fty thousand
pounds sterling, Lord John Russell {343} carried in the English House of
Commons a series of resolutions, rejecting the demand for an elective
legislative council and other changes in the constitution, and empowering
the executive government to defray the expenses of the public service out
of the territorial and casual revenues. This action of the imperial
government increased the public discontent, and gave an opportunity to
Papineau and his followers to declare that no redress of grievances could
be obtained except by a resort to arms. In this year the rebellion broke
out, but before I refer to it, it is necessary to review briefly the
condition of things in the other provinces.

In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the disputes between the executive and
legislative authorities were characterised by much acrimony, but
eventually the public revenues were conceded to the assemblies. In
Prince Edward Island the political difficulties arose from the land
monopoly, and the efforts of the lieutenant-governors to govern as much
as possible without assemblies. In these provinces, as in Canada, we
find--to cite Lord Durham--"representative government coupled with an
irresponsible executive, the same abuse of the powers of the
representative bodies, and the same constant interference of the imperial
administration in matters which should be left wholly to the provincial
governments." In the maritime provinces, however, no disturbance
occurred, and the leaders of the popular party were among the first to
assist the authorities in their efforts to preserve the public
tranquillity, and to express themselves emphatically in favour of the
British connection.

{344}

In Upper Canada an official class held within its control practically the
government of the province. This class became known, in the parlance of
those days, as the "family compact," not quite an accurate designation,
since its members had hardly any family connection, but there was just
enough ground for the term to tickle the taste of the people for an
epigrammatic phrase. The bench, the pulpit, the banks, the public
offices were all more or less under the influence of the "compact." The
public lands were lavishly parcelled out among themselves and their
followers. Successive governors, notably Sir Francis Gore, Sir Peregrine
Maitland, and Sir Francis Bond Head, submitted first to its influence and
allowed it to have the real direction of affairs.