Papineau Cartier - The Makers of Canada Series (1909) (Paperback)

THE PAPINEAU CARTIER BY ALFRED D. DisCELLES TORONTO MORANG CO., LIMITED 1910 Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada in the year 1904, by Morang Co, Limited, in tfie Department of AgricuUwre CONTENTS CHAPTER I Page THE EARLY YEARS OF PAPINEAU . . .1 CHAPTER II A RETROSPECT ..... 7 CHAPTER III THE PARLIAMENTARY REGIME . . .19 CHAPTER IV HIS FIRST STEPS IN POLITICS ... 27 CHAPTER V THE UNION SCHEME OF 1822 . . .41 CHAPTER VI PAPINEAU RETURNS TO CANADA-AT WAR WITH LORD DALHOUSIE .... 55 CHAPTER VII PAPINEAUS TROUBLES WITH HIS FRIENDS 65 CONTENTS CHAPTER VIH Page LORD AYLMER IN THE PATH OF DALTTOUSIE . 7-r CHAPTER IX THE NINETY-TWO RESOLUTIONS . . flf, CHAPTER X LA CONVENTION . . . .00 CHAPTER Xf LORD GOSFORI NEARING THE DENOUEMENT . Ill CHAPTER XII TO ARMS ...... 127 CHAPTER xm THE REBELLION AND ITS CAUSES . 143 CHAPTER XIV EXILE AND RETURN TO CANADA . . . JOB CHAPTER XV CONCLUSION . IBS INDEX CHAPTER I THE EARLY YEARS OF PAPINEAU THE reader will perhaps find it somewhat odd to see united under the same cover, the biogra phies of Papineau and Cartier, men whose careers were so different and whose temperaments had so few points in common men, who for a moment, it is true, fought under the same flag, but were after wards divided forever. The name of Papineau recalls the tribune who, from 1820 to 1837, is the personification of a whole people who defends their most sacred rights the melodious speaker who fascinates and over powers the multitudes with his sonorous sen tences, his ample gestures and his commanding appearance the true sovereign, indeed, of his pro vince of Quebec. Whilst the influence of Lord Dalhousie and of Lord Aylmer does not extend beyond the walls of Quebecand Montreal, Papi neaus voice reaches the most remote hamlet of the province He is the star around which, for twenty years, all the notabilities of French Canadian blood gather, until he disappears in a political storm. As a living contrast, Cartier represents the man of action, all absorbed in his work, though wanting in those bewitching gifts which captivate the crowd, 1 LOUIS-JOSEPH PAPINEAU and attract men as with an irresistible magnetism. His words point directly to the object he has in view, and he never tries to win his audience with rhetorical devices. The first is a speculative person ality wedded to theories of his own the other believes only in what he can handle and put in tangible form. Wisdom and caution take hold more arid more of the practical man, when called upon to assume the responsibilities of power, and cause him to weigh beforehand the consequences of his policy. Theories, on the contrary, do not bind firmly to any particular line of conduct, but they too often tend to overexcite the mind of their originators. The work accomplished by Cartier who hated everything that was not positive, is consider able it is to be found in our statutes and it has left its imprint on our institutions, while Papineau is looked upon by many as a mere agitator, a verbose tribune, a violent critic of his opponents, having left after him nothing but the hollow renown of a great popular orator. Nevertheless, his name still shines resplendent, a star of the very highest rank in the constellation of our Canadian celebrities he is still a legendary god, shrouded in a somewhat mysterious halo of glory the people admire him without having understood him, as if they were hypnotized by therenown of his eloquence which has encircled his memory for over fifty years. For the educated as well as for the masses of our people he is still the prototype of 2