THE HON. W. L. MACKENZIE KING,
PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA
CANADA
By SIR J. G. BOURINOT
K.C.M.G., LL.D., LIT.D.
SOMETIME CLERK OF THE CANADIAN HOUSE OF COMMONS;
HONORARY SECRETARY OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA;
DOCTEUR-ÈS-LETTRES OF LAVAL UNIVERSITY;
HONORARY MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY
NEW AND REVISED EDITION, WITH ADDITIONAL CHAPTER
BY WILLIAM H. INGRAM, B.A.
T. FISHER UNWIN LTD
LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE
Second Impression . . . . . . . . . . . 1901
Second Edition (Third Impression) . . . 1908
Third Edition (Fourth Impression) . . . 1922
Copyright by T. Fisher Unwin, 1897
(for Great Britain)
Copyright by G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1897
(For the United States of America).
[Transcriber's note: Page numbers in this book are indicated by numbers enclosed in curly braces, e.g. {99}. They have been located where page breaks occurred in the original book, in accordance with Project Gutenberg's FAQ-V-99. For its Index, a page number has been placed only at the start of that section. In the HTML version of this book, page numbers are placed in the left margin.]
I DEDICATE THIS STORY OF CANADA
BY PERMISSION
TO
HER EXCELLENCY THE COUNTESS OF ABERDEEN
WHO HAS WON THE ESTEEM AND AFFECTION OF ALL CLASSES
OF THE CANADIAN PEOPLE BY THE EARNESTNESS WITH
WHICH SHE HAS IDENTIFIED HERSELF WITH
EVERY MOVEMENT AFFECTING THE SOCIAL
AND INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS OF
THE NEW DOMINION
PREFATORY NOTE
In writing this story of Canada I have not been able to do more, within the limited space at my command, than briefly review those events which have exercised the most influence on the national development of the Dominion of Canada from the memorable days bold French adventurers made their first attempts at settlement on the banks of the beautiful basin of the Annapolis, and on the picturesque heights of Quebec, down to the establishment of a Confederation which extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Whilst the narrative of the French régime, with its many dramatic episodes, necessarily occupies a large part of this story, I have not allowed myself to forget the importance that must be attached to the development of institutions of government and their effect on the social, intellectual, and material conditions of the people since the beginning of the English régime. Though this story, strictly speaking, ends with the successful accomplishment of the federal union of all the provinces in 1873, when Prince Edward Island became one of its members, I have deemed it necessary to refer briefly to those events which have happened since that time—the second half-breed rebellion of 1885, for instance—and have had much effect on the national spirit of the people. I endeavour to interest my reader in the public acts of those eminent men whose names stand out most prominently on the pages of history, and have made the deepest impress on the fortunes and institutions of the Dominion. In the performance of this task I have always consulted original authorities, but have not attempted to go into any historical details except those which are absolutely necessary to the intelligent understanding of the great events and men of Canadian annals. I have not entered into the intrigues and conflicts which have been so bitter and frequent during the operation of parliamentary government in a country where politicians are so numerous, and statesmanship is so often hampered and government injuriously affected by the selfish interests of party, but have simply given the conspicuous and dominant results of political action since the concession of representative institutions to the provinces of British North America. A chapter is devoted, at the close of the historical narrative, to a very brief review of the intellectual and material development of the country, and of the nature of its institutions of government. A survey is also given of the customs and conditions of the French Canadian people, so that the reader outside of the Dominion may have some conception of their institutions and of their influence on the political, social, and intellectual life of a Dominion, of whose population they form so important and influential an element. The illustrations are numerous, and have been carefully selected from various sources, not accessible to the majority of students, with the object, not simply of pleasing the general reader, but rather of elucidating the historical narrative. A bibliographical note has also been added of those authorities which the author has consulted in writing this story, and to which the reader, who wishes to pursue the subject further, may most advantageously refer.
HOUSE OF COMMONS, OTTAWA,
Dominion Day, 1896.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE.
Owing to the passing of Sir John Bourinot, the revisions necessary to bring this work up to date had to be entrusted to another hand. Accordingly, Mr. William H. Ingram has kindly undertaken the task, and has contributed the very judiciously selected information now embodied in Chapter XXX. on the recent development of Canada. Chapter XXVIII. by Mr. Edward Porritt, author of Sixty Years of Protection in Canada, has also been included, as being indicative of the history of the time he describes. Mr. Ingram has also made other revisions of considerable value.
1, ADELPHI TERRACE.
March, 1922.
CONTENTS
I.
INTRODUCTION--THE CANADIAN DOMINION FROM OCEAN TO OCEAN 1
II.
THE DAWN OF DISCOVERY IN CANADA (1497-1525) 19
III.
A BRETON SAILOR DISCOVERS CANADA AND ITS
IV.
FROM CARTIER TO DE MONTS (1540-1603) 44
V.
THE FRENCH OCCUPATION OF ACADIA AND THE FOUNDATION OF PORT ROYAL (1604-1614) 51
VI.
SAMUEL CHAMPLAIN IN THE VALLEY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE (1608-1635) 67
VII.
GENTLEMEN-ADVENTURERS IN ACADIA (1614-1677) 92
VIII.
THE CANADIAN INDIANS AND THE IROQUOIS: THEIR ORGANISATION, CHARACTER, AND CUSTOMS 110
IX.
CONVENTS AND HOSPITALS--VILLE-MARIE--MARTYRED MISSIONARIES--VICTORIOUS IROQUOIS--HAPLESS HURONS (1635-1652) 129
X.
YEARS OF GLOOM--THE KING COMES TO THE RESCUE OF CANADA--THE IROQUOIS HUMBLED (1652-1667) 146
XI.
CANADA AS A ROYAL PROVINCE--CHURCH AND STATE (1663-1759) 156
XII.
THE PERIOD OF EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERYH--PRIESTS, FUR-TRADERS, AND Coureurs de Bois IN THE WEST (1634-1687) 168
XIII.
THE PERIOD OF EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY--FRANCE IN THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI (1672-1687) 177
XIV.
CANADA AND ACADIA--FROM FRONTENAC TO THE TREATY OF UTRECHT (1672-1713) 192
XV.
ACADIA AND ÎLE ROYALE--FROM THE TREATY OF UTRECHT TO THE TREATY OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE (1713-1748) 210
XVI.
THE STRUGGLE FOR DOMINION IN THE GREAT VALLEYS OF NORTH AMERICA--PRELUDE (1748-1756) 221
XVII.
THE STRUGGLE FOR DOMINION IN THE GREAT VALLEYS OF NORTH AMERICA--ENGLISH REVERSES AND FRENCH VICTORIES--FALL OF LOUISBOURG AND FORT DUQUESNE (1756-1758) 237
XVIII.
THE STRUGGLE FOR DOMINION IN THE VALLEY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE--CANADA IS WON BY WOLFE ON THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM (1759-1763) 247
XIX.
A PERIOD OF TRANSITION--PONTIAC'S WAR--THE QUEBEC ACT (1760-1774) 267
XX.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION--INVASION OF CANADA--DEATH OF MONTGOMERY--PEACE (1774-1783) 280
XXI.
COMING OF THE LOYALISTS (1783-1791) 291
XXII.
FOUNDATION OF NEW PROVINCES--ESTABLISHMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE INSTITUTIONS (1792-1812) 302
XXIII.
THE WAR OF 1812-1815--PATRIOTISM OF THE CANADIANS 316
XXIV.
POLITICAL STRIFE AND REBELLION (1815-1840) 338
XXV.
RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT AND ITS RESULTS--FEDERAL UNION--RELATIONS BETWEEN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES (1839-1867) 361
XXVI.
END OF THE RULE OF FUR TRADERS--ACQUISITION OF THE NORTHWEST--FORMATION OF MANITOBA--RIEL'S REBELLIONS--THE INDIANS (1670-1885) 380
XXVII.
XXVIII.
CANADA AS A NATION--MATERIAL AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT--POLITICAL RIGHTS 414
XXIX.
FRENCH CANADA 434
XXX.
RECENT DEVELOPMENT OF CANADA 457
INDEX 484
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
[Transcriber's note: The page numbers below are those in the original book. However, in this e-book, to avoid the splitting of paragraphs, the illustrations may have been moved to preceding or following pages.]
THE HON. W. L. MACKENZIE KING
Courtesy "Canada." Frontispiece
VIEW OF CAPE TRINITY ON THE LAURENTIAN RANGE
From a photograph by Topley, Ottawa. 9
ROCKY MOUNTAINS AT DONALD, BRITISH COLUMBIA
From Sir W. Van Horne's Collection of B. C. photographs. 13
UPPER END OF FRASER CAÑON, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Ibid. 15
SKETCH OF JUAN DE LA COSA'S MAP, A.D. 1500
From Dr. S. E. Dawson's "Cabot Voyages," in Trans. Roy. Soc. Can., 1894. 25
* To explain these dates it is necessary to note that Champlain lived for years in one of the buildings of the Fort of Saint Louis which he first erected, and the name château is often applied to that structure; but the château, properly so-called, was not commenced until 1647, and it as well as its successors was within the limits of the fort. It was demolished in 1694 by Governor Frontenac, who rebuilt it on the original foundations, and it was this castle which, in a remodelled and enlarged form, under the English régime, lasted until 1834.
PORTRAIT OF JACQUES CARTIER
From B. Sulte's "Histoire des Canadiens-Français" (Montreal, 1882-'84). 31
ANCIENT HOCHELAGA
From Ramusio's "Navigationi e Viaggi" (Venice, 1565). 39
THE "DAUPHIN MAP" OF CANADA, circa 1543, SHOWING CARTIER'S DISCOVERIES
From collection of maps in Parliamentary Library at Ottawa. 44
PLAN OF PORT ROYAL IN ACADIA IN 1605
From Champlain's works, rare Paris ed. of 1613. 57
CHAMPLAIN'S PORTRAIT
From B. Sulte's "Histoire des Canadiens-Français." 69
HABITATION DE QUEBEC
From Champlain's works, rare Paris ed. of 1613. 71
CHAMPLAIN'S LOST ASTROLABE
From sketch by A. J. Russell, of Ottawa, 1879. 79
ONONDAGA FORT IN THE IROQUOIS COUNTRY
From Champlain's works, rare Paris ed. of 1613. 83
INDIAN COSTUMES
From Lafitau's "Moeurs des Sauvages" (Paris, 1724). 111
IROQUOIS LONG HOUSE
From Morgan's "Houses and Home Life of the Aborigines" (Washington, 1881). 119
PORTRAIT OF MARIE GUYARD (MÈRE MARIE DE L'INCARNATION)
From S. Sulte's "Histoire des Canadiens-Français." 131
PORTRAIT OF MAISONNEUVE
Ibid. 135
PORTRAIT OF LAVAL, FIRST CANADIAN BISHOP
Ibid. 159
CARD ISSUE (PAPER MONEY) OF 1729, FOR 12 LIVRES
From Breton's "Illustrated History of Coins and Tokens Relating to Canada" (Montreal, 1892). 162
CANADIAN FIFTEEN SOL PIECE
Ibid. 163
CANADIAN TRAPPER
From La Pothérie's "Histoire de l'Amérique Septentrionale" (Paris, 1753). 173
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF CAVELIER DE LA SALLE
B. Sulte's "Histoire des Canadiens-Francais." 185
FRONTENAC, FROM HÉBERT'S STATUE AT QUEBEC
From Dr. Stewart's collection of Quebec photographs. 193
CAPTURE OF FORT NELSON IN HUDSON BAY, BY THE FRENCH
From La Pothérie's "Histoire de l'Amérique Septentrionale." 205
PORTRAIT OF CHEVALIER D'IBERVILLE
From a portrait in Margry's "Découvertes et établissements des François dans le Sud de l'Amérique Septentrionale" (Paris, 1876-'83). 209
VIEW OF LOUISBOURG IN 1731
From a sketch in the Paris Archives. 210
MAP OF FRENCH FORTS IN AMERICA, 1750-60
From Bourinot's "Cape Breton and its Memorials of the French Régime" (Montreal, 1891). 221
PORTRAIT OF MONTCALM
From B. Sulte's "Histoire des Canadiens-Français." 239
LOUISBOURG MEDALS OF 1758
From Bourinot's "Cape Breton," etc. 244
PORTRAIT OF WOLFE
From print in "A Complete History of the Late War," etc. (London and Dublin, 1774), by Wright. 249
PLAN OF OPERATIONS AT SIEGE OF QUEBEC
Made from a more extended plan in "The Universal Magazine" (London, Dec., 1859). 251
MONTCALM AND WOLFE MONUMENT AT QUEBEC
From Dr. Stewart's collection of Quebec photographs. 261
VIEW OF QUEBEC IN 1760
From "The Universal Magazine" (London, 1760). 263
VIEW OF MONTREAL IN 1760
Ibid. 265
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF JOSEPH BRANT (THAYENDANEGEA)
From Stone's "Life of Joseph Brant," original ed. (New York, 1838). 299
PRESCOTT GATE AND BISHOP'S PALACE IN 1800
From a sketch by A. J. Russell in Hawkins's "Pictures of Quebec." 307
PORTRAIT OF LIEUT.-GENERAL SIMCOE
From Dr. Scadding's "Toronto of Old" (Toronto, 1873). 311
PORTRAIT OF MAJ.-GENERAL BROCK
From a picture in possession of J. A. Macdonell, Esq., of Alexandria, Ontario. 323
PORTRAIT OF COLONEL DE SALABERRY
From Fennings Taylor's "Portraits of British Americans" (W. Notman, Montreal, 1865-'67).
MONUMENT AT LUNDY'S LANE
From a photograph through courtesy of Rev. Canon Bull, Niagara South, Ont. 333
PORTRAIT OF LOUIS J. PAPINEAU
From Fennings Taylor's "Portraits of British Americans." 341
PORTRAIT OF BISHOP STRACHAN
Ibid. 347
PORTRAIT OF W. LYON MACKENZIE
From C. Lindsey's "Life and Times of W. L. Mackenzie" (Toronto, 1863). 349
PORTRAIT OF JUDGE HALIBURTON, AUTHOR OF "THE CLOCK-MAKER"
From a portrait given to author by Mr. F. Blake Crofton of Legislative Library, Halifax, N. S. 359
PORTRAIT OF JOSEPH HOWE
From Fennings Taylor's "Portraits of British Americans." 363
PORTRAIT OF ROBERT BALDWIN
Ibid. 365
PORTRAIT OF L. H. LAFONTAINE
Ibid. 369
PORTRAIT OF L. A. WILMOT
From Lathern's "Biographical Sketch of Judge Wilmot" (Toronto, 1881). 371
FORT GARRY AND A RED RIVER STEAMER IN 1870
From A. J. Russell's "Red River Country" (Montreal, 1870). 389
PORTRAIT OF LIEUT.-COLONEL WILLIAMS
From a photograph by Topley, Ottawa. 399
INDIAN CARVED POSTS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
From photograph by Dr. Dawson, C.M.G., Director of Geological Survey of Canada. 401
PORTRAIT OF SIR JOHN MACDONALD
From L. J. Taché's "Canadian Portrait Gallery" (Montreal, 1890-'93). 405
PORTRAIT OF HON. GEORGE BROWN
From photograph. 409
PORTRAIT OF SIR GEORGE E. CARTIER
From B. Sulte's "Histoire des Canadiens-français." 411
SIR WILFRID LAURIER
From a photograph by Ernest H. Mills. 415
OLD PARLIAMENT BUILDING AT OTTAWA
From a photograph by Topley, Ottawa. 427
QUEBEC IN 1896
From Dr. Stewart's collection of Quebec photographs. 435
STREET SCENE IN A FRENCH CANADIAN VILLAGE NEAR QUEBEC
Ibid. 437
OLD CHURCH AT BONNE STE. ANNE, WHERE MIRACLES WERE PERFORMED
Ibid. 441
A CANADIAN CALECHE OF OLD TIMES
From Weld's "Travels in North America" (London, 1799). 445
PORTRAIT OF LOUIS FRECHETTE, THE FRENCH CANADIAN POET
From L. J. Taché's "Canadian Portrait Gallery." 449
A CHARACTERISTIC SNAPSHOT OF SIR ROBERT BORDEN
Courtesy "Central News." 456
SILVER
Courtesy C.P.R. 459
NEW PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, OTTAWA
Courtesy C.P.R. 471
MAP OF CANADA
[Transcriber's note: missing from book.] at end
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Jacques Cartier's Voyages, in English, by Joseph Pope (Ottawa, 1889), and H. B. Stephens (Montreal, 1891); in French, by N. E. Dionne (Quebec, 1891); Toilon de Longrais (Rennes, France), H. Michelant and E. Ramé (Paris, 1867). L'Escarbot's New France, in French, Tross's ed. (Paris, 1866), which contains an account also of Cartier's first voyage. Sagard's History of Canada, in French, Tross's ed. (Paris, 1866). Champlain's works, in French, Laverdiere's ed. (Quebec, 1870); Prince Society's English ed. (Boston, 1878-80). Lafitau's Customs of the Savages, in French (Paris, 1724). Charlevoix's History of New France, in French (Paris, 1744); Shea's English version (New York, 1866). Jesuit Relations, in French (Quebec ed., 1858). Ferland's Course of Canadian History, in French (Quebec, 1861-1865). Garneau's History of Canada, in French (Montreal, 1882). Sulte's French Canadians, in French (Montreal, 1882-84). F. Parkman's series of histories of French Régime, viz.; Pioneers of France in the New World; The Jesuits in North America; The old Régime; Frontenac; The Discovery of the Great West; A Half Century of Conflict; Montcalm and Wolfe; Conspiracy of Pontiac (Boston, 1865-1884). Justin Winsor's From Cartier to Frontenac (Boston, 1894). Hannay's Acadia (St. John, N. B., 1870). W. Kingsford's History of Canada, 8 vols. so far (Toronto and London, 1887-1896), the eighth volume on the war of 1812 being especially valuable. Bourinot's "Cape Breton and its Memorials of the French Régime," Trans. Roy. Soc. Can., vol. ix, and separate ed. (Montreal, 1891). Casgrain's Montcalm and Lévis, in French (Quebec, 1891). Haliburton's Nova Scotia (Halifax, 1829). Murdoch's Nova Scotia (Halifax, 1865-67). Campbell's Nova Scotia (Halifax, 1873). Campbell's Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown, 1875). Lord Durham's Report, 1839. Christie's History of Lower Canada (Quebec, 1848-1855). Dent's Story of the Upper Canadian Rebellion (Toronto, 1855). Lindsey's W. Lyon Mackenzie (Toronto, 1873). Dent's Canada Since the Union of 1841 (Toronto, 1880-81). Turcotte's Canada under the Union, in French (Quebec, 1871). Bourinot's Manual of Constitutional History (Montreal, 1888), "Federal Government in Canada" (Johns Hopkins University Studies, Baltimore, 1889), and How Canada is Governed (Toronto, 1895). Withrow's Popular History of Canada (Toronto, 1888). MacMullen's History of Canada (Brockville, 1892). Begg's History of the Northwest (Toronto, 1804). Canniff's History of Ontario (Toronto, 1872). Egerton Ryerson's Loyalists of America (Toronto, 1880). Mrs. Edgar's Ten Years of Upper Canada in Peace and War (Toronto, 1890). Porritt's Sixty Years of Protection in Canada (London, 1907). H. E. Egerton and W. L. Grant's Canadian Constitutional Development (London, 1907). G. R. Parkin's Sir John A. Macdonald (London, 1909). B. Home's Canada (London, 1911). W. Maxwell's Canada of To-Day (London, 1911). C. L. Thomson's Short History of Canada (London, 1911). W. L. Griffith's The Dominion of Canada (London, 1911). A. G. Bradley's Canada (London, 1912). Arthur G. Doughty's History of Canada (Year Book) (Ottawa, 1913). J. A. T. Lloyd's The Real Canadian (London, 1913). E. L. Marsh's The Story of Canada (London, 1913). J. Munro's Canada 1535 to Present Day (London, 1913). A. Shortland and A. G. Doughty's Canada and its Provinces (Toronto, 1913). W. L. Grant's High School History of Canada (Toronto, 1914). G. Bryce's Short History of the Canadian People (London, 1914). D. W. Oates's Canada To-day and Yesterday (London, 1914). F. Fairfield's Canada (London, 1914). Sir C. Tupper's Political Reminiscences (London, 1914). Morang's Makers of Canada (Toronto, 1917). Sir Thomas White's The Story of Canada's War Finance (Montreal, 1921). Prof. Skelton's Life of Sir Wilfrid Laurier (Toronto, 1922). And Review of Historical Publications Relating to Canada by the University of Toronto.
For a full bibliography of archives, maps, essays, and books relating to the periods covered by the Story of Canada, and used by the writer, see appendix to his "Cape Breton and its Memorials," in which all authorities bearing on the Norse, Cabot, and other early voyages are cited. Also, appendix to same author's "Parliamentary Government in Canada" (Trans. Roy. Soc. Can., vol. xi., and American Hist. Ass. Report, Washington, 1891). Also his "Canada's Intellectual Strength and Weakness" (Trans. Roy. Soc. Can., vol. xi, and separate volume, Montreal, 1891). Also, Winsor's Narrative and Critical History of America (Boston, 1886-89).
THE STORY OF CANADA.
I.
INTRODUCTION.
THE CANADIAN DOMINION FROM OCEAN TO OCEAN.
The view from the spacious terrace on the verge of the cliffs of Quebec, the ancient capital of Canada, cannot fail to impress the imagination of the statesman or student versed in the history of the American continent, as well as delight the eye of the lover of the picturesque. Below the heights, to whose rocks and buildings cling so many memories of the past, flows the St. Lawrence, the great river of Canada, bearing to the Atlantic the waters of the numerous lakes and streams of the valley which was first discovered and explored by France, and in which her statesmen saw the elements of empire. We see the tinned roofs, spires and crosses of quaint churches, hospitals and convents, narrow streets winding among the rocks, black-robed priests and sombre nuns, habitans in homespun from the neighbouring villages, modest gambrel-roofed houses of the past crowded almost out of sight by obtrusive lofty structures of the present, the massive buildings of the famous seminary and university which bear the name of Laval, the first great bishop of that Church which has always dominated French Canada. Not far from the edge of the terrace stands a monument on which are inscribed the names of Montcalm and Wolfe, enemies in life but united in death and fame. Directly below is the market which recalls the name of Champlain, the founder of Quebec, and his first Canadian home at the margin of the river. On the same historic ground we see the high-peaked roof and antique spire of the curious old church, Notre-Dame des Victoires, which was first built to commemorate the repulse of an English fleet two centuries ago. Away beyond, to the left, we catch a glimpse of the meadows and cottages of the beautiful Isle of Orleans, and directly across the river are the rocky hills covered with the buildings of the town, which recalls the services of Lévis, whose fame as a soldier is hardly overshadowed by that of Montcalm. The Union-jack floats on the tall staff of the citadel which crowns the summit of Cape
As we recall the story of these heights, we can see passing before us a picturesque procession: Sailors from the home of maritime enterprise on the Breton and Biscayan coasts, Indian warriors in their paint and savage finery, gentlemen-adventurers and pioneers, rovers of the forest and river, statesmen and soldiers of high ambition, gentle and cultured women who gave up their lives to alleviate suffering and teach the young, missionaries devoted to a faith for which many have died. In the famous old castle of Saint Louis,[1] long since levelled to the ground—whose foundations are beneath a part of this very terrace—statesmen feasted and dreamt of a French Empire in North America. Then the French dominion passed away with the fall of Quebec, and the old English colonies were at last relieved from that pressure which had confined them so long to the Atlantic coast, and enabled to become free commonwealths with great possibilities of development before them. Yet, while England lost so much in America by the War of Independence, there still remained to her a vast northern territory, stretching far to the east and west from Quebec, and containing all the rudiments of national life—
"The raw materials of a State,
Its muscle and its mind."
A century later than that Treaty of Paris which was signed in the palace of Versailles, and ceded Canada finally to England, the statesmen of the provinces of this northern territory, which was still a British possession,—statesmen of French as well as English Canada—assembled in an old building of this same city, so rich in memories of old France, and took the first steps towards the establishment of that Dominion, which, since then, has reached the Pacific shores.
It is the story of this Canadian Dominion, of its founders, explorers, missionaries, soldiers, and statesmen, that I shall attempt to relate briefly in the following pages, from the day the Breton sailor ascended the St. Lawrence to Hochelaga until the formation of the confederation, which united the people of two distinct nationalities and extends over so wide a region—so far beyond the Acadia and Canada which France once called her own. But that the story may be more intelligible from the beginning, it is necessary to give a bird's-eye view of the country, whose history is contemporaneous with that of the United States, and whose territorial area from Cape Breton to Vancouver—the sentinel islands of the Atlantic and Pacific approaches—is hardly inferior to that of the federal republic.
Although the population of Canada at present does not exceed nine millions of souls, the country has, within a few years, made great strides in the path of national development, and fairly takes a place of considerable importance among those nations whose stories have been already told; whose history goes back to centuries when the Laurentian Hills, those rocks of primeval times, looked down on an unbroken wilderness of forest and stretches of silent river. If we treat the subject from a strictly historical point of view, the confederation of provinces and territories comprised within the Dominion may be most conveniently grouped into several distinct divisions. Geographers divide the whole country lying between the two oceans into three well-defined regions: 1. The Eastern, extending from the Atlantic to the head of Lake Superior. 2. The Central, stretching across the prairies and plains to the base of the Rocky Mountains. 3. The Western, comprising that sea of mountains which at last unites with the waters of the Pacific. For the purposes of this narrative, however, the Eastern and largest division—also the oldest historically—must be separated into two distinct divisions, known as Acadia and Canada in the early annals of America.
The first division of the Eastern region now comprises the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, which, formerly, with a large portion of the State of Maine, were best known as Acadie,[2] a memorial of the Indian occupation before the French régime. These provinces are indented by noble harbours and bays, and many deep rivers connect the sea-board with the interior. They form the western and southern boundaries of that great gulf or eastern portal of Canada, which maritime adventurers explored from the earliest period of which we have any record. Ridges of the Appalachian range stretch from New England to the east of these Acadian provinces, giving picturesque features to a generally undulating surface, and find their boldest expression in the northern region of the island of Cape Breton. The peninsula of Nova Scotia is connected with the neighbouring province of New Brunswick by a narrow isthmus, on one side of which the great tides of the Bay of Fundy tumultuously beat, and is separated by a very romantic strait from the island of Cape Breton. Both this isthmus and island, we shall see in the course of this narrative, played important parts in the struggle between France and England for dominion in America. This Acadian division possesses large tracts of fertile lands, and valuable mines of coal and other minerals. In the richest district of the peninsula of Nova Scotia were the thatch-roofed villages of those Acadian farmers whose sad story has been told in matchless verse by a New England poet, and whose language can still be heard throughout the land they loved, and to which some of them returned after years of exile. The inexhaustible fisheries of the Gulf, whose waters wash their shores, centuries ago attracted fleets of adventurous sailors from the Atlantic coast of Europe, and led to the discovery of Canada and the St. Lawrence. It was with the view of protecting these fisheries, and guarding the great entrance to New France, that the French raised on the southeastern shores of Cape Breton the fortress of Louisbourg, the ruins of which now alone remain to tell of their ambition and enterprise.
Leaving Acadia, we come to the provinces which are watered by the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes, extending from the Gulf to the head of Lake Superior, and finding their northern limits in the waters of Hudson's Bay. The name of Canada appears to be also a memorial of the Indian nations that once occupied the region between the Ottawa and Saguenay rivers. This name, meaning a large village or town in one of the dialects of the Huron-Iroquois tongue, was applied, in the first half of the sixteenth century, to a district in the neighbourhood of the Indian town of Stadacona, which stood on the site of the present city of Quebec. In the days of French occupation the name was more generally used than New France, and sometimes extended to the country now comprised in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, or, in other words, to the whole region from the Gulf to the head of Lake Superior. Finally, it was adopted as the most appropriate designation for the new Dominion that made a step toward national life in 1867.
The most important feature of this historic country is the remarkable natural highway which has given form and life to the growing nation by its side—a river famous in the history of exploration and war—a river which has never-failing reservoirs in those great lakes which occupy a basin larger than Great Britain—a river noted for its long stretch of navigable waters, its many rapids, and its unequalled Falls of Niagara, around all of which man's enterprise and skill have constructed a system of canals to give the west a continuous navigation from Lake Superior to the ocean for over two thousand miles. The Laurentian Hills—"the nucleus of the North
From Gaspe, the southeastern promontory at the entrance of the Gulf, the younger rocks of the Appalachian range, constituting the breast-bone of the continent, and culminating at the north in the White Mountains, describe a great curve southwesterly to the valley of the Hudson; and it is between the ridge-like elevations of this range and the older Laurentian Hills that we find the valley of the St. Lawrence, in which lie the provinces of Quebec and Ontario.