No one was allowed
to enter or leave the colony without permission, not from the colonists
but from the king. No farmer could visit Montreal or Quebec without
permission. No Huguenot could set his foot on Canadian soil. No public
meetings of any kind were tolerated, nor were there any means of giving
expression to one's opinions on any subject. The details of all this,
which may be read in Mr. Parkman's admirable work on "The Old Regime in
Canada," make a wonderful chapter of history. Never was a colony,
moreover, so loaded with bounties, so fostered, petted, and protected.
The result was absolute paralysis, political and social. When after a
century of irritation and skirmishing the French in Canada came to a
life-and-death struggle with the self-governing colonists of New
England, New York, and Virginia, the result for the French power in
America was instant and irretrievable annihilation. The town-meeting
pitted against the bureaucracy was like a Titan overthrowing a cripple.
The historic lesson owes its value to the fact that this ruin of the
French scheme of colonial empire was due to no accidental circumstances,
but was involved in the very nature of the French political system.
Obviously it is impossible for a people to plant beyond sea a colony
which shall be self-supporting, unless it has retained intact the power
of self-government at home.
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