party, whose aim was to establish an Independent Republic, from which they might make wars upon Canada and Great Britain. The imbroglio is not yet complete. It is no secret that the Government at Ottawa were themselves divided as to the policy to be adopted in Manitoba. The Quebec party were naturally for increasing their own influence, perpetuating the Catholic religion, and strengthening the French interests in the new country. The Ontario party were equally determined to prevent the growth of a second Quebec in the Dominion, and set themselves in unreasoning haste to secure Protestant and English ascendancy.

"Here are the ingredients of our olla podrida: Rivalries of race and of creed; Orangeism, Ultramontanism, Red Republicanism, Monopolies, Fenianism, Spread-Eagleism, and Annexation; and, not least active, Ishmaelism, the natural sentiment of the country."

"

It is of course possible unwisely to belittle the incidents connected with the Red River revolt, which we are free to admit, were, with one exception, ludicrously disproportionate to the serious aspect affairs at one time assumed and the belligerent attitude of the disaffected elements in the community. That the insurrection aimed at being something more than “a tempest in a teapot" is clear from the array of so many warring forces enumerated in the above extract. That it fell far short of its aims is due more to the good fortune of the friends of the Settlement than to the ambitious designs of its enemies. But in saying this, we are not to be understood as paying the friends of the colony a compliment. They are as little entitled to credit for what they accomplished as their foes are entitled to credit for what they did not accomplish. Luck, for once, was on the side of the blunderers. The whole history, indeed, is one huge blunder, a blunder that, had the designs of the malcontents not miscarried, would have entailed the most calamitous consequences to Canada and to the Empire.

The Canadian Dominion." By Charles Marshall. London, 1871.

The loss of the Red River, as has been remarked, would have prevented the Confederation of the North American Colonies and the consolidation of British power in the New World.

It is proverbially easy to criticise after the event, and to indicate what ought to have been done, before taking possession of the country, and what ought to have been left undone. Of what ought to have been done, nothing will more readily strike the non-political reader of the history than the propriety of first consulting the wishes of the people, in regard to taking over them and the territory, and of giving them a representative voice in determining what mode of government they thought suitable for the country and their choice of the men who were to rule over it. But to do this, it may be said, was to usurp the prerogative of the politician, and the politician, then as now, was paramount. Then as now, "Ishmaelism

revolted."

But let us return to Mr. Macdougall and the barred-out government on the threshold of the territory. This gentleman became the unfortunate victim of conspiring Fate. We have seen that he was stopped at Pembina by order of a so-called Committee of the Métis, who had usurped authority in the district, and refused to let him in to the Canaan of his hopes. From this awkward position he did all that man could do, in a dignified way, and with the slender means at his disposal, to relieve himself. But the dilemma continued. A provisional government had been formed by the French half-breeds, who had previously extended their politeness to the Canadian surveyors, in notifiying them to desist from their work and to quit the south side of the Assiniboine. Colonel Dennis, who was at the head of the surveying staff, had interviews with the local Hudson Bay Governor, and, later, had invoked the aid of the dominant Church, to bring to terms the belligerent

M

half-breeds. The result, in both cases, was failure: Governor McTavish is reported to have said "that the Canadian Government had no right to proceed with the surveys without the consent of the half-breeds ;" and Rome was sullen, the priests declining to interfere on the plea that to do so would imperil the influence of the Church.

Protests and proclamations from the Lieutenant-Governor on the confines of the country were equally unavailing. The National Committee had him at a disadvantage, and it determined to keep him in an embarassing position until "terms could be come to with the authorities at Ottawa. Nor was there hope from within the colony. The Hudson Bay representative, if he had cared, might have nipped the insurrection in the bud; but we have seen that, by extraordinary fatuity, this official was not even advised of a change of masters. It is true, that the sale of the territory had not at this time been formally completed; the money had not been paid over; and the Queen's Proclamation had not yet issued. These facts increased the delicacy of Mr. Macdougall's position, and tied the hands of both him and his Government. Nor could force be legally resorted to, had it been prudent to use it, and had the Government been able on the spot to exercise it. Other arts failed, and time brought discomfiture.

Meanwhile, the insurgents, growing bolder, had taken possession of Fort Garry. The Half-breed Council, pluming themselves on having expelled the invaders of their rights, by Proclamation now called upon the inhabitants to send delegates to a National Convention. To the Convention the English were invited to send representatives to discuss the situation; and this, at the last moment, they agreed to do in the hope of influencing the Committee to some good purpose. They soon found, however, that they were being made use of to give a