Produced by Al Haines [Frontispiece: Burning of the Parliament Buildings, Montreal, 1849. From a colour drawing by C. W. Jefferys] THE WINNING OF POPULAR GOVERNMENT A Chronicle of the Union of 1841 BY ARCHIBALD MACMECHAN TORONTO GLASGOW, BROOK & COMPANY 1916 Copyright in all Countries subscribing to the Berne Convention TO ROBERT ALEXANDER FALCONER PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO STUDENT OF HISTORY AND ENCOURAGER OF HISTORIANS {ix} CONTENTS Page I. DURHAM THE DICTATOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 II. POULETT THOMSON, PEACEMAKER . . . . . . . . . . 25 III. REFORM IN THE SADDLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 IV. THE GREAT ADMINISTRATION . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 V. THE PRINCIPLE ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . 132 EPILOGUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 {xi} ILLUSTRATIONS BURNING OF THE PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, MONTREAL, 1849 _Frontispiece_ From a colour drawing by C. W. Jefferys. THE EARL OF DURHAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _Facing page_ 6 After the painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence. LORD SYDENHAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " 34 From an engraving by G. Browning in M'Gill University Library. SIR CHARLES BAGOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " 74 From an engraving in the Dominion Archives. SIR CHARLES METCALFE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " 82 After a painting by Bradish. CHARLES, EARL GREY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " 98 From the painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence. SIR LOUIS H. LAFONTAINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " 108 After a photograph by Notman. THE EARL OF ELGIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " 136 From a daguerreotype. {1} CHAPTER I DURHAM THE DICTATOR And let him be dictator For six months and no more. The curious sightseer in modern Toronto, conducted through the well-kept, endless avenues of handsome dwellings which are that city's pride, might be surprised to learn that at the northern end of the street which cuts the city in two halves, east and west, bands of armed Canadians met in battle less than a century ago. If he continued his travels to Montreal, he might be told, at a certain point, 'Here stood the Parliament Buildings, when our city was the capital of the country; and here a governor-general of Canada was mobbed, pelted with rotten eggs and stones, and narrowly escaped with his life.' And if the intelligent traveller asked the reason for such scenes, where now all is peace, the answer might be given in one word--Politics.