of the "family compact"--a family only in the official
sense. "The bench, the magistracy, the high offices of the episcopal
church, and a great part of the legal profession, are filled by their
adherents; by grant or purchase they have acquired nearly the whole of
the waste lands of the province; they are all-powerful in the
chartered banks, and till lately shared among themselves almost
exclusively all offices of trust and profit. The bulk of this party
consists, for the most part, of native born inhabitants of the colony,
or of emigrants who settled in it before the last war with the United
States; the principal members of it belong to the Church of England,
and the maintenance of the claims of that Church has always been one
of its distinguishing characteristics." Reformers discovered that even
when they triumphed at the polls, they could not break up this
combination, the executive government remaining constantly in the
hands of their opponents. They therefore agitated for the
responsibility of the executive council to the legislative assembly.

Lord Durham's remedy was to unite Upper and Lower Canada, and to grant
the demand for responsible government. He hoped that the union would
in time dispose of the racial difficulty. Estimating the population of
Upper Canada at four hundred thousand, the English inhabitants of
Lower Canada at one hundred and fifty thousand, and the French at four
hundred and fifty thousand, "the union of the two provinces would not
only give a clear English majority, but one which would be increased
every year by the influence of English immigration; and I have little
doubt that the French, when once placed by the legitimate course of
events and the working of natural causes, in a minority, would abandon
their vain hopes of nationality."

The future mapped out by Lord Durham for the French-Canadians was one
of benevolent assimilation. He under-estimated their tenacity and
their power of adapting themselves to new political conditions. They
not only retained their distinctive language and customs, but gained
so large a measure of political power that in time Upper Canada
complained that it was dominated by its partner. The union was
effected soon after the report, but the granting of responsible
government was long delayed. From the submission of Lord Durham's
Report to the time of Lord Elgin, the question of responsible
government was the chief issue in Canadian politics. Lord Durham's
rec