hat they now had the 'Bureaucrats' at
their mercy; and {55} they seem to have made up their minds to achieve
the full measure of their demands, or make government impossible by
withholding the supplies, no matter what suffering this course might
inflict on the families of the public servants.

In the autumn of 1836 the royal commissioners brought their labours to
a close. Lord Gosford, it is true, remained in the colony as governor
until the beginning of 1838, and Sir George Gipps remained until the
beginning of 1837, but Sir Charles Grey left for England in November
1836 with the last of the commissioners' reports. These reports, which
were six in number, exercised little direct influence upon the course
of events in Canada. The commissioners pronounced against the
introduction of responsible government, in the modern sense of the
term, on the ground that it would be incompatible with the status of a
colony. They advised against the project of an elective Legislative
Council. In the event of a crisis arising, they submitted the question
whether the total suspension of the constitution would not be less
objectionable than any partial interference with the particular
clauses. It is evident from the reports that the commissioners had
{56} bravely survived their earlier view that the discontented
Canadians might be won over by unctuous blandishments alone. They
could not avoid the conclusion that this policy had failed.

[1] He was really of Swiss extraction.

{57}

CHAPTER VII

THE RUSSELL RESOLUTIONS

When the legislature of Lower Canada met in the autumn of 1836, Lord
Gosford earnestly called its attention to the estimates of the current
year and the accounts showing the arrears unpaid. Six months, however,
had passed by, and there was no sign of the redress of grievances. The
royal commission, indeed, had not completed its investigations. The
Assembly, therefore, refused once more to vote the necessary supplies.
'In reference to the demand for a supply,' they told the governor,
'relying on the salutary maxim, that the correction of abuses and the
redress of grievances ought to precede the grant thereof, we have been
of opinion that there is nothing to authorize us to alter our
resolution of the last session.'

This answer marked the final and indubitable breakdown of the policy of
conciliation without concession. This was recognized by {58} Gosford,
who soon afterwards wrote home asking to