A very serious economic disturbance was crippling the whole trade of the country, and made some persons—­happily very few in number—­believe for a short time that independence, or annexation to the neighbouring republic, was preferable to continued connection with a country which so grudgingly conceded political rights to the colony, and so ruthlessly overturned the commercial system on which the province had been so long dependent.  When he left Canada, Lord Elgin knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the two nationalities were working harmoniously for the common advantage of the province, that the principles of responsible government were firmly established, and that the commercial and industrial progress of the country was fully on an equality with its political development.

The man who achieved these magnificent results could claim an ancestry to which a Scotsman would point with national pride.  He could trace his lineage to the ancient Norman house of which “Robert the Bruce”—­a name ever dear to the Scottish nation—­was the most distinguished member.  He was born in London on July 20th, 1811.  His father was a general in the British army, a representative peer in the British parliament from 1790-1840, and an ambassador to several European courts; but he is best known to history by the fact that he seriously crippled his private fortunes by his purchase, while in the East, of that magnificent collection of Athenian art which was afterwards bought at half its value by the British government and placed in the British Museum, where it is still known as the “Elgin Marbles.”  From his father, we are told by his biographer,[2] he inherited “the genial and playful spirit which gave such a charm to his social and parental relations, and which helped him to elicit from others the knowledge of which he made so much use in the many diverse situations of his after life.”  The deep piety and the varied culture of his mother “made her admirably qualified to be the depository of the ardent thoughts and aspirations of his boyhood.”  At Oxford, where he completed his education after leaving Eton, he showed that unselfish spirit and consideration for the feelings of others which were the recognized traits of his character in after life.  Conscious of the unsatisfactory state of the family’s fortunes, he laboured strenuously even in college to relieve his father as much as possible of the expenses of his education.  While living very much to himself, he never failed to win the confidence and respect even at this youthful age of all those who had an opportunity of knowing his independence of thought and judgment.  Among his contemporaries were Mr. Gladstone, afterwards prime minister; the Duke of Newcastle, who became secretary of state for the colonies and was chief adviser of the Prince of Wales—­now Edward VII—­during his visit to Canada in 1860; and Lord Dalhousie and Lord Canning, both of whom preceded him in the governor-generalship of India.