduction of the duties which
hampered her trade with the United States. In this sense he writes to Lord
Grey:--
I am glad to see your bold measure on the Navigation Laws. You have no
other course now open to you if you intend to keep your colonies. You
cannot halt between two opinions: Free-trade in all things, or general
Protection. There was something captivating in the project of forming
all the parts of this vast British empire into one huge
_Zollverein_ with free interchange of commodities, and uniform
duties against the world without; though perhaps, without some
federal legislation, it might have been impossible to carry it out.
Undoubtedly, under such a system, the component parts of the empire
would have been united by bonds which cannot be supplied under that on
which we are now entering; though it may be fairly urged on the other
side, that the variety of conflicting interests which would, under
this arrangement, have been brought into presence would have led to
collisions which we may now hope to escape. But, as it is, the die is
cast. As regards these colonies you must allow them to turn to the
best possible account their contiguity to the States, that they may
not have cause for dissatisfaction when they contrast their own
condition with that of their neighbours.
Another subject on which I am very solicitous, is the free admission
of Canadian products into the States. At present the Canadian farmer
gets less for his wheat than his neighbour over the lines. This is an
unfortunate state of things. I had a long conversation with Mr.
Baldwin about it lately, and he strongly supports the proposition
which I ventured to submit for your consideration about a year ago,
viz. that a special treaty should be entered into with the States,
giving them the navigation of the St. Lawrence jointly with ourselves,
on condition that they admit Canadian produce duty free. An
arrangement of this description affecting internal waters only might,
I apprehend, be made (as in the case of Columbia in the Oregon treaty)
independently of the adjustment of questions touching the Navigation
Laws generally. I confess that I dread the effect of the continuance
of the present state of things on the loyalty of our farmers. Surely
the admission of the Americans into the St. Lawrence would be a great
boon to them, and we ought to exact a _quid pro quo_.
He was sanguine enough to hope that these measures, so simple and so
obviously desirable, might be brought into operation at once; but they
were not carried until many years later, one of them, as we shall see,
only by aid of his own personal exertions; and his disappointment on this
score deepened the anxiety with which he looked round upon the
difficulties of his position, already described. On August 16 he writes:--
The news from Ireland--the determination of Government not to proceed
with the measure respecting the Navigation Laws--doubts as to whether
the American Congress will pass the Reciprocity of Trade Bill--menaces
of sympathisers in the States--all combine at present to render our
position one of considerable anxiety.
Firstly, we have the Irish Repeal body. I need not describe them; you
may look at home; they are here just what they are in Ireland.
Secondly, we have the French population; their attitude as regards
England and America is that of an armed neutrality. They do not
exactly like the Americans, but they are the _conquered, oppressed
subjects_ of England! To be sure they govern themselves, pay no
taxes, and some other trifles of this description; nevertheless, they
are the victims of British _egoisme._ Was not the union of the
provinces carried without their consent, and with a view of subjecting
them to the British? Papineau, their press, and other authorities, are
constantly dinning this into their ears, so no wonder they believe it.
Again, our mercantile and commercial classes are thoroughly disgusted
and lukewarm in their allegiance. You know enough of colonies to
appreciate the tendency which they always exhibit to charge their
misfortunes upon the mother-country, no matter from what source they
flow. And indeed it is easy to show that, as matters now stand, the
faithful subject of Her Majesty in Canada is placed on a worse
footing, as regards trade with the mother-country, than the rebel
'over the 'lines.'
The same man who, when you canvass him at an English borough election,
says, 'Why, sir, I voted Red all my life, and I never got anything by
it: this time I intend to vote Blue,'--addresses you in Canada with 'I
have been all along one of the steadiest supporters of the British
Government, but really, if claims such as mine are not more thought
of, I shall begin to consider whether other institutions are not
preferable to ours.' What to do under these circumstances of anxiety
and discouragement is the question.
As to any aggressions from without, I shall throw the responsibility
of repelling them upon Her Majesty's troops in the first instance. And
I shall be disappointed, indeed, if the military here do not give a
very good account of all American and Irish marauders.
With respect to internal commotions, I should like to devolve the duty
of quelling them as much as possible upon the citizens. I very much
doubt whether any class of them, however great their indifference or
disloyalty, fancy the taste of Celtic pikes, or the rule of Irish mob
law.
Happily the dangers which there seemed so much reason to apprehend were
dispelled by the policy at once firm and conciliatory of the Governor:
mainly, as he himself was never wearied of asserting, owing to the healthy
and loyal feeling engendered in the province by his frank adoption and
consistent maintenance of Lord Durham's principle of responsible
government. It was one of the occasions, not unfrequent in Lord Elgin's
life, that recall the words in which Lord Melbourne pronounced the
crowning eulogy of another celebrated diplomatist:--'My Lords, you can
never fully appreciate the merits of that great man. You can appreciate
the great acts which he publicly performed; but you cannot appreciate, for
you cannot know, the great mischiefs which he unostentatiously prevented.'
[Sidenote: Navigation Laws.]
In the course of the discussions on the Repeal of the Navigation Laws, to
which reference is made in the foregoing letters, an incident occurred
which attracted some attention at the time, and which, as it could not be
explained then, ought, perhaps, to be noticed in this place.
Lord George Bentinck, who led the opposition to the measure, saw reason to
think that, in the published despatches from Canada on the subject, a
letter had been suppressed which would have furnished arguments against
the Government; and, under this impression, he moved in the House of
Commons for 'copies of the omitted correspondence.' The motion was
negatived without a division, on Lord John Russell's pointing out that it
involved an imputation on the Governor's good faith; but the Premier
himself was probably not aware at the time, how completely the mover was
at fault, as is shown in the following letter from Lord Elgin to Mr. C.
Bruce, who, being a member of Parliament and a strong Protectionist, had a
double interest in the matter:--
You ask me about this mare's nest of Bentinck. The facts are these:
the Montreal Board of Trade drew up a memorial for the House of
Commons _against the Navigation Laws_, containing _inter
alia_ a very distinct threat of separation in the event of their
_non-repeal_. My secretary (not my private secretary, mark, but
my responsible Government Secretary) sent _me a draft_ of a
letter to the Board containing very loyal and proper sentiments on
this head. I approved of the letter, and sent a copy of it home with
the memorial, _instead of a report by myself_, partly because it
saved me trouble, and partly because I was glad to show how perfectly
my liberal government had expressed themselves on the point. Two or
three weeks later, the Board of Trade, not liking Mr. Sullivan to have
the last word, wrote an answer, simply justifying what they had
already stated in their memorial, which had already gone with my
comment upon it to be laid before the House of Commons. To send such a
letter home in a separate despatch would have seemed to me worse than
absurd, because it would really have been giving to this unseemly
menace a degree of importance which it did not deserve. If I
_had_ sent it I must have accompanied it with a statement to the
effect, that my sentiments on the point communicated in my former
letter remained unchanged; so the matter would have rested pretty much
where it did before. Bentinck seems to suppose that, in keeping back a
letter which stated that Canada would separate if the Navigation Laws
were not repealed, I intended by some very ingenious dodge to hasten
their repeal![11]
[Sidenote: Speech on education.]
At the beginning of the winter season of 1848-9, Lord Elgin was present,
as patron, at a meeting of the Montreal Mercantile Library Association, to
open the winter's course of lectures. It was an association mainly founded
by leading merchants, 'with a view of affording to the junior members of
the mercantile body opportunities of self-improvement, and inducements
sufficiently powerful to enable them to resist those temptations to
idleness and dissipation which unhappily abound in all large communities.'
He took the opportunity of delivering his views on the subject of
education in a speech, parts of which may still be read with interest,
after all that has been spoken and written on this fertile topic. It has
at least the merit of being eminently characteristic of the speaker, whose
whole life was an illustration, in the eyes of those who knew him best, of
the truths which he sought to inculcate on the young merchants of
Montreal.[12]
After remarking that it was vain for him to attempt, in a cursory address,
to fan the fervour of his hearers' zeal, or throw light on subjects which
they were in the habit of hearing so effectively treated,
Indeed (he continued) I should almost be tempted to affirm that in an
age when education is so generally diffused--when the art of printing
has brought the sources of information so near to the lips of all who
thirst for understanding--when so many of the secrets of nature have
been revealed--when the impalpable and all-pervading electricity, and
the infinite elasticity of steam, have been made subservient to
purposes of human utility,--the advantages of knowledge, in an
utilitarian point of view, the utter hopelessness of a successful
attempt on the part either of individuals or classes to maintain their
position in society if they neglect the means of self-improvement, are
truths too obvious to call for elucidation. I must say that it seems
to me that there is less risk, therefore, of our declining to avail
ourselves of our opportunities than there is of our misusing or
abusing them; that there is less likelihood of our refusing to grasp
the treasures spread out before us, than of our laying upon them rash
and irreverent hands, and neglecting to cultivate those habits of
patient investigation, humility, and moral self-control, without which
we have no sufficient security that even the possession of knowledge
itself will be a blessing to us. I was much struck by a passage I met
with the other day in reading the life of one of the greatest men of
his age and country--Watt--which seemed to me to illustrate very
forcibly the nature of the danger to which I am now referring as well
as its remedy. It is stated in the passage to which I allude, that
Watt took great delight in reading over the specifications of
inventions for which patent rights were obtained. He observed that of
those inventions a large proportion turned out to be entirely
worthless, and a source of ruin and disappointment to their authors.
And it is further stated that he discovered that, among these abortive
inventions, many were but the embodiment of ideas which had suggested
themselves to his own mind--which, probably, when they first presented
themselves, he had welcomed as great discoveries, likely to contribute
to his own fame and to the advantage of mankind, but which, after
having subjected them to that rigid and unsparing criticism which he
felt it his bounden duty to apply to the offspring of his own brain,
he had found to be worthless, and rejected. Now, unquestionably, the
powerful intellect of Watt went for much in this matter:
unquestionably his keen and practised glance enabled him to detect
flaws and errors in many cases where an eye equally honest, but less
acute, would have failed to discover them; but can we doubt that a
moral element was largely involved in the composition of that quality
of mind which enabled Watt to shun the sunken rocks on which so many
around him were making shipwreck--that it was his unselfish devotion
to truth, his humility, and the practice of self-control, which
enabled him to rebuke the suggestions of vanity and self-interest,
and, with the sternness of an impartial judge, to condemn to silence
and oblivion even the offspring of his own mind, for which he
doubtless felt a parent's fondness, when it fell short of that
standard of perfection which he had reared? From this incident in the
life of that great man, we may draw, I think, a most useful lesson,
which we may apply with good effect to fields of inquiry far
transcending those to which the anecdote has immediate reference.
Take, for instance, the wide region occupied with moral and political,
or, as they are styled, social questions: observe the wretched half-
truths, the perilous fallacies, which quacks, greedy of applause or
gain, and speculating on the credulity of mankind, more especially in
times of perturbation or distress, have the audacity to palm upon the
world as sublime discoveries calculated to increase, in some vast and
untold amount, the sum of human happiness; and mark the misery and
desolation which follow, when the hopes excited by these pretenders
are dispelled. It is often said in apology for such persons, that they
are, after all, sincere; that they are deceived rather than deceivers;
that they do not ask others to adopt opinions which they have not
heartily accepted themselves; but apply to this reasoning the
principle that I have been endeavouring to illustrate from the life of
Watt, and we shall find, I think, that the excuse is, in most cases,
but a sorry one, if, indeed, it be any excuse at all. God has planted
within the mind of man the lights of reason and of conscience, and
without it, He has placed those of revelation and experience; and if
man wilfully extinguishes those lights, in order that, under cover of
the darkness which he has himself made, he may install in the
sanctuary of his understanding and heart, where the image of truth
alone should dwell, a vain idol, a creature of his own fond
imaginings, it will, I fear, but little avail him, more especially in
that day when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed, if he shall
plead in extenuation of his guilt that he did not invite others to
worship the idol until he had fallen prostrate himself before it.
These, gentlemen, are truths which I think it will be well for us to
lay to heart. I address myself more particularly to you who are
entering upon the useful and honourable career of the British
merchant; for you are now standing on the lower steps of a ladder,
which, when it is mounted with diligence and circumspection, leads
always to respectability, not unfrequently to high honour and
distinction. Bear in mind, then, that the quality which ought chiefly
to distinguish those who aspire to exercise a controlling and
directing influence in any department of human action, from those who
have only a subordinate part to play, is the knowledge of principles
and general laws. A few examples will make the truth of this
proposition apparent to you. Take, for instance, the case of the
builder. The mason and carpenter must know how to hew the stone and
square the timber, and follow out faithfully the working plan placed
in their hands. But the architect must know much more than this; he
must be acquainted with the principles of proportion and form; he must
know the laws which regulate the distribution of heat, light, and air,
in order that he may give to each part of a complicated structure its
due share of these advantages, and combine the multifarious details
into a consistent whole. Take again the case of the seaman. It is
enough for the steersman that he watch certain symptoms in the sky and
on the waves; that he note the shifting of the wind and compass, and
attend to certain precise rules which have been given him for his
guidance. But the master of the ship, if he be fit for his
situation--and I am sorry to say that many undertake the duties of
that responsible office who are not fit for it--must be thoroughly
acquainted, not only with the map of the earth and heavens, but he
must know also all that science has revealed of some of the most
subtle of the operations of nature; he must understand, as far as man
can yet discover them, what are the laws which regulate the movements
of the currents, the direction of the tempest, and the meanderings of
the magnetic fluid. Or, to take a case with which you are more
familiar--that of the merchant. The merchant's clerk must understand
book-keeping and double-entry, and know how to arrange every item of
the account under its proper head, and how to balance the whole
correctly. But the head of the establishment must be acquainted, in
addition to this, with the laws which regulate the exchanges, with the
principles that affect the production and distribution of national
wealth, and therefore with those social and political causes which are
ever and anon at work to disturb calculations, which would have been
accurate enough for quiet times, but which are insufficient for
others. I think, therefore, that I have established the truth of the
proposition, that men who aspire to exercise a directing and
controlling influence in any pursuit or business, should be
distinguished by a knowledge of principles and general laws. But it is
in the acquisition of this knowledge, and more especially in its
application to the occurrences of daily life, that the chief necessity
arises for the exercise of those high moral qualities, with the
importance of which I have endeavoured, in these brief remarks, to
impress you.
[1] _Our Colonies_: an Address delivered to the members of the
Mechanics' Institute, Chester, Nov. 12, 1855, by the Right Hon. W. E.
Gladstone, M.P.
[2] See the _Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell's Administration_, by
Earl Grey: a work in which the records of a most important period of
colonial history are traced with equal ability and authority.
[3] MacMullen's _History of Canada_, p. 497.
[4] Lord Grey's _Colonial Policy_, &c., i. 207.
[5] MacMullen's _History of Canada_.
[6] A pamphlet was published by a member of the Legislative Council,
denouncing this and similar instances of 'horrible and heartless
conduct' on the part of landed proprietors and their 'mercenary
agents;' but it was proved by satisfactory evidence that his main
statements were not founded in fact.
[7] Lord Grey's _Colonial policy_.
[8] See Papers presented to Parliament, May, 1848; or Lord Grey's
_Colonial Policy_, i. 216.
[9] _I.e._ Member of the Provincial Parliament.
[10] Lord Grey's _Colonial Policy,_ i. 220. Lord Grey was one of the
few statesmen who were blameless in the matter, for he voted against
the Act of 1843, in opposition to his party.
[11] The personal annoyance which he felt on this occasion was only a phase
of the indignation which was often roused in him, by seeing the
interests and feelings of the colony made the sport of party-speakers
and party-writers at home; and important transactions in the province
distorted and misrepresented, so as to afford ground for an attack, in
the British Parliament, on an obnoxious Minister.--_Vide Infra_,
p. 113.
[12] 'A knowledge' wrote Sir F. Bruce, 'of what he was, and of the results
he in consequence achieved, would be an admirable text on which to
engraft ideas of permanent value on this most important question;' as
helping to show 'that to reduce education to stuffing the mind with
facts is to dwarf the intelligence, and to reverse the natural process
of the growth of man's mind; that the knowledge of principles, as the
means of discrimination, and the criterion of those individual
appreciations which are fallaciously called facts, ought to be the end
of high education.'
CHAPTER IV.
CANADA.
DISCONTENT--REBELLION LOSSES BILL--OPPOSITION TO IT--NEUTRALITY OF THE
GOVERNOR--RIOTS AT MONTREAL--FIRMNESS OF THE GOVERNOR--APPROVAL OF HOME
GOVERNMENT--FRESH RIOTS--REMOVAL OF SEAT OF GOVERNMENT FROM
MONTREAL--FORBEARANCE OF LORD ELGIN--RETROSPECT.
|
