Letters and Journals of James, Eighth Earl of Elgin Part 2

[Sidenote: Agriculture.]

With the view of awakening an interest in the subject of agricultural improvements, Lord Elgin himself offered a premium of 100_l_. for the best practical treatise on the cultivation of the cane, with a special reference to the adoption of mechanical aids and appliances in aid or in lieu of mechanical labour. In forwarding to Lord Stanley printed copies of eight of the essays which competed for the prize, he wrote as follows:--

Much, I believe, is involved in the issue of this and similar experiments.

So long as the planter despairs,--so long as he a.s.sumes that the cane can be cultivated and sugar manufactured at profit only on the system adopted during slavery,--so long as he looks to external aids (among which I cla.s.s immigration) as his sole hope of salvation from ruin--with what feelings must he contemplate all earnest efforts to civilise the ma.s.s of the population? Is education necessary to qualify the peasantry to carry on the rude field operations of slavery? May not some persons even entertain the apprehension, that it will indispose them to such pursuits? But let him, on the other hand, believe that, by the subst.i.tution of more artificial methods for those hitherto employed, he may materially abridge the expense of raising his produce, and he cannot fail to perceive that an intelligent, well-educated labourer, with something of a character to lose, and a reasonable ambition to stimulate him to exertion, is likely to prove an instrument more apt for his purposes than the ignorant drudge who differs from the slave only in being no longer amenable to personal restraint.[1]

One of the measures in which Lord Elgin took the most active interest was the establishment of a 'General Agricultural Society for the Island of Jamaica,' and he was much gratified by receiving Her Majesty's permission to give to it the sanction of her name as Patroness.

I am confident (he writes to Lord Stanley) that the notice which Her Majesty is pleased to take of the inst.i.tution will be duly appreciated, and will be productive of much good.

You must allow me to remark (he adds) that moral results of much moment are involved in the issue of the efforts which we are now making for the improvement of agriculture in this colony. Not only has the impulse which has been imparted to the public mind in Jamaica been beneficial in itself and in its direct effects, but it has, I am firmly persuaded, checked opposing tendencies, which threatened very injurious consequences to Negro civilisation. To reconcile the planter to the heavy burdens which he was called to bear for the improvement of our establishments and the benefit of the ma.s.s of the population, it was necessary to persuade him that he had an interest in raising the standard of education and morals among the peasantry; and this belief could be imparted only by inspiring a taste for a more artificial system of husbandry. By the silent operation of such salutary convictions, prejudices of old standing are removed; the friends of the Negro and of the proprietary cla.s.ses find themselves almost unconsciously acting in concert, and conspiring to complete that great and holy work of which the emanc.i.p.ation of the slave was but the commencement.

[Sidenote: The labouring cla.s.ses.]

On a general survey of the state of the labouring cla.s.ses, taken after he had been a little more than a year in the island, he was able to give a most favourable report of their condition, in all that concerns material prosperity and comfort of living.

The truth is (he wrote) that our labourers are for the most part in the position of persons who live habitually within their incomes. They are generally sober and frugal, and accustomed to a low standard of living. Their gardens supply them in great measure with the necessaries of life. The chief part, therefore, of what they receive in money, whether as wages or as the price of the surplus produce of their provision grounds, they can lay aside for occasional calls, and, when they set their minds on an acquisition or an indulgence, they do not stickle at the cost. I am told that, in the shops at Kingston, expensive articles of dress are not unusually purchased by members of the families of black labourers. Whether the ladies are good judges of the merits of silks and cambrics I do not pretend to decide; but they pay ready money, and it is not for the sellers to cavil at their discrimination. The purchase of land, as you well know, is going on rapidly throughout the island; and the money thus invested must have been chiefly, though not entirely, acc.u.mulated by the labouring cla.s.ses since slavery was abolished. A proprietor told me the other day that he had, within twelve months, sold ten acres of land in small lots, for the sum of 900_l_. The land sold at so high a price is situated near a town, and the purchasers pay him an annual rent of 50_s_. per acre, for provision grounds on the more distant parts of the estate. Again, in most districts, the labourers are possessed of horses, for which they often pay handsomely. A farm servant not unfrequently gives from 12_l_. to 20_l_. for an animal which he intends to employ, not for purposes of profit, but in riding to church, or on occasions of festivity.

Whence then are these funds derived? That the peasantry are generally frugal and sober I have already observed. But they are a.s.suredly not called to tax their physical powers unduly, in order to achieve the independence I have described. Although the estate I lately visited is well managed, and the best understanding subsists between employer and labourers, the latter seldom made their appearance in the field until some time after I had sallied forth for my morning walk. They work on the estate only nine days in the fortnight, devoting the alternate Fridays to the cultivation of their provision grounds, and the Sat.u.r.days to marketing and amus.e.m.e.nts. On the whole, seeing that the climate is suited to their const.i.tutions, that they experience none of the drawbacks to which new settlers, even in the most fertile countries, are subject, that they are by disposition and temperament a cheerful race, I much doubt whether any people on the face of the globe enjoy as large a share of happiness as the Creole peasantry of this island. And this is a representation not over-charged, or highly coloured, but drawn in all truth and sobriety of the actual condition of a population which was, a very few years ago, subjected to the degrading, depressing influences of slavery. Well may you and others who took part in the work of emanc.i.p.ation rejoice in the success of your great experiment.

But was it possible to indulge the same feelings of exultation when contemplating their condition morally, and marking the indications of advance towards a higher state of civilisation? In the island itself controversy was rife as to the degree in which such results had been already achieved, and the promise of further progress. Some of the more enthusiastic and ardent of that cla.s.s of persons who had been the zealous advocates of the interests of the Negro population at a former period, were now disposed to judge most hardly of their conduct. Their very sympathy with the victims of the system formerly prevailing, led them to conceive unbounded hopes of the benefits, moral and social alike, which a change would effect; the admirable behaviour of the peasantry at the time of emanc.i.p.ation, confirmed such antic.i.p.ations; and they were now beginning to experience disappointment on finding that all they looked for was not immediately realised. These feelings, however, Lord Elgin did not share.

On the whole (he said) I feel confident that the moral results consequent on the introduction of freedom, have been as satisfactory as could in reason have been expected; and, notwithstanding the very serious pecuniary loss which this measure has entailed in many quarters, few indeed, even if they had the power to do so, would consent to return to the system which has been abandoned. It is gratifying in the highest degree to observe the feelings now subsisting between those who lately stood to each other in the relation of master and slave. Past wrongs are forgotten, and in the every-day dealings between man and man the humanity of the labourer is unhesitatingly recognised.

[Sidenote: Religion.]

We have seen how zealously Lord Elgin exerted himself to realise his own hopes for the prosperity of the colony, by encouraging the spread of secular and industrial education. Not that he regarded secular education as all-sufficient. His sympathies[2] were entirely with those who believe that, while 'it is a great and a good thing to know the laws that govern this world, it is better still to have some sort of faith in the relations of this world with another; that the knowledge of cause and effect can never replace the motive to do right and avoid wrong; that our clergymen and ministers are more useful than our schoolmasters; that Religion is the motive power, the faculties are the machines: and the machines are useless without the motive power.'[3] But, as a practical statesman, he felt that the one kind of education he had it in his power to forward directly by measures falling within his own legitimate province; while the other he could only promote indirectly, by pointing out the need for it, and drawing attention to the peculiar circ.u.mstances of the island respecting it. The following are a few of the pa.s.sages in which he refers to the subject:--

[Sidenote: The Church.]

Much has been done by the island legislature--more, I think, than could reasonably have been looked for under the circ.u.mstances--towards making provision for the religious necessities of the population. But the daily formation of small mountain settlements, and the consequent dispersion of large numbers in districts remote from the established places of worship, adds greatly to the difficulty of extending to all these humanising and civilising influences. The Church can keep its footing here only by the exhibition of missionary zeal and devotion, tempered by a spirit of Christian benevolence and conciliation. I regret to say that some of the unhappy controversies which are vexing the Church in England have broken out here of late. Discussions of this nature are singularly unprofitable where the people need to be instructed in the very rudiments of Christian knowledge, and where it is so desirable to keep well with all who profess to have a similar object in view.

A single bishop in a colony, where large funds are provided by the State for Church purposes, and where he is beyond the reach of the public opinion of England, exercises a very great and irresponsible authority. If a zealous man, of extreme views on points of doctrine, the clergy of the diocese, looking to him alone for advancement in their profession, are apt to echo his sentiments; and the wide folding doors of our mother Church, which she flings open for the reception of so many, to use Milton's words, 'brotherly dissimilitudes that are not vastly disproportioned,' are contracted, to the exclusion, perchance, of some whom it were desirable to retain in our communion. If, on the other hand, he be a man of but moderate piety, ability, and firmness, the importunity of friends at a distance, who may wish to provide for dependents or connections, and other considerations which need not be enumerated, may tempt him to lower the standard of ministerial qualification, of which he is, of course, the sole judge. It requires a person of much Christian principle, and singular moderation, discretion, and tact, to administer powers of this nature well. I have every hope that the bishop whom you have sent us will prove equal to the task. For the sake of humanity and civilisation, as well as for the interests of the island, I fervently trust that I may not be disappointed in my expectations on this head.

The complex and thwarting currents of interest and opinion that may exist in a colony respecting the maintenance of a State Church are well ill.u.s.trated in the following extracts:--

Very soon after I arrived here, I felt satisfied that the conflicts of party in the colony would ere long a.s.sume a new character. I perceived that the hostility to the proprietary interests, which was supposed to actuate certain cla.s.ses of persons who had much influence with the peasantry, was on the decline. Should a state of quiescence prove incompatible with the maintenance of their hold on their flocks, a.n.a.logy led me to antic.i.p.ate that the Established Church would, in all probability, become an object of attack.

Considering the facility with which the franchise may be acquired, it is not a little remarkable that the const.i.tuency should have hitherto increased so slowly. This phenomenon has not escaped the notice of the opponents of the union of Church and State, and they have ascribed it to the true cause. They are sensible that all uneducated population in easy circ.u.mstances, without practical grievances, are not likely to be intent on the acquisition of political privileges. They have, therefore, undertaken to supply them with a grievance, in order to whet their appet.i.te for the franchise, and also to provide them with guides who shall instruct them in the proper use of it. But in attempting to carry this scheme into effect they have encountered an obstacle, which has, for the time, entirely frustrated their intentions. The more educated and intelligent of the brown party listen with disapprobation to the tone in which the Baptist ministers and their adherents arrogate to themselves exclusively the t.i.tle of friends and leaders of the black population. Many persons of this cla.s.s have already embarked in public life; some, as members of a.s.sembly, have taken part in those transactions which are the object of the bitterest denunciations of the Anti-Church party. A few are Churchmen, others Wesleyans. The prospect of a Baptist oligarchy ruling in undivided sway disquiets them. They have their doubts as to whether, in the present stage of our civilisation, the peasantry of this Island would evince much discrimination in their selection of a religion if left in that matter entirely to themselves. In the chequered array of colours which our religious world even now presents, comprising every shade, from Roman Catholicism and Judaism, to Myalism, and providing spiritual gratification for every eye, they still think it, on the whole, desirable that predominance should be given to some one over the rest. Many have experienced the bounty of the legislature, which has been most liberal in affording aid to all sects who have applied for it. They are not, therefore, as yet ready for the overthrow of the Church Establishment. But I will not take upon myself to affirm that, as a body, they are prepared to incur political martyrdom in its defence.

But apart from the difficulties--social, moral, and religious--at which we have glanced, there was enough in the political aspect of affairs to fill the Governor of Jamaica with anxiety. The franchise being within the reach of every one who chose to stretch out a hand and grasp it, might at any time be claimed by vast numbers of persons who had recently been slaves, and were still generally illiterate. And the a.s.sembly for which this const.i.tuency had to provide members exercised great authority within its own sphere. It discharged a large portion of the functions which usually devolve upon an Executive Government; it initiated all legislative measures, besides voting the supplies from year to year. What hope was there that a body so const.i.tuted would wield such powers with discretion?

[Sidenote: Harmonising influence of British inst.i.tutions.]

Lord Elgin's answer to this question shows that he already cherished that faith in the harmonising influence of British inst.i.tutions on a mixed population, which afterwards, at a critical period of Canadian history, was the mainspring of his policy.

A sojourner in this sea of the Antilles, who is watching with heartfelt anxiety the progress of the great experiment of Negro emanc.i.p.ation (an experiment which must result in failure unless religion and civilisation minister to the mind that freedom which the enactments of law have secured for the body), might well be tempted to view the prospect to which I have now introduced you with some feelings of misgiving, were he not rea.s.sured by his firm reliance on the harmonising influence of British connexion, and the power of self- adaptation inherent in our inst.i.tutions. On the one side he sees the model Republic of Hayti--a coloured community, which has enjoyed nearly half a century of entire independence and self-rule. And with what issues? As respects moral and intellectual culture, stagnation: in all that concerns material development, a fatal retrogression. He beholds there, at this day, a miserable parody of European and American inst.i.tutions, without the spirit that animates either: the tinsel of French sentiment on the ground of negro ignorance: even the 'sacred right of 'insurrection' burlesqued: a people which has for its only living belief an ill-defined apprehension of the superiority of the white man, and, for the rest, blunders on without faith in what regards this world or that which is to come.

He turns his eyes to another quarter and perceives the cl.u.s.ter of states which have formed themselves from the breakup of the Spanish continental dominions. What ground of consolation or hope does he discover there?

These ill.u.s.trations of the working of free systems constructed out of the wreck of a broken-down African Slave Trade are not indeed encouraging; but neither do they, in my opinion, warrant despair. I believe that by great caution and diligence, by firmness and gentleness on the part of the parent state, and much prudence in the instruments which it employs, a people with a heart and soul may be built up out of the materials in our hands. I regard our local const.i.tution as a _fait accompli_, and have no desire to remove a stone of the fabric. I think that a popular representative system is, perhaps, the best expedient that can be devised for blending into one harmonious whole a community composed of diverse races and colour, and this conviction is strengthened when I read the observations of Sir H.

Macleod and Governor Light, on the coloured cla.s.ses in Demerara and Trinidad. In colonies which have no a.s.semblies, it would appear that aspiring intellects have not the same opportunity of finding their level, and pent up ambitions lack a vent.

In studying the play of the various forces at work around him, and in endeavouring to direct them to good issues, Lord Elgin found the best solace for the domestic sorrow which darkened this period of his life. He lived chiefly in retirement, at a country-house called Craigton, in the Blue Mountains, with his sister, now Lady Charlotte Locker, and his brother Robert, who was also his most able and efficient secretary; seeing little society beyond that occasioned by official intercourse and receptions, which were never intermitted at Spanish Town, the seat of Government. The isolation and monotony of this position, broken only once by a conference held with some of the neighbouring Governors on a question of common interest respecting immigration, could not fail to be distasteful to his active spirit; and when it had lasted over three years, it was not unnatural that he should seek to be relieved from it. Early in 1845 we find him writing to Lord Stanley as follows:--

[Sidenote: Resignation.]

I am warned by the commencement of the year 1845 that I have filled the situation of Governor of Jamaica for as long a time as any of my predecessors since the Duke of Manchester. The period of my administration has not been marked by striking incidents, but it has been one of considerable social progress. Uninterrupted harmony has prevailed between the colonists and the local Government; and it may perhaps, without exaggeration, be affirmed, that the spirit of enterprise which has proceeded from Jamaica during the past two years has enabled the British West Indian colonies to endure, with comparative fort.i.tude, apprehensions and difficulties which might otherwise have depressed them beyond measure. Circ.u.mstances have, however, occurred since my arrival in the colony, unconnected with public affairs, which have materially affected my views in life, and which made me contemplate with much repugnance the prospect of an indefinitely prolonged sojourn in this place. Without dwelling at any greater length on these painful topics, I venture to trust that you will acquit me of undue presumption when I a.s.sure you, that in my present forlorn and isolated position, nothing enables me to persevere in the discharge of my duties, except the hope that my humble services may earn for me your confidence and the approbation of my Sovereign, and prove not altogether unprofitable to the community over whose interests I am appointed to watch.

He remained, however, at his post for more than a year longer, and quitted it in the spring of 1846 on leave of absence, with the understanding that he should not be required to return to Jamaica.

[Sidenote: Appointment to Canada.]

During nearly the whole period of his government the seals of the Colonial Office had been held by Lord Stanley, to whom he owed his appointment; and at the break-up of the Tory party, in the beginning of 1846, they pa.s.sed into the hands of his old schoolfellow and college friend, Mr. Gladstone.

But he had scarcely arrived in England when a new Secretary arose in the person of Lord Grey, to whom he was unknown except by reputation. It is all the more creditable to both parties that, in spite of their political differences, Lord Grey should first have endeavoured to induce him, on public grounds alone, to retain the government of Jamaica, with the promise of his unreserved confidence and most cordial support; and shortly afterwards, should have offered to him the still more important post of Governor-General of British North America. 'I believe,' wrote his Lordship, in making the offer, 'that it would be difficult to point out any situation in which great talents would find more scope for useful exertion, or are more wanted at this moment, and I am sure that I could not hope to find anyone whom I could recommend to Her Majesty for that office with so much confidence as yourself.'

So splendid an offer, made in a manner so gratifying, might well overcome any reluctance which Lord Elgin felt to embark at once on a fresh period of expatriation, and to resume labours which, however cordially they may be appreciated by a minister, are apt to meet with little recognition from the public.

He accepted it, not in the spirit of mere selfish ambition, but with a deep sense of the responsibilities attached to it, which he portrayed in earnest and forcible words at a public dinner at Dunfermline:--

To watch over the interests of those great offshoots of the British race which plant themselves in distant lands; to aid them in their efforts to extend the domain of civilisation, and to fulfil that first behest of a benevolent Creator to His intelligent creatures--'subdue the earth;' to abet the generous endeavour to impart to these rising communities the full advantages of British laws, British inst.i.tutions, and British freedom; to a.s.sist them in maintaining unimpaired, it may be in strengthening and confirming, those bonds of mutual affection which unite the parent and dependent states--these are duties not to be lightly undertaken, and which may well claim the exercise of all the faculties and energies of an earnest and patriotic mind.

It was arranged that he should go to Canada at the end of the year. In the interval he became engaged to Lady Mary Louisa Lambton, daughter of the first Earl of Durham. They were married on November 7th, and in the first days of the year 1847 he sailed for America.

[1] It is impossible not to be struck with the applicability of these remarks to the condition of the agricultural poor in some parts of England, and the question of extending among them the benefits of education.

[2] Vide inf. p. 156.

[3] See the speech of Mr. W.E. Forster, at Leeds, May 20, 1869.

CHAPTER III.

CANADA.

STATE OF THE COLONY--FIRST IMPRESSIONS--PROVINCIAL POLITICS--'RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT'--IRISH IMMIGRANTS--UPPER CANADA--CHANGE OF MINISTRY--FRENCH HABITANTS--THE FRENCH QUESTION--THE IRISH--THE BRITISH--DISCONTENTS; THEIR CAUSES AND REMEDIES--NAVIGATION LAWS--RETROSPECT--SPEECH ON EDUCATION.

[Sidenote: View of the state of Canada.]

In pa.s.sing from Jamaica to Canada, Lord Elgin went not only to a far wider sphere of action, but to one of infinitely greater complication. For in Canada there were two civilised populations of nearly equal power, viewing each other with traditionary dislike and distrust: the French _habitans_ of the Lower Province, strong in their connexion with the past, and the British settlers, whose energy and enterprise gave unmistakable promise of predominance in the future. Canada had, within a few miles of her capital, a powerful and restless neighbour, whose friendly intentions were not always sufficient to restrain the unruly spirits on her frontier from acts of aggression, which might at any time lead to the most serious complications. Moreover, in Canada representative inst.i.tutions were already more fully developed than in any other colony, and were at this very time pa.s.sing through the most critical period of their final development.

[Sidenote: Rebellion of 1837.]

[Sidenote: Lord Durham's Report.]

[Sidenote: Lord Sydenham.]