The Life and Times of Queen Victoria; vol. 1 of 4 — John Shaqi
The Life and Times of Queen Victoria; vol. 1 of 4Wilson, Robert
History
The Life and Times of Queen Victoria; vol. 1 of 4
Wilson, Robert
Great Britain -- History -- Victoria, 1837-1901; Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, 1819-1901
A sumptuous banquet followed, and at
night the metropolis was very generally illuminated. On this occasion,
the Queen was accompanied by the Duchesses of Kent, Gloucester, and
Cambridge, and by the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex, together with
Prince George of Cambridge. The Ambassadors, Cabinet Ministers, and
nobility, followed in a train of two hundred carriages, which are said
to have extended for a mile and a half. The title of Baronet was
conferred on the Lord Mayor, and the two Sheriffs were knighted. It was
long since the City had had so brilliant a day, and the memory of it
survived for many years.
The first great historical event in the reign of Queen Victoria was the
insurrection in Canada. This proved to be of very serious import, and
undoubtedly showed the existence of much disaffection on the part of the
French-speaking colonists. It is probable that the latter had never
outgrown the mortification of being snatched from their old association
with the mother-country, and subjected to a Protestant kingdom. For
several years after the Treaty of 1763, which made over Canada to Great
Britain as a consequence of the brilliant victories gained by Wolfe and
Amherst, the colony was despotically ruled; but in 1791 a more
representative form of government was established, by which the whole
possession was divided into an Upper and a Lower Province. Each of the
provinces was furnished with a constitution, comprising a Governor, an
Executive Council nominated by the Crown, a Legislative Council
appointed for life in the same way, and a Representative Assembly
elected for four years. This constitution (which had been sanctioned by
an Act of the British Parliament) worked very badly, and in 1837 the
Assemblies of both provinces were at issue with their Governors, and
with the Councils appointed by the monarch. But by far the most serious
state of affairs was that which prevailed in Lower (or Eastern) Canada,
where the population was mainly of French origin, and where,
consequently, the antagonism of race and of religion was chiefly to be
expected. Towards the latter end of the reign of William IV.,
Commissioners were nominated to inquire into the alleged grievances, and
the report of these gentlemen was presented to Parliament early in the
session of 1837. On the 6th of March, Lord John Russell (then Home
Secretary) brought the subject before the attention of the House of
Commons, and, after many prolonged debates, a series of resolutions was
passed, affirming the necessity of certain reforms in the political
state of Canada. These reforms, however, did not go nearly far enough to
satisfy the requirements of the disaffected, and by the close of 1837
the Canadians were in full revolt.
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