The commercial relations of the country, which were much complicated, were also the subject of anxiety. It was not easy to establish sound principles of commerce; indeed at that date they found little acceptance in any direction. The slave trade was a recognized branch of enterprise, and there was the almost general belief that a monopoly of trade was the soundest basis for the interchange of produce. Each interest, however relatively petty, regarded its own development as the first consideration, whatever the loss to the community from the restrictions enforced to obtain special protection. Freedom of commercial intercourse no where found recognition, and the broader, more philosophical condemnation of monopoly and its attendant abuses had not even been discussed.* There were no manufactures in Canada; they were yet to be created; so there was no special discouragement of an interest which did not exist. But there was an observance of the universal law of Europe, by which the commerce of Canada was retained for the benefit of the mercantile interest of the centre of the empire. Many were church of Rome, and of his erecting a magnificent palace, for early in 1769 Carleton wrote on the subject, denying that such was the case;† the bishop himself lived in a small apartment in the seminary, taking his meals at the common table. His building operations had been to place a roof on the bishop's palace, the walls of which were standing, and to make it tenantable, the building being let for public offices. One public procession only was ever seen, the Fête Dieu which annually took place on the Sunday succeeding Corpus Christi, as had always been the custom. Before the expiration of ten years, however, Mgr. Briand had attained to the full strength of his rank. Although a man of great judgment, who as a rule steered through the difficulties of his position with temper and ability, he could not avoid embarrassing disputes. That with M. Vincelot, seigneur of L'Islet, whom with all his family he excommunicated, was decided against the bishop in court. His excommunication of the entire inhabitants of the parish of Saint John, of which M. de Gaspé was seigneur, on account of a marriage taking place independently of the church, led to some commotion, and was only removed by him at the personal intervention of the de Gaspé family, which, owing to their residence near the spot, was included in it. The account of these incidents is given by Masères [Additional papers, etc., pp. 120-127]. The parish was the modern Saint Jean de Port Joly. + Carleton to Hillsborough, 15th March, 1769. Can. Arch., Q., 6., p. 34. * The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith, was first published in 1776. · 1766] PREVENTION OF SMUGGLING. 177 engaged in smuggling goods brought from France. Murray exerted himself to prevent the practice, and not always successfully. If a strong party in France had willingly seen the political connection with Canada severed, considering the relationship to be only a source of expense without corresponding advantages, many of the commercial classes desired to retain the trade of former days. The navigation acts enforced that the vessels engaged in the trade should be built either in England, or the colonies, and that two thirds of the crew should be British subjects. Thus, all that was enacted in their enforcement was theoretically in the national interest, and claimed to be without hardship to the province which possessed its own vessels. The cruisers engaged in the prevention of foreign trade, by their vigilance greatly restricted smuggling; consequently the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon became the deposit for the importations designed for Canada and for New England. In 1764 a vessel from London, short of water, put in to Saint Pierre; those visiting the place found every house filled with merchandise. The course taken was to land the goods for Canada low down the river, and in winter to bring them up by sleighs. On other occasions, convenient spots on the New England coast were chosen, where they could be landed undisturbed. * In consequence of the season of 1764 being unfavourable to the French fisheries, purchases of fish had been made from the New England fishermen, payment being made in manufactured goods which were conveyed to New England and landed at spots untroubled by custom houses, whence they could be easily distributed. The spirit of smuggling was the leading principle of New England commerce. It will be seen that the efforts to suppress it exercised a powerful influence in creating the bad feeling towards Great Britain. It was one of the causes of that desire for separation entertained by an active minority, that on every opportunity acted upon its opinions, sustaining them by the parade of other grievances. Murray to Halifax, 28th October. Can. Arch., Q., 2, p. 224. N Without a recognition of this feeling, which to the time of the declaration of independence was not only carefully concealed, but repudiated by the provincial agents in London, we fail to seize the key to the complications which ensued. They will in a future chapter be more fully related. Murray's repeated representations that barracks should be constructed in Montreal finally obtained attention, and in 1765 buildings for the accommodation of the troops were erected. But misfortune frowned upon the enterprise, for in February, 1766, when they were in a condition to receive the troops they were burned, with all the stores placed in them. At the time it was supposed that the fire was the work of an incendiary. Accordingly, it was considered necessary to call a public mecting, and appeal to the inhabitants to make arrangements for giving shelter to the troops. Captain Carden, the officer in charge of the duty, reported that those present listened to the request without any expression of opinion. The magistrates who attended gave no support to the government, while some of the Canadians present, Guy and Adhèmar, with a Swiss, one de Saule, declaimed with some violence against the demand. Hertel de Rouville who had been sent from Three Rivers, sustained the application, and accompanied by Carden went among the inhabitants on whom the soldiers were billeted, and succeeded in persuading them, except in some cases, as de Rouville says, when good cause was given, to keep the troops until the 1st of May, at which date it was resolved to hire houses for their accommodation. It is worthy of being placed on record that Carden, writing on the 23rd of January, reports the violent shock of an earthquake, and it could have been no ordinary event thus to attract public attention. * Much exaggeration has been expressed with regard to Carden's words are: "We had this morning at five a violent shock of an earthquake," 23rd January, 1766. The recurrence of similar phenomena in 1638, and 1663 [ante, vol. I., p. 165: 290-3,] with this recorded event, may perhaps lead to the belief that the northern part of the continent is not so utterly free from these seismonic influences as many scientific writers have declared. 1766] PAPER MONEY. 179 the extent of emigration from Canada after the peace. In January, 1764, de Guerchy, the French ambassador in London, by direction of his court, complained of the extortionate charges made by the captains of sailing vessels for passage money from the French Canadians, in excess of what was asked in other cases: in itself an obstruction to any desire on the part of the new subjects to return to France. Murray was instructed to prevent such exaction if practised. As no complaint had been made at Quebec, and the allegation was contrary to fact, the statement created much surprise. The protest was accompanied by an application to send French ships to Quebec. Suspicion was excited at this unusual demand, and it was looked upon in London as an attempt to multiply the emigration from France, rather than as the means of aiding those who wished to return there. Murray replied that the price of the passage home in all cases was fifteen guineas, those going on shipboard finding their own provisions, and that there was no want of ships for such as were desirous of leaving Canada, very few having that intention. In August, Murray reported that throughout the whole province two hundred and seventy souls, men, women and children, were all that had determined to return to France. They were chiefly officers and their families. Of this number Haldimand stated that five only were leaving Three Rivers, two women, two children, and one servant. * The French Canadians felt depressed at the prospect of not obtaining the value of the paper money issued during the war held by them; to a great extent, it was a matter beyond the control of the British ministry. This money had ceased to be current since 1760. I have related the course followed by the imperial government to obtain payment, and the arrangement ultimately effected. I think it right to recur to the subject; for the correspondence of this date establishes the fair treatment that the Canadian holders of the money * Can. Arch., Q., 2, p. 270. received, and the effort made by the British government on their behalf to obtain recognition of the obligation. * One of the earliest acts of the holders in Montreal, on hearing of the signature of the preliminary articles of peace, was to petition the home authorities to protect their interests. The petition was favourably received; the crown undertook to make every exertion to obtain payment for the amounts due, and in December, 1763, Halifax wrote to Murray to obtain a return of the amount in circulation in the three governments. In February, 1764, Murray replied to Halifax, that, as the paper money had become a matter of traffic, on the preceding 27th of May he had published a declaration on the subject. He had assembled the Canadian merchants, and had enforced upon them the absurdity of their parting with their money for almost nothing, as they must do if they sold it at that time, and recommended that they should wait the result of these negotiations. In order to carry out the instructions he had received, Murray opened an office, and invited every possesssor of such money to register his claim, so that the French government would be unable to plead, that the money held in Canada had been designedly sent from France for the purpose of being included in the claim for liquidation. Many of the English merchants speculated in the purchase, paying fifteen livres in the hundred to those who would sell. There is no ground for the statement that the French ministry employed agents to buy up the paper at a cheap rate. Instructions were given in Three Rivers and Montreal for a similar registration to be made, and in August, 1764, Mr. Garneau, vol. II., p. 382, Ed. 1882, makes the following remark : "La créance des Canadiens immense pour le pays, fut presque, entièrement perdue par eux. Des négotiants et des officiers anglais achetèrent à vil prix une partie de ces papiers, et en revendirent argent comptant une portion, à des facteurs francais, sur la place de Londres." I cannot find a shred of evidence for this statement. On the contrary, repeated warning was given to the Canadians not to sacrifice their notes; the whole effort of men in power was to place them above the influence of the speculator. |