FOOTNOTES:

FOOTNOTES:[119]Notice inQuebec Gazette, February 16, 1767.[120]Can. Arch., B. series, CC. 2.[121]Finlay "Papers,"Can. Arch., M. 412.[122]C. O.5, vol. 136.[123]Can. Arch., B., CC. 114.[124]Ibid., LXII. 164.[125]Can. Arch., B., CC.passim.[126]G.P.O.,Commission Book, 1759-1854.[127]Quebec Gazette, November 18, 1783.[128]Finlay'sReport to Legislative Council, July 9, 1785.[129]Peter Kalm,Travels into North America, 1771, vols. 2 and 3.[130]Can. Arch., B., LXXI 72.[131]Can. Arch., B., CL. 187 and 204.[132]Finlay Papers,Can. Arch., M. 411.[133]P. Campbell,Travels in North America(Edinburgh, 1793).[134]Finlay's "Report,"Can. Arch., M. 412.[135]Can. Arch., Q. 28, p. 28.[136]Finlay's "Report,"Can. Arch., M. 412.[137]Can. Arch., Q. 28, p. 152.[138]Record Office,Admiralty-Secretary In Letters, Bundle 4072.[139]Record Office,Admiralty-Secretary In Letters, Bundle 4073.[140]Extra Official State Papers(Knox), London and Dublin, 1789.[141]Freer Papers, I. 47.[142]Quebec Gazette, May 28, 1789.[143]Quebec Gazette, May 28, 1789.[144]Can. Arch., Br. P.O. Transcripts, I.[145]Freer Papers, I. 54.[146]Can. Arch., Q. 278, p. 283.[147]18, Geo. III. c. 22.[148]Can. Arch., Q. 278, p. 44.[149]The affairs of the colonies were at this period managed by the home secretary.[150]The province of Upper Canada became known in political geography as Ontario in 1867.[151]Can. Arch., Q. 283, p. 117.[152]Ibid., C. 284, p. 21.[153]Ibid., Q. 290, p. 200.[154]Ibid., 87, pp. 251-268.

[119]Notice inQuebec Gazette, February 16, 1767.

[120]Can. Arch., B. series, CC. 2.

[121]Finlay "Papers,"Can. Arch., M. 412.

[122]C. O.5, vol. 136.

[123]Can. Arch., B., CC. 114.

[124]Ibid., LXII. 164.

[125]Can. Arch., B., CC.passim.

[126]G.P.O.,Commission Book, 1759-1854.

[127]Quebec Gazette, November 18, 1783.

[128]Finlay'sReport to Legislative Council, July 9, 1785.

[129]Peter Kalm,Travels into North America, 1771, vols. 2 and 3.

[130]Can. Arch., B., LXXI 72.

[131]Can. Arch., B., CL. 187 and 204.

[132]Finlay Papers,Can. Arch., M. 411.

[133]P. Campbell,Travels in North America(Edinburgh, 1793).

[134]Finlay's "Report,"Can. Arch., M. 412.

[135]Can. Arch., Q. 28, p. 28.

[136]Finlay's "Report,"Can. Arch., M. 412.

[137]Can. Arch., Q. 28, p. 152.

[138]Record Office,Admiralty-Secretary In Letters, Bundle 4072.

[139]Record Office,Admiralty-Secretary In Letters, Bundle 4073.

[140]Extra Official State Papers(Knox), London and Dublin, 1789.

[141]Freer Papers, I. 47.

[142]Quebec Gazette, May 28, 1789.

[143]Quebec Gazette, May 28, 1789.

[144]Can. Arch., Br. P.O. Transcripts, I.

[145]Freer Papers, I. 54.

[146]Can. Arch., Q. 278, p. 283.

[147]18, Geo. III. c. 22.

[148]Can. Arch., Q. 278, p. 44.

[149]The affairs of the colonies were at this period managed by the home secretary.

[150]The province of Upper Canada became known in political geography as Ontario in 1867.

[151]Can. Arch., Q. 283, p. 117.

[152]Ibid., C. 284, p. 21.

[153]Ibid., Q. 290, p. 200.

[154]Ibid., 87, pp. 251-268.

Administration of George Heriot—Extension of postal service in Upper Canada—Irritating restrictions imposed by general post office—Disputes with the administrator of the colony.

George Heriot, who succeeded Finlay, had been a clerk in the board of ordinance for many years before his appointment as deputy postmaster general. He was a man of some literary ability, his history of Canada which was published in 1801 being a high-priced item in catalogues of Americana. Of Heriot's zeal and intelligence the general post office had no reason to complain, but he had a sensitive self-esteem, which was a most unfortunate possession as matters then stood.

Ordinarily, personal characteristics such as these would call for no mention, but the relations between the post office and the provincial authorities at this time were so difficult that the utmost tact on the part of the deputy postmaster general would scarcely gain more than a tolerable success. The position of the deputy postmaster general towards the governor and the legislatures was peculiar.

As an official of the general post office in London, he was subject to the orders of the postmaster general and to no other authority whatever. Neither the governors nor the legislatures had the least right to give him instructions. Although the postal service was indispensable to the conduct of the official and commercial transactions of the colony, and its maintenance in a state of efficiency a matter of first importance to the colony, the power of the colonial authorities went no further than the submission of their views and desires to the postmaster general or to his deputy in Canada.

To a community jealous of its rights of self-government, the situation was irritating enough, but the natural annoyance might have been largely relieved by an appreciative regard, on the part of the post office, for the wants of the rapidly increasing settlements. This, however, was the last trait the post office was likely to show at this period.

The post office was subordinate to the treasury, a relationshipit never permitted itself to disregard. The deputy postmaster general was under strict injunctions not to enter upon any scheme for the extension or improvement of the postal service, unless he was fully satisfied that the resulting expense would be covered by the augmented revenue. Each application for improvement in the service was dealt with from this standpoint.

The fact that the service in any part of the country was very profitable to the post office was held to be no justification for applying any portion of the profits to make up the deficiencies of revenue in districts less favourably situated. On one occasion, where the needs in some new districts in course of settlement appeared to Heriot to demand special consideration, he directed that for a time the whole of the surplus revenue from Upper Canada should be applied to extensions and improvements. When his action was reported to the postmaster general, it was promptly disavowed, and he was compelled to cancel the arrangements he had made.[155]

A policy of this kind was ill-adapted to colonies, which were steadily expanding by the implanting of small, widely-separated communities, and the man on whom devolved the duty of carrying on a postal service under these conditions had no easy task. Finlay had certain advantages as a member of the legislative council which Heriot did not enjoy, and moreover his difficulties were not so great.

It was only after Finlay had ceased to be deputy postmaster general that the settlements in Upper Canada began to insist on a regular postal service; and in cases where demands were made upon him which his instructions forbade him to grant, he could always depend on the good will of his associates in the council to relieve him from unreasonable pressure. As superintendent of post houses, his influence with themaîtres de posteenabled him to keep the cost of their services on the main routes at a low figure.

Although Finlay's connection with the post office was terminated under disagreeable circumstances, no attempt was made to deprive him of his provincial appointments, which he held until his death at the end of 1801. Heriot then lost no time in applying to be appointed to the vacancy in the legislative council, and to the superintendency of post houses. He was successful in neither case.

Heriot was uniformly unfortunate in his relations with thegovernors of the colony. His self-assertiveness irritated those who were accustomed to look for nothing but deference from the persons about them. Heriot seems to have accepted the decision as respects the council as final. But he made a strong effort to force the hand of lieutenant governor Milnes with regard to the post houses. He appealed to the postmaster general in England, who made representations to the colonial office in the matter.

The post office had already begun to feel the inconvenience of separating the control of themaîtres de postefrom the office of the deputy postmaster general, as these officials declined to continue to carry the mail couriers on terms more favourable than those granted to the ordinary travelling public.

The colonial office was inclined to the post office view on the subject, but the lieutenant governor was firm in maintaining the position he had taken. Themaîtres de poste, he stated, were habitants who possessed, each of them, a small property which rendered them quite independent. Their service, which was to carry passengers on the king's road, was an onerous one, and the advances in the price of the articles of life, coupled with the fact that their exclusive privilege was systematically disregarded, made them reluctant to take the appointments.

Men of this kind, Milnes declared, required management as they would not submit to coercion. Finlay through his personal influence with themaîtres de postehad managed to obtain the conveyance of the mails at sixpence a league, which was only half the charge made to the public for the same service. For some time before his death, Finlay had difficulty in inducing themaîtres de posteto continue this favourable arrangement, and on his death they refused to work under it any longer.

Themaîtres de postehad the full sympathy of the lieutenant governor who saw no reason for the discrimination in favour of the post office. Although he endeavoured to obtain a favourable arrangement for the mail couriers, he considered it would be most impolitic on the part of the post office to insist on continuing to occupy their position of advantage.

But valuable as the post house system was in the early period of the country's growth, it soon had to yield to a higher class of travelling facility. As travel in the colony increased the two-wheeledcalèchesdrawn by a single horse and barely holding two persons would no longer do. The changes at the post houses, every hour or little more, with the long delays while the horses were secured and harnessed, were very wearisome. Before Heriot'sterm expired, stage coaches had been placed on the principal roads.

In leaving the old system and its ways, it will be interesting to record the impressions of Hugh Gray, an English gentleman, who travelled from Quebec to Montreal in 1806.[156]The mode of travel, he said, would not bear comparison with that in England, and the inns were very far from clean, but he found many things to lighten the hardships of travel in Canada. If, leaving England aside, he compared the accommodations in Canada with those in Spain, Portugal, or even in parts of France, he found the balance in favour of Canada.

The politeness and consideration Gray received at the inns in Canada offset many inconveniences. Often on the continent, after a day of fatiguing travel, sometimes wet and hungry, he was obliged to carry his own luggage into the inn at which he had arrived and see, himself, that it was put in a place of safety. But in Canada he was charmed with the politeness and urbanity with which he was welcomed at every inn: "Voulez-vous bien, Monsieur, avoir la complaisance d'entrer; voilà une chaise, Monsieur, asseyez vous, s'il vous plait."

"If they had the thing you wanted," continued Gray, "it was given to you with a good grace; if they had not they would tell you so in such a tone and manner as to show they were sorry for it." "Je n'en ai point. J'en suis mortifié." "You saw it was their poverty that refused you, not their will. Then if there was no inn to be had, you were never at a loss for shelter. There was not a farmer, shopkeeper, nay, nor even aseigneuror country gentleman who, on being civilly applied to for accommodation, would not give you the best in the house and every accommodation in his power."

The determination of the lieutenant governor to hold Heriot at arm's length, and allow him no part in the local government was unfortunate, as it prevented the mutual understanding between the colonial authorities and the post office which must have been beneficial to both. Heriot made several later efforts to secure the control of themaîtres de poste, but always without success.

The principal feature of Heriot's administration was the establishment of a regular mail service to the settlements in Upper Canada. The single opportunity for the exchange of correspondence afforded by the post office authorities during the many months when navigation was closed was absurdly inadequate tothe needs of the rapidly increasing province. The courier set out from Montreal in January of each year, travelling on foot or snow-shoes with his mail bag slung over his shoulder. He did very well when he covered eighteen miles a day. The journey to Niagara, with the return to Montreal, was not accomplished until spring was approaching, three months later.

The lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, General Hunter, was anxious to improve the communication in that province, and opened correspondence with Heriot on the subject.[157]Heriot laid the lieutenant governor's proposition before the postmaster general with his warm commendation. He pointed out that the rapid increase in the population, the salubrity of the climate, and the fertility of the soil, all encouraged the belief that Upper Canada would soon become one of the first of the British settlements in North America.

General Hunter, Heriot also reminded the postmaster general, had in course of construction a road from the bay of Quinte to York, which in a few months would allow of easy travel by any of the common conveyances of the country. More, his excellency when informed of the views held by the post office on proposals involving expenditure, readily undertook that the province should make up any deficiency arising from the carrying of his schemes into execution.

This was the first considerable proposition submitted by Heriot since his appointment, and the postmaster general made it the occasion of an admonition as to the considerations Heriot should have in mind in dealing with a proposition of that kind. He sent extracts of letters addressed to Finlay on the question of establishing new posts, pointing out that they served to show that unless any new proposition had for its object both the public convenience and the interests of the revenue, it was not to be encouraged.

The system of posts, the postmaster general went on to say, might be made, comparatively speaking, as perfect in Canada as in Great Britain, but the question was, would the board as a board of revenue be justified in so doing when the amount of the revenue was so trifling. However, he directed Heriot to report fully on the several aspects of the lieutenant governor's proposition, not overlooking the general's offer of indemnification in the event of the postage not amounting to sufficient to defray the expense.

The lieutenant governor having repeated his assurance thatany insufficiency in the revenue to meet the additional expense would be made up from the provincial treasury, Heriot set about improving the service—but cautiously. At that time he contented himself with providing monthly instead of yearly trips to Upper Canada during the winter. In summer he continued to depend on the occasional trips of thebateauxon the river and the king's ships on the lake.

In order to assist Heriot, who had some difficulty in procuring the services of suitable couriers for the winter trips, the lieutenant governor directed the commandants at Kingston and York to place trusty soldiers at the disposal of the post office.

There were few letters carried during this period except for the public departments, and they found it less expensive to employ a messenger of their own to visit the several posts and take the bulky accounts and vouchers which constituted the greater part of their correspondence, than to utilize the services of the post office. When it was pointed out to the lieutenant governor that by his failure to employ the post office, he was setting a bad example to the inhabitants who used every means to evade the postmaster general's monopoly, the lieutenant governor agreed to have the correspondence from the outposts carried by the mail couriers.

The territory served by the regular post office did not extend beyond Niagara. But at Amherstburg, the western end of lake Erie, and over two hundred miles beyond Niagara, there were a military post and the beginnings of a settlement, which it was desirable to provide with the means of communication.

During his visit to Niagara in 1801, Heriot devised a plan[158]for this purpose, which appears to have contained all the advantages of a regular postal service, with the charges so much less than the ordinary postage rates as to give the people of the district cause to regret the advent of the regular postmaster and mail courier.

Heriot proposed that the postmaster of Amherstburg should receive letters for despatch, and, from time to time as one of the vessels on the lake happened to be going to fort Erie, at the eastern end of the lake, make up a bag, seal it with the official seal, and deliver it to the captain of the vessel.

At fort Erie the bag was to be placed on one of the flat-bottomedbateaux, which traded between that village and Chippewa and the Niagara river. Between Chippewa, Queenstown and Niagara, on the Niagara portage, there were stage coaches running, andthe bag was taken to Niagara by this means. If the letters were intended for places beyond Niagara, they were put into the regular post office at that point.

This arrangement was quite as safe and expeditious as the postal service between Niagara and Kingston, and yet the charges were very much less than if the letters had been carried the same distance within the authorized system. The ordinary postage on a letter from Amherstburg to fort Erie by land would be tenpence. Heriot did not consider that he could properly charge more than twopence a letter. From fort Erie to Niagara the postage would have been fourpence, which was the rate Heriot proposed to charge.

The question will arise, in what regard this scheme differed from the ordinary postal arrangements, the charges for which were fixed by statute. The point of difference lay simply in this, that Heriot did not propose to administer the oath of office to the courier, who effected the transportation of the mails from Amherstburg to Niagara. There would be none but trustworthy men employed to look after the mails, and the couriers were under effective supervision in the fact that the postmaster in making up the mail enclosed with it a certificate as to the number of letters in it, which the receiving postmaster verified before the courier was paid for his services.

Heriot's scheme, then, was identical with the ordinary arrangements in all respects but one, and that one was purely formal. Heriot's scruples would lead one to suspect a desire to show how excessive the ordinary charges were.

There was no change in the arrangements for the postal service in Upper Canada until 1810, though before that date there had been some agitation for improvements. In 1808, the legislative assembly requested that a regular service be established through the year, instead of monthly trips during the winter merely.

Further representations were made on the insufficiency of the existing service, and in 1810 Heriot provided fortnightly trips throughout the year between Montreal and Kingston, but owing to the badness of the road beyond Kingston, he was unable to give a regular service to York except in the winter. During this period, however, the trips between Kingston and York were made fortnightly.

Efficient roadmaking throughout Canada was attended with many difficulties, owing to the great stretches of land which were in the hands either of the crown or held as clergy reserves orwhich were held by speculators. These absentee holders were not bound by the obligation which lay on the residents to make and maintain good roads through their property, and consequently, even where roads were made by the government through the province, they soon fell into disrepair in those districts, where there were no resident owners to keep them up.

General Hunter in 1800 and 1801 had a road made from Kingston to York, and then on to Ancaster, near Hamilton, where it connected with the road to Niagara, but at their best such roads were little more than bridle paths through the woods. In the autumn of 1811 Heriot yielded another step and placed couriers fortnightly on the road from Kingston to Niagara by way of York. He also arranged for a courier to go to Amherstburg or Sandwich as often as commercial requirements demanded it.

Heriot at this time took a step which drew upon him the sharp attention of the home authorities. He directed the postmaster at York to hold the surplus revenue from the western part of the province instead of sending it to Quebec for transmission to England, and to apply it to improving the arrangements in that section of the province.

The secretary of the general post office expressed a doubt as to whether the whole of the revenue should have been applied towards improving the service, and intimated that approval of his action should be held for the postmaster general. Shortly after, Heriot was informed that his action had not been approved, and that it would be necessary to cancel his instructions to the postmaster of York.[159]

This incident fairly illustrates how far Heriot's hands were tied by orders from home, and how little he deserved the censures so freely meted out to him for his unwillingness to provide the country with a system of communication adequate to its requirements. In yielding to any extent to the reasonable demands of the provincial authorities, he was courting disapproval and even reprimand from his superiors.

But in spite of the determination of the postmaster general that no expenditure should be made for postal service, which did not promise an immediate return equal to or greater than the outlay, the country was growing too rapidly to permit of any great delay in providing increased facilities for correspondence. While the post office held on to the monopoly in letter carrying, it had to make some sort of provision for doing the work itself.

In 1815, when peace had been concluded with the United States, Sir Gordon Drummond, the commander of the forces, and administrator of Canada, directed Heriot to arrange for two trips a week between Montreal and Kingston, Heriot invited tenders for this service, and was dismayed to find that the lowest offer was for £3276, an amount double the anticipated revenues.

With his instructions from the postmaster general before him, an outlay of that magnitude was not to be thought of, but Heriot did go the length of authorizing weekly trips over the whole route between Montreal and Niagara and arranged for fortnightly trips to Amherstburg from Dundas, a village on the grand route between York and Niagara.[160]The mails were carried between Montreal and Kingston by coach; between Kingston and Niagara on horseback or by sleigh; and between Dundas and the settlements at the western end of lake Erie on foot.

In reporting these arrangements to the postmaster general, Heriot explained that, with the close of the war, military expresses had been discontinued, and it became necessary to provide additional accommodation to the commissariat and other military departments, but the increased postage more than covered the expense incurred.

In March 1816 the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada pressed for further improvements in order to facilitate communication between the several courts of justice and every part of the province, so that notices might be sent to jurors and others having business with the courts.[161]In concluding his letter to the general post office recommending the application of the lieutenant governor, Heriot added that there was a strong desire on the part of influential people in Upper Canada that there should be a deputy postmaster general for that province, as well as one for Lower Canada.

Heriot favoured the idea and recommended William Allan, postmaster of York for the position. The postmaster general, however, disapproved of the proposal of an independent deputy for Upper Canada. He agreed with Heriot that there would be advantages in having an official residing in Upper Canada with a wider authority than that ordinarily exercised by a mere postmaster, but thought that the postmaster of York might without change of title be made to answer all the requirements of an assistant to the deputy postmaster general.

Before leaving the service in Upper Canada, an incident should be mentioned, showing the difficulties military men stationedfar from a post office had in corresponding with Great Britain. At the end of the campaign of 1813 in the Niagara peninsula, the officers of the right division, which was quartered at Stoney Creek, presented a memorial to the governor general laying before him their hard case, and praying for relief.[162]They desired to write to their friends and relatives at home, but could not do so, owing to the post office regulation which required that all letters sent to Great Britain should have the postage paid on them as far as Halifax.

The sea postage did not require to be paid, as that could be collected from the person receiving the letter, but unless the letter was fully paid to Halifax, it was detained and returned to the writer. As the nearest post office in operation was York, nearly fifty miles away, and as they had no acquaintance there or at Montreal or Quebec, who might pay the postage for them, they were without the means of relieving the anxiety of their parents, wives and others who could not learn whether they were alive or not. They asked that a bag be made up monthly, as Lord Wellington did from Portugal, and sent free of expense to the Horseguards in London, from which place the letters might be carried to the post office for delivery.

The postal service in Lower Canada and eastward underwent no change from the time of Heriot's accession to office until the war of 1812. As in 1800, the couriers between Montreal and Quebec still left each place on Monday and Thursday mornings, and meeting at Three Rivers, exchanged their mails, and returned, reaching their points of departure two days later. The mails between Quebec and Fredericton continued to be exchanged fortnightly in summer, and monthly in winter, and between Fredericton and St. John, and St. John and Halifax, there were weekly exchanges as in Finlay's time.

Lower Canada still found its principal outlet to Great Britain in the weekly mail carried between Montreal and one of the towns of the United States near the Canadian boundary. In 1810, the place of exchange of mails between Lower Canada and Boston and New York was Swanton, a small town in Vermont.

But, though the service arrangements remained unchanged, they by no means escaped criticism. In 1810, Sir James Craig, the governor general, complained of the slowness of the communication with the United States and with the Maritime provinces.[163]Letters from New York seldom reached Quebec in lessthan fifteen or sixteen days, and it usually took a month for the courier to travel from Halifax to Quebec.

For the course of the post from New York, the governor was not disposed to blame Heriot entirely, as he knew the connections from New York to Swanton to be faulty, but he thought that, by a little exertion, Heriot could do much to remedy the defects. As for the movement of the couriers between Quebec and Halifax, the governor had been informed by certain London merchants that the journey could be made in six days. He would not insist on a speed equal to that, but sixteen or seventeen days ought to be easily within the capacity of the couriers.

Dealing with the Quebec-Halifax complaint first, Heriot was aware that the journey from Halifax to Quebec had been made in six days, but as the distance was six hundred and thirty-three miles, three hundred and sixty-eight of which could not be travelled by horse and carriage, he regarded the trip as an extraordinary performance. The circumstances, however, were unusually favourable. The weather was at its best, and no expense was spared to make the journey as rapidly as possible.

But it was useless, Heriot insisted, to compare speed of that kind with that which was within the power of a courier who had to carry a load sometimes weighing two hundred pounds on his back, for a distance of forty miles, after having rowed and poled up rivers and across lakes for two hundred miles. If the contractor was able to disregard considerations of expense, and employ as many couriers as could be done with advantage, much time might doubtless be saved.

Heriot was sure there were no grounds for believing that there would be any material increase in the revenue as the result of such expenditure. The commerce between the Canadas and the Maritime provinces was so trifling that it was all carried on by three or four small coasting vessels. Indeed, were it not for the correspondence between the military establishments, it would be better to drop regular trips between Quebec and Halifax, as the British mails could be carried much more cheaply and with greater celerity by expresses.

The connection with New York offered matter for criticism, but Heriot could not be reproached for remissness in this regard. He had proposed to the authorities at Washington that his couriers should carry the mails all the way between Montreal and New York, offering to pay the United States just as if their couriers had done the service within their territory, but the United Statesdepartment would not entertain the proposition. He had also endeavoured, without success, to have the British mails landed at Boston during the winter months, instead of at New York. If this could have been accomplished, there would have been a considerable saving in the time required for the delivery of the British mails at Montreal and Quebec.

The war of 1812 had noticeable effects on the postal service. The mails passing between Quebec and Halifax had to be safeguarded against attack on the part of hostile parties from across the border and against privateers, who infested the lower waters of the St. John river and the bay of Fundy.

From the time the courier on his way eastward left the shores of the St. Lawrence, he was in danger of surprise. The portage between the St. Lawrence and lake Temiscouata was wild and uninhabited, and it would have been an easy matter for the enemy to waylay the courier if he travelled unprotected. When he reached the St. John river his course lay along the United States border. Indeed a considerable part of his route lay in territory which was afterwards adjudged by the Ashburton treaty to belong to the United States.

Heriot facilitated the couriers' journey over the portage by placing twenty-two old soldiers with their families at intervals on the route. They were supplied with arms, ammunition and rations, as the country was so mountainous, sterile and inhospitable, that no man could derive a subsistence from the soil. The couriers on entering the portage were, also, accompanied by an escort of two soldiers, who travelled with them as far as the Madawaska settlement. From that point downwards, the local captains of militia had orders to render all needful assistance and protection to the couriers.

At Fredericton an entire change was made in the route. The route had till then followed the course of the St. John river to the city of St. John, from which place the couriers were taken across the bay of Fundy to Annapolis, in a small sloop. In order to avoid the chances of capture on the water stretches or in the bay, the couriers were sent across the country through the centre of the province to Cumberland, as Amherst was then called, and thence on to Halifax.

This arrangement left St. John unprovided with connection with either Quebec or Halifax, but it was brought into the scheme by a separate courier who met the couriers on the main route at Sussexvale. The travel on the new route was at first very bad,but the lieutenant governors of the two Maritime provinces, who were interested in the success of the scheme, promised to do their best to induce their assemblies to put the roads in good condition.

In changing the route from Fredericton to Halifax, and requiring the couriers to travel inland, instead of along the waterways, the deputy postmaster general was taking a measure in the direction of safety, but those who had a particular interest in the transmission of their correspondence intact could not look without concern at the exposure of the mails on the long stretch between the foot of lake Temiscouata and Fredericton.

The lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia and the admiral of the Halifax station were both uneasy at the possibility of their despatches being intercepted by the Americans, and grasped eagerly at a suggestion thrown out that the courier from Halifax should not go to Fredericton at all, but on leaving Amherst should pursue a north-westerly course till he reached the Matapedia river at the western end of the bay of Chaleurs. From this point, the route would lie across the bottom of the Gaspe peninsula to the St. Lawrence near Metis.

The suggested route encountered the strong opposition of Heriot.[164]"The heights of the interior," he declared, "are more elevated than those towards the sea, and some of them with snow on their summits which remain undissolved from one year to the other. The land between the mountains is probably intersected by rugged defiles, by swamps and by deep and impracticable gullies. A region so inhospitable and desolate as from its interior aspect, and its latitude as this may without exaggeration be conceived to be, can scarcely be visited by savages. Suppose a road were cut through this rugged desert, it would not be possible to find any person who would settle there, and no courier could proceed on foot for a journey of some hundred miles, through a difficult and dreary waste alike destitute of shelter and of the prospect of assistance."

Heriot's conviction was that the present route was the only possible one, and if the enemy threatened to cut off communications, it might be necessary to establish two additional military posts, one at the head of the Madawaska settlement, the other between Grand Falls and Presqu' Isle.

A blockhouse at each point, with a non-commissioned officer, a few privates and two savages attached, would in Heriot's opinion afford sufficient protection. The enemy would scarcely incur thetrouble and expense of marching one or two hundred men from an immense distance to take or destroy these forts with the precarious and doubtful prospect of interrupting a courier, to whom the nature of the country presented a variety of means of eluding their utmost vigilance.

The idea of establishing a route between Nova Scotia and the St. Lawrence, which would follow the northern shore of New Brunswick, was not carried into effect at once, but as will be seen it occupied attention from time to time and was eventually realized.

The war affected the postal service in Lower Canada to the extent of causing the conveyance of the mails between Montreal and Quebec to be increased from twice a week to daily.[165]Sir George Prevost having pointed out to Heriot the necessity for more frequent communication on account of the war, the latter expressed his willingness to increase the trips, but stipulated that the men employed in the service should not be subject to enlistment as it was very difficult to secure trustworthy men.

The governor agreed, and directed the colonels of militia that they were to impose no military duties on post office employees. On the conclusion of the war, the couriers' trips were reduced from six to five weekly, at which frequency they remained for many years.

The last year of Heriot's administration was marked by a disagreeable quarrel with Sir Gordon Drummond,[166]who was administrator of Canada on Prevost's retirement. In the beginning of 1815, the legislature of Upper Canada adopted an address pointing out that the postal arrangements were very defective, and expressing the opinion that the revenue from Upper Canada was ample to meet the additional expense necessary to put the service on a satisfactory footing. If an efficient service were provided, and it turned out that they were wrong in their anticipation of increased revenues, they were prepared to pay higher rates of postage.

Herein lay a difficulty for the postmaster general. The postal charges in Canada were the same as those in Great Britain, and were collected by the authority of the same act of parliament. The postmaster general was not free from doubts as to the legality of the proceedings of the post office in taking postage in Canada, and he did not wish to raise the question by the enactment of a special act for Canada. He intimated to Heriot his disinclination to bring the question into prominence in Canada, and askedHeriot to give his mind to the proposition for an improvement in the service.

About the time the letter from the postmaster general containing this instruction reached Heriot, Drummond himself wrote to Heriot, drawing attention to the shortcomings in the service, expressing his conviction that the necessary improvements would lead to enhanced revenues, and concluding with an intimation that unless he were provided with adequate facilities for communicating with that part of his command which was in Upper Canada, he would be obliged to restore military expresses.

Sir Gordon Drummond's services to Canada during the war were such as to entitle him to an honourable place in the memory of Canadians, but he did not appear at his best in his controversy with Heriot. He exhibited too much of that arbitrariness and impatience with other people's views which is commonly observed among military chiefs.

Heriot replied promptly to the governor's letter, stating that he had invited tenders for a semi-weekly service between Montreal and Kingston, and that the offers he received were quite beyond any possible revenue to be derived from the service. He had, however, accelerated the existing service by having the couriers travel on horseback, the horses being changed at convenient distances along the route.

As regards the service beyond York, Heriot directed the postmaster of York to arrange for a regular weekly courier to Niagara, and to set about securing a postmaster at Amherstburg to replace the former incumbent, who had resigned. Heriot wound up his letter by stating that he would have been particularly gratified if he had the power to meet his excellency's wishes in every point, but expressed his regret that his instructions obliged him to act on principles of economy.

The letter was courteously expressed, and showed an evident desire to go as far as his instructions would allow, in meeting the governor's wishes. But Drummond was not satisfied. His wrath rose at the appearance of opposition. In repeating his views that increased revenue would follow upon improvements in the service, he declared that the existing arrangements were slovenly and uncertain, and, in the opinion of merchants, insecure. Moreover, he did not believe that Heriot's instructions were intended to be injurious to the interests of Upper Canada.

Drummond then most unreasonably found fault with Heriot for leaving to Allan the duty of attending to the requirementsof Niagara and Amherstburg, when his excellency had ordered Heriot to give the matter his personal attention. Heriot's time was very fully occupied at Quebec with the ordinary duties of his office, a fact of which Drummond could not have been ignorant; and to order him to leave these duties, and make a journey to the western end of the province, involving a travel of scarcely less than twelve hundred miles, to do a piece of work which any subordinate in the district could do equally well, argued either an indifference as regards the daily calls upon Heriot's time, or a determination to annoy him, either of which was discreditable to the governor general.

Heriot was steadily respectful, however, but maintained that with the powers entrusted to him it was impossible to meet Drummond's views. He cited the incident of 1812, when his recommendation that the whole of the revenue from Upper Canada should be expended on extensions and improvements had been disapproved, and the arrangements founded upon these suggestions had to be cancelled. As for his employment of Allan to secure a postmaster at Amherstburg, Allan knew the district while he himself did not, and in his circumstances he was compelled to rely upon his officials as he did in the west and at Halifax.

The whole of the case was laid by Heriot before the postmaster general. His situation, he declared, was very disagreeable, as people seemed to imagine that he had carte blanche as to the disposal of the post office revenue. Every governor on coming to Canada assailed Heriot with his particular scheme for improvement. Prevost, who had come from the governorship of Nova Scotia, insisted on a large expenditure on the service in that province. Drummond, whose interests lay in Upper Canada, was peremptory in regard to the claims of that part of the country. The consequence of all this was correspondence always lengthy and frequently unpleasant.

What Heriot desired to know was whether his conduct was approved or condemned by his superiors. The official silence left him in uncertainty and suspense. Heriot concluded by asking to be relieved of the office and to be allowed some remuneration for past services.

After a short lull, trouble broke out afresh, and this time Drummond managed to put Heriot clearly in the wrong. A very sharp letter from the governor drew from Heriot the reply that the deputy postmaster general in Canada was governed by several acts of parliament, and by instructions from the general post office,and he was not subject to any orders, but through the secretary of the post office. He would, however, afford every necessary information when applied to in the mode of solicitation or request.

This was not the tone to take in addressing the chief executive in the colony; and the governor promptly laid the whole matter before the colonial secretary, condemning Heriot for his incapacity, insubordination and insolence, and declaring that nothing but the fear of embarrassing the accounts prevented him from instantly suspending Heriot. He urged his dismissal.

A fortnight later Drummond reported further grievances. Indeed, Heriot seems now to have cast prudence as well as respect for the governor's office to the winds. The governor had demanded to see the postmaster general's instructions to Heriot, and it was not until the demand had been twice repeated that Heriot saw fit to obey.

Among those instructions was one directing the deputy postmaster general to keep the orders of the postmaster general and the table of rates in his office, for his own guidance, and for the satisfaction of all persons desiring to see them. This Drummond insisted on reading as a direction to the deputy postmaster general to make all his communications from the postmaster general public, and he dilates on the disrespect of Heriot in withholding from the governor what he is under orders to disclose to the first comer.

All this is, of course, manifestly disingenuous, and does not impose on Heriot's superiors in the general post office. The secretary of the general post office in discussing Drummond's complaints, has words of commendation for Heriot's zeal and alacrity. He always considered Heriot a judicious, active and efficient officer. Governors, he affirmed, too commonly entertain the idea that the whole revenue of the post office should be devoted to extending the communications. Whatever view might be held as to the principle, Heriot at all events was precluded by his instructions from acting upon it without the express authority of the postmaster general.

While Heriot had, beyond question, given ample grounds for irritation on Drummond's part, it should be remembered, in dealing with the demand for Heriot's dismissal, Drummond was told that he had been sixteen years in the service, and had on many occasions received the thanks of the board. It might be sufficient to enjoin upon Heriot a more respectful attitude towardsthe governor, and consult with him as to the extension of communications, and the interests of the revenue.

The postmaster general concurred in the secretary's views. But the quarrel was now past mending, and when after repeated requests to be relieved, Heriot declared that no motive of interest or advantage could induce him to stay in the service longer than was necessary to appoint his successor, the postmaster general decided to accept his resignation.

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