Letters and Journals of James, Eighth Earl of Elgin Part 12

_To the Earl Grey._

July 12,1851.

[Sidenote: Movement not prompted by Roman Catholics.]

As to the insinuation that the movement against the endowments of the Church of England is prompted by the Romans, events will give the lie to it ere long. The following facts, however, seem to be wholly irreconcilable with this hypothesis. Before the Union of the Provinces there were very few, if any, Roman Catholic members in the Upper Canada Parliament; they were all-powerful in the Lower. Now it is recorded in history, that the Upper Canadian Legislative a.s.sembly kept up year after year a series of a.s.saults on the 'Clergy Reserves;' in proof of which read the narrative part of the Address to Her Majesty on the 'Clergy Reserves' from the Legislative a.s.sembly last year. And it is equally a fact that the Lower Canadian Legislative a.s.sembly never meddled with them, except I think once, when they were invited to do so by the Government.

Some months later, in the beginning of 1852, Lord John Russell's Administration was broken up, and Lord Grey handed over the seals of the Colonial Office to Sir John Pakington. One of the first subjects on which the new Secretary asked to be furnished with confidential information was as to the state of public feeling in Canada upon the question of the future disposal of the 'Clergy Reserves.' Lord Elgin replied as follows:

[Sidenote: Feeling in the Province;]

You require, if I rightly understand your letter, that I should state, in the first place, whether I believe that the sentiments of the community in reference to the subject-matter of this Address are faithfully represented in the votes of the a.s.sembly. I cannot answer this question otherwise than affirmatively. Not that I am by any means disposed to under-rate the importance of the pet.i.tions which may have been sent home by opponents of the measure. The clergy of the Church of England and of that portion of the Presbyterian Church which preserves its connection with the Established Church of Scotland, are generally unwilling that the question of the reserves should be left to the decision of the Local Legislature. They are, to a considerable extent, supported by their flocks when they approach the throne as pet.i.tioners against the prayer of the a.s.sembly's Address, although it is no doubt an error to suppose that the lay members of these communions are unanimous, or all alike zealous in the espousal of these views. From this quarter the pet.i.tions which appear to have reached Lord Grey and yourself have, I apprehend, almost exclusively proceeded. Other bodies, even of those which partic.i.p.ate in the produce of the reserves, as for example the Wesleyans and the Roman Catholics of Upper Canada, have not, that I am aware of, moved in the matter, unless it be in an opposite direction.

[Sidenote: in Upper Canada;]

[Sidenote: in Lower Canada;]

Can it then be inferred from such indications that public opinion in the province does not support the cause taken by the a.s.sembly in reference to the 'Clergy Reserves'? or, what is perhaps more to the purpose, that a provincial administration, formed on the principle of desisting from all attempts to induce the Imperial Government to repeal the Imperial statute on this subject, would be sustained? I am unable, I confess, to bring myself to entertain any such expectation.

It is my opinion, that if the Liberals were to rally out of office on the cry that they were a.s.serting the right of the Provincial Government to deal with the question of the 'Clergy Reserves' against a Government willing, at the bidding of the Imperial authorities, to abandon this claim, they would triumph in Upper Canada more decisively than they did at the late general election. I need hardly add, that if, after a resistance followed by such a triumph, the Imperial Government were to give way, it would be more than ever difficult to obtain from the victorious party a reasonable consideration for Church interests. These remarks apply to Upper Canada. It is not so easy to foresee what is likely to be the course of events in Lower Canada. The party which looks to M. Papineou as its leader adopts on all points the most ultra-democratic creed. It professes no very warm attachment to the endowments of the Roman Catholic Church, and is, of course, not likely to prove itself more tender with respect to property set apart by royal authority for the support of Protestantism. The French- Canadian Representatives who do not belong to this party are, I believe, generally disinclined to secularisation, and would be brought to consent to any such proposition, if at all, only by the pressure of some supposed political necessity. They are however, almost without exception, committed to the principle that the 'Clergy Reserves' ought to be subject to the control of the Local Legislature. While the battle is waged on this ground, therefore, they will probably continue to side with the Upper Canada Liberals, unless the latter contrive to alienate them by some act of extravagance....

I am aware that there lie, beyond the subjects of which I have treated, larger considerations of public policy affecting this question, on which I have not ventured to touch. On the one hand there are persons who contend that, as the 'Clergy Reserves' were set apart by a British Sovereign for religious uses, it is the bounden duty of the Imperial authorities to maintain at all hazards the disposition thus made of them. This view is hardly, I think, reconcilable with the provisions of the statute of 1791; but, if it be correct, it renders all discussion of subordinate topics and points of mere expediency, superfluous.

[Sidenote: In the Church;]

On the other hand even among the most attached friends of the Church, some are to be found who doubt whether on the whole the Church has gained from the Reserves as much as she has lost by them--whether the ill-will which they have engendered, and the bar which they have proved to private munificence and voluntary exertion, have not more than counter-balanced the benefits which they may have conferred; and who look to secularisation as the only settlement that will be final and put an end to strife.

Up to this time Lord Elgin appears to have entertained at least a hope, that, if the Colony were left to itself, it would settle the matter by distributing the reserved funds according to some equitable proportion among the clergy of all denominations. But as time went on, this hope became fainter and fainter. In his next letter he recounts a conversation with a person (not named) 'of much intelligence, and well acquainted with Upper Canada,' not a member of the Church of England, but favourable to the maintenance of an endowment for religious purposes, who, after remarking on the infatuation shown by the friends of the Church in 1840, expressed a decided opinion that the vantage ground then so heedlessly sacrificed was lost for ever, so far as colonial sentiment was concerned; and that 'neither the present nor any future Canadian Parliament would be induced to enact a law for perpetuating the endowment in any shape.' The increasing likelihood, however, of a result which he regarded as in itself undesirable could not abate his desire to see the matter finally settled, or shake his conviction that the Provincial Parliament was the proper power to settle it. With his correspondent it was not so; nor can it be wondered at that the organ of a Tory Government should have declined to accede to the prayer of an Address, which could hardly have any other issue than secularisation.

But the decision was not destined to be left in the hands of the Tories.

Before the end of 1852 Lord Derby was replaced by Lord Aberdeen, and Sir J.

Pakington by Lord Elgin's old friend the Duke of Newcastle, who saw at once the necessity of conceding to the Canadian Parliament the power of settling the question after its own fas.h.i.+on. Accordingly on May 21, 1853, Lord Elgin was able to write to him as follows:

[Sidenote: Empowering Bill pa.s.sed.]

I was certainly not a little surprised by the success with which you carried the Clergy Reserves Bill through the House of Lords. I am a.s.sured that this result was mainly due to your own personal exertions. I am quite confident that both in what you have done, and in the way you have done it, you have best consulted the interests of the Province, the Church, and the Empire. I trust that what has happened will have here the favourable moral effect which you antic.i.p.ate. It cannot fail to have this tendency.

As respects the measures which will be ultimately adopted on this vexed subject, I do not yet venture to write with confidence. If the representation of the Bishop of Toronto, as to the feelings which exist among the great Protestant denominations on the question, were correct, there could be no doubt whatsoever in regard to the issue. For you may depend upon it the Roman Catholics have no wish to touch the Protestant endowment; although, when they are forced into the controversy, they will contend that it does not rest on the same basis as their own. But I confess that I place no reliance whatsoever on these calculations and representations. Almost the greatest evil which results from the delegation to the Imperial Parliament of the duty of legislating on Colonial questions of this cla.s.s, is the scope which the system affords to exaggeration and mystification. Parties do not meet in fair conflict on their own ground, where they can soon gain a knowledge of their relative strength, and learn to respect each other accordingly; they shroud themselves in mystery, and rely for victory on their success in outdoing each other in hard swearing.

Many men, partly from good nature and partly from political motives, will sign a pet.i.tion spiced and peppered to tickle the palate of the House of Lords, who will not move a yard, or sacrifice a s.h.i.+lling, on behalf of the object pet.i.tioned for. I much fear that it will be found that there is much division of opinion even among members of the laity of the Church, with respect to the propriety of maintaining the 'Clergy Reserves;' and that, even as regards a certain section of the clergy, owing to dissatisfaction with the distribution of the fund and with the condition of dependence in which the missionaries are kept, there is greater lukewarmness on the subject than the fervent representations you have received would lead you to imagine.

Meanwhile there is a very good feeling in the Province--a great absence of party violence. Your course has tended to confirm these favourable symptoms. We must prevent anything being done during this session of the Provincial Parliament to commit parties with respect to the 'Clergy Reserves,' and as respects the future we must hope for the best.

[Sidenote: The Reserves secularised.]

The result has been already stated. The 'Clergy Reserves' were secularised, contrary, no doubt, to the individual wishes of Lord Elgin; but the general principle of Colonial self-government had signally triumphed, and its victory more than outweighed to him the loss of any particular cause.

One other measure remains to be noticed, on which Lord Elgin had the satisfaction of inducing the Home Government to yield to the wishes of the Colony, viz. the Reform of the Provincial Parliament.

[Sidenote: Reform of the Provincial Parliament.]

By the Const.i.tution of 1840 the legislative power was divided between two chambers: a council, consisting of twenty persons, who were nominated by the Governor, and held their seats for life; and a House of a.s.sembly, whose eighty-four members were elected in equal proportions from the two sections of the province. As the population of the Colony grew--and between 1840 and 1853 it nearly doubled itself--it was natural that the number of legislators should be increased; and there were other reasons which made an increase desirable.

[Sidenote: Increase of representation.]

The Legislative a.s.sembly (wrote Lord Elgin early in 1853) is now engaged on a measure introduced by the Government for increasing the representation of the province. I consider the object of the measure a very important one; for, with so small a body as eighty members, when parties are nearly balanced, individual votes become too precious, which leads to mischief. I have not experienced this evil to any great extent since I have had a liberal administration, which has always been strong in the a.s.sembly; but, with my first administration, I felt it severely.

To this change no serious opposition was offered, either in the Colony or in the Imperial Parliament; and the members of the two Houses were raised to one hundred and thirty, and seventy-two, respectively. It was otherwise, however, with the proposal to make the Upper House elective; a measure certainly alien to English ideas, but one which Lord Elgin appears to have thought necessary for the healthy working of the const.i.tution under the circ.u.mstances then existing in the province. As early as March, 1850, he wrote to Lord Grey:--

[Sidenote: Proposal to make the Upper House elective.]

[Sidenote: Reasons in favour.]

A great deal is said here at present about rendering our second branch of the Legislature elective. As the advocates of the plan, however, comprise two cla.s.ses of persons, with views not only distinct but contradictory, it is difficult to foresee how they are to agree on details, when it a.s.sumes a practical shape. The one cla.s.s desire to construct a more efficient Conservative body than the present Council, the other seek an instrument to aid them in their schemes of subversion and pillage. For my own part, I believe that a second legislative body, returned by the same const.i.tuency as the House of a.s.sembly, under some differences with respect to time and mode of election, would be a greater check on ill-considered legislation than the Council as it is now const.i.tuted. Baldwin is very unwilling to move in this matter. Having got what he imagines to be the likest thing to the British const.i.tution he can obtain, he is satisfied, and averse to further change. In this instance I cannot but think that he mistakes the shadow for the substance. I admire, however, the perseverance with which he proclaims, '_Il faut jeter l'ancre de la const.i.tution_,' in reply to proposals of organic change; though I fully expect that, like those who raised this cry in 1791, he will yet, if he lives, find himself and his state-s.h.i.+p floundering among rocks and shoals, towards which he never expected to steer.

Three years later he held the same language to the Duke of Newcastle.

Writing on March 26, 1853, to inform him that the Bill for increasing the representation had been carried in the a.s.sembly by a large majority, he adds:--

The Lords must be attended to in the next place. The position of the second chamber in our body politic is at present wholly unsatisfactory. The principle of election must be introduced in order to give to it the influence which it ought to possess; and that principle must be so applied as to admit of the working of Parliamentary Government (which I for one am certainly not prepared to abandon for the American system) with two elective chambers. I have made some suggestions with this view, which I hope to be able to induce the Legislature to adopt.

When our two legislative bodies shall have been placed on this improved footing, a greater stability will have been imparted to our const.i.tution, and a greater strength, I believe, if England act wisely, to the connection.

[Sidenote: The Act pa.s.sed.]

The question did not come before the British Parliament till the summer of 1854, after Lord Elgin's visit to England, during which he had an opportunity of stating his views personally to the Government. At his instance they brought in a Bill to enable the Colonial Legislature to deal with the subject; and the measure was carried, with few dissentients, although vehemently denounced by Lord Derby in the House of Lords. The principles of colonial policy which Lord Durham had expressed so powerfully in 1888, and on which Lord Grey and Lord Elgin had been acting so consistently for many years, had at last prevailed; and many of those who most deprecated the proposed reform as a downward step towards pure democracy, yet acknowledged that, as it had been determined upon by the deliberate choice of the Colony, it ought not to be thwarted by the interference of the mother-country.

[Sidenote: Speech of Lord Derby.]

In the course of the speech above referred to, Lord Derby made use of the following eloquent words:--

I have dreamed--perhaps it was only a dream--that the time would come when, exercising a perfect control over their own internal affairs, Parliament abandoning its right to interfere in their legislation, these great and important colonies, combined together, should form a monarchical government, presided over either by a permanent viceroy, or, as an independent sovereign, by one nearly and closely allied to the present royal family of this country.

I have believed that, in such a manner, it would be possible to uphold the monarchical principle; to establish upon that great continent a monarchy free as that of this country, even freer still with regard to the popular influence exercised, but yet a monarchy worthy of the name, and not a mere empty shadow. I can hardly believe that, under such a system, the friendly connection and close intimacy between the colonies and the mother-country would in any way be affected; but, on the contrary, I feel convinced that the change to which I have referred would be productive of nothing, for years and years to come, but mutual harmony and friends.h.i.+p, increased and cemented as that friends.h.i.+p would be by mutual appreciation of the great and substantial benefits conferred by a free and regulated monarchy.

But pa.s.s this Bill, and that dream is gone for ever. Nothing like a free and regulated monarchy could exist for a single moment under such a const.i.tution as that which is now proposed for Canada.

From the moment that you pa.s.s this const.i.tution, the progress must be rapidly towards republicanism, if anything could be more really republican than this Bill.

The dream has been realised, at least in one of its most important features; the gloomy forebodings have hitherto happily proved groundless.

But the speaker of these words, and the author of the measure to which they refer, would probably have been alike surprised at the course which events have taken respecting the particular point then in question. For once the stream that sets towards democracy has been seen to take a backward direction; and the const.i.tution of the Dominion of Canada has returned, as regards the Legislative Council, to the Conservative principle of nomination by the Crown.

It does not fall within the scope of this memoir to give an account of the numerous administrative measures which made the period of Lord Elgin's Government so marked an epoch in the history of Canadian prosperity. It may be well, however, to notice a few points to which he himself thought it worth while to advert in official despatches, written towards the close of his sojourn in the country, and containing a statistical review of the marvellously rapid progress which the Colony had made in all branches of productive industry.

The first extracts bear upon questions which have lost none of their interest or importance--the kindred questions of emigration, of the demand for labour, and of the acquisition and tenure of land.

[Sidenote: Emigration.]

The sufferings of the Irish during that calamitous period [1847]