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Updated: June 15, 2025
Metcalfe's policy in the matter had really forced Elgin's hand. Elgin-Grey Correspondence: Elgin to Grey, 14 March, 1849. Elgin-Grey Correspondence: Elgin to Grey, 12 April, 1849. Elgin's letter of 8 October, 1852, criticizing Grey's book. The italics are my own. Elgin kept very closely in touch with the sentiments of the Canadian press, French and English. See his letters passim.
The question did not come before the British Parliament till the summer of 1854, after Lord Elgin's visit to England, during which he had an opportunity of stating his views personally to the Government.
The result was that persons at home, who had the highest appreciation of Lord Elgin's capacity as a statesman, sincerely believed him to be deficient in nerve and vigour; and as the misapprehension was one which he could not have corrected, even if he had been aware how widely it was spread, it continued to exist in many quarters until dispelled by the singular energy and boldness, amounting almost to rashness, which he displayed in China.
These words form the preface to the 'Narrative of the Earl of Elgin's Mission to China and Japan, by Laurence Oliphant, then private secretary to Lord Elgin. To that work we must refer our readers for a full and complete, as well as authentic, account of the occurrences which gave occasion to the following letters. A brief sketch only will here be given.
How dangerous the situation was, one may infer from the disquieting rumours of the ambitions of the American Union, and from the passions and memories of injustice which floods of unkempt and wretched Irish immigrants were bringing with them to their new homes in America. In Elgin's second year of office, 1848, he had to face the possibility of a rising under the old leaders of 1837.
The natural result of this incident was to increase the feeling of indignation already aroused by the apathy of the British government during this national calamity. Happily Lord Elgin's appeals to the colonial secretary had effect, and the province was reimbursed eventually for the heavy expenses incurred by it in its efforts to fight disease, misery and death.
Burke, Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol. Sir C. P. Lucas, Introduction to Lord Durham's Report, p. 266. Its latest statement may be found in Sir C. P. Lucas's admirable edition of Lord Durham's Report, Oxford, 1912. I omit from my reckoning the brief and unimportant tenure of office by the Earl Cathcart, who filled a gap between Metcalfe's retirement and Elgin's arrival.
In the House of Commons the Bill was vigorously attacked by Gladstone, who shared the view of the Canadian Opposition that it was a measure for the rewarding of rebels. It was defended by Lord John Russell, and Lord Elgin's course in following the advice of his ministers was ultimately approved by the home government. As in many another case, the expectation proved worse than the reality.
While it is futile to speculate on what might have been, it does seem as if Morse made a serious mistake in not taking Lord Elgin's advice, for there is no doubt that, with the influential backing which he had now secured, he could have overcome the churlish objections of the Attorney-General, and have secured a patent in England much to his financial benefit.
A Toronto journal reproachfully referred to Lord Elgin's descent from "the Bruce," and asked how a man of royal ancestry could so degrade himself as to consort with rebels and political jobbers. "Surely the curse of Minerva, uttered by a great poet against the father, clings to the son."
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