d
the tenor of Lord Gosford's speech at the opening of the legislature of
Lower Canada in 1835. {53} Sir Francis Bond Head's instructions showed
beyond peradventure that the British government did not contemplate any
real constitutional changes in the Canadas; above all, it did not
propose to yield to the demand for an elective Legislative Council.
This fact was called to the attention of Papineau and his friends by
Marshall Spring Bidwell, the speaker of the Assembly of Upper Canada;
and immediately the fat was in the fire. Papineau was confirmed in his
belief that justice could not be hoped for; those who had been won over
by Gosford's blandishments experienced a revulsion of feeling; and
Gosford saw the fruit of his efforts vanishing into thin air.

A climax came over the question of supply. Lord Gosford had asked the
Assembly to vote a permanent civil list, in view of the fact that the
government offered to hand over to the control of the legislature the
casual and territorial revenues of the Crown. But the publication of
Sir Francis Bond Head's instructions effectually destroyed any hope of
this compromise being accepted. In the session of the House which was
held in the early part of 1836, Papineau and his friends not only
refused to vote a permanent civil {54} list; they declined to grant
more than six months' supply in any case; and with this they made the
threat that if the demands of the _Patriotes_ were not met at the end
of the six months, no more supplies would be voted. This action was
deemed so unsatisfactory that the Legislative Council threw out the
bill of supply. The result was widespread distress among the public
officials of the colony. This was the fourth year in which no
provision had been made for the upkeep of government. In 1833 the bill
of supply had been so cumbered with conditions that it had been
rejected by the Legislative Council. In 1834, owing to disputes
between the Executive and the Assembly, the legislature had separated
without a vote on the estimates. In 1835 the Assembly had declined to
make any vote of supply. In earlier years the Executive had been able,
owing to its control of certain royal and imperial revenues, to carry
on the government after a fashion under such circumstances; but since
it had transferred a large part of these revenues to the control of the
legislature, it was no longer able to meet the situation. Papineau and
his friends doubtless recognized t