rty, led by James W. Johnston, a very able
lawyer and eloquent speaker, and the open enemy of the liberals led by
Joseph Howe, William Young, James Boyle Uniacke, and Herbert {363}
Huntington. The imperial government recognised their mistake, and
replaced Lord Falkland by Sir John Harvey, the hero of Stoney Creek in
1813, who had done much to establish parliamentary government in New
Brunswick. In 1847 Lord Elgin--the son-in-law of Lord Durham--was
appointed governor-general, and received positive instructions "to act
generally upon the advice of {364} his executive council, and to
receive as members of that body those persons who might be pointed out
to him as entitled to do so by their possessing the confidence of the
assembly." No act of parliament was necessary to effect this important
change; the insertion and alteration of a few paragraphs in the
Governor's instructions were sufficient. By 1848 the provinces of
Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and by 1851 Prince Edward
Island, were in the full enjoyment of a system of self-government,
which had been so long advocated by their ablest public men; and the
results have proved, on the whole, despite the excesses and mistakes of
party, eminently favourable to political as well as material
development.

[Illustration: Robert Baldwin.]

In the historic annals of the great contest that was fought for
responsible government, some names stand out most prominently.
Foremost is that of Joseph Howe, the eminent Liberal, whose eloquence
charmed the people of Nova Scotia for many years. In his early life he
was a printer and an editor, but he became a leader of his party soon
after he entered the legislature, and died a lieutenant-governor of his
native province. In New Brunswick, Lemuel A. Wilmot, afterwards a
judge and lieutenant-governor, was a man of much energy, persuasive
eloquence, and varied learning. Robert Baldwin, of Upper Canada, was a
statesman of great discretion, who showed the people how their
liberties could be best promoted by wise and constitutional agitation.
Louis Hyppolite Lafontaine was one of the most distinguished and
capable men that French Canada has {365} ever given to the legislature
and the bench. By his political alliance with Mr. Baldwin, the
principles of responsible government were placed on a durable basis.
In the parent state the names of Lord John Russell, Mr. Gladstone, and
Earl Grey--colonial secretaries from 1839 to 1852--a