The Fortnightly Review: No. CCCCLXIII, New Series [‎601v] (93/239)

62
THE MARQUIS OF LANSDOWNE.
But the new Governor-General regarded not these signs of the
times, which might have shaken the resolution of a less deter
mined man. Sailing from Moville in an Allan liner, accom-
panied by Lady Lansdowne, he arrived at Quebec on the 23rd of
October, 1883. His official entry on the day following was
attended by great public enthusiasm and afforded an early oppor
tunity for the exercise of a diplomatic temperament. In replying
to the address of welcome, tendered by the Quebec Corporation,
Lord Lansdowne spoke in French. That delicate compliment
touched a chord in the hearts of his sensitive French-
Canadian audience. A member of the staff informed me that no
words could adequately describe the wild enthusiasm the speech
evoked. The significance of his use of the language of the French-
Canadian will appear more clearly from a brief survey of the
history of Canada.
In 1525 the French took possession of the land discovered by
Sebastian Cabot twenty-eight years previously. General Wolfe’s
troops, scaling the heights of Abraham, captured Quebec in 1763,
and by the Treaty of Paris concluded that year, the remainder of
Canada was ceded to Great Britain. The Imperial Act 31
George III. c. 31, divided the country into Upper Canada or On
tario, and Low r er Canada or Quebec. These two provinces, how
ever, were re-united by Lord John Russell, the Colonial Secretary,
in 1840/ under the name of the Province of Canada. That proved
to be a most impolitic measure. Prior to the cession Lower
Canada was governed by French law, and the Roman Catholic
religion was its established faith. After the cession the lex loci
prevailed, and the already established religion received statutory
confirmation. In Upper Canada it w'as not so, and the two
Canadas found it impossible, owing to religious and racial
jealousies and strife, to live peaceably under one government.
In shoit, the Act of 1840 failed because it sought to combine the
federal principle with unity of action in local affairs. To remedy
this state of things the British North America Act, 1867, the
great achievement of Sir John MacDonald and the Conservative
Party, was passed. It restored the separate existence formerly
enjoyed by Upper and Lower Canada respectively, and united
federally into one Dominion the Provinces of Upper Canada,
Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Three years
later Manitoba was added, and the North-West Territories an
nexed : m 1872 British Colombia, and in 1875 Prince Edward’s
Island, acceded to the Dominion. In these circumstances the
people of Quebec appreciated the new Governor-General’s adroit
speech in their mother tongue, not merely as being a graceful
(1) 3 & 4 Viet. c. 35.