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the toast of 'Prosperity to the Agricultural Association of Upper Canada,' he said:—

      [Sidenote: Speech at an agricultural meeting.]

      Gentlemen, the question forces itself upon every reflecting mind, How does it come to pass that the introduction of agriculture, and of the arts of civilised life, into this and other parts of the American continent has been followed by such astonishing results? It may be said that these results are due to the qualities of the hardy and enterprising race by which these regions have been settled, and the answer is undoubtedly a true one: but it does not appear to me to contain the whole truth; it does not appear to account for all the phenomena. Why, gentlemen, our ancestors had hearts as brave and arms as sturdy as our own; but it took them many years, aye, even centuries, before they were enabled to convert the forests of the Druids, and the wild fastnesses of the Highland chieftains, into the green pastures of England and the waving cornfields of Scotland. How, then, does it come to pass, that the labours of their descendants here have been rewarded by a return so much more immediate and abundant? I believe that the true solution of this problem is to be found in the fact that here, for the first time, the appliances of an age, which has been prolific beyond all preceding ages in valuable discoveries, more particularly in chemistry and mechanics, have been brought to bear, under circumstances peculiarly favourable, upon the productiveness of a new country. When the nations of Europe were young, science was in its infancy; the art of civil government was imperfectly understood; property was inadequately protected; the labourer knew not who would reap what he had sown, and the teeming earth yielded her produce grudgingly to the solicitations of an ill-directed and desultory cultivation. It was not till long and painful experience had taught the nations the superiority of the arts of peace over those of war; it was not until the pressure of numbers upon the means of subsistence had been sorely felt, that the ingenuity of man was taxed to provide substitutes for those ineffective and wasteful methods, under which the fertility of the virgin soil had been well-nigh exhausted. But with you, gentlemen, it is far otherwise. Canada springs at once from the cradle into the full possession of the privileges of manhood. Canada, with the bloom of youth yet upon her cheek, and with youth's elasticity in her tread, has the advantage of all the experience of age. She may avail herself, not only of the capital accumulated in older countries, but also of those treasures of knowledge which have been gathered up by the labour and research of earnest and thoughtful men throughout a series of generations.

      Now, gentlemen, what is the inference that I would draw from all this? What is the moral I would endeavour to impress upon you? It is this: That it is your interest and your duty to avail yourselves to the utmost of all these unparalleled advantages; to bring to bear upon this soil, so richly endowed by nature, all the appliances of modern art; to refuse, if I may so express myself, to convert your one talent into two, if, by a more skilful application of the true principles of husbandry, or by greater economy of management, you can convert it into ten. And it is because I believe that societies like these, when well directed, are calculated to aid you in your endeavours to effect these important objects, that I am disposed to give them all the protection and countenance, which it is in my power to afford. They have certainly been very useful in other countries, and I cannot see why they should be less serviceable in Canada. The Highland Society of Scotland was the first instituted, and the proud position which Scotland enjoys as an agricultural country speaks volumes of the services rendered by that society. The Royal Agricultural Society of England and the Royal Agricultural Society of Ireland followed in its wake, and with similarly beneficial results. I myself was instrumental in establishing an agricultural society in the West Indies, which has already done much to revive the spirits of the planters; and I shall be very much disappointed, indeed, if that society does not prove the means, before many years are past, of establishing the truth so important to humanity, that, even in tropical countries, free labour properly applied under a good system of husbandry is more economical than the labour of slaves.

      [Sidenote: Change of Ministry.]

      At the close of 1847 the Canadian Parliament was dissolved. When the new Parliament met early in 1848, the Ministry—Lord Metcalfe's Ministry—found itself in a decided minority. A new one was accordingly formed from the ranks of the opposition, 'the members of both parties concurring in expressing their sense of the perfect fairness and impartiality with which Lord Elgin had conducted himself throughout the transactions' which led to this result.[7]

      [Sidenote: French habitans.]

      The French Canadians, who formed the chief element in the new government, were even at this time a peculiar people. Planted in the days of the old French monarchy, and cut off by conquest from the parent state long before the Revolution of 1789, their little community remained for many years like a fragment or boulder of a distinct formation—an island enshrining the picturesque institutions of the ancien régime, in the midst of an ever-encroaching sea of British nineteenth-century enterprise. The English, it has been truly said, emigrate, but do not colonise. No concourse of atoms could be more fortuitous than the gathering of 'traders, sailors, deserters from the army, outcasts, convicts, slaves, democrats, and fanatics,' who have been the first, and sometimes the only ingredients of society in our so-called colonies. French Canada, on the contrary, was an organism complete in itself, a little model of medieval France, with its recognised gradations of ranks, ecclesiastical and social.

      It may, indeed, be doubted whether the highest forms of social life are best propagated by this method: whether the freer system, which 'sows itself on every wind,' does not produce the larger, and, in the long run, the more beneficent results. But if reason acquiesces in the ultimate triumph of that busy, pushing energy which distinguishes the British settler, there is something very attractive to the imagination in the picture presented by the peaceful community of French habitans, living under the gentle and congenial control of their coûtumes de Paris, with their priests and their seigneurs, their frugal, industrious habits, their amiable dispositions and simple pleasures, and their almost exaggerated reverence for order and authority. Politically speaking, they formed a most valuable element in Canadian society. At one time, indeed, the restless anarchical spirit of the settlers around them, acting on the sentiment of French nationality, instigated them to the rebellion of 1837; but, as a rule, their social sympathies were stronger than their national antipathies; and gratitude to the Government which secured to them the enjoyment of their cherished institutions kept them true to England on more than one occasion when her own sons threatened to fall away from her.

      By the legislative union of 1840 the barriers which had separated the British and French communities were, to a great extent, broken down; and the various elements in each began gradually to seek out and to combine with those which were congenial to them in the other. But there were many cross currents and thwarting influences; and there was great danger, as Lord Elgin felt, lest they should form false combinations, on partial 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

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