Mr. Roebuck quoted this passage
and Sir George was in a serious dilemma. If he admitted it his evidence
would seem untrue, if he denied it then he must deny his authorship. He
admitted that the book was somewhat too flattering in its description.
But, take him all in all, Sir George really stood for his duty and his
people. He lifted the fur trade out of a slough of despond, he was kind
and charitable to the people of the Red River Settlement, he was a good
administrator and a patriot Briton, and though as his book tells and
local tradition confirms it, he could not escape from what is called
"the witchery of a pretty face," yet he rose to the position on the
whole as a man who sought for the higher interests of the vast territory
under his sway, as well as for the financial advancement of his company.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE OLIGARCHY.
The struggle has always been between the masses and the classes.
Privilege always strives to confine itself to a few. It could not be but
that the echoes of the great British Reform Bill of 1832 should reach
even the remote banks of Red River. The struggle for constitutional
freedom was also going on in Upper Canada, as well as in Lower Canada
where the French-Canadians were fighting bitterly for their rights.
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