When  Lord  Durham  was  appointed  High
Commissioner  to  Canada,  it  was  freely  said  that
Melbourne's  Cabinet  wished  to  get  rid  for  a  time
of  a  man  whom  they  could  not  work  with,  and
whom  they  dared  not  offend.  He  received  great
authority.  Not  only  over  the  whole  of  British
North  America  was  he  given  the  usual  powers
of  a  governor-general ;  he  had  besides  the  legis-
lative powers  of  the  Parliament  of  Lower  Canada,
now  suspended.  No  British  sovereign  has  ever
possessed  the  power  in  England  that  Durham
was  granted  in  Canada,  and,  considering  his
authority,  he  may  be  excused  if  he  took  his
mission  very  seriously.  An  elaborate  retinue
went  with  him.  He  demanded  a  chief  secretary
and  a  legal  adviser,  each  to  receive  ;^i50o;  a
military  secretary  at  ;^70o;  two  assistant  sec-
retaries at  £600  ;  eight  aides-de-camp,  and  so  on.
Pomp  and  display  he  loved.  The  newspapers
got  hold  of  the  fact  that  he  was  taking  his  gold
and  silver  plate  to  Canada,  and  there  were  many
jests  at  these  preparations  to  pacify  the  untutored


THE   EARL  OF  DURHAM


re      c    <


GOVERNORSHIP   OF  CANADA     31

habitants  of  Lower  Canada.  The  warship  Hast-
ings, in  which  he  went  out,  would  be  sunk,  it  was
said,  by  the  weight  of  his  plate.  When  he  dis-
embarked in  Canada,  it  took  days  to  remove  his
vast  and  interminable  baggage  from  the  ship.
