e
left their farms from the same cause, the townships of Nottawasaga and
Collingwood, the whole of the land in which had been granted, and which
are almost entirely unsettled (Collingwood, I believe, has only one
settler), intervening between them and the settled township, and
rendering communication impossible. There have been numerous instances
in which, though the settlement has not been altogether abandoned, the
most valuable settlers, after unavailing struggles of several years with
the difficulties which I have described, have left their farms." This
witness further states his belief that nine-tenths of the lands in the
Western District were still--in 1838--in a state of wilderness.

[40] See his _Report, passim_; also see the portion of Appendix B.
relating to Upper Canada.

[41] See the Special Report of Mr. R. Davies Hanson, Assistant
Commissioner of Crown Lands and Emigration, forming the commencement of
Appendix A. to Lord Durham's _Report on the Affairs of British North
America_.

[42] I use this word for want of a better, though it is not strictly
accurate as applied to Upper Canada, where there were no clearly
prescribed standards of religious faith from which non-supporters of
Episcopacy could be said to dissent. The word "Nonconformist" is
objectionable for a similar reason.

[43] See _Seventh Grievance Committee's Report_, p. 164.

[44] _Ante_, p. 51.

CHAPTER III.

THE FAMILY COMPACT.

What was the nature and origin of this powerful organization--this
informally-constituted league, the name whereof has been familiar to the
ears of Upper Canadians during the whole, or nearly the whole, of the
present century; which is referred to in nearly all books dealing with
the political and social life of this Province before the Union of 1841;
which for forty years regulated the public policy of the colony, and
ruled with an iron hand over the liberties of the inhabitants?

Immediately after the ratification of the Treaty of Paris, in 1763,
whereby Canada was ceded by France to Great Britain, it became necessary
for the British Government to appoint a considerable number of officials
to fill the public offices in the country so ceded. It did not suit the
policy of the conquerors to leave much power in the hands of the
conquered. The introduction of the English language and laws was
moreover a practical disqualification for most of the native inhabitants
of the colony, and the new officials wer