arture from Canada the administration passed into the
hands of Lord Cathcart, commander-in-chief of the forces. He was one
of the many fine soldiers who have had their part in the upbuilding of
Canada and whose services have received the very slightest recognition.
Of an ancient Scottish family, he had fought in the great Napoleonic
wars from Maida to Waterloo, where he had greatly distinguished
himself. After the peace he had turned his attention to the study of
natural science, and he had made some important contributions to
mineralogy. Cathcart held office from November 26, 1845, until January
30, 1847, some fourteen months. He wisely left Canadian politics to
Canadian politicians, and merely watched the machinery revolve. At
first he was merely administrator, but, on danger threatening from the
unsettled dispute over {98} the Oregon boundary, he was raised to the
rank of governor-general.

[Illustration: Charles, Earl Grey. From the painting by Sir Thomas
Lawrence]

His successor was also a Scot, James Bruce, Earl of Elgin and
Kincardine, directly descended from the patriot king Robert the Bruce.
His father was the British ambassador who salvaged the 'Elgin marbles'
from the Parthenon and sold them to the nation, thus drawing down upon
himself the angry satire of Byron in 'The Curse of Minerva' and 'Childe
Harold's Pilgrimage.' The new governor-general was young, poor, and
able. Far more than his predecessors, he had enjoyed the advantages of
a regular education. At Eton he had Gladstone for a school-mate, and
at Oxford he was in the same college with Dalhousie, the future
governor-general of India. He was also distinguished in two ways: he
was a sincere Christian of the devout evangelical type, and he had a
gift of speech that would have been remarkable in any man, but was
remarkable most of all in a high official of a rather tongue-tied race.
His native gift of eloquence was carefully cultivated and proved to be
of great value in many points in his public career. His family ties
are interesting. His first wife, a Miss Bruce, met a tragic fate. The
vessel in which {99} she accompanied her husband to the West Indies was
wrecked on the voyage out; she never recovered from the shock and
exposure, and died not long after. His second wife was a daughter of
Lord Durham and a niece of Earl Grey, who was, in 1845, colonial
secretary, and to whose influence Elgin owed his appointment as
governor-general. He