es, in presence of
the Governor, the heads of departments, the troops and a crowd of
people. There was no other occurrence of moment until the arrival of
the new Governor General, the Earl of Dalhousie, who arrived from
Halifax, where he had administered the government of Nova Scotia, on
the 18th of June, in H.M.S. _Newcastle_. Lord Dalhousie was a
soldier. He had been altogether educated in the camp. To the trickery
of diplomacy he was quite a stranger. He had not long arrived when the
general elections took place. Mr. Papineau, the Speaker of the late
Assembly, was at the hustings addressing a Montreal constituency. How
strong the feeling was in favor of British constitutional rule in
comparison with the Bourbon fashion of ruling colonies, the Earl of
Dalhousie learned from Mr. Papineau's own lips. A great national
calamity had made it imperative upon Mr. Papineau to court the favor of
his constituents a second time in one year. A sovereign who had reigned
over the inhabitants of Canada since the day in which they had become
British subjects, had ceased to breathe. To express the feeling of
gratitude which was due to him, or to say how much his loss was mourned
would be impossible. Each year of his long reign had been marked by new
favors bestowed on the country. A comparison between the happy
situation of Canada at present, with the situation of Canada under
"our" fore-fathers, when George the Third became their legitimate
monarch, would sufficiently indicate the extent of the calamity which
Canada had sustained in the death of the good old king. Under the
French government the rule was arbitrary and oppressive. Canada had
been neglected by the French Court, and mal-administered by the French
Viceroys. The fertility of the soil, the salubrity of the climate, and
the extent of territory which might even then have been the peaceful
abode of a numerous and happy population was not considered. Canada was
looked upon as a mere military post. The people were compelled to live
in perpetual warfare and insecurity. There was no general trade. Trade
was in the hands of companies. Famine was of frequent occurrence.
Public and private property were insecure. Personal liberty was daily
violated. Year after year the inhabitants of Canada were dragged from
their homes and families to shed their blood, and carry murder and
havoc from the shores of the great lakes and the banks of the
Mississippi and Ohio, to the coasts of Nova Scotia