THE ROARING FORTIES 99 



conditions on the British side, he set forth in 

 terms that were bitterly resented, especially in 

 Upper Canada. He appraised in a spirit of ju 

 dicial detachment the sympathy and support 

 given by the people of the United States to the 

 Canadian malcontents, and the expectations of 

 the latter as to the possibilities of escape from 

 British rule by incorporation into the republic. 

 He estimated with care the strength of the 

 traditional antipathy with which the aristo 

 cratic dominant class in Upper Canada regarded 

 the democracy across the border. As against 

 the force of this feeling he considered the influ 

 ence that contiguity, with identity of problems 

 and interests, would exert for the promotion 

 of respect and amity. The general deduction 

 from his calculation was that, in default of a 

 very wise and considerate policy on the part 

 of the home government, union with the United 

 States might become a popular demand among 

 both the French and the English elements in 

 the Canadas. 



The importance of Lord Durham s discussion 

 of this point was conspicuous in view of ideas 

 that were freely broached by British politi 

 cians of prominence at this time. A calculus 

 of the value of colonies and dependencies was 



