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The Political Ideas of William Lyon Mackenzie1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

R. A. MacKay
R. A. MacKay*
Affiliation:
Dalhousie University
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Extract

Few public men in Canadian history have so represented the spirit of their age as did William Lyon Mackenzie, and particularly during the pre-Rebellion stage of his career. This was the age of Catholic Emancipation and the Great Reform Bill, the age of Bentham and Byron, of Cobbett and Edinburgh Reviewers, of O'Connell and Huskisson; the age when the bourgeois monarchy of Louis Philippe triumphed over the last of the Bourbons at Paris, and when “King” Andrew Jackson succeeded the Adams dynasty at Washington. On both sides of the Atlantic the new wine of liberty and democracy was bursting the old bottles of restriction and privilege. Across the Atlantic the new stocks were of the vintage of the French Revolution or from the vineyards of Adam Smith and Jeremy Bentham; on this side it was largely “home brew” of the frontier. But there was still on hand much of the vintages of 1688 and 1776, neither of which had lost its power to stimulate men. In the 1820's and 1830's William Lyon Mackenzie was the principal purveyor of these various wines of liberty to the backwoods colony of Upper Canada.

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science/Revue canadienne de economiques et science politique , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , February 1937 , pp. 1 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 1937

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Footnotes

1

Presented to the Royal Society of Canada, May, 1936.

References

2 Public Archives of Canada (hereafter cited P.A.C.), Neilson Papers, vol. VIII, 11 23, 1835.Google Scholar

3 Lindsey, C., The Life and Times of W. L. Mackenzie and the Rebellion of 1837-8 (Philadelphia, 1862), vol. II, pp. 303 Google Scholar ff. This remarkable feat of reading is further emphasized by the fact that many single items included many volumes, e.g., The Works of William Shakespeare, 12 vols., Raynal's History of the West Indies, 6 vols., Hume's History of England, 16 vols., are each listed as single items.

4 Except possibly accounting, which he apparently learned as an apprentice.

5 The Advocate was printed in Lewiston—a commentary on the frontier conditions in Upper Canada in 1824.

6 The late Professor Mavor concluded that Mackenzie unconsciously represented the new commercial spirit of the day ( Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, 1927, sec. 2, pp. 32–3).Google Scholar This is no doubt true in the earlier period, but scarcely true for the later period when, as we shall see, his interests were agrarian rather than commercial.

7 Colonial Advocate, no. 1.

8 “We have never been disloyal subjects nor radical reformers”, he says in his first number, “We have neither joined Spafield mobs, nor benefitted by the harangues of Hunt, Cobbett and Watson.”

9 Ibid., April 26, 1827.

10 Ibid., May 7, 1827.

11 Ibid., no. 1. Cf. also open letter on “Union of Great Britain and British America Recommended” (ibid., May 7, 1827).

12 Ibid., April 26, 1827. He was, however, satirical about the so-called “gentry” of Upper Canada, “who had no more resemblance to the English country gentleman of information and good breeding, than … Goose Creek to the Thames. Their manners are abrupt & often vulgar, their policy is to play the slave at York, that in their respective neighbourhoods they may the more safelv act the tyrant” (ibid., July 8, 1824).

13 Ibid., no. 1.

14 He asks: “Is ‘the ricketty and scrofulous little wretch that first sees the light in a workhouse or in a brothel, and who feels the effects of alcohol before the effects of vital air, equal in any respect to the ruddy offspring of the honest yeoman?’ Is the babe born in utter want and helplessness free? As well might the mathematician and astronomer maintain that all the soil in the world is equally rich because the superficial contents of the acre are the same” (ibid., April 26, 1827).

15 The first number of the Advocate, e.g., stresses the need for an independent judiciary, reform of the system of selecting juries so as to prevent packing, while freedom of speech and press are frequently referred to as vital defences of liberty.

16 Colonial Advocate, April 18, 1825.

17 For an admirable study of the political ideas and programmes of the various schools of Whigs, see Davis, H. W. C., The Age of Grey and Peel (Oxford, 1929).Google Scholar

18 Mackenzie's electioneering methods later indicate a rather naïve belief in the intelligence of the people. In his first election in 1828 he resorted to the usual procedure of stump speaking, though he protested against, and refused to follow, the tactics of “treating”. In all later elections until the campaign of 1836 he refused even to make speeches, believing that the people should be left to decide the issues and the merits of the candidates without pressure from the candidates. And although the editor of a political journal, he refused to use his paper for his own political campaign, except for official announcements and for his Address to the Electors.

19 Colonial Advocate, no. 1.

20 Open letters to George Canning on India and China Trade, in no. 2 and subsequent issues of the Colonial Advocate.

21 Ibid., June 10, 1824.

22 Ibid., April 26, 1827 ff.

23 Ibid., April 26.

24 Ibid.

25 “The fervent and glowing loyalty with which we are inspired induces us to prefer a union with Great Britain to independence, but unfortunately we find no supporters for our grand scheme, in this enlightened and independent colony. We stand alone—We are for the union—everybody else for * * * * * * * * * * * * ” (Colonial Advocate, Jan. 17, 1828).

26 Ibid.

27 The principal grievances are: no facilities for popular education; undue expenditure on the Welland Canal; insufficient and badly kept roads; the salaries and fees of officials; executive influence in the Legislative Council by means of “placemen” and the number of bills rejected by the Council; the violation by the existing post office system of the “fundamental and inalienable principle of the constitution” of no taxation without representation; state aid for religion; clergy reserves; religious tests for admission to the new university; expenses of civil suits; dependence of the judges; the lack of a colonial agent in London; and appointed rather than elected local magistrates in the townships (Colonial Advocate, Jan. 31, 1828).

28 “Some of us think”, he says in a letter to John Neilson, “it would be well for the legislature at its meeting to assert that principle so long in use in Great Britain, which, though it does not dictate to the sovereign (or his representative here) the ministry he must choose, yet informs him that a change in confidential advisers is thot needful, and that such change as will induce parlt to repose with confidence in the integrity of the successors. It is in contemplation to assert this principle here—and we wait with anxiety for y'r example in L.C. I wish y'r sentiments on the subject in a letter, not private nor printed for publication, but such as I might shew to other members at my discretion. Nothing is more certain than that the regulations of Parliament, may be entirely set at nought, by vicious executive councils” ( Doughty, A. G. and Story, N. (eds.), Documents relating to the Constitutional History of Canada, 1819-1828, Ottawa, 1935 Google Scholar).

29 P.A.C., , Neilson Papers, vol. VIII, p. 530 Google Scholar, Mackenzie to Neilson. Cf. also Colonial Advocate, May 27, 1824, and Sketches of Canada and the United States (London, 1833).Google Scholar

30 Colonial Advocate, April 15, 1830.

31 Ibid., July 15, 1828.

32 Ibid., May 17, 1832.

33 Ibid., July 15, 1830.

34 The Neilson Papers contain several letters from Mackenzie. The opinions set forth in this paragraph are based upon these.

35 Colonial Advocate, Jan. 22, 1829. Again comparing the condition of Ireland and Scotland: “The cause is obvious to me. Education has made greater progress in Scotland than in Ireland …. It has been calculated that in Scotland one person is at school out of every nine of the population; in New York state one in four; in Ireland one in eighteen; and in Upper Canada only one in twenty!! Russia is still worse” (ibid., July 19, 1832). Mackenzie's interest in promoting public education in Upper Canada was very real. See, for example, his remarkable Catechism of Education (York, 1830).Google Scholar

36 Colonial Advocate, Sept. 9, 15, 23, 1830. Also special edition containing whole “Appeal”, apparently Sept. 23.

37 See his Sketches of Canada and the United States, which contains many letters written to the Colonial Advocate during this visit. On this visit Mackenzie made use of the Library of Congress to acquire a knowledge of banking laws and practice—he could find no material in the Legislative Library of Upper Canada. This knowledge he put to good use in the following session of the Legislature when he had a Committee on Currency and Banking appointed with himself as chairman, and again in 1831 when chairman of a Committee to investigate the request of the Bank of Upper Canada for an extension of its power of issuing notes. His reports calling for sound currency and banking practice, and the disallowance of two bank charters in 1832 by the Colonial Office at Mackenzie's instigation, are important incidents in the history of Canadian banking. See his Sketches of Canada and the United States, and Lindsey, Life and Times.

38 Lindsey, , Life and Times, vol. I, pp. 258 ff.Google Scholar

39 Colonial Advocate, July 19, 1832.

40 “Until my return from England in the fall of 1833, I used what little influence I possessed with the yeomanry to persuade them that by petitioning England, a remedy would be found to every wrong of which they had just reason to complain …. But I have been in England—I have seen the usuage Ireland met with—the treatment other colonies recieved—the promises made today to be broken tomorrow—the instructions (in the case of the chartered banks for instance) promulgated in the spring by one colonial minister to be retracted in the fall by another under the threat of a tory assembly here. In short I have seen enough to convince me that we shall continue to have the very worst possible govt. in Upper Canada until we get rid of the system which binds us to the earth. I therefore am less loyal than I was and would be wanting in candour if I did not admit the fact” ( Neilson Papers, vol. VIII, pp. 522–3, Mackenzie to Nelson, 12 28, 1835 Google Scholar).

41 The Report emphasizes the right of colonies to self-government (1) as Englishmen; (2) as Loyalists—the late colonies had secured it by revolution. See extract in W. P. M. Kennedy (ed.), Statutes, Treaties and Documents of the Canadian Constitution. Thissession also saw Mackenzie's onslaught on the Weiland Canal and his appointment as a commissioner to examine its finances. He had long denounced the canal as a “shameful job”, wasteful of public money. His investigation disclosed gross inefficiency in management, to say the least, though the Company was afterwards whitewashed by the Legislature.

42 “These are not the days when changes of govt are produced in America by violence and brute force—since I retd from Egd I have been far more sensible of this and have directed my attention more to the people” ( Neilson Papers, vol. VIII, p. 528 Google Scholar, Mackenzie to Neilson, Dec. 28, 1835). Cf. also Colonial Advocate, Dec. 14, 1833, where he deprecated resort to arms as long as there was any hope of reform.

43 P.A.C., , Roebuck Papers, 1835–1845, pp. 79–81 Google Scholar, Papineau to Roebuck, March 13, 1836.

44 Neilson Papers, vol. IX, Mackenzie to Neilson, 02 1, 1836.Google Scholar

45 Ibid., Mackenzie to Neilson, Feb. 22, 1836.

46 For account of events see Lindsey, Life and Times.

47 Sept. 14, 1837.

48 July 19, 1837.

49 E.g., at Lloydtown, , The Constitution, 08 9, 1837 Google Scholar; Sparta, ibid., Sept. 27.

50 E.g., in resolutions of Reformers of York (The Constitution, Aug. 23, 1837). On the other hand, the term “Political Union” used in England during the agitation for the Reform Bill, and in Upper Canada in 1833, was used during the agitation of 1837, e.g. see Colonial Advocate, June 27, 1833; The Constitution, May 10, 1837.

51 All are printed in the Appendix to Lindsey's Life and Times.

52 And Mackenzie's resolution on Free Trade to which we refer later.

53 Lindsey, , Life and Times, vol. II, p. 344.Google Scholar

54 E.g., in commenting on the Canada Trade Act of 1825 (Colonial Advocate, April 20, 1826).

55 Letter from England (ibid., Jan. 17, 1833).

56 Neilson Papers, vol. IX, p. 24, Mackenzie to Neilson.Google Scholar

57 By 1833 only one state provided state aid for religion ( Merriam, C. E., A History of American Political Theories, New York, 1903, p. 194 Google Scholar).

58 P.A.C., , Mackenzie's Gazette, 12 23, 1840, “Address to the People of Upper Canada”.Google Scholar

59 Ibid. Cf. also Letter to Neilson, Dec. 28, 1835 ( Neilson Papers, vol. VIII, p. 522 passim Google Scholar).

60 Neilson Papers, vol. VIII, 11 23 and 24, 1835 Google Scholar, Letter to Neilson: “The idea of a French Canadian state, province or republic controll'g the St. Lawrence, and the Commerce of the great countries situated on its banks is too absurd to be seriously credited.”

61 The Constitution, Jan. 11, 1935.

62 E.g., Mackenzie's Gazette, Dec. 23,1840: “Address to the People of Upper Canada”.

59 Ibid.

64 P.A.C., Canada Misc., W. L. Mackenzie Letters, 1846-1859, Letter to Hon. Benjamin Hawes, under-secretary of state for the colonies.

65 The letter to Hawes (ibid.) elaborates this at length.

66 For this period see letters to Jacob DeWitt in Canada Misc., W. L. Mackenzie Letters, 1846-1859; also Lindsey, Life and Times and Dent, J. C., The Last Forty Years (Toronto, 1881).Google Scholar