s, antipathies, prepossessions, and prejudices of the English
conservative of that day,--had devised a scheme, which, had it been
carried out, would have rendered their privileges not very valuable. He
only designed to "anglify" the French-Canadians by compulsion. Before
the separation of the province into Upper Canada and Lower Canada it
was a matter of consideration whether all the Roman Catholic churches
in the Province could not be converted into Reformed Anglo-Episcopal
churches. The contemplated plan of doing so was to take from the
"Vicaire du Saint Siege Apostolique" the power of nominating and
appointing the parish priests; the appointment of subsequent bishops
was to be given to the king; and the Popish Bishop then living, was to
be succeeded by a Protestant Bishop, who would find an easy method of
turning Cardinal Richelieu's church extension schemes to excellent
account in a new mode of ordaining new "catholic" priests, who might be
disposed to abandon, at least, some of the doctrines of Rome and
embrace, at least, some of those of the Protestant religion. The
religious principle involved in this interesting scheme would have done
credit to the eighth Henry. It would have had the effect of erecting on
a Popish foundation, of building up on the sainted Rock, a church
militant as a more powerful safeguard to English influence and power in
Canada than the citadel of Quebec has been. Together with the creation
of a Provincial Baronetage, in the persons of the members of the Upper
House, the honor being descendible to their eldest sons in lineal
succession, and the raising of the most considerable of these eldest
sons at a future period to a higher degree of honor, as the province
increased in wealth, together with the recognition of Mr.
DeBoucherville's old noblesse, it would have most certainly much sooner
produced that state of things which Sir Francis Bond Head and the
"family compact" so ably brought to a crisis. The secretary of all the
governors Lower Canada had yet had, corresponded, most confidentially,
with his home masters, somewhat, perhaps, to the prejudice of his honor
the administrator. As general Simcoe loathed the nasal twang,
attenuated appearance, and the vulgar republicanism of a downeast
American, so Mr. Witsius Ryland abominated Romanism. Speaking of the
Roman Catholic clergy of Canada, he says:--"I call them Popish to
distinguish them from the clergy of the Established Church and to
express