Canada and the States | Page 5

provinces of the
British Empire. I have another motive also: I should wish to contribute
some information bearing upon any future account of the life of the late
Duke of Newcastle. He is dead: and, so far, no one has attempted to
write his biography. That may be reserved for another generation. He
was the Colonial Minister under whose rule and guidance the
foundations of the great measure of Confederation were, undoubtedly,
laid; and to him, more than to any minister since Lord Durham, the
credit of preserving, as I hope for ever, the rule of her Majesty, and her
successors, over the Western Continent ought to attach. For, while the
idea of an union, of more or less extent, was suggested in Lord
Durham's time--probably by Charles Buller,--and was now and then
fondled by other Governors-General, in Canada, and by Colonial
Ministers at home--the real, practical measures which led to the
creation of one country extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific were
due to the far-sighted policy and persuasive influence of the Duke. The
Duke was a statesman singularly averse to claiming credit for his own
special public services, while ever ready to attribute credit and bestow
praise on those around him.
My first interview with the Duke was in January, 1847. He was then
Lord Lincoln, and the Conservative candidate for Manchester; in
disgrace with his father. His father was the old fashioned nobleman
who desired "to do what he liked with his own," and never would
rebuild Nottingham Castle, burnt in 1832 by the Radicals. The son had
cast in his lot with Sir Robert Peel and free trade. The father was still
one of the narrow- minded class to whom reform of any kind was the
spectre of "ruin to the country." They were quite honest in the
conviction that the people were "born to be governed, and not to
govern." They probably saw in the free importation of foreign food the
abrogation of rent.
In 1847 Mr. Bright was the candidate for Manchester, whom we of the
old Anti-Corn Law League supported. The interview I refer to was

actuated by our desire to avoid an undeserved opposition; Lord Lincoln
retired, however, owing mainly to other reasons, including that of the
intolerance of a body of Churchmen regarding popular education.
A long period of wretched health compelled me for several years to
consume what strength I had left in the ordinary routine of daily
business. And it was not until 1852 that any further intercourse of any
kind took place between us. In that year I published a little book about
the United States and Canada, the record of my first visit to North
America, in 1851. And, if I recollect rightly, I travelled with the Duke
in the spring of 1852, probably between Rugby and Derby, and found
him in possession of a copy of this little book, on which he had, faute
de mieux, spent half-a-crown at the book stall at Euston. He recognised
me; and it was my fault, and not his, that I saw no more of him till 1857,
by which time, no doubt, he had forgotten me. Still our conversation in
1852 about America, and especially as to slavery, and the probability of
a separation of North and South, will always dwell in my memory.
Lord Lincoln had studied De Tocqueville; but he had not, yet, seen
America. He had, therefore, at that time many erroneous views, which
could only be corrected by the actual and personal opportunity of
seeing and measuring, on the spot, the country, which always really
means the people. This opportunity was given to him by the visit of the
Prince of Wales to Canada and the United States, in 1860. He
accompanied the Prince in his capacity of Colonial Minister.
These casual glimpses of Lord Lincoln were followed by an interview
between us in 1857. In the meantime, it is true, he had had my name
brought before him during his term of office pending the Crimean War
Some one had suggested to the Government to send me out to the
Crimea to take charge of the Stores Department, at a time when all was
confusion and mess, out there, and I was asked to call on the Minister
about it. It seemed to me, however, a duty impossible of execution by a
civilian, unless the condition of "full powers" were conceded,--and the
matter came to nothing.
In 1856 I was the Manager of the Manchester, Sheffield and
Lincolnshire Railway. In that year a reckless engine, travelling between
Shireoaks and Worksop, threw out some sparks, which set fire to the
underwood of one of the Duke's plantations--for he was then Duke--and
he wrote to the Chairman of the Railway, the then Earl of Yarborough,

in what