THE HISTOEY OF CANADA. 9 



ever it may be palliated by the stern law of military necessity, and in accordance with the 

 political jurisprndence of the time, has been embalmed by Longfellow in verses that are 

 the most popular of the age. We have also a Canadian novel on the subject, " Jacques et 

 Marie," by our former colleague, Napoleon Bourassa. The hostilities had lasted over five 

 years, with varying success, and incidents of unrivalled romance, until at length the war 

 of giants ended in sorrow for the one side, in triumph for the other, and when all was 

 over, the feeling was resolved into glory for both sides, as evinced by that monument 

 raised in Quebec — a tribute of magnanimity, single of its kind in history — to the memory 

 of the two heroes, the conqueror and the conquered, with a Latin inscription on the 

 pedestal that is unexcelled in lapidary literature. The Seven Years' War lasted a couple 

 of years longer, and it was not till 1763 that, by the Treaty of Paris — so mercilessly 

 attacked by Junius as a backdown of the British commissioners, bought up with French 

 gold — Canada definitely passed from France to England. That whole extraordinary 

 campaign is a mine of research for the student of history, where the mystery of the 

 French system can be discovered and sifted. From the literary standpoint there are few 

 events that have brought out so many books of all sorts, not the least of which is the 

 " Chien d'Or" of our esteemed colleague, William Kirby of Niagara. 



VL 



With the coming of British rule, the colours of Canadian history tone down a little, 

 as becoming the character of the people at the head. The English took possession of 

 Quebec in a matter-of-fact way ; remained cooped v;p by the French during the first win- 

 ter, and after the capitulation at Montreal held on to the whole country, as an army of 

 occupation, for three years, until the Treaty of Paris, in 1763, made them masters there. 

 They then went about the task of governing their new subjects in a quiet, business-like 

 manner, under such sensible governors as General Murray and Sir Guy Carleton. The 

 very first year, 1764, they started a printing press, and published the Quebec Gazette, the 

 earliest paper in Canada, and which the people of the ancient capital unaccountably allowed 

 to die some ten or twelve years ago. Things went on quietly during the first decade, 

 the French people coming to understand their altered position and to find that they had 

 not lost so much by the change after all. Their trust and satisfaction were enhanced 

 when, in 1774, the famous Quebec Act was passed by the British Parliament, whereby 

 the boundaries of the province were extended from Labrador to the Mississippi, and from 

 the Ohio to the watershed of Hudson Bay ; the French were allowed the civil right of 

 following their creed and its forms ; the tithes of the Clergy were confirmed ; the French 

 code was restored in civil cases and the English common law established in criminal causes. 

 The ruling authority was put in the hands of a governor and a council of seventeen to 

 twenty-three members, the latter appointed by the Crown, and, for the most part, English- 

 men. The Quebec Act caused «, terrible excitement, not only among the minority in Canada, 

 but it may be said to have precipitated the revolution in the American colonies, because of 

 the transfer of territory beyond the Ohio, and because of the religious privileges granted to 

 the French of Canada. The latter showed their gratitude by the loyal stand they took, 

 under their clergy, against the American invasion of 1775-6, when they rendered incal- 



Seo. II, 1888. 2. 



