, and in the prosecution of which I contemplate seriously
the prospect of the dismemberment of the Empire."[5] Holding views so
resolute, he could not, like Russell, trust his representative on the
spot; and, from the first, the troubles of the new governor-general
were multiplied by Stanley's {131} determination to make the views of
the Colonial Office prevail in Canada. "I very much doubt," wrote
Murdoch, Sydenham's former secretary, "how far Lord Stanley is really
alive to the true state of Canada, and to the necessity of governing
through the assembly."[6]

Local influences provide the second factor in the situation. As has
been seen, the Canadian political community was demanding both
responsible government, and the admission of the French to a share in
office. Sydenham had exhibited the most wonderful skill in working an
anomalous system of government, and he had found himself on the brink
of failure. His Council, which Bagot had inherited, "might be said to
represent the Reform or popular party of Upper Canada, and the moderate
Conservatives of both provinces, to the exclusion of the French and the
ultra-conservatives of both provinces,"[7] but the compromise
represented less a popular demand for moderation, than Sydenham's own
individual idea of what a Canadian Council should be. There had been
uneasiness in adjusting the opinions of individual members; there was a
steady decline in the willingness of the Assembly {132} and the country
to support them; and a determined constitutional opposition found
additional strength through the support of the French party, whom the
governor had alienated not simply as a political division but as a
race. In a sense, there was no imminent danger, as there had been in
1837, for Sydenham's sound administration had given the country peace
and prosperity. English money and immigrants were flowing in; the
woods were ringing with the axes of settlers too busy in clearing the
ground to trouble much with politics; the lines of communication were
being improved and transportation simplified; and, thanks to Ashburton,
the war-cloud to the south had vanished over the horizon. Yet the
politicians held the central position--everything depended on them; and
the crisis for Bagot would arise, first, when he should be called on to
fill certain places in the Executive Council, and then, when Parliament
met. It is often assumed that public opinion was seriously divided on
the question