ent fragmentary and isolated condition, comparatively
powerless for mutual {85} aid, and incapable of undertaking their
proper share of Imperial responsibility.

The procedure adopted was the moving in each House of an address to the
Queen praying that a measure might be submitted to the Imperial
parliament based upon the Quebec resolutions. The debate began in the
Legislative Council on the 3rd of February and in the Assembly three
days later. The debate in the popular branch lasted until the 13th of
March; in the smaller chamber it was concluded by the 23rd of February.

These debates, subsequently published in a volume of 1032 pages, are a
mirror which reflects for us the political life of the time and the
events of the issue under discussion. They set forth the hopes and
intentions of the Fathers with reference to their own work; and if
later developments have presented some surprises, some situations which
they did not foresee, as was indeed inevitable, their prescience is
nowhere shown to have been seriously at fault. Some of the speeches
are commonplace; a few are wearisome; but many of them are examples of
parliamentary eloquence at its best, and the general level is high.

The profound sincerity of the leaders of the {86} coalition, whether in
or out of office, is not to be questioned. The supporters of the union
bore down all opposition. Macdonald's wonderful tact, Brown's
passionate earnestness, and Galt's mastery of the financial problem,
were never displayed to better advantage; while the redoubtable Cartier
marshalled his French compatriots before their timidity had a chance to
assert itself. Particularly interesting is the attitude which Brown
assumed towards the French. He had been identified with a vicious
crusade against their race and creed. Its cruel intolerance cannot be
justified, and every admirer of Brown deplores it. He met them now
with a frank friendliness which evoked at once the magnanimity and
readiness to forgive that has always marked this people and is one of
their most engaging qualities. Said Brown:

The scene presented by this chamber at this moment, I venture to
affirm, has few parallels in history. One hundred years have passed
away since these provinces became by conquest part of the British
Empire. I speak in no boastful spirit. I desire not for a moment to
excite a painful thought. What was then the fortune of {87} war of the
brave French nation might have b