ada, although the present
colonial secretary unseasonably and erroneously asserts that the said
constitution has conferred on the two Canadas the institutions of Great
Britain.' With an extraordinary lack of tact they assured the king
that Toryism was in America 'without any weight or influence except
what it derives from its European supporters'; whereas Republicanism
'overspreads all America.' Nor did they stop there. 'This House,'
they announced, 'would esteem itself wanting in candour to Your Majesty
if it hesitated to call Your Majesty's attention to the fact, that in
less than twenty years the population of the United States of America
will be greater than that of Great Britain, and that of British America
will be greater than that of the former English colonies, when the
latter deemed that the time was come to decide that the inappreciable
advantage of being self-governed ought to engage them to repudiate a
system of colonial government which was, generally speaking, much
better than that of British America now is.' This unfortunate
reference to the American Revolution, with its {41} hardly veiled
threat of rebellion, was scarcely calculated to commend the Ninety-Two
Resolutions to the favourable consideration of the British government.
And when the Resolutions went on to demand, not merely the removal, but
the impeachment of the governor, Lord Aylmer, it must have seemed to
unprejudiced bystanders as if the framers of the Resolutions had taken
leave of their senses.

The Ninety-Two Resolutions do not rank high as a constructive document.
The chief change in the constitution which they proposed was the
application of the elective principle to the Legislative Council. Of
anything which might be construed into advocacy of a statesmanlike
project of responsible government there was not a word, save a vague
allusion to 'the vicious composition and irresponsibility of the
Executive Council.' Papineau and his friends had evidently no
conception of the solution ultimately found for the constitutional
problem in Canada--a provincial cabinet chosen from the legislature,
sitting in the legislature, and responsible to the legislature, whose
advice the governor is bound to accept in regard to provincial affairs.
Papineau undoubtedly did much to hasten the day of responsible
government in Canada; {42} but in this process he was in reality an
unwitting agent.

The Ninety-Two Resolutions secured a majority of fifty-six