of a
governor-general, and made Montreal no longer possible as the seat of
government. One may perhaps over-estimate the importance of these
details; for, after all, the communal life of Canada was yet in its
extreme youth, and in England itself there were still remnants of the
old eighteenth century disorders, with hints of the newer
revolutionism. Their importance is rather that they complicated the
task of adjusting imperial standards to suit Canadian self-government,
and introduced unnecessary errors into the conduct of affairs by the
provincial statesmen.

It was obvious then that the United Provinces of Canada had, in 1839,
still some distance to travel before their social, religious, and
political organization could be regarded as satisfactory. Individually
and collectively poor, the citizens of Canada required direct aid from
the resources of the mother country. Material improvements in roads
and canals, the introduction of steam, {69} the organization of labour,
were immediately necessary. Education in all its stages must receive
encouragement and recognition. Religion must be freed from the
encumbrance of a vexatious controversy. Municipal institutions and
local government had still to be introduced to teach the people the
elements of self-government; and a broader system of colonial
legislation and administration substituted for the discredited rule of
assemblies and councils at Toronto and Quebec. There was racial hate
to be quenched; and petty party jealousies to be transmuted into more
useful political energy. A nation was at its birth. The problem was
whether in Great Britain there were minds acute and imaginative enough
to see the actual dangers; generous enough not to be dissuaded from
trying to avert them by any rudeness on the part of those who were
being assisted; prophetic enough to recognize that Anglo-Saxon
communities, whether at home or across the seas, will always claim the
right to govern themselves, and that to such self-government none but
the community actually affected may set a limit.

[1] Robinson, _Life of Sir John Beverley Robinson_, Bart., pp. 75-6.

[2] _Report of the Agent for Emigration_, Toronto, January, 1841. "The
passage extended to seven complete weeks," writes a Scottish settler,
Robert Campbell, in 1840, "and to tell the truth we were weary enough
of it." MS. letter, _penes me_.

[3] _Conditions and Prospects of Canada in 1854_, London, 1855.

[4] Poul