Late in 1806 a newspaper named _Le Canadien_ had made its appearance in Quebec. It was published in French, and bore for its motto: "_Nos institutions, noire langue, et nos lois._" There was little or no antagonism between the French and English inhabitants of the province when it was founded, and its constitution simply claimed the freedom of British subjects, or in its own language, "_La liberté (d'un Anglais, qui est à présent cellet d'un Canadien._" The newspaper, however, appealed to race prejudices. It was the organ of the majority of the legislative assembly, and claimed for that assembly {93} a power that was not given to it by the constitution. The Quebec _Gazette_, the Quebec _Mercury_, and the Montreal _Gazette_ had hitherto been the only newspapers in the province, and the editors of all had fallen under the displeasure of the assembly, which had ordered the publisher of the latter to be arrested, while the editor of the _Mercury_ only escaped incarceration by offering an apology. The offence was that these journals had censured the vote of the majority of the popular assembly on a jail tax, which was then a burning question. It was little wonder that the wrath of the Gallo-Canadians was roused, for in one of its articles the _Mercury_ thus expressed its opinion: "This province is far too French for a British colony. Whether we be in a state of peace or war, it is absolutely necessary that we exert all our efforts, by every avowable means, to oppose the increase of the French and the augmentation of their influence. After forty-seven years possession, it is now fitting that the province become truly British." Sir James Craig's first duty on his arrival was, of course, to consider the defence of Canada, for the hostile feeling in the United States was still growing, and had been increased by the orders-in-council that England had passed in November in retaliation for the Berlin decrees. These orders refused to neutrals the right of trading from one hostile port to another, and bore heavily upon the profitable carrying trade of the United States. {94}