evidence of his own eyes and ears, these tours were dictated by sound
policy. The governor-general was his own minister, the approaching
election was his election, the Union was his measure; so his public
appearances, speeches, replies to addresses, personal interviews were
all in the nature of an election tour by a modern political leader to
influence public opinion, a legitimate part of his campaign. After
touring the Eastern Townships he made a thorough visitation of the
western province, going round by water, and {53} being nearly wrecked
on Lake Erie and again on Lake Huron, where he found that the inland
freshwater sea could be as turbulent as the Bay of Biscay. Elsewhere
the Canadian autumn weather was delightful. His precarious health
improved. His tour was a triumphal progress. '_All_ parties,' he
writes, 'uniting in addresses in every place, full of confidence in my
government, and of a determination to forget their former disputes.'
He adds a little pen-picture, which shows that the Canadian pioneer had
a knack of impromptu pageantry which his descendants have lost.
'Escorts of two and three hundred farmers on horseback at every place
from township to township, with all the etceteras of guns, music, and
flags.' The governor rode a good deal himself, taking saddle-horses
with him as well as a carriage. Those musical, gun-firing, flag-flying
cavalcades from township to township in the pleasant autumn weather of
1840 enliven the background of a political struggle. 'What is of more
importance,' continues the astute and businesslike little man, 'my
candidates everywhere taken for the ensuing elections.' This western
tour had an important reaction upon public opinion in Toronto, bringing
the {54} divers factions into something like harmony for a time.
Thomson himself was genuinely pleased with what he had seen of that
rich, heart-shaped peninsula lying behind the moat of three inland
seas, with the flowing names, Huron, Erie, Ontario. He writes in
justifiable superlatives. 'You can conceive nothing finer. The most
magnificent soil in the world--four feet of vegetable mould--a climate
certainly the best in North America--the greater part of it admirably
watered. In a word, there is land enough and capabilities enough for
some millions of people and for one of the finest provinces in the
world.' Half a century from the time of writing the governor's vision
was realized and Ontario was the 'banner provin