true principles of farming, were rapidly impoverishing the soil, so that in the course of a few years their wheat crop diminished, and its quality became more inferior. Their farms were on the banks of the St. Lawrence-deep, narrow strips--and their houses were crowded as near the river as possible, as affording the most satisfactory means of communication in early times between the settlements. The most noteworthy buildings were those belonging to the Roman Catholic Church, which then, as now, dominated the province. The system of land tenure in French Canada was not one calculated to stimulate industry and develope the country. In early days the seigniorial tenure, established by Richelieu with the idea of founding a Canadian noblesse and encouraging settlement, had had some advantages. It was the feudal system modified to suit the circumstances of a new country. It made the seigneur and the habitant, or censitaire, equally interested in the cultivation of the soil. The dues and obligations under which the censitaire held his land were in early times by no means onerous. The seigneur was obliged to cultivate and settle certain portions of his land at the risk of losing it within a fixed period, a penalty frequently enacted under the French régime. He had to erect a mill for the grinding of grain raised in the district, a great convenience to the habitants in early times.

But the system grew to be burdensome as the country became more populous. The seigniorial exactions were found more troublesome, and the difficulties that arose in connexion with the disposal of lands in the numerous seigniories gradually retarded settlement and enterprise in the province. In fact, the system under which lands were granted throughout Canada was not adapted to the encouragement of settlement. With the view, probably, of establishing a State Church, the Imperial Government had by the Act of 1791 granted large reserves, which were in the hands of the Church of England, and much discontent had consequently arisen among other Protestant denominations. Large tracts had also been set apart for loyalists and military men in different parts of the province. The natural consequence of this extravagance was that some of the most valuable districts of Upper Canada were kept idle and profitless for many years. The little island of Prince Edward had been nearly all granted away by ballot to a few landlords in a single day, and until very recent times its progress was retarded by a land question which

always created much discontent and prevented settlement. The means of communication in each province were very inferior, in the absence of any liberal system of municipal institutions, and in consequence of the large districts owned by absentee proprietors or by the Church. If a road or bridge was required in Lower Canada, it was necessary to apply to the legislature. Things were a little better in Upper Canada, where there was a system of local taxation which, imperfect as it was, enabled the people in a county to make minor improvements. Montreal, Quebec, Halifax, St. John, and Toronto were the only towns of importance, and the population of the first-then, as now, the commercial metropolis of British North America-did not exceed 40,000; while their aggregate population probably reached 120,000 souls. The streets of all of them were either illlighted or left in darkness, and without pavements.

The public buildings, as a rule, had no architectural pretensions. A few colleges and grammar schools had been established, where the sons of the well-to-do classes could obtain an excellent classical and English education for those times. The religious communities of Lower Canada at an early period in the history of the country had established institutions where the youth of both sexes could receive certain educational advantages. But the State had not in any degree intervened successfully in the establishment of a system of popular education.

The whole public expenditure for common and district schools in Upper Canada was a little above 8,000l. a year, and these schools were very inferior in every respect. The masters in many cases in this province-to which we refer especially, since now it stands above all others in the character of its educational progress-were ill-paid, ill-educated men who, having failed in other pursuits, resorted to teaching as their last hope. Many of them were illiterate citizens of the United States, who brought anti-British ideas into the country, and taught their pupils out of American textbooks, in which, of course, prominence was given to American history and institutions. In 1838-9 there were in all the public and private schools of British North America only some 92,000 young people out of a total population of 1,440,000 souls, or about one in fifteen. The administration of justice in all the provinces, except in Lower Canada, was on the whole satisfactory for a new country, where the highest judicial talent was not always available. In the French section there was a lamentable want of efficiency in

the courts, and an absence of confidence in the mode in which the law was administered. At times there was a decided failure of justice in criminal cases, owing to the complexion of the juries. In certain cases where political or national feeling was aroused, a jury was not likely to convict even in the face of the clearest evidence of crime. English and French Canadians divided in the jury box according to their nationalities. While the judges of the highest courts were generally distinguished for learning and fairness, the justices of peace were chosen without any regard to their character or ability to try the ordinary petty causes which fell within their jurisdiction. In all the cities and towns the police arrangements were notoriously defective. Immigration was rapidly falling off, owing principally to the distracted state of the country, but also to the mode of transportation. Those were days when the vessels that made voyages to Canada were literally laden with disease and misery. In the overcrowded, ill-ventilated, and ill-equipped vessels that annually sailed up the St. Lawrence, death was ever stalking among the half-starved, unhappy people who had left their wretched homes in the Old World to incur the horrors of the holds of the pest-ship, from which for years had been ascending the cries of the martyred emigrant.

No feature of the aspect of things in Canada gave greater reason for anxiety than the attitude of the French and English peoples towards each other. The very children in the streets were formed into French and English parties. As in the courts of law and in the legislature, so it was in social and everyday life-the French Canadian in direct antagonism to the English Canadian. Many among the official and governing class, composed almost exclusively of English, were still too ready to consider the French Canadians as inferior beings, and not entitled to the same rights and privileges in the government of the country. It was a time of passion and declamation, when men of fervid eloquence, like Papineau, could have aroused the French like one man, if they had had a little more patience and judgement, and had not been ultimately thwarted by the efforts of the priests, who, in all national crises, have intervened on the side of reason and moderation, and in the interests of British connexion, which they have always felt has been favourable to the continuance and security of their religious institutions. Lord Durham in his memorable Report on the condition of Canada, has summed up very expressively the nature of the conflict in the French province. I expected,' he said, 'to

' find a contest between a government and a people; I found 'two nations warring in the bosom of a single state; I found 'a struggle, not of principles, but of races."

Amid the gloom that overhung Canada in those times, there was one gleam of sunshine for England. Although discontent and dissatisfaction generally prevailed among the people on account of the manner in which the government was administered, and of the attempts of a minority to engross all power and influence, yet there was still a sentiment in favour of British connexion, and the annexationists were relatively few in number. Sir Francis Bond Head understood this well when he depended on the militia to crush the outbreak in the upper province, and Joseph Howe, the eminent leader of the popular party, uniformly asserted that the people of Nova Scotia were determined to preserve the integrity of the Empire at all hazards. As a matter of fact, the majority of the leading men, outside of the minority led by Papineau, Nelson, and Mackenzie, had a conviction that England was animated by a desire to act considerately with the provinces, and that little good would come from precipitating a conflict which would only add to the public misfortunes, and that the true remedy was to be found in constitutional methods of redress for the political grievances which undoubtedly existed throughout British North America.

We have endeavoured to summarise as briefly as possible the actual state of affairs in the first years of the Queen's reign. It was a most critical time in the career of the Canadian provinces. Had the British Government been prepared to act with haste or temper, the consequences would have been fatal to the provinces; but they acted throughout the whole with much discretion, and recognised the fact at the outset that mistakes had been made in the past, and that it was quite clear that the people of Canada would not be satisfied with a mere semblance of representative government. The mission of Lord Durham, who came to Canada as Governor-General in 1838, was a turning point in the political and social developement of the British North American colonies. Whatever may be the opinion held as to the legality of the course he pursued with respect to the rebels-a number of whom he banished from the country without even a form of trial-there can be no doubt as to the discretion and wisdom embodied in his Report, of which Mr. Charles Buller, his secretary, is generally considered to have been the writer.* The statesmen of all

* See Mr. Greville's Journals, vol, i. p. 142,

parties in England, but especially Lord John Russell, aided in moulding a new policy towards the Canadas. This new policy, of which the reunion of the two provinces under one government was the foundation, was in the direction of entrusting a larger measure of self-government to the people -of giving them as complete control of their internal affairs as was compatible with the security and integrity of the Empire.

The union of the Canadas in 1841, when the French and English sections were equally represented in one legislature, was the first important step in the movement that has been steadily going on for many years in the direction of the unity and security, as well as of the social and political developement, of the provinces of British North America.* Then followed, between 1841 and 1849, the concession of responsible government in the fullest sense of the term, and the handing over to Canada of the control of her public revenues and taxes, to be expended in accordance with the wishes of the majority in the popular House. At the same time came the repeal of the Navigation Laws, which had fettered colonial trade since the days of Cromwell. The Post Office was given up to the Canadian Government, and in fact all matters that could be considered to appertain to their provincial and local interests were placed under their immediate legislative jurisdiction. The Canadian legislature, under the new impulse of a relatively unfettered action, went vigorously to work to lay the foundations of a municipal system as indispensable to the operations of local selfgovernment. The troublesome land question, involved in the seigniorial tenure, was settled, after much agitation, on terms favourable to vested interests, while the Clergy Reserves were also arranged so as no longer to favour one Church at the expense of others, or to impede the progress of settlement and cultivation. The union of the Canadas lasted until 1857, when it had outgrown its usefulness, and the provinces found it necessary to enter into a federation, which had been foreshadowed by Lord Durham and advocated by many eminent men even before his time.

The results of the developement of Canada since 1841 may be divided for the purposes of this review into the following

Imperial Statute, 3 & 4 Vict. c. 35. Lord John Russell introduced the Bill to reunite the Provinces in 1840. It was assented to on July 23, but did not come into effect until the following year.