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
Papineau still had, however, a large and powerful following, especially
among the younger members. Nothing is more remarkable at this time
than the sway which he exercised over the minds of men who in later
life became distinguished for the conservative and moderate character
of their opinions. Among his followers in the House were Louis
Hippolyte LaFontaine, destined to become, ten years later, the
colleague of Robert Baldwin in the LaFontaine-Baldwin administration,
and Augustin Norbert Morin, the colleague of Francis Hincks in the
Hincks-Morin administration of 1851. Outside the House he counted
among his most faithful followers two more future prime ministers of
Canada, George E. Cartier and Etienne P. Tache. Nor were his
supporters all French Canadians. Some English-speaking members acted
with him, among them Wolfred Nelson; and in the country he had the
undivided allegiance of men like Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan, editor of
the Montreal _Vindicator_, {38} and Thomas Storrow Brown, afterwards
one of the 'generals' of the rebellion. Although the political
struggle in Lower Canada before 1837 was largely racial, it was not
exclusively so, for there were some English in the Patriots party and
some French who declined to support it.
In 1832 and 1833 Papineau suffered rebuffs in the House that could not
have been pleasant to him. In 1833, for instance, his proposal to
refuse supply was defeated by a large majority. But the triumphant
passage of the famous Ninety-Two Resolutions in 1834 showed that, for
most purposes, he still had a majority behind him.
The Ninety-Two Resolutions were introduced by Elzear Bedard, the son of
Pierre Bedard, and are reputed to have been drawn up by A. N. Morin.
But there is no doubt that they were inspired by Papineau. The voice
was the voice of Jacob, but the hand was the hand of Esau. The
Resolutions constituted the political platform of the extreme wing of
the _Patriote_ party: they were a sort of Declaration of Right. A more
extraordinary political document has seldom seen the light. A writer
in the Quebec _Mercury_, said by Lord Aylmer to be John Neilson, {39}
undertook an analysis of the ninety-two articles: eleven, said this
writer, stood true; six contained both truth and falsehood; sixteen
stood wholly false; seventeen seemed doubtful and twelve ridiculous;
seven were repetitions; fourteen consisted only of abuse; four were
both false and seditious; and the remainder were indifferent.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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