from weakness to further weakness. Draper, who did his best to
preserve the political decencies, had been forced to ask Cathcart to
assist him in removing certain of his colleagues. Viger had been a
complete failure as President of the Council, and performed none of the
duties of his department except that of signing his name to reports
prepared by others. Daly was of little use to him; and, as for the
solicitor-general for Upper Canada, Sherwood, "his repeated absence on
important divisions, his lukewarm support, and occasional (almost)
opposition, his habit of speaking of the Members of your Excellency's
Government and of the policy pursued by them, his more than suspected
intrigues to effect the removal of some members of the council, have
altogether destroyed all confidence in him."[5] Draper himself had
seemingly grown tired of the dust and heat of the struggle, and, soon
after Elgin's assumption of authority, resigned his premiership for a
legal position as honourable and more peaceful.

{195}

Elgin, then, found a distracted ministry, a doubtful Assembly, and an
irritated country. His ministers he thought lacking in pluck, and far
too willing to appeal to selfish and sordid motives in possible
supporters.[6] He was irritated by what seemed to him the petty and
inconsistent divisions of Canadian party life: "In a community like
this, where there is little, if anything, of public principle to divide
men, political parties will shape themselves under the influence of
circumstances, and of a great variety of affections and antipathies,
national, sectarian, and personal.... It is not even pretended that
the divisions of party represent corresponding divisions of sentiment
on questions which occupy the public mind, such as voluntaryism, Free
Trade, etc., etc. Responsible Government is the one subject on which
this coincidence is alleged to exist."[7] The French problem he found
peculiarly difficult. Metcalfe's policy had had results disconcerting
to the British authorities. Banishing, as he thought, sectarianism or
racial views, he had yet practically shut out French statesmen from
office so successfully, that, when Elgin, acting through Colonel Tache,
{196} attempted to approach them, he found in none of them any
disposition to enter into alliance with the existing ministry.[8]
Elgin, who was willing enough to give fair play to every political
section, could not but see the obvious fault of French Canadia