fficulties; but they were on their
way to removal.

The 'evils which no civilized community could bear' were to be cured by
a legislative union of the Canadas. The time had gone by for a federal
union. A door must be either open or shut; the French province must
become definitely a British province and find its place in the Empire.
To end the everlasting deadlock between the governor and the
representatives of the people, the Executive should be made responsible
to the Assembly; and, in order to bring the scattered provinces closer
together, an inter-colonial railway should be built. In other words,
the obsolete, bad system of colonial government must undergo radical
reform, both within and without, because 'while the present state of
things is allowed to last, the actual inhabitants of these provinces
have no security for person or property, no enjoyment of what they
possess, no stimulus to industry.'

The story of how this reform was undertaken, and of how, in spite of
many obstacles, it was brought to a triumphant success, must always
remain one of the most important chapters in the political history of
Canada.

[1] The story of the rebellions will be found in two other volumes of
the present Series, _The Family Compact_ and _The Patriotes of '37_,
For earlier cognate history see _The Father of British Canada_ and _The
United Empire Loyalists_.

[2] A sketch of Lord Durham's mission to Canada in 1838, by Charles
Buller. See the edition of Lord Durham's Report edited, with an
introduction, by Sir C. P. Lucas: Oxford, 1912. The original document
was given to Dr Arthur G. Doughty, Dominion Archivist, by the present
Earl of Durham.

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CHAPTER II

POULETT THOMSON, PEACEMAKER

Wounded and angry at what he considered an intolerable affront, Durham
had placed the reins of government in the firm hands of that fine old
soldier, Sir John Colborne, and had gone to speak with his enemies in
the gate. Not only was the cause of Canada left bleeding; but as soon
as Durham's back was turned, rebellion broke out once more. This
second outbreak arose from the support afforded the Canadian
revolutionists by American 'sympathizers.' The full story of the
'Hunters' Lodges' has never been told, and the sentiment animating that
organization has been quite naturally misunderstood and misrepresented
by Canadian historians. In the thirties of the nineteenth century
western New York was the 'frontier,' and it