The 'Patriotes' of '37: A Chronicle of the Lower Canada RebellionDeCelles, Alfred D. (Alfred Duclos)
History
The 'Patriotes' of '37: A Chronicle of the Lower Canada Rebellion
DeCelles, Alfred D. (Alfred Duclos)
Canada -- History -- Rebellion, 1837-1838
It would be tedious to describe in detail the political events of these
years; and it is enough to say that by 1827 affairs in the province had
come to such an impasse, partly owing to the financial quarrel, and
partly owing to the personal war between Papineau and Dalhousie, that
it was decided by the _Patriotes_ to send another deputation to England
to ask for the redress of grievances and for the removal of Dalhousie.
The members of the deputation were John Neilson and two French
Canadians, Augustin Cuvillier and Denis B. Viger. Papineau was an
interested party and did not go. The deputation proved no less
successful than {29} that which had crossed the Atlantic in 1822. The
delegates succeeded in obtaining Lord Dalhousie's recall, and they were
enabled to place their case before a special committee of the House of
Commons. The committee made a report very favourable to the _Patriote_
cause; recommended that 'the French-Canadians should not in any way be
disturbed in the exercise and enjoyment of their religion, their laws,
or their privileges'; and expressed the opinion that 'the true
interests of the provinces would be best promoted by placing the
collection and expenditure of all public revenues under the control of
the House of Assembly.' The report was not actually adopted by the
House of Commons, but it lent a very welcome support to the contentions
of Papineau and his friends.
At last, in 1830, the British government made a serious and well-meant
attempt to settle, once and for all, the financial difficulty. Lord
Goderich, who was at that time at the Colonial Office, instructed Lord
Aylmer, who had become governor of Canada in 1830, to resign to the
Assembly the control of the entire revenue of the province, with the
single exception of the casual and territorial revenue of the Crown, if
the Assembly would grant {30} in exchange a civil list of L19,000,
voted for the lifetime of the king. This offer was a compromise which
should have proved acceptable to both sides. But Papineau and his
friends determined not to yield an inch of ground; and in the session
of 1831 they succeeded in defeating the motion for the adoption of Lord
Goderich's proposal. That this was a mistake even the historian
Garneau, who cannot be accused of hostility toward the _Patriotes_, has
admitted.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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