nial possession was at all events secure, even though the colonial peace was occasionally broken. The new system of Personal Government included the separation of force from virtue. The former appeared to be isolated and detached, while the latter was expected to stand alone, to work alone, and to win or lose alone. The new policy had broken down. Personal Government apparently had failed. The affections of the people had not been won, and the possessions themselves were in the way of being lost. Lord Gosford had views, and Sir Francis Head had views, and Sir John Colborne had views. Probably those of the latter were wisest, for he at all events would have met menace with discipline, and have blocked force with force. In the crisis of affairs the Home authorities determined that Personal Government in Canada should, for the time being at least, be made more strictly personal. In one Province the constitution was actually suspended : in the other it was virtually to be overawed by the shadow of a great name, and by the presence of a High Commissioner with Sovereign powers. To find a nobleman for such an imposing service was not a matter of much difficulty. The eyes of all turned in one direction, for the Earl of Durham seemed to have been chosen by the public even before he was gazetted by the Crown.

There were some reasons, apart from his popular fitness, why such a choice should be made. The Earl was a man of unstained honour, large means, great influence and acknowledged ability. He had done a good deal for his party at home and something for his country abroad. The fact had been acknowledged by his countrymen, and had it been otherwise he would have confessed it to himself, for he carried about him a somewhat embarrassing amount of vanity. as well as a laudable degree of pride. It may be remembered, by those who are old enough to recollect the gossip of the period, that Lord Durham was said to have had

more than ordinary claims to the friendly regard of royalty. In the days of her girlhood the Princess Victoria and the Duchess of Kent honoured the Earl and Countess of Durham with a good deal of consideration, and in return were said to have received much kindness from them. If such were the case, it might probably have occurred to a statesman of Lord Melbourne's acuteness that such services would be remembered, and that if they were so, the effect might be to attract to Lord Durham much of the influence which, in the opinion of Lord Melbourne, should more properly be exercised by the First Minister of the Crown.

Lord Durham had lately returned from Russia, where his success as the British Ambassador was only equalled by the magniñcence of his Embassy. The press quizzed him a little for his display, but the people liked him all the more for having made it. Altogether Lord Durham's presence at Court might have proved a source of embarrassment to a Cabinet of which he was not a member. Lord Melbourne, besides being a statesman of high mark, was a politician of singular astuteness, and hence he may fairly have been excused for thinking it wiser to occupy Lord Durham with important duties abroad, than, by leaving him actually unemployed, to give him the chance of occupying himself with competitive duties at home. Be this as it may, when the news of the rebellion in Canada arrived in the British Islands, Lord Durham was invited to accept, and did accept, the important office of High Commissioner and Governor-General of British North America. This great trust included, to use his lordship's own words, so far as Lower Canada was concerned, the exercise of "Legislative and Execu tive power."

A despotism, if it only be a paternal one, in the estimation of some persons, is the very best form of government. Unfortunately, however, it must be admitted that while a people under such circumstances

might be quite sure of the despotism, they could not with equal confidence count on the paternity. Now Personal Government, as represented by the Earl of Durham, was actually, and perhaps necessarily, despotic; "Legislative and Executive power" was concentrated in his own person. He was burdened, we again quote his own words, with "the awful responsibility of power freed from constitutional restraints;" and yet it must be admitted, that while conscious of the responsibility, he did not escape the mistake of exercising it in an "awful way." The power conferred by his commission may have absolved him from the restraints of the | law of Lower Canada, but it did not, we apprehend, relieve him of obligation to the law of England. Thus it was that his of fence against the latter provoked the most bitter, and perhaps the most acrimonious, discussions that were ever heard in the British Parliament. Lord Melbourne had little reason to be thankful to the High Commissioner whose acts had occasioned those discussions: for they not only imperilled, but well nigh brought about the overthrow of, the Whig administration. Much, however, as they annoyed Lord Melbourne, they more seriously distressed Lord Durham. Indeed they seemed to drive him beside himself. He lost his self-control, and consequently did what no officer of the Crown can be excused for doing. Having, as he was required, proclaimed the disallow ance of his own ordinance, he took the occasion publicly to answer the authority he was bound officially to obey. When he had made his petulant deliverance, he turned the government over to Sir John Colborne, and, without the shadow of authority from his Sovereign or her advisers, went on board the Inconstant frigate and directed her commander to sail to England. What his reflections may have been on the voyage may only be conjectured-they were never disclosed. What the opinions of his Sovereign and her advisers were, must be gathered

from the fact that, on his arrival at Plymouth, in the month of December, 1838, he landed in silence and without the customary salute; in the presence of what he must felt to have been the frown of the court and the black looks of the country. The Emperor Nicholas, who knew Lord Durham, is reported to have said: "If one of my officers had behaved as he had done he would have been tried for his life on his return." Ill health, as well as wounded pride, may have had something to do in bringing about an act of insubordination which, as far as we know, stands alone in the Colonial History of England. His humiliation was his punishment; and it seems to have been greater than he was able to bear, for he died five days after the Act was passed which embodied a portion of his counsels, and which reunited the provinces of Lower and Upper Canada.

Lord Durham was succeeded by the Right Honourable Charles Poulett Thomson, whose appointment, it may be remembered, gave rise to a series of severe criticisms in the Tory press of England, while it occasioned gloomy forebodings in the minds of an influential section of the people of Canada. The official party at Toronto, which at that time was exclusive and bureaucratic, instinctively felt that it would be "dished" by the power of a Governor who was not only "a Whig and something more," but who was especially charged with the duty of bringing about an union of the two provinces. The merchants of Lower Canada were generally interested in the lumber trade, and were consequently prepared to show little. favour to a statesman who had advocated Baltic as against Canadian interests, and had actually recommended the abolition of those discriminating duties by which the latter had been protected and encouraged. Thus it was that the odour of a good name did not precede him to Canada any more than it supported him in England. Criticism was violent in expression, and authori

ty was strongly importuned "not to send one to govern who has had no experience of government;""who is corrupt and indolent;""frail in health and feeble in purpose;" "whose despatch box, if carried in one hand, must be balanced by a medicine chest in the other;" who moreover keeps bad political company, for he acknowledges as an honourable friend and a parliamentary ally a member of the House of Commons who had actually counselled the Canadians to "shake off the baneful domination of the mother country."

Such were the comments of a certain portion of the English press, and they were as difficult to answer as to bear. Ill nature, like other ills, is frequently contagious. It had spread to Canada, and was found to be very active when His Excellency arrived. The hostility of the French Canadians was looked for and had been provided against. The opposition of other sections would chiefly be local or official. The inhabitants of Toronto had caught the distemper to which we have referred, and appeared to think that a fit of the sulks and a display of bad manners would become them on the occasion when the new Governor-General visited their city for the first time. There were few to meet, and, with the exception of His Excellency Sir George Arthur, there were scarcely any official people to welcome him. The Corporation thought it seemly in their address to express an anticipatory censure on his general policy, and a particular condemnation of the especial measure the passage of which had prompted him to accept the office of Governor-General. Toronto generally became ungracious and showed its teeth. The two Houses of the Legislature, in their latest session, had by resolution condemned the proposed union, and now municipal and official efforts were made to exaggerate difficulties, multiply obstructions, and make everything look as discouraging as possible. Lord Sydenham, however, brushed such cobwebs aside, and went to

work as one who knew how to make and win his game.

It is mentioned of Lord Sydenham, in the memoir written by his brother, that he was a child of singular beauty, so much so that King George the Third, in the course of one of his Weymouth walks, not only observed and kissed him as he lay in his nurse's arms, but begged his Prime Minister, the younger Pitt, to follow his example. "Pretty child, Pitt, pretty child. Kiss him, Pitt, kiss him." And Pitt did as he was bid, and probably with some awkardness, as very little of his busy life was passed in such pleasantries. Poets inform us, and of course they ought to know, that "a kiss may colour a life." What influence the kiss of Pitt exercised on the life of the "pretty child” can only be conjectured by a writer of prose; nevertheless conjecture is sometimes excusable. No comparison between the stately grandeur of the greatest English statesman, and the quiet ease of a minister who was useful rather than great, can possibly be made. Nevertheless there were traits in the character of "the pilot that weathered the storm," that were by no means absent from the character of the Governor who re-united the two Canadas. He, like Pitt, was imperious when occasion required, and his will was indomitable. No fear could intimidate, and no resistance could dismay him. Such qualities may have been inherited or acquir ed, but who shall say that they derived no stamina from the kiss of Pitt?

Lord Sydenham had difficulties in Lower Canada as easy to apprehend as they were hard to deal with. But in considering them he was relieved by the fact that the constitution was suspended, and the responsibility of dealing with them would be shared by a special council of his own choosing. In Upper Canada the case was otherwise, for the constitution remained intact. He had therefore not only to deal with a Legislature, but with one that had committed itself by solemn resolves to opinions hostile to his

Personal Government necessarily included direct personal influence, and Lord Sydenham shewed that he was thoroughly aware of the way in which such influence could most conveniently be exerted. He rented He rented Beverly House, at Toronto, and at once saw that the means by which a graceful hospitality had theretofore been exercised were quite inadequate to his larger views. Thereupon he built a new kitchen, and furnished it elaborately to meet the conditions

Since this article went to press, Major Campbell, C.B., of St. Hilaire, in the Province of Quebec, who might properly have been regarded as the Chief of Lord Sydenham's Staff, has suddenly departed this life. His loss will be mourned by many, for there were few who knew him who did not prize his acquaintance, and by those with whom acquaintance had ripened into friendship, his death will be felt as a personal calamity. As a staff officer he was sin gularly efficient. He was affable and wary; genial and sagacious, always courteous and never brusque. He was not a mere chatterer, and hence he rarely committed the mistake of "talking unadvisedly with his lips." He was an agreeable companion, but the charm of his conversation was never disfigured with blots of indiscretion and plague spots of impropriety. He was a clear minded man, made few mistakes, and was never called on to explain ambiguous conduct, or to apologize for unseemly words. He had enjoyed the advantage of seeing distant countries, and of living amongst strange peoples, and such experiences were not lost on him. He was not only an accomplished staff officer, but he was a Christian gentleman in the best sense. He was neither an ascetic nor a bigot, for religion with him was the offspring of gentleness and charity. While he reverently cherished his own convictions, he was studiously careful to respect the convictions of other people. He was a conscientious Churchman of the Anglican School, but in the largest sense he was Catholic. He neither thought or spoke evil of those who differed with him. His quiet life was a wayside sermon, and all the more telling because it represented religion in practice-religion adorned with humility and sanctified with charity. It might be well had we more like him, and it might be better were we on many subjects more generally influenced by his example.

of a fastidious cook, as well as the expectations of a fastidious master. Personal Government was to be baronial as well as diplomatic. It was to assume every kind of social attraction, and every description of festive charm. Lord Sydenham had the art to influence and the gift to persuade, and it was therefore necessary that he should provide the occasions where these twin powers might conveniently be exercised. The members of the House of Assembly represented the greater difficulty, for his power to force the Legislative Council by creating new peers placed that body beyond the reach of serious anxiety. At length all obstacles were overcome. Complete success attended his efforts, and we incline to think that a good cook and a good cellar had much to do with the results. On returning to Beverly House, the late Sir John Robinson is reported musingly to have said, that among the most active and influential agents in carrying the Union Bill through the Upper Canada Legislature was the new kitchen and the sagacious uses to which it had been applied.

He

Lord Sydenham was a keen observer, and had studied human nature with a good deal of attention. Probably his residence in early life at St. Petersburg had aided such studies, for Russians of the higher class have the credit of excelling in this branch of education. His letters show how accurately he appreciated American character, and with what judgment he had gauged the strength and purity of American institutions. distrusted both, for in his estimation they were little better than shams. It might have been for the welfare of the Empire if English statesmen had studied American subjects more closely, for then they would in all probability have escaped some of the errors into which they have fallen. Whig and Free Trader though he was, nevertheless Lord Sydenham caught the spirit of colonial enthusiasm which generally takes possession of the minds of Englishmen who

visit Canada. Had the kiss of Pitt anything to do with his desire to acquire and maintain " ships, colonies and commerce?" Perhaps it had, for his Lordship would have declared war with the United States rather than have surrendered one inch of the North-Eastern boundary, which Lord Ashburton ill-advisedly "capitulated" away. Though his character was somewhat crossed with contradiction, Lord Sydenham was one of those statesmen of the grand old type whom no menace could appal, and no threat could intimidate. There was something of the elder as well as the younger Pitt in his nature, and if it entered with the kiss of the latter, we only regret that the old king did not exercise his prerogative more frequently, and make his favourite minister inoculate a larger number of pretty children of that generation with some gleams of his genius, the greater portion of his principles, and with every grain of his patriotism.

Though tenacious of power, and a true exponent of Personal Government, Lord Sydenham was the first representative of his Sovereign who could see his way to the introduction of Responsible Government into Canada. It is true that the principle was only enunciated; it was not developed in his day. Moreover he was not inclined to let it loose without some reservation and some qualification. Nevertheless it was initiated with his approval, and cannot be separated from that part of the history of Canada with which his name is associated.

would avail little at this day to discuss whether such a course were wise or the reverse. All that need be said is that he did much towards laying the foundation of our constitutional system, and those who have succeeded him have only built on what he accepted as the political corner stone. Without seeming to be indifferent to the actual considerations of politics and gov ernment, his thoughts chiefly inclined towards practical administration, such as municipal institutions; popular education; religious equality, sound systems of finance and banking; public improvements; and a general development of the resources of a country whose natural wealth he was unable to exaggerate. These, and such as these, were the points of his administration which he sought to carry out, and which he did carry out to an extent that no one of his predecessors had been able to approach. The end came, and came too soon. He opened the first session of the Parliament of re-united Canada, and died on the day on which it closed. "The broad ribbon of the Bath," which the Queen had conferred on him for his services, was never worn. Peradventure it is laid away somewhere among precious treasures, but it is unspotted with the tears of wife or child, for he died unmarried. The vault in the church of Kingston received into its solitude the mortal remains of "The first and last Baron Sydenham."

The new rule of appointing civilians for Governors was not departed from by the administration which succeeded the Whigs. Sir Robert Peel, however, did not choose a representative of the Queen in Canada from either House of Parliament. He looked into the diplomatic corps, and found in the

acute.

he wanted. Sir Charles was a singularly handsome and high-bred man, who, in the course of his services, had represented the Court of St. James at Washington, and be had done so to the satisfaction of both na.