N *S
LOUIS JOSEPH PAPINEAU.
THE
CANADIAN REBELLION
OF
1837
BY
D. B. READ, QC.
Author of " Thf, Lire* of the. Judyf.* of Upper Canada" " Life of Lieut.
Governor Simcoe," "Li/e of Sir I^aac Brock."
TORONTO :
C. BLACKETT ROBINSON
1896
ft
N 29854
*R/Ty
$78819
PREFACE.
CAELYLE, in the introductory chapter to his relation
of Cromwell's first civil war, wrote : " How has pacific
England, the most solid pacific country in the world,
got all into this armed attitude ; and decided itself to
argue henceforth by pike and bullet till it get some solu-
tion?" My object in writing the History of the Eebellion
of 1837 in Canada has been to endeavour to solve the
same problem in relation to that colony of the British
Empire. How far I have succeeded I leave to each
reader's individual judgment. I have sought to make fair-
ness and impartiality my governing principles in describing
the events of the time. The History is in some measure
political, but is not, I trust, written in the spirit of a partisan :
that I have tried to avoid. T submit the narrative to my
readers in the hope that they will justify my pretension.
THE AUTHOR.
TOEONTO, April, 1896.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Introduction French Surrender to Lord Amherst, 1760 Terms of
Surrender Treaty of Paris, 1763 King's Proclamation Bring-
ing into Force the Treaty Quebec Consjbitiivjflona.1 Ap.tj 1774
Intendant Bigot French Laws and English Laws Difficulty of
Administration General Murray Appointed Governor-General
Major Irving, Administrator Sir Guy Carleton, Governor.
CHAPTER II.
---- \sn&.rji\, jj
Constitutional Act, 1774>^Unsatisfaet6ry to British-Canadians Peti-
tion to Annul American Revolution of 1776 Sympathy of
French-Canadians Clergy Opposed American Congress Attempt
to Tamper with French-Canadians Montgomery and Arnold
Seignors and their Tenants Canadian Merchants in London
Demand Repeal of Quebec Act Legislative Council, its Unpopu-
larity Haldimand Succeeds Carleton as Governor The Militia
Organization French-Canadians Chafe Under English Rule Du
Calvet's Opinion of Canadian Sentiments Bigots and Agitators
Treaty of Peace, 1783 Americaand_Jn{r land Close of Haldi-
mand's Administration Lord Dorchester's Second Term as Gov-
ernor U. E. Loyalists Their Appeal to Divide Quebec Con-
stitution of 1791^
Provinces Divided Legislative Assembly Battle of Races JPapi-
neau, Member of Assembly Panet's Patriotic Speech Education
and Religion Assembly's Claim to Regulate Supplies Lord Dor-
vi. HKIIKLLION OF 1S37.
Chester's Instructions French Minister Genet Dissimulation
and Treachery Bishop Plessis' Advice to French-Canadians
Legislative Assembly Decidedly French Judge Osgoode French
Language, its Use in Parliament Tithes Immigration Sir
James Craig Acceptable to the French, but not to the English
Advises Re-Union of Provinces.
CHAPTER IV.
U. E. Loyalists John Graves Simcoe, First Governor of Upper
Canada First Parliament of Upper Canada Simcoe's Death
Peter Russell Administrator _Brilish_ancL American Insur-
gents Irish Rebellion of 1798 Governor Hunter and his
Administration Discontent in Lower Canada Governor Gore's
Administration Joseph Willcox, M.P., his Contempt of Parlia-
ment and Imprisonment Mr. Justice Thorpe Judge Scott
Difference of Parties on Local Government.
CHAPTER V.
U. S. Declaration of War Against Great Britain, 1812 French-Cana-
dians and English-Canadians at One in Defending Canada
American Hopes Built on Canadian Disappointments The War
of 1812, its Lessons and Consequences Sir George Prevost, his
Administration A Party in Opposition to Government Louis
Joseph Papineau Elected Speaker of Assembly of L. C. His
Great Ability Sir John Sherbrooke, Governor of Lower
Canada Concessions to the Province The Duke of Richmond
Succeeds Sherbrooke Napoleon and Waterloo The Duke of
Richmond Offends the Lower Canadian Assembly The Duke's
% Death in Canada Louis J. Papineau Delivers a Thoroughly
British^ Speech to Electors in Montreal Claim of L^~C. Assem-
blyLegislative Council and Assembly at Loggerheads Colonial
Office Endeavour to Heal Differences -Constitution of 1791
TABLE OF CONTENTS. vii.
Threatened Re- Union of Provinces Agitated Bill Brought
into House of Commons Bill Rejected Lord Dalhousie's
Administration Governor's Refusal to Recognize Papineau as
Speaker.
Governor Gore's Second Term War of 1812 and/ Its Rewards
Slow Fulfilment Robert Fleming Gourlay His Life in Canada
and his Trials He was Strong, Impetuous, Honest in his
Convictions His Advocacy of I/Immigration He Calls a Con-
vention to Discuss Canadian Affairs Indicted for Seditious
Libel Twice Tried, Twice Acquitted Finally Expelled from
the Province on Other Grounds His Address to the King
Imprisoned in England Return to America Declines to Sup-
port Mackenzie's Rebellion Subsequent Life Sir Peregrine
Maitland, Governor His Administration A Tory House
Liberal Measures Barnabas Bidwell Elected to Parliament
His Subsequent Expulsion Marshall S. Bidwell Elected Promt-
nent Figure in the Rebellion of 1837 William Lyon Mackenzie,
his Birth, Parentage and Early Life Mackenzie's Poetics Hisf
Arraignment of the Governor and its Consequences His Ban-
ishment Advocated.
ind RepumtcE
apineau and Republicanism Personalities Lord Dalhousie a
Soldier Sir Walter Scott's Estimate of Him Inaugurated
Monument to Wolfe and Moiitcalm His Departure from the
Province Sir James Kempt Succeeds Lord Dalhousie Endeav-
ours to Conciliate the French- Canadians Petitions to the King
Commending Constitutional Act of 1791, but Asking for Redress
of Grievances Sir James Kempt Receives Papineau as Speaker
Committee for Redress of Grievances Committee of House of
Assembly Disapprove Constitution of 1791 Arraignment of
i. REBELLION OF 1837.
Legislative Council Council and Assembly on Granting Sup-
plies Sir James Kempt 's~ Opinion of Legislative
Prepared to Revolutionize the Government ^Assembly Makes
Demands that Could Not be Granted-^TKe People and the
Press iRival Factions-^lfciots in Montreal-4?he Cholera Year
Legislative Council Increasedj^Jrnvgrn^r'n ^onniire on House of
Assembly for Refusing Supplies House Asks for an Elective
Legislative Council The Legislative Council Advise the King
that the Legislation of Lower Canada Assembly was Alarm-
ing Mr. Viger, Delegate in London Assembly Arraigns Lord
Aylmer, Governor Judges in the Assembly.
/
Mackenzie and the Reform Party Defects in Government Macken-
zie's Printing Office Attacked Type Distributed and Thrown
Into the Bay Action for Damages Mackenzie Profited by the
Rash Act Collins and the Newspaper, " The Freeman "Collins
Prosecuted for Libel Young Men who Attacked Mackenzie's
Office on Trial Convicted Mackenzie Did Not Countenance
Prosecution Report of Select Committee of House of Assem^
bly !^TJie Advocate's " Comments Thereon Offensive and Libel-
lousMackenzie Prosecuted for Libel Appeal to the Electors-
Alien Laws Mackenzie Makes Friends of Old Settlers Mac-
kenzie Not Admirer of the American Constitution Mackenzie's
' Address to Electors, County of York, 1827 Dr. Baldwin Mac-
kenzie's "Black List "-Mackenzie and Small Opposed Sir
Peregrine Maitland's Administration Colonial System of Gov-v
eminent Mackenzie's Activity Mackenzie's Thirty^wo Resolu-
tions Grievances Sir John Colborne, Governor The Execu-
tive Couj^l--Governor Responsible to English_Governmem
Incongruous Positionjrf Executive and Legislative Council-
Colonial Despatch ~to~~Sir~~James Kempt Death of George
^
/
TABLE OF CONTENTS. ix.
IV. Dissolution of House Tory House Reform Not a Suc-
cess Mackenzie Expelled the House of Assembly The Elec-
tion for York.
The Rebellion in Lower Canada Mr. Papineau and Despotism Des-
patch of Lord Stanley The King Will Not Assent to Elective
Legislative Council In the Future Institutions of Canada May -
/Be Modified The Monarchical Form Must Be Maintained _Papi-
,/ neau's Ninety-two Resolutions His Speech on Introducing to
A ssembly Ifhe Resolutions Resolutions Revolutionary Mr.
Morin Sent to England No^ Supply Bill P-j^sed by Assembly
Mr. Rpebuck and the English House of Commons Roebuck
Champion of Lower Canada Lord Stanley Checkmates Roe-
buck Resolutions Referred to Committee O'Connell and
Bulwer Members of Committee Hume and "Baneful Dom-
ination of Mother Country " Report of Committee on Ninety-
two Resolutions Mackenzie in London Agent of Malcontents
in Upper Canada Report of Committee Censured by Macken-
zie's Followers Grievance-mongers Roebuck and Hume Favour
Mackenzie and Papineau and Their Principles " Reform Com-
mittees and Constitutional Associations "-^& French Canadian
Killed tfitts Blood Must Be Avenged -^French Ascendancy in /
Lower Canada Lower Canada Assembly of 1835 Papineau at /
the Pinnacle of his Power Assembly Expunge Governor's
Speech from Journals Morin Moves Resolution to Consider
State of Province of Lower Canada Speeches of Papineau and
Gugy thereon.
Mackenzie's Prophecy in 1832 Papineau and Mackenzie in Con-
cert Reform Central Committee and Montreal Committee in
Correspondence Petitions to Home Government For and
REBELLION OF 1837.
Against a Change in the Constitution Lord Aylmer Informs
Lower Canada House that the British Government Were About
to Adopt Coercive Measures to Allay Discontent Papineaju's
Speech Defiant House of Commons Appoint Special Com-
mittee to Report on Canadian Grievances Gosford, Grey, And
Gipps Instructions to Commissioners Lord Gosford's Address
to Canadians Montreal Constitutional Association Organizers
Concession of Lord Gosford and British Government British
Party Dissatisfied Colonial Secretary's Concession to Macken-
zie Attorney -General Boulton Mackenzie, Mayor of Toronto
Mackenzie Acquitted of Personal Resentment House of 1835
Reform House Mackenzie's Seventh Report on Grievances
Reform Party Loyal to the Crown Lord Glenelg's Answer to
Seventh Report on Grievances SirF._B. Head, Governor
Parliament of 1836 Governor's Speech and ~ Assembly's
Answer Instructions of Government to Lord Gosford and
Criticisms ,, Thereon Assembly s Answer Papineau's Address
to Hcuse Shows Determination to Resist All Attempts at Con-
ciliation Dunn, Baldwin and Rolph Made Executive Council-
lors in Upper Canada.
Hon. Robert Baldwifr=~eser?ative by Nature Mackenzie Not
tthe Reform Party Reform Society of Upper Canada Their
Principles Announced Address to Inhabitants of British North
> America Governor Dissolves Upper Canada House, 20th May,
1836 Lower Canadians Distrust Royal Commission -Report of
Royal Commissioners Disappoints the Hopes of Revolutionists
Mr. Morin s Comments Thereon "Vive Papineau ; Vive la
Liberte"" Death of William IV. Ascension of Queen Victoria-
Lord Gosford's Attempt to Recyncile Lower Canada Excitement
at High Pitch in Upper Canada Upper Canada Elections of
1836 Riots and Disturbances " Bread and Butter " Parlia-
TABLE OF CONTENTS. xi.
t^
ment Question of Union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada
Agitated Confusion in the House -Declaration of Reformers
to People of Upper Canada, June, 1837 Public Meetings
"Liberty or Death" Plan for Revolt. A -"*
Movement Towards Rebellion Armed Men-^French and English
Organizations in Lower Canada Revolutionary Meetings
Inflammatory Speeches Papineau and Dr. Wolf red Nelson
Riot in Montreal Incipient Rebellion Warnings of the
Church Recommends Obedience to Authority Fire of Rebel-
lion Stronger than -Ever Birthplace of the Rebellion St.
Eustache, St. Charles, St. Denis Battles and Defeat of Insur-
gents "The Doric Club" Death of Lieut. Weir Papineau 's
Abandonment of Insurgents and Flight to United States His
Character and Aims. ^^
CHAPTER XIII.
Revolutionary Clubs Council of War Mackenzie Unfolds his
Plans How to Take Toronto and Carry Off the Governor
Hon. R. Baldwin Disclaims Knowledge of Rebellion Jack
Cade's Rebellion Mackenzie's Similar Mackenzie's New Con-
stitutionPublication in Mackenzie s Newspaper Trip to the
Country to Promulgate Constitution Mackenzie as a Recruit-
ing Sergeant Appointment to Meet in Toronto on 7th Decem-
ber Declaration of Independence Arms and Ammunition
Samuel Lount Dr. Rolph Alters the Day for Rising Discon-
certs Mackenzie His Plans Upset Tries to Retrieve Sir F.
B. Head Reluctant to Believe There Would Be Rebellion Col.
FitzGibbon's Activity and Foresight College Bell Rings Out
Alarm Mackenzie and Force at Montgomery's Col. Moodie
Shot Threshold of Rebellion.
x ii. REBELLION OF 1837.
CHAPTER XIV.
Sir F. B. Head Made to Realize the Situation Leaves Government
House at Night Makes City Hall the Headquarters, Tuesday.
5th December Preparing for Defence of City Picket Placed
at McGill Street Attack on Picket Rebels Retire Gover-
nor Sends Message to Mackenzie Under Flag of Truce-
Result Rolph and Baldwin Wednesday, 6th December Arms
Removed to Parliament Buildings "The Men of Gore"
Rebels' Threat to Burn Toronto Mackenzie Urges Attack on
City on Wednesday, 6th December His Men Refuse to Move
Dr. Rolph Flees for Safety Rebels at Yorkville Fire Dr.
Home's House Lount and Mackenzie Intercept Mail Van
Egmond His Arrival in Rebel Camp Plan to Attack City
Loyalists Force Take Rebels Attack Rebels at Montgomery's
Dispersion of Rebels Mackenzie's Escape Battle of St. Eus-
tache, Lower Canada.
CHAPTER XV.
Bishop of Montreal Deplores the. Rebellion and Its Result Sends
Out Circular to his Flock Bishop of Quebec Gives Thanks
that his Diocese Not in Rebellion Amei'ican Sympathizers ^^__^
Meeting in Buffalo -Rochester Follows Buffalo Doughty Deeds
in Contemplation Mackenzie Occupies Navy Island Pro-
visional Government for Canada Formed Van Rensselaer
Commander-in-Chief Proclamation to Inhabitants of Upper
Canada Loyalists at Chippewa, Sir Allan McNab in Com-
mandOperations Before Navy Island Burning of -the Steamer
Caroline Evacuation of Navy Island " Bois Blanc" Island
at Mouth of Detroit River Gen. Sutherland's Army of Inva-
sion Occupies -Sutherland's Proclamation Dr. Duncombe and
Rebel Rising at Brantford and Scotland Dispersed by McNab
Sutherland s Failure at Bois Blanc Sugar Island Van Rens-
TABLE OF CONTENTS. xiii.
selaer Occupies Hickory Island . in St. Lawrence Rebels and
Sympathizers Occupy Pelee Island, Detroit River Invaders
Attacked by British Troops and Dispersed Projected Attack on
Windsor and Fort Maiden Short Hills Hunter's Lodges
Prescott, the Battle of the Windmill Van Shultz.
CHAPTER XVI.
American Sympathizers Rebellion Carried On Without the Prov-
ince Foreign War Carried On by Irresponsible Americans
Determined to Avenge Prescott Assemble at Detroit Gen.
ITandy's Proclamation Land at Windsor Destroy Property
Met by Loyalists and Repulsed Col. Prince Mackenzie Dis-
satisfied with the American Allies Will Rely on Himself and
Canadians Mackenzie Has no Faith in the United States
Regrets the Rebellion that he Had Stirred Up Admits his
Mistake Should he Be Forgiven ? His Penitence Sincere
Trials, Imprisonments and Executions Lord Durham, Gov-
ernor His Report Constitution of 1841 Mackenzie, Papineau
and Rolph Members of the Union House Conclusion. v
CHAPTEE I.
Introduction French Surrender to Lord Amherst, 1760 Terms of
Surrender Treaty of Paris, 1763 King's Proclamation Bring-
ing into Force the Treaty Quebec Constitutional Act, 1774
Intendant Bigot French Laws and English Laws Difficulty of
Administration General Murray Appointed Governor-General
Major Irving, Administrator Sir Guy Carleton, Governor.
HE who undertakes to give an account of the Rebellion in
the Canadas in the year 1837, will not do his duty fully
unless he take into consideration the state and condition of
things as they existed in the Colony for some considerable
time before the actual breaking out of the Rebellion.
Especially is this the case in regard to the Province of
Lower Canada, the principal seat of the rebellion, in which
a war of races has been carried on more or less ever since
Canada became a British possession. The French Cana-
dians, in what is now the Province of Quebec, are 'a loyal
people loyal to the British Crown. The longer they were
under British rule, their allegiance from a variety of
circumstances grew stronger, until they attained to the
full measure of political manhood. But this was not
always so. It is ever to be borne in mind that at the
beginning, the French Canadians were intensely French,
and that they were newly created British subjects by virtue
2 REBELLION OF 1837.
of conquest, and the surrender of their country by a French
king, who was so neglectful of his French-Canadian subjects
as to withhold from them the necessary aid when most
needed to successfully contend with British power.
When* Lord Amherst took over the old Province from
Vaudreuil, the French Commander at Montreal, in 1760,
the French Commander in the interests of his people
exacted from the British certain conditions and stipulations
which the British Commander on his part freely accepted.
The stipulations which were proposed and agreed to, or
rejected, were in substance as follows :
1. French troops to evacuate ; British troops to take possession.
2. French troops and militia to go out with honors of war.
3. Same privilege granted to outer posts.
4. Militia to return to their homes without being molested.
5. The same in effect as stipulations 2, 3> 4.
6. Deserters to be pardoned.
7. French arms and ammunition of war to be delivered up to His
Britannic Majesty's Commissaries.
8. Wounded or sick officers and soldiers, seamen and even Indians
to be treated the same as British officers and soldiers.
9. Matter of detail as to Indians.
10. In effect the same as 9.
11. Marquis of Vaudreuil and all other officers to be masters of their
own houses in Montreal, and to embark when the King's
ships shall be ready to sail for Europe, and all possible con-
veniences granted them.
12. Marquis of Vaudreuil to be conveyed to the first seaport in
France by the straightest passage. Archives necessary for
Government to remain in Canada.
13. Provides for eventualities in case peace declared, and if by Treaty
Canada to remain to His Most Gracious Majesty of France,
then the status quo to be established.
TERMS OF SURRENDER. 3
14. Provides for deportation of Chevalier De Levis and officers to
France.
15. Same as to M. Bigot.
16. Same as to the Governor of Three Rivers and his equipage.
17. Same as to soldiers and seamen.
18. \
19 > Unimportant matters of detail.
20. j
21. Provides for deporting of the Indians and other civil officers if
they think fit to go 3 or they may remain.
22. French officers, if consent of Marquis of Vaudreuil obtained,
may remain in Canada till next year to look after their
families.
23. French King's Commissary may remain in the Colony till next
year to settle up his affairs.
24.)
25. > Unimportant details.
26. J
27. Proposal of Vaudreuil: "The free exercise of the Catholic,
Apostolic and Roman religion shall subsist entire in such
manner that all the states and the people of the towns,
countries, places and distant posts shall continue to assemble
in the churches and to frequent the sacraments as heretofore,
without being molested in any manner, directly or indirectly.
These people shall be obliged by the English Government to
pay to the priests the tithes and all taxes they were used to
pay under the Government of His Most Christian Majesty."
Answer of Amherst to 27: "Granted as to the free
exercise of their religion ; the obligation of paying tithes to
the priests shall depend on the King's pleasure."
28. The chapter, priests, curates and missionaries shall continue with
an entire liberty the exercise and functions of their cures in
the parishes of the towns and countries.
29. The Grand Vicars granted free exercise of their functions
(granted, except what regards article 30).
30. If by the Treaty of Peace Canada should remain in the power of
His Most Christian Majesty, His Most Christian Majesty
shall continue to name the Bishop of the Colony, who shall
2
4 REBELLION OF 1837.
always be of the Roman communion, and under whose
authority the people shall exercise their religion.
Answer of Amherst : " Refused."
31. Comprised in 30.
32. Community or nuns preserved in their constitutions and privileges .
33. Proposal same as 32, as to Jesuits, Recollets and St. Sulpice.
Answer of Amherst : "Refused till the King's pleasure
be known."
34. Provides for preservation of movables and estates of priests.
35. The communities or orders in 33 may go to France, if they choose,
in King's ships free of expense, and take their movables or
sell them in Canada.
36. Permission given to French, Canadians and Acadians to go to
France if they choose, and the English general to procure
them a passage.
37. French and French Canadians in Canada to be allowed to retain
their possessions.
38 1
39. > As to Acadians and Indians.
40. J
41. Neither the Acadians or French remaining in the Colony forced
to take arms against His Most Christian Majesty.
Amherst's answer : " They remain subjects of the King."
42. Proposal. "The French and Canadians shall continue to be
governed according to the customs of Paris and the laws
and usages established for the country, and they shall not be
subject to any other imposts than those which were estab-
lished under the French Government."
Amherst's answer : " Answered by the preceding article
and particularly the last."
43 )
to > Of no political importance.
55. }
The stipulations entered into between the two Com-
manders at Montreal were but initiatory to a treaty being
afterwards concluded between the French and English
nation, and culminated in the Treaty of Paris, 1763.
There are 22 articles or clauses in the treaty which are of
TREATY OF PARIS. 5
importance from a Canadian point of view. The 4th is the
most important, as relating to the future government of
Canada. This article, after agreeing to the cession of
Canada to Great Britain, proceeds as follows : " His
Britannic Majesty on his side agrees to grant the liberty of
the Catholic religion to the inhabitants of Canada. He
will consequently give the most precise and effectual orders
that his new Eoman Catholic subjects may profess the
worship of their religion according to the rites of the
Romish Church as far as the laws of Great Britain permit."
There were three " separate articles " having the same
force as if they were inserted in the treaty and are appended
to it. The 2nd of these is as follows, " It has been agreed
and determined that the French language, made use of in
all the copies of the present treaty, shall not become an
example which may be alleged or made a precedent of, or
prejudice in any manner, any of the contracting Powers ;
and that they shall conform themselves in the future to
what has been observed with regard to, and on the part of,
the Powers who are used, and have a right to give and
receive copies of like treaties in another language than
French ; the present treaty having still the same force and
effect as if the aforesaid custom had been therein observed."
A Royal Proclamation was issued by His Britannic
Majesty to carry into effect the Treaty of Paris on the 7th
October, 1763, and this Proclamation really formed the
Constitution of the old Province of Quebec, which comprised
the whole of Canada, from 1768 to 1774, when the British
6 REBELLION OF 1837.
Parliament passed the Quebec Act, under which Canada was
governed from 1774 to 1791. An examination of the two
documents, the stipulations entered into at Montreal and
the treaty, reveals some marked differences. As, for
instance, the 27th Proposal of Vaudreuil in the stipulations
was " that the free exercise of the Catholic, Apostolic and
Roman Eeligion should subsist entirely, in &uch manner
that all the states, and the people of the towns, country
places and distant posts, should continue to assemble in the
churches and to frequent the sacraments as heretofore,
without being molested in any manner, directly or in-
directly, and that these people should be obliged to pay to
the priests the tithes and all taxes they were used to pay
under the government of His Most Christian Majesty."
Lord Amherst seems to have been willing to grant the
French Canadians the exercise of their religion, but either
would not or could not impose on the people the obligation
to pay tithes to the priests. This he reserved for the King's
pleasure. We find that when the King's pleasure came to
be expressed, His Majesty was not willing to grant the free
exercise of the Catholic religion, except in a modified form :
hence, in the 22nd article of the treaty it is said " That
the Eoman Catholic subjects may profess the worship of
their religion, according to the rites of the Roman Church
as far as the laws of Great Britain permit."
As under the laws of Great Britain the Roman Catholics
at that time labored under many disabilities, the difference be-
tween the treaty and the stipulations become more marked.
TREATY OF PARIS. 7
The proposal of Vaudreuil by the 42nd article was
"That the French Canadians should continue to be
governed according to the custom of Paris and the laws
and usages established for the country, and that they
should not be subject to any other imposts than those
which were established under the French Eegime."
Amherst's answer to this proposal seems to have been
simply that the French Canadians should " remain subjects
of the King," in other words that they were to conform to
English laws. There is neither in the articles of surrender
nor in the Treaty any stipulation granting to the French
Canadians the ancient law, language or customs of France,
or of Canada under French Government. The terms on
which the evacuation was based were most liberal. It is
questionable if any other power than Britain would have
been as generous to the vanquished. Not only were the
French officers and soldiers given free choice to return to
France or remain in the colony, but free passage was
granted them if they chose the former alternative. The
result was that 185 officers, and 2,400 soldiers, 500 sailors,
domestics, women and children, all embarked for France,
and that, too, at the expense of Great Britain. Besides
the soldiers and officers of the Regular Army of France,
many of the French Canadian officers who had fought for
France in defence of the Colony, and others, the most
notable French and French Canadian people of the Prov-
ince emigrated to France. It has been estimated that
after this exodus no more than 70,000 people, most of
8 REBELLION OF 1837.
I
whom were of French extraction, were left in the whole of
Canada. M. de Vaudreuil in a letter to the French
Ministry, lamenting the great loss the French nation had
sustained by the cession of Canada to Great Britain, said,
" With these beautiful and vast countries France loses
" 70,000 inhabitants of a rare quality, a race of people
" unequalled for their docility, bravery and loyalty. The
"vexations they have suffered for many years, more
" especially during the five years preceding the reduction
" of Quebec, all without a murmur, or importuning their
"King for relief, sufficiently manifest their perfect sub-
" missiveness."
In this letter Vaudreuil comments on the loyalty of the
French Canadian people. This loyalty was loyalty to
France, for which indeed they had been conspicuous, and in
a degree higher than the French people had been to the
Colony. To this day the French Canadians believe that if
France had acted up to her duty and supplied the Colony
with regular troops, in anything like the proportion
required to cope with the British invading army, she
would not have had to deplore the loss of a country which
her subjects had originally explored, appropriated and held
for one hundred and fifty years. The time had arrived
however when the corruption of the French officials
governing in Canada had reached such a pitch that it were
better for the world that some other power should relieve
them of authority. With men like Intendant Bigot in the
high places of the country, the country was suffering from
MILITARY RULE. 9
a (lisease which strong measures only could cure. It
seemed not in the power or will of France to apply the
necessary remedy, and thus it fell to Britain to rescue the
country from the vultures that were preying on the old
domain.
"The beautiful and vast countries" depicted by Vau-
dreuil in his letter to the French Ministers, by the cession
at Montreal certainly changed owners, but in regard to
loyalty it could hardly be expected that their loyalty to the
French Crown could or would in a day be merged in
loyalty to the English Crown.
The kind of government which superseded the French
government, covering the years 1760, 1761, 1762, 1763,
when the treaty was made with France, was necessarily
one of military rule, and it can be easily conceived that a
people wholly French could not easily become reconciled
to English laws, administered by English officers, who
understood neither the language, manners nor customs of
France as they existed in Canada at the time of the
surrender of the Colony. It is to be borne in mind, too,
that until the capitulation was confirmed by treaty, it was
a matter of uncertainty with the French Canadians whether
after all England might not restore to France her ancient
Colony. She had on a previous occasion, in 1625, taken
Quebec, thereby becoming master of Canada, and after an
occupation of three years, given back by the Treaty of St.
Germain-en-Laye, Canada, Acadia and Cape Breton to
France. Might she not now again in a spirit of generosity,
10 REBELLION OF 1837.
or for an equivalent, surrender Canada to her ancient
Mother Country ? The articles of the capitulation show that
there was hope left to the French Canadians that the old
regime might still claim their allegiance. The 13th article
of Capitulation provided for eventualities in case peace was
declared, and " if by Treaty Canada should remain to His
Most Christian Majesty," the status quo was to remain.
The Treaty of Paris was signed in September, 1763 ; never-
theless that did not make an end of military rule. It is
difficult to conceive how any other rule would have answered
the circumstances of the situation. Here was a people but
recently conquered, with hardly a Briton amongst them,
the Military only excepted. It would have been just as un-
wise on the moment to give them representative institu-
tions as it would have been at once to have given repre-
sentation to the newly conquered people of India. England
did the best she could, adjusting differences through
military channels, with interpreters where necessary, to
aid in the taking of evidence and making the decisions of
the tribunals understood. All this however was very gall-
ing to the French Canadians, so long used to the laws and
customs of old France. Many of the inhabitants, where
differences between them arose, constituted a tribunal of
their own and submitted their disputes to this tribunal. A
large number bowed themselves to Ecclesiastical authority
and accepted the priest as their law-giver and judge.
Thus was brought about a confidence between the Church
and the people, which has ever been a leading characteristic
of French Canadian polity.
(10VERXOR MURRAY. 11
The people, always restless under British rule, through
agents they had in London applied to Lord Halifax, the
Secretary of State, for a restoration of French jurisprudence
and maintenance of the old Colonial Church establishment,
complained against Martial law, and even went so far as to
make demands for the maintenance intact of the Quebec
See. The British Government could not yield to these
demands. The King on the 17th September, 1764, made
an ordinance, " that in the Supreme Court, sitting at
Quebec, His Britannic Majesty was present in the person
of his Chief Justice, having full power to determine all
civil and criminal cases, agreeably to the laws of England
and to the ordinances of the Province of Quebec." This
ordinance was no doubt made by the King to encourage
English immigration into the Colony. The French were
not satisfied ; they would like to have had control of the
Province and all its resources, though but a recently
subjected people.
This was the condition of affairs when, in 1764,
General Murray was appointed Governor-General of Canada
in place of Sir Jeffrey Arnherst, then in England on leave,
who did not return to the Province.
On the inauguration of General Murray the form of
governing took a somewhat different shape. The purely
military character of government was changed into a quasi-
civil government, the Governor-General attaching to. him-
self an Executive Council composed of twelve persons, all
of whom, with the one exception, were British born. The
12 REBELLION OF 1837.
exception was a native Canadian of no note in the Colony
appointed, as the French Canadians considered, merely to
give some colour of Colonialism to the new institution. The
Canadians plainly saw in this a determined policy of the
British Government to exclude them from any considerable
participation in the government of the country. There
can be no doubt whatever that this was the policy of the
Home Government, and it is difficult to see how, at that
time, any other policy would be safe, in the conservation of
the country, obtained through the spilling of much British
blood. The instincts of the Canadians were French to the
core, and being largely in the majority and permitted to
rule, the case would have been one of the conquered ruling
the conquerors. From a French Canadian point of view
the condition of things was very embarrassing. They
sighed for their old laws and customs, which they could
not have under a Council constituted for the palpable pur-
pose of administering British law : and they could not have
representative institutions, because the British Government
well knew that if such institutions were granted there
would be no hope for the British settlers in the Province,
who, if few in number, were strong in their affections for
the purely British system of government, or one as near to
it as was consistent with Colonial government, especially
in a Colony composed, as it was, of people nine-tenths of
whom were alien to the British race. Suspicion of the
loyalty of the Canadians to the King of England constantly
affected the British mind in the Province. So great was
yj GOVERNOR MURRAY, 13
.s suspicion and fear of conspiracies that the Executive
Jouncil would not permit an assemblage of the French
Canadians without two of the Council being present and
with power to disperse the meeting if they thought fit.
During Murray's time a few English settlers came to the
Province, mostly artisans and adventurers on the lookout for
some official position under the Government. The native
Canadians were so much distrusted that Canada afforded
a field for persons of this latter class and the consequence
was that the Governor became surrounded with a body of
individuals who had no sympathy with the Canadians, and
the Canadians had no respect for them. Besides, the new
>mers were all Protestants. In an estimate made by
eneral Murray for the information of the British Govern-
t, he computed the number of Protestants in Canada
1765 to have been 500. In the District of Montreal
ere were only 137 Protestants.
With a Protestant population so disproportionate to
the French Catholic population, and yet the Protestants
appointed to office and not the French, it was inevit-
able that there should not only be antagonism between
the French and English Colonists, but also that re-
ligious strife should prevail. Thus we find that during
the whole of Murray's administration, there was more or
less of a rebellion, inactive it is true, but nevertheless a
rebellion, in that part of the Province of Quebec contiguous
to the towns of Quebec and Montreal, caused by religious
and political differences on the part of the population.
14 REBELLION OF 1837.
General Murray was followed by Major Irving,* who
was administrator of the Province for the period interven-
ing between General Murray's resignation and the appoint-
ment of Sir Guy Carleton, which took place in 1766.
About this time trouble was brewing in the New Eng-
land Colonies, and Sir Guy Carleton, well knowing the
wishes and the interest of the British Government in view
of a revolt in the Colonies, was disposed to pursue a pacific
policy with the French Canadians. The French Canadians
on their part knew how necessary it was for the British to
secure their allegiance, at a time when Britain would
require the service of every able-bodied man she could
secure in the Canadian Colonies, to oppose the rising tide
of American Revolution. The whole subject of the govern-
ment of Canada was brought before the British Ministry.
The Canadian high officials and the English high officials,
civil and military, were active in endeavoring to propound
some scheme by which the French Canadians would become
reconciled to their position as British subjects. Some were
for rigidly enforcing English law in its entirety for the
governing of the Colony, with the English language alone
as the official language. Some would have re-established
the " Coutume de Paris " and the old French laws in their
entirety. Others were for a combination of English law
and French law, an amalgamation of the English language
with the French language, and a general consorting of
opposing elements. To put an end to the matter, Sir Guy
.Emilius Irving, Q.C., Treasurer of the Law Society, is a grandson of Major
Irving.
GOVERNOR CARLETON. 15
Carleton repaired to London to inform the official mind of
the condition of affairs in the Colony and the necessity
that there was of reconciling contending interests. The law
officers of the Crown, both in England and the Colony, were
consulted, and the result was a partial victory for the French
Canadian party. In the words of the French Canadian His-
torian Garneau, who glories in the triumph of his race, " The
British Government deferred, till the year 1774, yielding the
points at issue ; and it may be said that the revolution
(American Eevolution) which saved the freedom of the
United States, obliged, (mark the word obliged), Great
Britain to leave the Canadians the enjoyment of their
institutions and laws, in other words to act justly by them,
order to be able to retain for herself at least one Province
in the New World."
It may be quite truly asserted by Garneau that the
imerican Eevolution had much to do in influencing the
British Government to yield to Canada concessions for
which the French Colonists hacl been long clamoring, but
it ought not to be overlooked that the British party in the
Province was as strongly opposed to the system of govern-
ment then existing as were the French. It is evident that
both parties were acting on the same lines, only in a
different way and for a different object. The British party
wanted a Eepresentative Assembly on the model of the
British House of Commons, in which Assembly there should
be hone but Protestants, as was then the case in the British
House of Commons, and so would have excluded the
16 REBELLION OF 1837.
French Catholics from all participation in government ;
while the French party would have had a Representative
Assembly, including the French Catholics, which, from their
superior numbers, would have given them the full control
of the civil and religious institutions of the Province. In
short, the British party sought for British rule, while the
French party were willing to submit to British form of
government, but wanted actual French rule. The out-
come of the whole matter was that a compromise was
effected, and the Quebec Act of 1774, the first written
Constitution of the Province of Quebec, was enacted by the
British Parliament, which gave to the Canadians their
old civil law, but in order to secure good government
retained the British system of criminal law.
CHAPTER II.
Constitutional Act, 1774, Unsatisfactory to British Canadians Peti-
tion to Annul American Revolution of 1776 Sympathy of
French-Canadians Clergy Opposed American Congress Attempt
to Tamper with French- Canadians Montgomery and Arnold
Seignors and their Tenants Canadian Merchants in London
Demand Repeal of Quebec Act Legislative Council, its Unpopu-
larity Haldimand Succeeds Carleton as Governor The Militia
Organisation French-Canadians Chafe Under English Rule Du
Gal vet's Opinion of Canadian Sentiments Bigots and Agitators
Treaty of Peace, 1783 America and England Close of Haldi-
mand's Administration Lord Dorchester's Second Term as Gov-
ernor U. E. Loyalists Their Appeal to Divide Quebec Con-
stitution of 1791.
of ITTj^nust be carefully considered in
order to" trace tne causes which led to the Rebellion^ of
1837- By this Act the Province was given the laws of
(Tanada, " Coutume de Paris " (the custom of Paris), as
the foundation of their civil law, the English law in regard
to criminals being retained. The Governor of the Province
was to appoint a Legislative Council of not less than
enteen, nor more than twenty-three members, to be
composed of the French and English colonists. This
Council was to have power to make any necessary laws,
subject to the approval of the British sovereign, and the
Catholic inhabitants were relieved of the operation of the
was
sev
18 REBELLION OF 1837
Test Act. At the outset this Act was very satisfactory in
the eves of the French-Canadians, as by it thejr gained the
controj._of_pub]ic affairs. It was not so satisfactory to the
English settlers, who had begun by this time to pour into
Canada in considerable numbers. Especially was this the
case in the Ohio valley, then a part of Canada, in which
region there was a population of twenty thousand English.
The English settlers on the banks of the St. Lawrence,
about Montreal and Quebec, were not so much exasperated
with the Act, inasmuch as they were near enough the sun
of the political world to enjoy the benefit of its rays.
Petitions were got up in the Colony and in London
praying that the Act should be annulled. The Canadian
petition was presented to the House of Lords inMaj 7 , 1775,
but at the instance of Lord Dartmouth was rejected.
By this time the guns of the American Eevolution were
being heard in New England, reverberating throughout the
English- American Colonies, and extending even to the
bank of the St. Lawrence and the French settlement in the
Province of Quebec. Nor were there wanting sympathizers
with the Revolution among the Anglo-American as well as
among the French-Canadian population of the Colony. It 1
is to the credit of the Canadian clergy and the seigniors
that they did not countenance defection in Quebec. The
clergy, indeed, well knew that if the Revolutionists suc-
ceeded in their rebellion against the British Government
and became a separate nation, the danger of maintaining
French laws and the Roman Catholic religion in Quebec
INVASION OF AMERICANS. 19
would be immensely increased. The seigniors well knew
that the success of the Americans implied the depriving
them of the dues and exactions which they enforced on
the inhabitants. The masses, however, of the French-
Canadians were not unfavourable to the cause of the
Revolutionists. A large number, led away by the cries of
"liberty andequality," the catch-words spoken, and the drag-
nets thrown out to captivate the unthinking and uneducated,
were shaken in their allegiance and well nigh engulfed.
After the affair at Lexington, in April, 1775, and the sub-
sequent capture of Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point, the
Americans, in the autumn of the year, sent an army under
Schuyler and Montgomery to take the fort of St. John, in
the Province of Quebec. Sir Guy Carleton, the Governor,
had then but 800 regular troops at his disposition, and called
ipon the surrounding parishes to assist in repelling the
ivasion. This, however, they declined to do, and remained
issive.
The Chambly parishioners were actively hostile in their
jinonstration, and according to Garneau, the French
listorian, " nearly the whole militia of the district of Three
Rivers refused to march at the command of the Governor,
. . . the Chambly villagers joined an American detach-
ment, under Majors Brown and Livingston, whom Mont-
gomery sent to take a small fort there, which was disgrace-
fully yielded up after thirty-six hours' investment by Major
Stopford. Stopford struck his flag and gave up his sword
to the lucky Americans, who found in the fort seventeen
pieces of ordnance and much gunpowder a warlike
20 REBELLION OF 1837.
munition of which Montgomery was all but destitute pre-
viously, and whose acquisition now enabled him to press
the siege of St. John vigorously, the men of Chambly
taking part therein. Thus did the frontier contest,
through the partisanship of some Gallo-Canadians, take
the colour of civil law."
It is not to be disguised that there were also many of
the British settlers in Quebec, and more American settlers
who were favourable to the American cause, the former
very much influenced by what they termed the un-British
government given to the Province of Quebec, and the latter
___by the same spirit of revolution which animated the
Colonial Americans. Thus we find that in the old French
I Province, more than sixty years before the Eebellion, there
\ was, to say the least, an unsettled state of things which
\ showed how lightly the people of that Province, or the major-
1 ity of them, esteemed the Government which had been given
I them, by the Imperial Parliament. During the American
I Revolution the greatest efforts were made by the American
I Congress to induce the French-Canadians as a whole to
I declare for independence and secession from Great Britain.
I In this they never succeeded. The French-Canadians of
the Province of Quebec were divided in their allegiance.
Fathers were against sons and brothers against brothers.
The allurements held out by the Americans induced some
even to join their ranks, but the influence of the seigniors
and clergy was sufficient to restrain the French Colonists
as a people from accepting the advantages offered them by
their neighbours south of the St. Lawrence.
AMERICANS RETREAT. 21
Addresses were made to the French-Canadians by the
American Congress urging them to join the Revolutionary
standard. Commissioners were sent from Washington to
persuade the French clergy to look favourably upon the
American revolt. All was of no avail. While sundry of
the French -Canadians were willing to profit by the Revolu-
tion, their leaders could not be prevailed upon to see that
eir condition would be improved by going over to the
ivolutionists.
The defeat of Montgomery and Arnold at Quebec, and
e retreat of the Revolutionary Army which had invaded
,nada, strengthened the hands of the British Loyalists
d the unaffected French-Canadians, and ihe^jiabi^ants^
were able once more to sit down by their own firesides and
once more enjoy the comforts of peace. The Governor was
no longer prevented from exercising his civil functions, and,
in 1777, was able to call together the Legislative Council,
given by the Quebec Act of 1774, for despatch of business.
This Council proceeded to enact measures in harmony with
the design for which it was created, a design to promote
and foster British influence in the Colony. The French
element of the Council at first submitted with a good grace
to the situation, but soon began to perceive that events were
directing their deliberations into a channel not so favour-
able to the French-Canadians as they had hoped for.
The American Revolution was still in progress, and it
became necessary to protect the militia from the seeds of
rebellion which the revolting Americans were sowing in
their midst.
22 REBELLION OF 1837.
The seigniors, members of the Council, abandoned by
most of their tenants during the American invasion, were
now willing to place restraints on those tenants ; they were
now disposed to uphold British supremacy, which in the
view of many of the French-Canadians was the abasement
of their race. Many ordinances were passed during the
first session of the Council, lasting several days, which
while fulfilling the desires of the wealthy and more aristo-
cratic class of the community, were distasteful to the lower
and middle classes and to the rural population. It was
said of the seigniors that they leaned to the side of the
British to protect their own interests, and this was true in
more senses than one. The seigniors had use for their
tenants at home, instead of encouraging their engaging in
revolutionary propaganda. Their tithes and dues were the
source of their income, and how could those tithes and rents
be got in if the tenant was neglecting his fields and his
crops in the glorious uncertainty of war ?
The antagonism to the Council had gained such head,
that Canadian merchants in London presented a memorial
to the Colonial Secretary, demanding either the repeal of
the Quebec Act of 1774 or the creation of a Legislative
Assembly. The answer of the Colonial Secretary was that
it would be dangerous to change the Constitution so long
;is the rebels were still in arms on the Colonial frontier.
The Legislative Council, as created, does not seem to have
been satisfactory either to the British party or to the French
party. The habitants had not full confidence in their
French-Canadian colleagues, while the French-Canadians
I
GOVERNOR HALDIMAND. 23
of the Council found the Council to be too British. Governor
Carleton endeavoured to be as neutral as his position would
allojv. Whether acting on their own opinion, or whether on
the recommendation of Governor Carleton, it is not neces-
sary to enquire, but in 1776, the British ministry for some
reason instructed Governor Carleton to constitute a Privy
or Executive Council, to be carved out of the Legislative
Council ; and Carleton, acting on these instructions, formed
Privy Council composed of five members, himself and
r other members of the Legislative Council, all British
nationality and sentiment. Governor Carleton did not
ng remain to exercise these functions, as his services
ire required in other fields, and General Haldimand was
pointed to succeed him in the government.
Haldimand was a man of imperious disposition a very
ier ; he could not tolerate anything akin to disaffection,
the midst of a hostile community he knew how to keep
wn revolution. If he was obliged to resort to what seemed
'bitrary measures the fault was not his, but is to be attri-
buted to his surroundings. His first step was to look well
the militia. He compelled these to train and place
emselves in a position to resist a second invasion by the
olting Americans, which he had good reason to suspect,
e was not over confident of the loyalty of the militia, and
Jew that the Americans were directly or indirectly tamper-
l with the allegiance of King George's French-Canadian
--bjects. Full of well-founded suspicion and distrust,
General Haldimand ordered many persons to be committed
to prison, some of whom may have been innocent, but the
24 REBELLION OF 1S37.
majority were tainted. All this was necessary to preserve
the Colony to the British Crown, but nevertheless was re-
garded as despotism by the French-Canadian population.
Indeed it is difficult to say what conduct on the part of the
British officials of whatever degree was not considered
tyrannical by the French-Canadians. The history of the
times abundantly proves that they were chafing under
British rule, but where could they turn for relief? Their best
advisers, their clergy, were able to show them that if they
joined the Americans in their revolt and should gain inde-
pendence, their second state would be worse than the first ;
and if they turned their eyes to France, there they would
find a country on the verge of revolution, making herculean
efforts to get rid of the monarchy and the clergy and replace
them by a Eepublic of Reason. The French, Spanish and
Americans were in alliance to overturn Monarchical and
Colonial rule in America. The French-Canadians were true
sons of old France, and had inherited love for the institu-
tions of their ancestors. England had given them a Con-
stitution, which if properly worked would, in their estima-
tion, cure all the evils they endured, or at any rate it was
better than joining themselves to a Republic such as
America was likely to become, and be submerged in the gulf
of democratic assertiveness. The real feelings of the French-
Canadians at the time is well illustrated by Du Calvet, a
prominent French Colonist, a Protestant Huguenot, who
suffered imprisonment at the hands of General Haldimand.
After dwelling on his personal grievances, he said : " How
sad a thing it is to be vanquished ; our brothers' blood shed
the
Can
quei
dit
,
FRENCH DISCONTENT. 25
on the field of battle cries to us from the ground ; but
bodily wounds, however deep, will heal in time. It is the
constant pressure of the victor's hand when the struggle is
over that is the ' iron ' which enters the soul ; and to be-
come the bondmen of another race, itself living in freedom,
is the most intolerable part of our fate. Can it be that our
slackness in not holding out longer against our conquerors,
has merited their contempt, as our first earnest efforts in
shunning the yoke excited their ire."
The racial question here unmistakably "peeps out from
the blanket of the dark," and shows* the Frenchiness of the
adian mind. Nor was this at all unnatural. A con-
quered people are not likely soon to forget their old nation-
ality. It takes time to reconcile them to the new order of
things. The British Government has ever been solioitous
to make their lot a happy one. Leaving out the disturb-
ances which sometimes crop up under the inspiration of
bigots and agitators, the French population of the Province
of Quebec are as happily situated as any people of the
colony of any nation in the world. It is too early, how-
ever, to enlarge on this at this stage, as there is much more
to be considered before we can fully comprehend the spirit
which has constantly from the time of the conquest been
giving vent to complainings at the existing state and con-
dition of affairs.
At thisperiod of Haldimand's administration the French-
nadian had much to disturb him on all sides. He was
discontented at home, and still so kept in restraint that he
could not conveniently take refuge abroad, even though
26 REBELLION OF 1837.
Lafayette and his followers from France, espousing the
quarrel of the American Colonists in their contest with
England, would fain have had them join the Eevolutionary
flag. General Haldimand took great care to keep the
inhabitants he was sent to govern well within the lines of
their allegiance. It is in a sense surprising that the
French-Canadians were not caught in the toils of the rebel-
lious Americans. They saw them, towards the conclusion
of the Revolutionary War, gaining successes. Lafayette
was a French hero fighting the battles of the Americans,
and a French army was operating in the cause of the
Revolutionists ; yet, notwithstanding all this, the French
Canadians as a people were never gained over to the
Revolutionary cause. In the prevention of this, as has
been said, much was due to the French clergy, but at the
same time too much credit cannot be given to General
Haldimand for his firm hand in upholding British rule in
the old French Colony.
Events were now so shaping themselves that General.
Haldimand's official connection with Canada would be soon
brought to a close. The Americans and their allies, the
French, were successful in defeating General Abercrombie
at Yorktown in 1783, and this led to a Treaty of Peace
between England and America in September, 1783, thus
ridding Canada, at all events for the present, of the med-
dling of the Americans in Canadian affairs, and their efforts
to undermine the loyalty of the Canadians. The treaty
had another beneficial effect on the Province, as it was the
means of abrogating Military government in the Colony,
LORD DORCHESTER GOVERNOR. 27
remitting the people to their ancient condition and peace-
ful pursuits, thus enabling them to ponder over the past,
and make comparison between the periods of turbulence
and peace. As a proof that at this time the French
descendants very much preferred Canada, and its Constitu-
tion, to American Republicanism, there is the significant
fact that many of the Acadians, whose woes have been so
eloquently described by Longfellow in his beautiful
" Evangeline," came to settle in Canada upon the coasts
of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
General Haldimand's administration, after six years'
service in the Colony, was brought to a close in 1784,
when he repaired to London, where he was met by Du
alvet, who did his utmost to discredit him with the British
ernment. This is not surprising, however, when it is
nsidered that Du Calvet had his private grievances to
avenge, on account of his imprisonment by Haldimand,
as a subject in friendly intercourse with the revolting
Americans.
Du Calvet was in Paris in 1783, and there applied to
Benjamin Franklin, the resident Ambassador of the United
States, and sought his interest to obtain payment from
Congress for the equipments he had furnished the Ameri-
cans, which established pretty clearly that he was more of
a Gallo-American than a Gallo-Canadian. In the year
1785, Sir Guy Carleton, under the title of Lord Dorchester,
was again called upon to take charge of the government
of Canada, a government with which he had become
familiar from his past experience in the Colony. At this
28 REBELLION OF 1837.
time, the Legislative Council of the Constitution of 1774 was
in great disrepute. Its members were divided into camps,
some English, some French, some of a hybrid character,
indifferent to the real welfare of the Colony, so long as
they basked in the sun of Vice-Kegal favour and enjoyed
the emoluments attached to their official position. Matters
had got to be so bad in this respect that Lord Dorchester
was instructed to institute an enquiry into the whole
political condition of the country, civil, military, judicial,
agricultural, educational and commercial. This he set
about doing on his arrival and assuming the duties of his
high office of Governor General. It was found that
affairs were in a very bad condition. Judges were on the
Bench, some of whom would administer law according to
the French system, while others contended that the Act of
1774 conflicted with previous ordinances, and ought not
to be obeyed. Others again agreed that in matters of
descent and property generally, the French law was to pre-
vail, while some went so far as to contend that the Britons
should have the advantage of 'English law, while the French-
Canadians should be regulated by "La Coutume de
Paris."
In civil matters, it was found that there was a great
divergence of opinion among the people. The British party
wanted English law in its entirety, with trial by jury in
civil cases, and the English system of conveyancing, etc.;
while the French party, still clinging to their old laws of
property and civil rights, would have had a change in the
Constitution, a representative assembly, abolition of the
UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS. 29
feudal tenure, and other measures of a like kind, which
would have given the control of the whole machinery of
government to the persons most unfitted to carry out a
British government in a British colony. In religious
matters, the French-Canadians demanded full control, quite
independent of British or any other interference. In
matters of education, the Colony was sadly deficient.
Before the conquest there had been the Jesuit College at
Quebec, where young men received a liberal education, but
that was now a thing of the past. The college existed no
longer. The Seminaries in a measure supplied the place
of the Jesuit College, but in a minor degree, while as to the
rural population, they were wholly without education or
the means of obtaining it. The consequence was that such
education as there was, was confined to the few who could
afford to pay for the advantages offered by the Seminaries.
Some of the priests in the outer districts gave instruction
to a few of their parishioners, less in secular than in
religious teaching. It can easily be gathered from this
how much better able the British part of the population
was to administer public affairs, so that everything con-
spired to place the French-Canadians in an inferior position,
though they were in a very great numerical majority.
The American Eevolution being now over, and the Treaty
of Peace between Great Britain and the United States
signed, those who had been loyal to the King's cause during
the Eevolution were obliged to take refuge in , other lands.
Those, who received the designation of United Empire
Loyalists, flocked into Canada in great numbers. What is
30 REBELLION OF 1837.
now called Ontario, and before that Upper Canada, was
not then known as a Province. The whole territory, to-
gether with a great portion of what is now known as the
United States, was called the Province of Quebec. A con-
siderable number of the United Empire Loyalists took up
their homes on the seaboard of the lower St. Lawrence
River. Lord Dorchester well knew that these United
Empire Loyalists would not long submit to be governed by
French law, such as was then enforced in Quebec. In
order to meet this emergency, an ordinance in Council was
passed, which Lord Dorchester proceeded to carry out,
dividing the whole of Quebec into five districts, giving to
what was afterwards Lower Canada the name of the Gaspe
district, and dividing what was afterwards known as the
Province of Upper Canada, into four districts, under the
names respectively of Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nassau
and Hesse. This was done with the view of simplifying
the government of the whole region. In 1789, the United
Empire Loyalists, who had settled in the four latter districts,
demanded to be governed by the English and not by the
French law, which they neither cared for nor understood.
The British party in the district of Gaspe, now largely
composed of United Empire Loyalists, sympathising with
those in the other four districts, also demanded the absolute
repeal of the Constitution of 1774, and the entire suppres-
sion of French law in every part of Canada.
The United Empire Loyalists, used to representative
government in the New England States, were not willing
to do with less in Canada, where they had taken refuge for
PROVINCES DIVIDED. 31
their protection. Two parties thus arose in the Canadian
Colony^ the United Empire Loyalist party, and the French
- party, and these parties were, if possible, more English
and more French than those which had preceded them.
"The United Empire Loyalists had been at war with their
neighbours in the United States for many years, and it
was not to be expected that they would willingly succumb
to French rule in a British Province. How then could the
Colony be governed in such a way as to satisfy the aspira-
tions of both parties ? Should British representative insti-
tutions be given to the whole of Canada, or should that part
of it, the district of Gaspe, in which the French-Canadians
were largely in the majority, be left to rejoice in their
ancient laws, and the rest of Canada be given the English
law ? Here was a problem for British statesmen to solve,
and Mr. Pitt, who was Prime Minister at that time, was
not unequal to the situation.
He introduced a Bill in the House of Commons, to divide
the Province of Quebec into two sections, to be called res-
pectively Lower Canada and Upper Canada, on the lines
previously stated. In introducing this Bill, he said that this
separation will put an end to the competition between the
old French inhabitants and the new settlers from Britain
and the British Colonies. In imitation of the Constitution
of the mother country, he should propose a Council and
House of Assembly for each ; the Assembly to be constitu-
ted in the usual manner, and the members of the Council to
be members for life ; all laws and ordinances of the Province
to remain in force till altered by the new Legislature. The
32 REBELLION OF 1837.
Habeas Corpus to be continued as a fundamental principle
of the Constitution. Land tenures were to be settled in
Lower Canada by the Local Legislature. In Upper Canada,
the settlers being chiefly British, all such tenures were to
be in common socage. To prevent any the like dispute as
that which separated the thirteen states of the mother
country, it was provided that the British Parliament should
impose no taxes, but such as might be necessary for the
regulation of trade and commerce ; and to guard against
the abuse of this power, all imposts were to be levied and
disposed of by the Legislature of each Province.
The Bill remained in abeyance for some time, meeting
with very vigorous opposition from the British party in the
Colony as well as by merchants of London, who had trade
relations with Canada. It was thought by these opponents
that the provisions of the Bill were entirely too favourable
to Lower Canada. Notwithstanding the opposition, however,
it went to a third reading, and was passed without a division
by both the Lords and the Commons. This was the Con-
stitutional Act of 1791, which for many years was the law
for the government of affairs jn both the Canadas. The
principal features of this Act were :
1. The English Criminal law for both Provinces.
2. A Legislative Council; the members of which to be appointed by
the Crown for Life ; Lower Canada to have fifteen members
and Upper Canada seven.
3. A Legislative Assembly, of at least fifty members in Lower
Canada, and sixteen in Upper Canada, for the time.
4. Electors to have property qualifications, two pounds sterling
annual value in the rural districts, and five pounds in the '
towns. Tenants in rural districts paying an annual rent of
ten pounds could vote.
CONSTITUTION OF 1791. 33
5. All powers of legislation for the Colony to reside in the Assembly
and Legislative Council conjointly, the King having a veto,
and his representative a power of delaying any act he might
disapprove of. The duration of each Parliament not to
exceed four years ; the two houses to be convoked in session
once at least in every year, and all questions in debate to be
decided by a simple majority vote.
6. An Executive Council, to be of Royal nomination, to advise the
Governor, was instituted, with the powers of a Court of
Appeal in Civil matters.
So far as the Province of Lower Canada was concerned, t
the different sections or parties in the Province, in order to
understand the full meaning of the Act, thought it necessary
to form a Club, called a " Constitutional Club," for the
disseminating the requirements of the Act, and to make
plain its provisions. It is always to be borne in mind
that the French-Canadians were the dominant party, and
that in the chief City of Montreal nine-tenths of the
population were French. The political opinions of the
Club may be gathered from the toasts which were drunk at
a meeting of the Club shortly after the Act of 1791 was
proclaimed. They were :
1. Abolition of feudal tenure.
2. Civil and Religious freedom.
3. Liberty of the press.
4. Freedom and integrity of jurymen.
5. The French Revolution.
6. The Polish Revolution.
The most noticeable toast was the first Abolition of
the feudal tenure. There can be no doubt that for many
years before the Act of 1791, the feudal tenure was con-
sidered to be a real grievance by the habitants of the
I
34
REBELLION OF 1837.
Lower Province, and now that an opportunity is afforded, a
public assembly of a quasi-national Club, regardless of
ecclesiastical influence or Seigniorial power, declares for
abolition of the tenure. As we proceed with the relation
we will see whether or not the boon of the new Constitution
given to Quebec proved a cure for the ills to which the
Province was subject.
CHAPTEE III.
Provinces Divided Legislative Assembly Battle of Races Papi-
neau, Member of Assembly Panet's Patriotic Speech Education
and Religion Assembly's Claim to Regulate Supplies Lord Dor-
chester's Instructions French Minister Genet Dissimulation
and Treachery Bishop Plessis' Advice to French-Canadians
Legislative Assembly Decidedly French Judge Osgoode French
k Language, its Use in Parliament Tithes Immigration Sir
James Craig Acceptable to the French, but not to the English
Advises Re-Union of Provinces.
IE dividing of the old Province of Quebec, and the estab-
hment of the two Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada
by the Act of 1791, was thought by the English people to
ark an epoch in Colonial history, inasmuch as the Prov-
ces now established were jjjven Legislative Assemblies,
which was considered by many to be equivalent to giving
the right of self-government^ to the Colonies. The French -
Canadians had clamored for a government which should
enable them to manage their own affairs, but had they got
it '? Were they even able to work out their destiny by this
tov, so comely to look at, but difficult to manage ? The
;t difficulty they met with was the constitution of the
sembly. By virtue of their great numbers, they had the
ver to exclude wholly from this branch of government
evervone who was not in accord with French -Canadian
toy
firs
:;
evi
I
36 REBELLION OF 1837.
sentiment. This course, however, if adopted, would not
only have been ungracious, but would have shown the on-
looking world how incapable they were of driving the car of
state. The mass of the French-Canadians were jieyoid of
that education which fits a man for parliamentary^ service .
TEere were educated men among them, chiefly of the
seignior, notary and~^romt class, but the rural population
had not had the means of storing their minds with the
knowledge necessary for representatives of the people. The
want of such men could only be supplied by drawing on the
British element for legislators, in sufficient numbers to at
least fulfil the duties of one of the four wheels of the coach,
and thus prevent a breaking down of the equipage.
It was felt that the experience of the Anglo-Canadians
would be of service in the guiding of the chariot of
state, until such time as sufficient knowledge could be
gained to enable them to conduct affairs unaided.
In the first Assembly under the Act, the majority of
whose members were French-Canadians, there were never-
theless fifteen members of British origin, who owed their
election to French-Canadian support. This support was
generously given, but whether or not it was as generously
received the reader must judge. There may, be a great
divergence of opinion on this as on other matters which
affect the relations existing, or which did exist, between
the different races in the Province of Quebec.
When the Assembly met, and it became necessary to
elect a Speaker, the question at once arose whether the
Speaker should be English or French. The British party
BATTLE OF It ACES. -* 37
wanted one of their race elected Speaker, while the other
party wanted a French-Canadian. Much discussion took
place in the House over this matter, the British contending
that in a British Province there should be a British Speaker,
and one who spoke the English language, and the French-
Canadians contending that the very object of the Imperial
Parliament, in granting a Eepresentative Assembly to the
Province of Quebec, was to give the French-Canadians con-
trol over, at least, this branch of the Legislature and that
thejSpaaker should be of theirjra.ee. whether he could speak
English or not. The speaking part of his functions could
be accomplished through an interpreter.
The battles of the races waxed hot and furious. Ai.
Papineau, a member of the Assembly, and father of that
Louis Joseph Papineau so celebrated in the history of
Canada as leader of the Rebellion of 1837, emphasized his
adherence to the interests of the French-Canadians by de- .
claiming : " Is it because Canada forms a part of the British
Empire that Canadians who speak not the language in use
on the banks of the Thames, are to be deprived of their
natural rights ?" Thus we have the race and language
question cropping up for the first time in a Canadian Eepre-
sentative Assembly, and who so likely to have raised the
question as a Papineau, the ancestor of that great man who
for national love sacrificed much, rebelled fiercely, suffered
much, but at the last died a peaceful death at his home,
Montebello, on the banks of the Ottawa, a faithful subject
of the Queen.
38 REBELLION OF 1837.
The French-Canadians in the House generally favoured
the election of a French-Canadian Speaker, but one among
them, more liberal than the majority, impressed with the
importance of maintaining the English character of the
Assembly, was very outspoken in his opposition to the
sentiments expressed by the French majority. This mem-
ber was Mr. P. L. Panet, who said : "Is not this country a
British possession ? Is not the English language that of
the Sovereign and the British Legislature ? Ought we not,
then, to speak English in British legislational halls, whether
located in London or Quebec ? "
It was in vain that the British party in the House,
augmented by the support of M. Panet, heroically fought
against a French-Canadian being elected to preside over
the Assembly. Mr. J. A. Panet, a namesake, if not a rela-
tive of the M. Panet who had taken a part with the English
side, was duly nominated and elected to the Speakership by
the proportion of two to one of the members in a full House.
Mr. J. A. Panet could speak both languages, English and
French, so no harm was done, excepjfc showing the cleavage
between the two racesTEnglish and French.
An equally difficult question as that of the election of
Speaker engaged the members at this first attempt at
legislation, in the beginning of the representative period in
the Province of Lower Canada. This was, how were the
minutes of the proceedings of the House to be kept ? In
French or in English ? Again the parties divided, each
according to his nationality espousing the French or
English side, with as much zest and vigour as in the old
*
SUPPLY BILLS. 39
days before the American Eevolution, when the Colonial
New Englanders and the French assailed each other, as
they felt in duty bound, to mark the enmity which existed
between their respective parent states. In this case a com-
promise was effected and the minutes ordered to be kept in
Jboth languages.,,.
A fruitful -subject of discussion during the first session,
which lasted into 1792, was the subject of education. The
Jesuit Estates what should be done with them? And the
Convents, the Eecollets andJJrsulines what was to become
of them ? Were they to be razed to -the ground, or to be
preserved ? These are subjects, however, which cannot
said to have had any direct bearing upon the Kebellion
1837. They had their day, and may be suffered to pass^
to oblivion. The Eebellion of 1837 was neither an educa-
tional or religious war, hence we are relieved from consider-
g these questions, foreign to the matter in hand.
Another and much more important question, in a "poli-
tical sense, than either education or religion, next disturbed
the Legislative Assembly. The French-Canadians we
full} 7 alive tothe fact that unless their Assembly coul
obtain full control of taxation and finance, the Act of 1791
would be of but little value to themj so they at once set
their faces against any part of the supplies for the support
of Government being provided for by the Imperial Govern
merit. One of the most, if not the most important resolu-
tions of the House in the first session, was that in which
the House declared that the voting of subsidies belonged
40 REBELLION OF 1837.
exclusively to them, and that no supply bill could of right
be amended by the Legislative Council in any way.
It looks strange to us at this day, so well have we become
acquainted with the British Constitutional form of govern-
ment, that it should have been found necessary to raise
such a question in the Assembly. But we must remember
that in 1792, Colonial Government had not, nor indeed had
the British Parliament itself, attained that pitch of excel-
lence which is exhibited at the present day. At that time
Colonial rights were hardly regarded. The Eoyal prerogative
held sway over all the British Dominions. The British
Government, at the very time the Assembly's resolution
was passed, was furnishing part of the funds for carrying
on the government of the Province, and demanded, in
return, a controlling and active part in the administration
of the affairs of the Colony.
Nor was this altogether unreasonable, when we consider
that if a different course had been pursued at that time,
the British part of the population would have thought
themselves entirely forsaken by the parent state. British
emigration would have been discouraged, if not altogether
prevented, and that which was supposed to be a British
Colony handed over to the alien race who could never forget
the laws, the customs, the language and the religion of
their ancestors.
Lord Dorchester, who was never at any time an
unpopular Governor, resumed the office in 1793, armed
with new powers for the endeavour of pacifying the French-
Canadians. He came to the Colony with instructions from
GENET. 41
the Home Government that the two Seminaries of Quebec
and Montreal, as well as the religious communities of
women, should remain in perpetuity, being administered in
accordance with the rules of their foundation.
Lord Dorchester realized his position and responsibility,
at a time when the spirit of Bevolution was abroad . France
was in a condition of wild delirium over her success in
getting rid of her king, by regicide, and was, as she vainly
imagined, the instrument by means of which all monarchies
were to be felled to the earth and the brazen idol of
Republicanism set up in their place. In the year 1793,
she had as her Minister in the United States a fit emissary
such a government, built on treachery, dissimulation,
fraud, massacre and murder. Genet was this man.
France had declared war against England, and Genet
did his utmost to embroil the United States in the war,
and would have succeeded, if President Washington had
ot, with firm hand, opposed his schemes.
Genet nextjntrigued with the French-Canadians.^ He
ent emissaries among them with the purpose of under-
mining their allegiance. Lord Dorchester was on the
watch tower. In the session of 1793, he directed the
attention of the Legislature to the organization of the
Militia, and, to thwart the design of Genet, induced the
Legislature to pass an Act authorising the Executive to
suspend the operation of the Habeas Corpus Act, and thus
obtained a ready means of disposing of any agents that the
French Minister might send into the Province, to propagate
Eevolutionary notions.
42 REBELLION OF 1837.
The session of 1793 was a long one, lasting from
November to June. It was a stormy session, and resulted
in the passing of only six acts, which goes to prove that
the legislators of that day were in no special hurry to get
through with their business. The Governor, in proroguing
the session, cautioned the members, when returning to
their homes, to diffuse among the people a spirit of loyalty,
and the avoidance of all traitors and traitorous con-
spiracies.
M. Plessis, the then parish priest of Quebec and after-
ward bishop, on a public occasion took particular pains
to admonish his flock that gratitude as well as interest
should prevail with them to be loyal to the British Crown.
His words were : " Our conquerors, regarded at first with a
jealous eye and lowering brow, inspired in us feelings
only of detestation or aversion. We could not be
persuaded that a race of men, strangers to our soil, to
our language, to our laws, to our worship, could ever
be willing to render to Canada an equivalent to Canada
for what it lost by changing its masters. Generous Nation !
which has made us aware by so many evidences
how ill founded were our prepossessions. Industrious
nation ! which has developed the earth's fecundity
and explored its hidden riches. Exemplary nation !
that in critical times, taught the attentive world
wherein consists that liberty which all men desire to obtain,
but so few know how to keep in proper bounds. Pitying
nation ! which has just welcomed, with so much humanity,
the most faithful, yet worst used subjects of that realm to
BISHOP PLESSIS. 43
which ourselves once belonged. Beneficent nation ! which
daily gave us men of Canada fresh proofs of its liberality.
No, no, your people are not enemies of our people, nor are
ye despoilers of our property, which rather do your laws
protect ; nor are ye foes to our religion, to which ye pay all
due respect. Pardon us, then, for that our first distrust-
fulness of a foreign race, whose virtues, being as yet unex-
perienced by us, we had not the happiness to know; and,
if after being apprised of the overthrow of the monarchy
and the abolition of the only right of worship in France,
and after experiencing for thirty-five years the gentleness
of your domination, there remain among us some natures
purblind enough, or of such an evil disposition, as to revive
past antipathies, or awaken in the popular mind disloyal
wishes to revert to French supremacy, let Britons be
assured that such beings are rare among us ; and we beg
that what may be true of the malcontent few, will not be
tputed to the well-disposed many."*
These were noble words from such a distinguished man
M. Plessis. The sentiments thus expressed were the
sentiments of the best disposed of the French-Canadians,
but there was then, as there ever has been in Canada, both
French-Canadian and English-Canadian, a class of men,
who, not content with the great privileges they enjoy under
the British system of government, stretch out their hands
for Republicanism, whose name sounds so well to many
ears, but to others is but as sounding brass or a tinkling
cymbal. But in the words of M. Plessis, "We beg that
* This refers to the emigrant nobles and priests driven from France by the
Revolution, who sought refuge in England and her Colonies.
44 REBELLION OF 1837.
what may be true of the malcontent few, will not be im-
puted to the well-disposed many."
In 1795, the Seigniorial question was again to the front,
f owing to the fact that many of the old French Seigniories
had fallen into the hands of Britons, who were not satisfied
with the old tenure and the old scale of rents.
The French-Canadians, always attached to their old
laws and customs, to the contribution of just so much corn
to the Seigniorial Mill, to the exact payments demanded by
the Seigniorial system, to the established rents under the
old laws, would not hear of a change being made. Despite
the efforts of the English Seigniors, all of which were
directed to an increase of charge, the old habitants would
not move an inch. The House of Assembly, reflecting their
opinions, refused to alter the terms of land holding, thus
disappointing the hopes of what the French-Canadian called
the avaricious landlord.
The Second Legislative Assembly was more pronouncedly
French than the first. The course taken by the English
members of the First House in regard to the exclusion of
the French language, their vote on the Speakership, and on
other questions which the French-Canadians claimed were
antagonistic to their interests, impelled the Electorate, so
largely French- Canadian, to exclude from the halls of
Parliament many of the English members to whom they
had formerly given their support. Mr. Panet was again
elected Speaker by a large majority of the votes of the House.
General Prescott was Governor when the second Parlia-
ment assembled. It was indeed convened by him. The
GOVERNOR PRESCOTT. 4.-,
name of Prescott is familiar to most Canadians, from the
fact that Prescott, in the County of Grenville, where the
Battle of the Windmill, in 1837, was fought, is so named to
commemorate him.
Perhaps the most important of the political acts of
Governor Prescott, was that he obtained from the Parlia-
ment an Act vesting the Executive Council, or any three of
its members, with the power of ordering the arrest of parties
accused or merely suspected of treason or seditious prac-
tices. Nor was this power untimely conferred, for the
French Kepublic had been continuously industrious in
spreading Eepublican notions in Canada. Many of the
habitants, allured by the successes that the French troops
had gained in Spain, Austria and Italy, were disposed to
be rebellious. The French Minister to the United States
had boldly advised the Canadians to throw in their lot with
the French Republic, which intended to invade the Colony
and raise troops there to fight the battles of the French
nst the English.
It was at this time that a man named McLane came
into the Province of Lower Canada and, visiting Quebec,
was detected making drawings of the fortifications. He
was arrested, tried and condemned to death as a traitor.
A general feeling of uneasiness among the officials pre-
vailed in Canada. Many of the habitants were suspected
of Revolutionary tendencies, which caused the Governor to
tighten the reins of government. There were not wanting
those who insisted that there was no cause for uneasiness,
and who asserted that this uneasiness was brought about
46 REBELLION OF 1837.
by self-interested hangers-on of the Government, who
instilled such notions into the minds of their superiors for
the purpose of profiting by their suspicions.
The Crown lands afforded a fine field for the exploitation
of enterprising Englishmen, and not a few of them were
tempted to engage in speculation in wild lands. The Land
Board, at this time, was made up of members of the Legis-
lative Council, and we have seen how largely the British
interests predominated in that body. Judge Osgoode
was a member of the Council and consequently of the
Land Board. The Imperial Government warned Governor
Prescott to allow nothing to take place in this department
which might irritate the French -Canadians, and when
Judge Osgoode espoused the cause of the British claimants,
he was immediately /brought into collision with the
Governor. It was not convenient, at this time, that
important political differences between high government
officials should be allowed to pass unnoticed, and the
breach between the Governor and the Judge was
summarily healed, by the removal of both from the
scene of conflict. The Governor was recalled and Osgoode
resigned his position.
These events occurred in the years 1798 and 1799.
It is a singular fact, of apparent inconsistency, that
while there were undoubtedly French-Canadians who
were made uneasy by the French Revolution, Sir
Robert Shore Mimes, who succeeded General Prescott
as Governor, on opening the session of Parliament in
1799, was able to thank the Canadians for moneys
GOVERNOR MILXES. 47
they bad subscribed to defray the cost of the war of
Britain against the French Revolutionists.
During the session, one of the members of the
/3ffYU^-tJ
Legislative Assembly named Bone was expelled from
the House for swindling, notwithstanding which he
was twice subsequently returned by the electors, and
was only finally rendered ineligible by an Act of the
Parliament of 1802.
The subject of language was one which very much
concerned the British inhabitants of Lower Canada at
this time. In this second Parliament, one-fifth of the
members were British, and four-fifths French and
French-Canadian. The English members, not being
able to speak the French language, were not able to
make themselves understood by the other members of
the House. Hence, their presence there was of very
little benefit to themselves or their constituents. Still,
the English representatives were not without influence
with the Government, which influence reacted to a
certain extent in the legislative body. The English
representatives were all State officials, three Judges,
four Executive Councillors and other office holders.
They may also be said to have been the Government.
They were able to induce the Legislature to pass an
Act for the foundation of a Eoyal Institution of
learning, and to endow the same with Crown lands.
The appointment of the President and Directors of
this body was placed in the hands of the Governor,
Sir Piobert Shore Milnes. The Governor was very
48 REBELLION OF 1837.
well known to very much favour the existing party,
and it was now hoped that by diffusion of knowledge,
by means of the English language, throughout the
Province, under control of the Eoyal Institution, the
much desired object, English government and institu-
tions would be obtained.
Two colleges, one for Quebec and the other for Mont-
real, were accordingly established to make the system
complete. Unfortunately, in carrying the scheme into
operation, the Protestant Bishop was appointed President
of the Eoyal Institution. This was quite sufficient to
prevent the French-Canadians from giving the Institution
or the Colleges any support whatever. They became
alarmed lest their faith and their language should be
sacrificed to the evil designs of the English party. There
was no use for colleges or schools without scholars. With
the Canadians standing aloof the experiment was a decided
failure, and the English idea and the English language
received a blow from which it took some years to recover.
Another subject which agitated the people about this
time was the creation of new parishes. The Executive
attempted to lay out new parishes. To this the Church
took exception. The Eoman Catholic Church, in the Prov-
ince of Lower Canada, has always maintained that, under
the Treaty, the ecclesiastical authorities, and they alone,
have the right to set apart parishes ; that the State has no
control whatever over them ; that a disarrangement of
them would seriously interfere with the. system of levying
tithes ; that, at all events, their retention is necessary to
DISPUTE AS TO TAXATION. 49
preserve the status of the Eoman Catholic Church in the
Province. There was a man in the Government service,
who held his post for many years, who was always ready
to combat this ecclesiastical pretension. That man was
Mr. Byland, the Secretary of the Province. Mr. Eyland
was a man of great influence, and, had his advice been
followed, the Church in the Province of Lower Canada
would have been shorn of much, if not all its power. He
would not only have done away with tithes, but with the
licensing of priests by the papal authority and every other
semblance of ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
We have now arrived at the year 1804, and find the
racial differences not only not lessened but, if anything,
increased. British merchants were commanding the trade
of Canada. With British merchants, other Britons, of
the agricultural and artisan classes, were taking up their
positions in the Province. It may be that it was in conse-
quence of this immigration we hear more of the racial
difficulty than before. With population comes taxation.
The public necessities of the Province required that taxes
uld be levied in some shape to meet the expenditure.
e question was, what form should this levying of imposts
take ? Should the tax be levied on land or goods, in other
rds, a land tax or a commercial tax ? The British mer-
ihant was very averse to a tax being levied on his goods,
thus increasing the price to the consumer. The French
party, on the other hand, were equally opposed to levying
tax on land, 'which was for various reasons not adapted
The
The
tak
wo
Chi
50 REBELLION OF 1837.
to new countries. The Assembly, largely French, favoured
the taxation of commerce.
As was often the case in Lower Canada, when questions
of this nature arose, and there were radical differences
between the parties, appeals were made to the British
Government and to the British Parliament. The Colonial
Office was deluged with petitions urging the different views.
The question was an important one as settling, once for
all, the future government of the Province in the matter
of taxation. ^ As was more frequently the case than other-
wise, the French-Canadians got the ear of the British
Ministry. An Act of the Assembly for levying the required
tax on goods was assented to by the Governor, no doubt
under instructions from the Imperial Government, and all
French Lower Canada was jubilant. The habitant, always
docile to his religious superiors, ready to pay a tax to the
Church, escaped the unpleasant duty of a tax to the State,
and was happy. The Church was happy because the
habitant was pleased and was not rendered less able to pay
his tithes.
But what of the British residents ? Sour and discon-
tented, they submitted because the higher authority so
decreed, but rage and chagrin rankled in their breasts.
The Quebec Mercury, the organ of the British party
in the Province, was moved to say, " This Province is
far too French for a British Colony. After forty-seven
years' possession, it is now fitting that the Province
become truly British."
SIS JAMES CRAIG, GOVERNOR. 51
Whether or not it was to emphasise the opinion
of the English inhabitants, so expressed in the
Mercury, or for other reasons, Sir James Craig was
sent out to Lower Canada as Governor in time to open
the Parliament of 1808. There has perhaps never been
a Governor of Canada who had the misfortune to
so thoroughly antagonize the French-Canadian party as
Sir James Craig.
A military man, with no experience in the Senate, he
was essentially a man of war and not of peace. The
new Governor had not been long in the Province
before he waged war upon the Assembly, and showed
his want of confidence in the Militia by having
erased from its rolls several of the most important
officers. Mr. Panet, who had the confidence not only
of this Assembly, but of the two previous Assemblies,
and was their Speaker, met with the displeasure of
the Governor because he was, or was supposed to be,
one of the proprietors of a newspaper, Le Canadian,
published in the French interest. This newspaper
was very outspoken in its comments on Govern-
ment and Government placemen, which brought it
into disfavour with the reigning powers. There was.
nothing treasonable in Le- Canadien's utterances,
but it was sufficiently abusive to earn the resentment,
not only of the Governor and those surrounding him,
but of a majority of the British population.
The first session of the Assembly, under Sir James
Craig's administration, was a stormy one. The Governor,
52 REBELLION OF 1837.
the Legislative Council, and the Assembly were at
logger-heads. Sir James, a Briton, believed it his
duty to act as a Briton, and always favoured the
Council, the majority of whose members were British,
as against the Assembly which was French-Canadian.
The session only lasted thirty-six days, and, for all
the good that was effected, might as well have never
been called. The Governor, in proroguing the Assembly,
which he also dissolved, after lecturing the members
in a style more appropriate to a despotic Sovereign
than a Constitutional Governor, wound up his speech
by saying to the House, "You have wasted by fruitless
debates, excited by private and personal animosity,
or by frivolous contests upon trivial matters of form,
that time and those talents, to which, within your
walls, the public have an exclusive title."
As if to add fuel to the fire, the Governor took
occasion to discriminate between the Council and the
Assembly, by telling the Council that the meagre
result of the sessional labours did not lie at their
door. There were only five bills passed during the
whole session, of which three were renewals of former
Acts.
The British party, in the principal towns in the
Province, were delighted with the rating the Governor
had given the Assembly, which tended to widen the
breach between the Governor and the French-Canadians.
Le Canadien, in relation to the Governor's speech,
said : " The King's Eepresentative has power by law to
FRENCH AGGRESSION. 53
dissolve the House when he thinks fit to do so, but
he has no right whatever to make abusive remarks,
such as his harangue contained, upon the action of
the Legislature, a body which is absolutely independent
of his authority. The respect due . to this branch is
as sacred and as inviolable as that due to His
Excellency himself, and those reflections became him
all the less, that upon the Governor is the duty
specially imposed of paying due respect to that branch
of legislature as well as to all other parts of the
Government."
As was to be expected, the strong language used
by the Governor was resented, not only by the French-
Canadian organ of French-Canadian opinion, but by
the Assembly. This branch of the Legislature, at
the succeeding session, declared the Governor's strictures
a breach of privilege and dangerous to the liberties
of the people. The Deputies, members of the
Legislature, thought that the Governor's action was
prompted more by the officials surrounding him than
by his own natural impulses. It now became quite
evident to the Assembly that they must bring these
officials under their influence and control. The way
effect this was to make the placemen dependent
on the Assembly for their salaries. Hitherto, they
had received their income from the English exchequer,
or from sources entirely independent of the Eepre-
sentatives of the people in Parliament. The embroglio
between the Governor and the Assembly was in the
54 REBELLION OF 1837.
end productive of good, as it caused the Assembly
to declare that it was now prepared to assume the
whole cost of civil government.
There had before this date been established in
the Province a Court, called the Court of King's
'.; . . '
Bench ; Monsieur De Brune was judge of that Court
and partial to the Government. He was also a
member of the Assembly. This body, in order to get
rid of him, humble the Governor, and assert their
complete independence of office holders, declared that
Judge De Brune should be expelled the House.
Sir James Craig thereupon in turn became incensed
at the House and their proceedings, stigmatized the
act of the Assembly as unconstitutional, and prorogued
the Legislature. According to the Constitutional system,
then in force, the Governor was right and the
Assembly wrong. It may have been a mistake
that judges should engage in politics and be elected
members of the Assembly, but there was no law
against it at that time ; and the Assembly had no
more right to expel Judge de Brune than they would
have had to expel any other member of the Legis-
lature.
The repeated causes of difference between the
Governor and the Assembly, together with the apparent
disposition of the members of that body to oppose
everything British, or British-Colonial, so influenced
the Governor that he thought the time had come to
apprise the British Government that Canada was on
RE- UNION A D VISED. 55
the brink of a volcano. He saw, or affected to see
before him the spectre of a Eevolution, in imitation
of the Eevolution in Prance, if of smaller dimensions,
and in communicating with Lord Liverpool, the British
Minister, denounced the French-Canadians, in no
stinted terms, as unworthy of confidence ; that they
were ignorant, disloyal, enemies of Britain, and in
every way disreputable ; that a mistake had been
made in entrusting the destinies of Lower Canada to
an Assembly whose constituents were French or French-
Canadian and so entirely opposed to British interests.
Sir James even went so far as to advise the British
Government to suspend the Constitution and to reunite
the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, and in
this way give the British portion a commanding
influence.
The advice tendered by Sir James Craig was not
acceptable at that time to the British Government,
though it was followed at a subsequent period. Sir
James Craig's administration was brought to a close
just before the breaking out of the war of 1812. It
may be said of it that it was of a stormy character
and fittingly ended in the foreshadow of a war, which
was destined to try the loyalty not only of the French-
Canadian, but of every subject of Canada.
CHAPTER IV.
U. E. Loyalists John Graves Simcoe, First Governor of Upper
Canada First Parliament of Upper Canada Simcoe's Death
Peter Russell Administrator British and American Insur-
gentsIrish Rebellion of 1798 Governor Hunter and his
Administration Discontent in Lower Canada Governor Gore's
Administration Joseph Willcox, M.P., his Contempt of Parlia-
ment and Imprisonment Mr. Justice Thorpe Judge Scott
Difference of Parties on Local Government.
THE Constitutional Act of 1791 had been obtained
principally through the exertion of the United Empire
Loyalists. After the Treaty of Peace of 1783, between
Great Britain and the United States, had been declared,
numerous loyalists of the American Colonies, some
compelled by force, some voluntarily, turned their backs
forever on the revolted Colonies and hewed out for
themselves homes in the wilderness of Canada. At
the time of the passing of the Act of 1791, there
were not more than twenty thousand inhabitants in that
part of Canada forming Upper Canada, and these mostly
United Empire Loyalists, men who had sacrificed every-
thing they possessed in defending the cause of the King
in the New England and other States of America.
In the period between 1783 and 1791 the Loyalists
in Upper Canada had, with almost superhuman labour
i
GOVERNOR SIMCOE. 57
in cutting down large forest trees, removing great
boulders, putting up log houses and log barns,
managed to make settlements on the St. Lawrence
west of Cornwall, on the Bay of Quinte, in the
Niagara district and London and Western districts.
These settlements were far removed from each other,
and there was but little intercourse between them,
but such as there was, was of the most friendly
character.
There was one man in the British House of
Commons at the time of the passing of the Imperial
Act of 1791, who was able to give Mr. Pitt, the
Prime Minister, very valuable advice and assistance
in the passing of that Act. This was John Graves
Simcoe, who in time became the first Governor of
Upper Canada.
John Graves Simcoe had gone through the Rebellion
of the American Colonies, and had acquitted himself
with honour in command of the Queen's Bangers,
that corps which performed such eminent service to
the Crown in more than one campaign in the struggle
which the Americans successfully made for their
independence. On the defeat of the British under
Cornwallis at Yorktown, a defeat largely brought about
by French aid to the Americans, Colonel Simcoe was
made prisoner, paroled and returned to England.
When it became necessary to appoint a Governor to
the newly created Province of Upper Canada, what
better selection could be made than to send to the
58 REBELLION OF 1837.
Province the man who above all others enjoyed the
confidence of the population of Upper Canada, the
greater number of whom had been with him and
many had even served under him throughout the
American Eevolutionary war.
Colonel Simcoe arrived out from England in 1791,
and in passing up the St. Lawrence was received at
Johnstown by quite a number of U. E. Loyalists
with a salvo of artillery from a gun taken from the
old French fort on an island down the river. On
his arrival at Kingston, the first Government of the
Province of Upper Canada was organized, with a
solemnity befitting the occasion. In the church in
this town was read and published His Majesty's
Commissions, one appointing Lord Dorchester Captain
General and Commander in Chief, and the other Col.
Simcoe Governor of the Province of Upper Canada.
According to the Eoyal instructions the Governor was
given an Executive Council composed of five members.
In July, 1792, the Executive Council met at
Kingston, when the following gentlemen were appointed
members of the Legislative Council : Eobert Hamilton,
Eichard Cartwright and John Monroe. It is to be
presumed that the Governor took counsel with his
new Councillors, all of whom were prominent men in
the Province, as to the future government of the
country. .Governor Simcoe, however, combined strength
with judgment. He might consult others, but he was
guided by his own opinions.
=
UPPER CANADA. 59
When he .came to select a capital for the Province
he considered that Newark, now Niagara, was the
proper site. Fort Niagara at that time on the
opposite, or American side, of the river was in
possession of the British, retained by them after the
Treaty of Peace of 1783 as a hostage for the per-
formance of certain articles of the treaty by the
Americans. Pitching his tent at Newark, he was
under the protection of the old Fort, and could look
around him with security and contentment. When he
afterwards discovered that it was the intention of the
British Government to hand this Fort over to the
Americans, he no longer thought Newark a fit place
for the seat of government. Hence it was that in
1793 the seat of government was removed from
Newark or Niagara to Toronto, newly christened York
by him in honour of the successes of the Duke of
York, on the continent, in the French war.
The Constitution of 1791, which Governor Simcoe
was called upon to administer in Upper Canada, was
the main the same as the Constitution of Lower
Canada. There was, as we have seen, an Executive
and Legislative Council, and there was also a Legis-
lative Assembly of sixteen members. Governor Simcoe had
a much easier task in governing Upper Canada under this
Constitution than had the Governors of Lower Canada.
In the Province of Lower Canada there was a
mixed community, while in the Upper Province the
population was composed of United Empire Loyalists,
60 REBELLION OF 1837.
not only with not a drop of French blood in their
veins, but men who, when residents in the New England
States, before the American Rebellion, had been in con-
stant warfare with the French-Canadians.
The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada occupied
its early days in passing Acts for the material
advancement of the Province. There was none of
that bickering, occasioned by racial and other causes,
which affected the body politic in Lower Canada.
During Simcoe's time there was but little political
discussion in the Province ; the people had neither
time nor inclination to discuss political subjects.
There was but one newspaper in the Province, and
that was the official gazette, published once a week,
which generally contained foreign news a month or
two old. As to home matters, the people were mostly
concerned about how to secure houses and homes for
themselves in the new country. The representatives
in the Assembly reflected the wishes of the people,
and the Governor was sufficiently occupied in exploring
the country, tranquillizing the Indians and establishing
a cordon of his old veterans of the Revolutionary
war along the rivers and lakes of the frontiers of
the Province, ready to resist any future depredations
that the Americans might attempt to make on the
Province committed to his charge.
How well Governor Simcoe administered the affairs
of the Province may be gathered from the histories
of the time. A reading of the Smith manuscripts,
DEATH OF SIMGOE. 61
which will be found in the Public Library at Toronto,
will convince the reader that his government was a
paternal one. He looked upon the United Empire
Loyalists as his children, and the widows and children
of the United Empire Loyalists as his wards. In
1806, at which date he had been promoted to the rank
of Major-General, that he enjoyed the confidence of the
sovereign to the full is evidenced by the fact that on his
return to England he, conjointly with Lord St. Vincent,
was placed in command of an expedition to thwart the
designs of Napoleon Bonaparte, who had threatened to
invade Portugal with an army of thirty thousand men.
He was taken ill on the voyage to Portugal and he was
obliged to return to England. On the 7th February,
1807, the Upper Canada Gazette published the following
notice as a communication from London :
" LONDON, November 6th, 1806.
" Governor Simcoe, we regret to state, died on Tuesday last, at
Topsham in Devonshire."
In Exeter Cathedral, a monument, with the following
iscription, was erected to his memory :
' ' Sacred to the Memory
of
John Graves Simcoe,
3utenant General in the Army and Colonel of the 22nd Regiment
of Foot,
who died on the 25th October, 180(3,
Aged 54 years ;
whose life and character the virtues of the Hero, the Patriot and
Christian were so eminently conspicuous, that it may be justly
said, he served his King and his country with a zeal exceeded only by
his piety toward God."
62 REBELLION OF 1837.
The Ontario Government has voted a substantial sum
towards the erection of a monument to Governor Simcoe's
memory in Toronto, made by him the capital of the
Province.
Major General Peter Hunter, the successor of Governor
Simcoe, assumed the government of the Province in
August, 1799. The intervening period, between the
departure of Governor Simcoe and the arrival of Hunter,
was filled by the administration of the Honorable Peter
Eussell, as senior member of the Council. Nothing of a
startling nature occurred during the administration of
Mr. Eussell. As President of the Council, it fell to his
lot to issue or order the issue of grants of land. There
is a tradition that he had favourites, and that in the
exercise of his office some of those favourites profited
by his care of their interests. A playful saying, which
passed current for many years but has now passed into
oblivion, was that grants of land were made
which might read " I Peter Eussell grant to you Peter
Eussell." There was little, if any, foundation for the
pleasantry. It arose from the fact that it was claimed
that his position as a private citizen conflicted with his
official duty when he became a purchaser of public
lands, and gave an opportunity to his opponents to
lay on him the reproach of an unfaithful trustee. There
were no political opponents in those days, in a party
sense, as there were no defined lines between political
parties. There were, however, land opponents. Every
one was on the look-out for lands, and if one man
GOVERNOR HUNTER. 63
crossed the path of another he was an opponent. Presi-
dent Kussell had no doubt opponents of this class, who
gladly utilized the humorous idea of Peter Eussell
granting to Peter Russell.
By the time General Hunter was installed in office
as Governor of the Province, a considerable trade had
sprung up between the settlers in Upper Canada and their
American neighbours. It was much cheaper for the
merchants of Upper Canada to get in goods from Albany
and New York, than from England by the route of the
St. Lawrence. There were no canals in those days,
and the rapids of the St. Lawrence offered an almost
insurmountable barrier to the importation of goods
by that channel. With the importation of American
goods, there came into the country a large number of
Americans, spying out the richness of the land. The
American immigran^jwas^wpkorp^, gr> -long as he con-
formed to the laws and institutions of the country, but
panoplied with the coat of republicanism, he found it
difficult to divest himself of republican prejudices, and
it was not long before he attempted to use his persua-
siveness to make the Canadians believe that they were
terrible sufferers from the want of republican govern-
*ment! Thus it is that trade and commerce between
old countries and new frequently induces an undermining
of the new edifice, to gratify the whims of denizens of
the old.
The American import of goods was thought better
than the import of American men. Out of the goods
64 REBELLION OF 1837.
there could b^collected a reyenue^Jbnt jnot out of the_
men. The Canadian Parliament, to provide for the
expense of civil government, during the first years of
General Hunter's administration, passed laws to levy
a tax on American goods. The levying a tax on goods
involved the appointment of collectors and ports of entry,
all of which tended to strengthen the country, the
revenue financially, and the collectors and ports of entry
acting as watchmen and watch towers in defence of the
Province. While Canada, and especially Upper Canada,
was importing goods from the United States, she was
active in importing men from England, Scotland and
Ireland. The Irish Eebellion of 1798 was the cause of
a large number of the men of the land of the sham-
rock leaving the old land for the new. Upper Canada
afforded a fine field for the labourers and men accustomed
to hard work to better their condition. England and
Scotland, (England less than Scotland) contributed their
quota of emigrants, so that by the time that Governor
Hunter was half through his administration, he was
able to report that Upper Canada was being settled by
a hardy class of Britons, as a counterpoise to the enter-
prising American citizens who were getting a foothold
in the country.
At the period of which we are writing, the first germ of
discontent made itself manifest, in the same quarters and
from the same cause as had occurred in Lower Canada,
that is in the Legislative Council. This body, consisting
of five members and the Governor, virtuallv ruled the
GOVERNOR GORE. 65
Province. The Assembly could pass Acts, but the Council
could reject them, and thus stifle public opinion. The
Province had not indeed got a Constitution under which, as
in England, there was an Executive responsible to the
Crown. Barnacles had attached themselves to the
Governor and Council, in the shape of needy adventurers
out of employment. It was quite evident that in the near
future some one, more independent than his fellows, would
make an assault on the Government, and the Governor
himself might not escape. The explosion, however, was
reserved for the reign of a future Governor. General
Hunter's administration on the whole was beneficial to the
Province. A reference to the statute book will show that
the material, if not the political interests of the Province
had been well looked to, and that peace and contentment
rested with a large majority of the people.
Governor Hunter was recalled to England in 1805,
Alexander Grant, President of the Council, taking his place
for a short period, and being succeeded by Francis Gore as
Lieutenant-Governor. Governor Gore first met the House
of Assembly at the opening of the third session of the
Fourth Parliament, on the 2nd February, 1807. Injiis^
address to the House he asks the Assembly to unite with
him in sentiments of loyalty and gratitude, while reflecting
on the very liberal supplies annually afforded to the
Province, by the bounty of the parent state, for its neces-
sary expenditure, and to consider whether the mother
country ought not in some measure to be relieved from the
expense of civil government.
66 REBELLION OF 1837.
The Governor is said to have been a man of generous
disposition, easily influenced by others. There were not
wanting then in Upper Canada plenty of men willing to
give their services to the Governor for a consideration.
When such men got into the Governor's confidence, he
became surrounded by a party who manifested too
plainly the insolence of office not to become a mark for
men of independent thought. Joseph Willcox was a man
of the latter class. He was an Irishman, and in addition to
a sharp tongue, wielded a vigorous pen. He established,
or had established for him, a newspaper called the Upper
Canada Guardian for the avowed purpose of acting as a
counterfoil to the Canadian Gazette, the Government
organ.
This may be said to have been the first step in forming
a new or reform party in the country. Mr. Willcox was
enabled to obtain a seat in the Legislature, and become
a thorn in the side of the Government party. On the
18th February, 1808, it is recorded in the Journals that
Captain Cowan, a member of the Assembly, stated on
the floor of the House that an honourable member,
Joseph Willcox, had made use of langua.ge out of doors
derogatoiy to the honour and integrity of the House,
and nearly in these words : " That the members of the
House of Assembly dared not proceed against him. He
was sorry they did not. It would have given him an
opportunity of proving they had been bribed by General
Hunter, and that he had a member of the House ready
to come forward to give testimony to that effect."
JUDGE THORPE. 67
This rash charge, made by Mr. Willcox, was taken
into consideration by the House, and on the report of a
Committee and vote of the House, after hearing evidence
pro and con., it was unanimously resolved, " that Joseph
Willcox be committed to the common jail of the District
(Home), and the Speaker do issue his warrant for that
purpose."
Mr. Gore, the Governor, did not fail to do justice to
General Hunter, his predecessor, at the same time expos-
ing the total ignorance of Mr. Justice Thorpe, who was
a firm ally of Mr. Willcox in his crusade against Governor
Hunter, and who had listened to idle stories about the
Governor, which were not by any means credited by the
respectable people of the Province. In a communication
made by Governor Gore to Mr. Windham, Secretary of
State, under date of the 29th October, 1806, the Governor
thus wrote : " Judge Thorpe has not been in this Colony
much more than twelve months, he only saw Lieut.-
Governor Hunter at Quebec a short time before his death,
whose character and memory he has endeavoured, both
in private and public, to degrade, and can only know by
report many of the circumstances he thinks proper to
allude to, respecting the Government of this Province.
. It is but justice to General Hunter's character, whom
I had not the honour of knowing, to say, that as I am able
to judge, his conduct was firm and decided to the pro-
moting of the good of this country."
Mr. Willcox and Justice Thorpe were so intimately
nnected with the political affairs of the Province at the
6
68 REBELLION OF 1837.
period of which I am writing, 1806-1807, that it is
necessary to give some consideration to these two gentle-
men, the one a member of Parliament and the other a
judge, more particularly as the latter, at all events, had
the opportunity and the inclination, both of which he
exercised to the fullest extent, to excite the people to dis-
content and incipient rebellion. It is not by any means
certain that either gentleman was an advocate of a
separation of the Colony from the Mother Country, but
their acts were such, that considering thei rofficial posi-
tions, the more unthinking of the people might easily be
led to believe that such was their design. There were a
good many Americans in the Province, who were but too
willing to point to the conduct and sayings of those
prominent individuals, as indicative of a desire on the
part of the Colonial authorities themselves to change their
allegiance.
Judge Thorpe, from the time he came to the Province
to the time he left it, was at perpetual war with the
Colonial authorities, and made himself most obnoxious
to them. An examination of the correspondence, letters,
papers and other documents, official and non-official,
which are on file in the archives at Ottawa, and copies
of which are to be found in the library of the County of
York Law Association at Toronto, will enable a tolerably
fair estimate to be made of the character of this gentle-
man, both as a judge and as a citizen. In truth he was
much more of a politician than a judge, and had a
natural bent for intrigue. If, after his appointment to a
JUDGE THORPE.
70 REBELLION OF 1837.
knowledge I have shown in my profession, the exertion I
have made for the Government, and the confidence the
public have of my ability and integrity, will have its full
weight with His Lordship, but if anything should induce
him to disgrace me, by sending any one over me, I only
beg you will intercede to have me removed, for to remain
would kill me."
The judge speaks of the confidence "the public have
of his ability and integrity." This confidence was im-
parted by political speeches made by him to Grand Juries
when on circuit. In these speeches he was evidently
paving the way for a candidature to the Legislative
Assembly. In his remarks in making his address to
juries, he had no scruple in attacking the Government in
their administration, and not content with that, arraigned
their capacity for governing at all. At the assizes of
the London District he was favoured with an address from
the Grand Jury of that District, and in answer he said
among other things :
" The act of governing is a difficult science, know-
ledge is not intuitive, and the days of inspiration have
passed away; therefore when there was neither talent,
education, information, or even manner in the administra-
tion, little could be expected and nothing was produced.
But there is an ultimate point of depression as well as
exaltation from whence all human affairs naturally ad-
vance or recede. Therefore, proportionate to your depres-
sion, we may expect your progress in prosperity will
advance with accelerated velocity."
C.
JUDGE THORPE'S ELECTION. 71
These addresses of the judge to Grand Juries and
replies elicited by him were during the month of Septem-
ber, 1806, and evidently bore fruit. It is recorded in the
journals that at a meeting of freeholders, held at Moore's
Hotel, on the 20th October, 1806, for the purpose of
considering of a proper person to represent them in
Parliament, William Willcox, Esquire, in .the chair,
it was resolved unanimously, that Mr. Justice Thorpe
be requested to represent the counties of York, Durham
and Simcoe, in the place of the late lamented William
Weeks, Esquire, deceased. Justice Thorpe accepted the
nomination thus tendered, and was elected member of the
House of Assembly. It is quite clear that Judge Thorpe
was elected by the democracy of the counties named,
that is by those who had been drawn into the belief that
the Government of Upper Canada was too exclusive and
not sufficiently democratic.
Mr. Thomas B. Gough was the opposing candidate,
and after his defeat, under date of January 8th, 1807, he
issued an address to the electors thanking them for the
support they had given him, though unsuccessful, and
said: "You went to the hustings, gentlemen, under the
banners of liberty, loyalty and union, with hearts
animated with pure love of King and Constitution, and
many of you have proved your attachment thereto by
shedding your blood in their support ; but your opponents
were preceded by the standard of discord, anarchy and
rebellion, which in another part of the Empire has led
thousands to a premature death," etc., etc.
72 REBELLION OF 1837.
To this address of Mr. Gough, the supporters of Judge
Thorpe made answer, in which they defended themselves
against the charge of discord and anarchy, referred to the
loyal flags carried by them, inscribed with the King's
Crown and initials G. E., " Freedom of election," the
crown and harp, surrounded with the words " The King,
the People, the Law, Thorpe and the Constitution,"
and then resolved : " That we know no discontented
demagogues, nor if we did could not be deluded by them.
Many of us have fought, bled and sacrificed our families
and properties for the British Government ; we have
exerted and ever will exert ourselves to preserve the
freedom of election from all undue influences, and to
the last moment of our lives shall be ready to support
our King and Constitution."
These deliverances abundantly prove that the real
cause of difference between the parties was not on
account of the Home Government, but rather the local
Government of the Province. Proof also is afforded
that Judge Thorpe had among his supporters United
Empire Loyalists and others who claimed to be as
loyal as those who were content with the existing order
of things. There were many of the U. E. class who felt
themselves under obligation to Judge Thorpe, for exer-
tions he had made in their behalf at a former period,
to obtain their grants for land, as compensation for the
loss they had sustained in the service of the Crown.
Governor Gore had not so high an opinion of Judge
Thorpe as had the electors of York, Simcoe and Durham.
JUDGE THORPE IN THE HOUSE. 73
In a conversation which he had with the Governor's
Secretary on the 31st October, 1806, Judge Thorpe placed
before him a list of certain grievances which he thought
affected the body politic, the character of some of which
may be gathered from the comments thereon made by
the Governor and forwarded to England. The Governor
said : " Truth is always consistent, but what can be said
oTaTman who in the course of one conversation asserts
that the people are so discontented, that it has been
said, ' two hundred Americans might take the Province, '
and a little after, that the ' people were extremely well
disposed, and that the smallest coincidence with their
wishes would do a great deal.' The plain English of
"all this is, let me dictate to you, and everything will go
well. I, the people, though not the actual language is
in reality a characteristic motto of Mr. Thorpe and
every other factious demagogue."
To return to Judge Thorpe as a member of the
Legislative Assembly. On the 9th February, 1807, a
petition was presented to the House by electors of the
Counties of Durham, Simcoe and East Biding of York
against his return as member of those counties and
riding, on the ground that he was ineligible, being a
Judge of the King's Bench, " that the election of a judge
to be a member of the Assembly was unconstitutional,
inasmuch as being an attempt to clothe, arm and blend
in one person the conflicting powers, authorities and
jurisdiction of its legislative functions." On the 10th of
February, 1807, the prayer of this petition was rejected
74 REBELLION OF 1837.
by the House. Thus we have the spectacle presented
of the Upper Canada Assembly recognizing the right of
a judge to sit in Parliament, while in Lower Canada
that right was denied to Judge de Bonne, who was
expelled the Legislature. In Upper Canada the judge
allowed to retain his seat was a violent opponent
of the Government, while in Lower Canada the judge
was a supporter of the Government, a French-Canadian,
and expelled by the votes of his compatriots. Who then
were the Liberals the Parliamentary representatives of
Quebec, or those of Upper Canada ?
It is not necessary to discuss Mr. Thorpe at any
greater length. His conduct was sure at some time to
bring upon him the displeasure of the Governor and his
Council, and even the Home Government.
On the 19th June, 1807, Lord Castlereagh, Prime
Minister, addressed to Lieut.-Gov. Gore a letter in which
he said, " The various particulars which you have stated
of Mr. Justice Thorpe's having exceeded his duties as a
judge by mixing in the political parties of the Province
and encouraging an opposition to the administration,
afforded such well grounded reasons for believing that
his continuance in office would lead to the discredit and
disservice of His Majesty's Government, that I am com-
manded to signify to you His Majesty's pleasure that you
suspend Mr. Thorpe from the office of judge in Upper Canada,
and measures will be taken for appointing a successor."
In the same communication Lord Castlereagh took
occasion to say that he might be able, "to recommend
JUDGE THORPE RE-CALLED. 7.1
Judge Thorpe to some other professional situation under
an assurance that he will confine himself to the duties
of this profession hereafter, and abstain from engaging
in Provincial party politics."
The careers of Joseph Willcox, sheriff, and of Judge
Thorpe as politicians were of an extraordinary character.
Both were officials of the Government, and yet were
strong adversaries of that Government. Both came from
the Old Country, no doubt to improve their positions,
and yet waged war with the Colonial authorities. It is
too late in the day to recognize in the old Canadian
Colonial Government, under the Act of 1791, a system
of government most conducive to British liberty. The acts
of both Justice Thorpe and Mr. Willcox may have been
instigated by a desire to improve the system of Colonial
Government then existent, but unfortunately in their case,
especially in the case of the former, they had the
appearance of being instigated by personal ambition
and party spite. If Judge Thorpe had been made Chief
Justice it might have been that his better nature would
have dominated, and himself and the colony spared
much anxiety and political excitement. The country
survived the judge's deposition. Governor Gore, whom
he made his enemy, in 1811 left the Province for
England on temporary leave of absence, leaving the
affairs of the Province in charge of Major General Brock,
who had too many military duties to attend to to concern
himself about political affairs, except so far as was necessary
to maintain the honour and dignity of the Province.
CHAPTEE V.
U. S. Declaration of War Against Great Britain, 1812 French Cana-
dians and English-Canadians at One in Defending Canada
American Hopes Built on Canadian Disappointments The War
of 1812, its Lessons and Consequences Sir George Prevost, his
Administration A Party in Opposition to Government Louis
Joseph Papineau Elected Speaker of Assembly of L. C. His
Great Ability Sir John Sherbrooke, Governor of Lower
Canada Concessions to the Province The Duke of Richmond
Succeeds Sherbrooke Napoleon and Waterloo The Duke of
Richmond Offends the Lower Canadian Assembly The Duke's
Death in Canada Louis J. Papineau Delivers a Thoroughly
British Speech to Electors in Montreal Claim of L. C. Assem-
bly Legislative Council and Assembly at Loggerheads Colonial
Office Endeavours to Heal Differences Constitution of 1791
Threatened Re-Union of Provinces Agitated Bill Brought
into House of Commons Bill Rejected Lord Dalhousie's
Administration Governor's Refusal to Recognize Papineau as
Speaker.
WITH the opening of 1812, war's alarm is sounded and
British, British-Canadians and French-Canadians march
shoulder to shoulder to the conflict. The Americans
may have secured their independence with the aid of
Lafayette, but ( notwithstanding the seeds of dissension
which had been sown among them by interested repub-
licans from across the border, the Canadians of all
classes were determined to defend their country to the
last extremity.
WAR OF 1812. 77
The United States _Goyernment declared war against
Great Britain on the 18th June, 1812, relying no doubt
on the assistance they might expect to get from France
in 1812, as they had previously had in the war of the
Eevolution, as also, because they were aware, as Mr.
Robert Christie has well said in his History of Lower
Canada, " that recent events had soured the temper of
the great body of the French-Canadian population, and
the American Government built upon the circumstance,
expecting that far from opposing, they would hail the
invaders of Canada as their deliverers."
That the}' built their hopes of conquering Canada
on an insecure foundation, so far as assistance from
the French-Canadians was concerned, is made manifest
from the alacrity with which the French -Canadians
pledged the resources of their Province for the public
defence. The session before the actual declaration of
war by the United States was opened by the Governor,
Sir George Prevost, on the 21st February, 1812. The
Parliament at once set about preparing for the defence
of the Province. Twelve thousand pounds were granted
for drilling the local militia, twenty thousand pounds
for incidental measures of defence, while a further sum
thirty thousand pounds was placed at the Governor's
isposal should war be declared between Great Britain
and the United States.
I Taking into account the fact that the total revenue
the Province was seventy-five thousand pounds,
larged with the expenses of the civil list of fifty-nine
78 REBELLION OF 1837.
thousand pounds, the war defence fund was. a splendid
contribution by the Province of Lower Canada. More
than this, when it became known at Quebec on the
24th June, 1812, that Congress had actually declared
war, a Provincial Statute was at once passed to
legalize the issue of army bills, to the amount of two
hundred and fifty thousand pounds, in order to replenish
the public exchequer, and an annual grant of fifteen
thousand pounds made for five years, to pay whatever
interest might accrue. On the 6th July, 1812, the
whole Militia of the Province had been directed to
hold themselves in readiness to be embodied, while
the flank companies of the Montreal Militia were
formed into a battalion and armed.
These acts of public spirit and beneficence afford
an object lesson to all, that it is not safe to trust
to political differences which exist, and will doubtless
continue to exist in Canada, as a permission to foreign
nations to make war upon a peace-loving people. In
the war of 1812, the Canadians, French and English,
acquitted themselves nobly, and under skilful com-
manders were able to transfer their country to their
descendants unscathed, purified by the blood of patriotic
men of both nationalities, shed in its defence.
It should be noticed that Sir George Prevost, the
Governor General and Commander-in-Chief, throughout
the war had, by his liberality towards the French
element in Lower Canada, aroused the ire of the
ultra-British element of that Province. In acting as
SIR GEORGE PREVOST. 79
he did, however, he had a purpose in view, in which
he succeeded. This was to gain the entire confidence
of the French-Canadians, so necessary at a time when
every man was required to do his part in defence of
the Province.
During the war domestic strife was buried in the
performance of public duty. The war ended in 1814.
As may be supposed, the Canadas, Upper and Lower,
were much exhausted by the strain that had been placed
upon them. Leaving out of account the lives that had
been lost in the struggle, there was much else to mourn
over. Fields were untilled, houses were unbuilt,
improvements neglected, and the country generally
deprived of nourishment, the product of honest labour.
It behooved, then, the survivors of the war to set
about building up what had been pulled down, and to
place their country in a position to compete with other
nations in progress and advancement.
Both the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada
had shared in the perils of the war. It will now be
our task to see how they vied with each other in their
onward march in the paths of peace and development.
We have seen in previous chapters that before the
commencement of the war, there was a wide difference
of opinion among the inhabitants of Lower Canada as
to the excellence of the Colonial administration of
government, and that in Upper Canada there had
begun to be formed a party in direct opposition__ip
the Government.
80 REBELLION OF 1837.
In the session of the Lower Canada Legislature,
which assembled on the 16th January, 1817, M. Panet
having been called to the Upper House, Mr. Louis
Josepli_^a2meau_jKas elected Speaker of the Assembly.
Louis Joseph Papineau's father had been alTlmlenT
supporter of the British Government in its rule over
Lower Canada. He -himself was no less an admirer^
of the British system of government, but was at the
same time opposed to the Colonial government, which
was not in his opinion a fit representation of the
mother government. He held indeed that it was a
government which had to be pruned of its useless
branches, or else the trunk would fall to the ground. The
members elected to the Legislature were of his opinion and
shared his sentiments, which, added to his commanding
ability, signalled him out as the most worthy successor of
M. Panet, but lately appointed to the Legislative Council.
Sir John Coape Sherbrooke had at this time suc-
ceeded to the Governorship~oT~the Province. He made
himself very popular in Lower Canada by the lively
interest he took in the affairs of the Province. Early
frosts having destroyed the wheat crops of the Province,
so that starvation threatened many parishes, he took
the responsibility of advancing from the public chest
a sum of nearly fifteen thousand pounds for the
relief of the distressed. The Assembly on its meeting
made this good to him, and at the same time acceded
to his recommendation to vote 1,000 per annum to Mr.
Speaker Papineau during that Parliament.
SIR JOHN SHERBROOKE. 81
In this way complete harmony was established
between the Governor and the Assembly. In the
meanwhile much progress was being made in Lower
Canada in the development of civil government. The
Colonial office had by this time become convinced
that it was necessary to make some concessions to
the popular feeling of the Province. Sir John Sher-
brooke, on opening the Provincial Legislature of 1818,
was enabled to inform the Assembly that its former
offer to defray the expenses of the civil list had been
accepted by the Home Government. The Assembly
welcomed this concession as a great boon, and voted
three thousand pounds towards the expenses of the
civil government. By this means they acquired some
control over Government officials, who. hitherto baskme
O
in the sunshine of Government favour, were becoming
arrogant and offensive to the French-Canadian part of
the community.
Before the close of the year, Sir John Sherbrooke
returned to England on the plea of ill health. His
departure was signalized by a most ostentatious show
of regret on the part of the people of the Province,
both French and English. Though in the estimation
of the British part of the population he had leaned
more than was to their liking to the French-Cana-
dians, they nevertheless did him honour. As a soldier
he had distinguished himself in the British service in
India, and had served under Wellington in the Peninsula.
The British inhabitants of the Colony were too generous
82 REBELLION OF 1837.
to allow even a fault of administration, if it were a fault,
to prevent them doing honour to His Majesty's Repre-
sentative in a Province which ever since its inauguration
had, owing to racial difficulties, been a source of constant
concern to those clothed with authority, both at home
and in the Colony.
Sir John Sherbrooke was succeeded in the govern-
ment by the Duke of Richmond, who came to the
Province with the prestige of having been Lord Lieu-
tenant of Ireland. This is the same Duke of Richmond,
who the night before the battle of Waterloo, gave a
ball at. Brussels, which was attended by the flower of
the military then at Belgium's capital and in its vicinity,
awaiting the attack of Napoleon Bonaparte on the allied
forces of Britain and Prussia, who were combined in
defending the liberties of Europe. Many a brave heart
that beat strong that night, beat no more after the
sanguinary engagement - at Waterloo.
This was the ball that Byron has commemorated
in the well-known lines in " Childe Harold."
When he arrived in Canada as Governor-General,
the Duke was accompanied by Sir Peregrine Maitland,
his son-in-law, who had been appointed Lieutenant
Governor of Upper Canada.
The people of Lower Canada thought that in being
honoured with a Duke for ruler they had been ushered
into the presence of Royalty itself. The Duke
endeavoured to make himself and his administration
agreeable to the people he had come to govern. He
DUKE OF RICHMOND. 83
brought with him to the Province a large retinue,
and was disposed to rule the country in truly princely
fashion. The French-Canadians, who predominated, were
disappointed in their expectations of the Duke in the
matter of government, and were struck with amaze-
ment at this extravagant pretension. The Duke was
not a thrifty man ; on the contrary, he had by lavish
expenditure well nigh impoverished himself, and from
a French-Canadian point of view would impoverish the
Province of Lower Canada if the native element did not
interfere on behalf of the Province.
On the meeting of the Assembly on the 12th
January, 1819, that body was startled at finding that in
the estimated expenditure of the year sent down by
the Government there was a large increase over previous
years. The Duke was soon apprised that the Assembly
could not justify to their constituents any increase
whatever of the expenditure. On the contrary, the
Assembly was for a rigid economy and decrease of
expenditure. The Assembly was not in a mood at
this time to leave the making of the civil list to the
Government of the day. They were contending for a
complete control of the list, even so far as to fixing
the amount to be paid to each individual engaged
in the civil service. This was too serious a claim
for the Government to submit to with equanimity,
and on a subsidy bill passing the Assembly in the
shape that that body demanded, namely specifying
the sum to be paid to each officer of the Governor
84 REBELLION OF 1837.
for his services, the bill was promptly rejected by
the Legislative Council who declared, " that the mode
adopted in it (the Legislative Assembly) was unconstitu-
tional, unparalleled and incompatible with the rights,
even in direct violation of the prerogatives of the
Crown." This language seems strange at the present
day when we know that the popular branch of the
Legislature has absolute control over the public
expenditure.
It had been the settled policy of the British
Government to maintain a check on the French-Cana-
dians, through the agency of the Legislative Council.
Thus, Lord Bathurst, in the previous year, 1817, dis-
cussing the matter of the finances of Lower Canada
with Sir James Sherbrooke, the then Governor, had
said : " The necessity of a concurrence of the whole
Legislature in a money grant is the only tight curb
which can be put on the action of the Assembly.
You will agree with me in opinion, that now more
than ever, it should not be relaxed or abandoned."
The Duke of Eichmond approved of the action of
the Legislative Council in thwarting the Assembly's
bill of supplies and on proroguing Parliament took
occasion to censure the Assembly, while commending
the Council for the steps taken by that body in
rejecting the supply bill. To the two bodies he said :
" As for you, gentlemen of the Council, I must
say you have not disappointed my hopes, and I beg
to return you my thanks for the zeal and alacrity
DEATH OF DUKE OF RICHMOND. 85
you have shown in all that more immediately belongs
to your body, but it is with much concern I feel
myself compelled to say, that I cannot express to
you, gentlemen of the Assembly, the same satisfaction,
nor my approbation of the general result of your
labours (at the expense of so much valuable time),
cor yet of the principles upon which they rest, as
recorded in your journals. . . . The bill of appropria-
tion which you passed, was founded upon such principles
that it appears, from the journals of the Upper
House, to have been most constitutionally rejected."
This address of the Duke gave great offence to the
French-Canadians. The distinguishing between the
relative merits of the Council and Assembly expressed
in the address was well calculated to annoy the sensi-
tive French-Canadians, and they were loud in their
condemnation of the ducal utterances.
Notwithstanding the Duke's lecture, he was willing
to accord to Lower Canada his meed of praise for
their loyalty to the Sovereign of Great Britain. He
wrote to Lord Bathurst, Colonial Minister, that the
people of Lower Canada were satisfied with their Con-
stitution ; and that perfect reliance might be placed in
their loyalty, should the United States ever invade
the Colony.
The Duke of Eichmond lost his life in Canada.
He died at Richmond, a village not far from Ottawa,
where he succumbed to injuries brought about by the
bite of a tame fox. His body was interred at Richmond,
86 REBELLION OF 1837.
and was afterwards removed to the citadel of Quebec,
where his bones now repose. His reign was a short one,
brilliant in the eyes of the English-speaking inhabitants
of the Province, but too magnificent to be altogether
satisfactory to the French -Canadians. Owing to his
sudden death the administration of the government
devolved on the senior member of the Council, who
dissolved the Assembly on the 9th February, 1820.
It was found on the meeting of the next Parliament
that the French-Canadian element in the Province had
by their votes resented the insult, or supposed insult,
offered to the members of the last Assembly, and that
the habitants had returned to the new Assembly a
majority of members who had declared themselves opposed
to the Executive Council.
The demise of George III., news of which reached
Quebec in April, caused another dissolution of the
Parliament, followed by an election held under the
administration of Lord Dalhousie, appointed to succeed
the Puke of Eichmond as Governor of the Province.
This election was chiefly remarkable for a speech delivered
to the electors of the West Ward of Montreal by Mr.
Louis Joseph Papineau, which shows how Mr. Papineau
then appreciated his status as a British subject, and for
the comparison he made between British rule and French
rule. Mr. Papineau said : " Then," (referring to the
French regime) " trade was monopolised by privileged
companies, public and private property often pillaged,
personal liberty daily violated, and the inhabitants
LORD DALHOUSIE. ' 87
dragged year after year from their homes and families
to shed their blood from the shores of the great lakes,
from the banks of the Mississippi and the Ohio, to
Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Hudson Bay. Now,
religious toleration, trial by jury, the Act of Habeas
Corpus afford legal and equal security to all, and we
need submit to no other laws but those of our making.
All these advantages have become our birthright, and
shall, I hope, be the lasting inheritance of our posterity.
To secure them, let us only act as British subjects and
free men."
How strange do these words sound in our ears,
knowing as we do that before two decades were over,
Papineau was a leader in rebellion against the Govern-
ment of the country. Papineau was the undoubted
leader of the French party in the Province of Lower
Canada. He had been elected Speaker in the last
Assembly. He was now again elected to the House,
notwithstanding the opposition of the Government
party.
Every new Governor who came to Lower Canada was
furnished with instructions to carry out the same course
as his predecessor ; that course was to resist all attempts
on the part of the Assembly to obtain control of the
civil list, the public expenditure of the country. The
address of Lord Dalhousie on opening the Legislature
elicited from the Assembly a clear exposition of their
position in regard to the civil list. They claimed
absolute and unequivocal control over the entire list, not
88 REBELLION OF 1837.
recognizing the Government's claim to share in the con-
trol of any part of it. They claimed that the Governor
had no constitutional right to dictate to their body
how the civil list should be made up, or for how long
a time voted. They demanded that the appropria-
tions should be annual, and not for the life of the
Sovereign, as was contended for by the king's repre-
sentative. They insisted that they, and not the
Governor or Council, had the right to initiate the bill
of supplies.
As might be supposed, these claims of the Assembly
were all rejected by the Legislative Council, as wholly
untenable and unconstitutional, if not revolutionary.
The Council not only rejected the civil list prepared
by the Assembly, and voted by that body, but in doing
so proclaimed their right to exercise a full and entire
control over the public expenditure. They said " That
the Council had an incontestible right to join in voting
the supplies ; that the right extended to the option of
accepting or rejecting the ways and means devised by
the Assembly and sent for the consideration of the
Council ; that any grant of money without the Council's
concurrence was in itself literally null : that the Council
would entertain no enumeration of supplies till such
were first demanded by His Majesty's representative,
nor if it were divided into chapters and items, nor if
the civil list were not fixed for the whole reign of the
king. Finally, that the Council would pay no heed to
any bill of supply initiated by the Assembly, unless
COUXCIL AG'AIXST ASSEMBLY. 89
it were one relating to payments for its own mainten-
ance, as a constituted body, or else to meet some unfore-
seen and urgent call upon it."
There was thus a complete issue between the "
Assembly and the Council. The Council would not
yield to the Assembly, nor the Assembly to the Council.
The Governor sided with the Council, as he could not
help doing, carrying out the general instructions he
had received for the performance of his duty as chief
executive officer of the Colony. As has been said before,
it was the constant policy of the Colonial office to keep "-
control over the disbursements necessary to be made
in the management of the affairs of the Province, and
this was done through the channels of the Lieutenant
Governor and Legislative Council.
The Council did not hesitate to accuse the Assembly
of sedition and seditious practices, for their attempts to
resist the demands of their honourable body, and the
Governor was inclined to share with the Council the senti-
ments which they entertained towards the popular branch.
This state of things could not be allowed to continue
for a very long time. The friction between the Assembly I
and the Council had now reached that stage that somr
remedy must be found to cure the evil. The Colonial
office set about the task. In discussing the matters of
differences between the Council and the Assembly it
was found that they were iffeconcilatrta. It was further
found that differences ha*t sprtmgup between Upper
Canada and Lower Canada arising out of the claim of
90 REBELLION OF 1837.
Upper Canada to a larger portion of the customs
revenue than Lower Canada was willing to concede. The
only cure of these differences seemed to be a revocation
of the Canadian Constitution of the year 1791, and
the re-union of the Provinces. The British Government
resolved to execute this project and introduced to the
Parliament a bill to effect that object, but this coming
to the ears of the French Canadians they strongly
remonstrated, and the bill was withdrawn.
The circumstances connected with this attempt at
re-union of the Provinces might almost be called
romantic. The idea of such a re-union had for some
time engaged the attention of the Colonial office in
London, but did not come to a head till 1823. The
Anglo-Canadian population of the Province had the
ear of the Governor, and brought such influences to
bear that the measure had the almost undivided
support of the British party of the community. The
object in view was, by a union with Upper Canada, to
neutralize the attempts being made by the French-
Canadians to render the carrying out of the existing
constitution impracticable. Now there was at this
time in the Province of Lower Canada one man who
had great influence with the British residents, as well
as with the British ministry. That man was Mr.
Ellice, the seignior of Beauharnois, who had for a wife
a daughter of Earl Grey.
In 1820, Mr. Ellice had almost persuaded the British
Cabinet to propose the measure to the British Parliament.
PROPOSED UNION OF PROVINCES. 91
The measure itself was one which could not help meeting
violent opposition from the French-Canadian party
in the Province, as soon as it became known such a
bill was to be introduced into the House of Commons.
It gave to Lower Canada a smaller representation than
to the Upper Province, notwithstanding the large majority
of French-Canadians over the Anglo-Canadians in the
former Province. It vested in the Council the privilege of
taking part in the discussions of the Assembly, thus
giving to that body a mixed nominative and elective
character. It abolished the use of the French language
in the debates and public acts of the Legislature, and
limited the religious liberty and rights of the Catholic
Church, or let it rather be said the rights and privileges
claimed by the Catholic Church. It retained the right
of the Assembly touching the disposal of revenue derived 1
from taxes.
When this measure was introduced to the British
Commons there was in England a Mr. Parker, a trader,
who in his ventures in trade, had become acquainted
with the French-Canadians' susceptibilities ; he was
then living in retirement in England. He lost no time
in acquainting the Colonial office that such an act would
be most obnoxious to the French-Canadians, and imputed
its introduction to the work of Mr. Ellice. He only
asked time for Canada to be heard from. The Colonial
office was deaf to his remonstrances, but the measure
coming before the Commons, Sir James Mclntosh and
I
92 REBELLION OF 1837.
his political friends espoused the cause of the French -
Canadians, and the bill was shelved for a year at all
events.
When it became known in the Province that such a
bill had been introduced, the excitement of the French-
Canadians knew no bounds. It expressed itself in meet-
ings got up to oppose the bill, in public and private
remonstrances, and in petitions, containing 60,000 sig-
natures, sent to the Colonial Office and the British Par-
liament, couched in respectful language but loudly protest-
ing against the proposed legislation. These petitions were
confided to Messrs. Papineau and Neilson, who went to
England to lay them before the proper bodies. This was
during the recess of the Lower Canadian Assembly. In
its next session that body proceeded at once to pass strong
resolutions against the measure.
As to Upper Canada, it was also strongly opposed to
the union. The people of that Province, on the whole,
were contented with the Constitutional Act of 1791. There
were some discontented spirits of the Thorpe type, but
the majority were content to live under the Constitution,
though perhaps they were not given by it that measure of
liberty enjoyed in the old land, and which new-comers
to the Province, not distinguishing between a parent state
and a colony, would have wished to see in the Province.
/ Even the Legislative Council of Lower Canada joined
in hostility to the Bill, and sent addresses to Messrs.
Papineau and Neilson for transmission to the King and
House of Parliament against the measure. This was the
OPPOSITION TO UNION. 93
only occasion for a long time in which the Legislative
Council and the Assembly, though for entirely different
reasons, met on common ground. The Councillors were
opposed to the bill because, if it passed, their hold on
the Government would be disturbed ; the Assembly, because
the passage of the bill would have threatened their very
existence. Thus opposed, the measure for a time received
its quietus in the House of Commons, but only for a time,
as at a later day it was revived in a different form, and at
length gained the assent of the British Parliament.
The next session of the Lower Canada Legislature met
in November, 1823. Lord Dalhousie then found it to be
his duty to inform the Chambers that the Eeceiver-General
was a defaulter to the extent of 96,000, equal to two
years' revenue of the colony.
It was found on enquiry that the officer in question
had been appointed to his responsible office without any
security having been exacted for the faithful performance
of his duties. His appointment was by the Home, not
the Colonial Government. Here was a fresh grievance
made to hand, justifying the Colonial Assembly in the
war they had made on the Colonial Government in regard
to the appointment of Colonial officials. The Assembly,
as we have seen, was constantly demanding the control
of the civil list, the appointment of officers to carry on
the government, their incomes and tenure of office ;
while this was as constantly resisted by the Legislative
Council and the Governor, acting no doubt under instruc-
tions of the Colonial Office. The defalcation of the
94 REBELLION OF 1837.
Receiver-General being brought under notice of the House,
a committee of that body declared the Home Government
responsible for the malversation in office of the functionary.
As was to be expected, this mishap again brought up
the question of the civil liat. When the estimates were
brought down, the Assembly, under the leadership of
Mr. Papineau, rejected the Government proposals, and
demanded a reduction of twenty-five per cent, in all sal-
aries, which not being acceded to, they stopped the sup-
plies and left the Government to carry on public affairs
as best they could. This was a sorry position for the
Government. The moneys they ought to have received
from the Receiver-General unaccounted for, the Colonial
treasury empty, and the Assembly .unwilling to come to
the rescue, there was nothing for it but that the Governor
prorogue Parliament, which he did on the 9th of March,
1824. -i
Soon after the close of the session, Lord Dalhousie
returned to England. In the ensuing summer the Pro-
vincial Parliamentary election was held, and served only
to increase the number of members elected in opposition
to the Government. This election took place under the
presidency of Sir F. Burton, who took the place of Lord
Dalhousie in the administration of the government while
the latter was absent in England. It was hoped now
that with the change of Governors there would come a
change of policy. Sir F. Burton did the best he could
to reconcile the Assembly to the Government and partially
succeeded. He even so far conceded to their demands
ASSEMBLY STOPS SUPPLIES.
95
as to submit a civil list and estimates in such a shape
that the Assembly could criticize its items, and allow or
reject them as circumstances might require.
Lord Dalhousie returned to his official duties as Gov-
ernor in January, 1826, and the temporary peace which
reigned during Sir F. Burton's administration was broken
up soon after Lord Dalhousie returned to the Govern-
ment. There was, however, a lull during the first session
after his return. The Colonial Office in June, 1825, by
a despatch to the acting Governor Burton gave him to
understand that what he had done in regard to the
estimates, recognizing some right of control in the Assem-
bly, might be allowed for that session but must not occur
again. Lord Dalhousie being made aware of those instruc-
tions had no alternative but to carry out the policy of
the Home Government. The Assembly in its next session
attempted to pass the supplies in the same manner as
under Sir F. Burton, but met with a rebuff, the Legislative
Council absolutely refusing to sanction them in that form.
The result was that the supplies were not granted.
The next day after the refusal of the supplies Lord
Dalhousie prorogued Parliament, and in addressing the
two Houses, following the example of the Duke of Eich-
mond on a former occasion, he made it a point to dis-
criminate between the two Houses, the Legislative Council
and Assembly.
" I have come," said he, " to bring to a close this
session of the Provincial Parliament, being convinced that
nothing likely to promote the public interest can now
96 REBELLION OF 1837.
be expected from your deliberations. To you, gentlemen
of the Legislative Council, who have attended to your
duties in this session, I offer my thanks on the part of
His Majesty, -as an acknowledgment of the regard which
by your presence you have shown to the welfare of your
country, and also of that proper respect which you have
manifested to the Sovereign from whom your honours
Vj i are derived. Gentlemen of the Assembly, it is painful to
me that I cannot speak my sentiments to you in terms
of approbation and thanks. Many years of continued
discussion of forms and accounts have proved unavailing
to clear up and set at rest a dispute which moderation
and reason might have speedily terminated."
This address by the Governor of course gave offence
to the Assembly and members of that body. Mr. Papineau,
in the lead, thought it necessary to issue a counter-address
to the electors, censuring the Governor and justifying
their refusal of supplies. The newspapers at this period
became very violent in their language, the Government
and Opposition papers hurling epithets at each other with
a freedom worthy of Billingsgate fish-wives. Some of
the French-Canadians affected to believe that the Gov-
ernment contemplated reducing the compatriots to the
position of slaves worse than Spartan helots. These patriots
were not content to use the Provincial press for the
airing of their grievances, but must forsooth send forth
their fulminations from foreign soil. It is in evidence that
the patriots aforesaid were at the time not actually resi-
dent in the Province, but rather that they had betaken
KAMI DU PEUPLE. 97
themselves to the State of New York. There they estab-
lished a newspaper, at Plattsburgh in that State, and
gave it the name, L' Ami du Peuple, a favourite name
for those who place their faith in democracy and repub-
lican government. Here is a specimen of the writing in
that paper: "Canadians, chains are forging for you; it
now appears that you are doomed to annihilation, or to be
ruled with a sceptre of iron. Your liberties are invaded,
your rights violated, your privileges abolished, your reclama-
tions contemned, your political existence threatened with
utter ruin. Now is the time to manifest your strength, to
display your energy, and to convince the Mother Country
and the horde which, for half a century, has played the
tyrant's part among your homesteads, that if ye be sub-
jects, ye are not slaves."
It would be interesting to know whether the editor
of L'Ami du Peuple was an American or a Gallo-
Canadian more probably the former, a wolf in sheep's
clothing. Past action and subsequent events prove that
the border men of the United States are ever too readj
to foment the troubles of the dissatisfied citizens >f Canada,
hoping to profit by their success.
Lord Dalhousie's prorogation of the Parliament was
followed by a dissolution of the Assembly. It was an
appeal to the electorate to confirm or condemn the with-
holding of the supplies. It shows how strong was the
faith of the Canadian people in their leaders that the
French-Canadian representatives to Parliament were sent
back to the House, the majority against the Government
98 REBELLION OF 1837.
being increased rather than diminished. This by no
means proves that the Governor was wrong and the con-
stituent body right. As a matter of fact, the Governor
was right, as he was but carrying out the policy of the
Home Government and the instructions of his superiors.
The habitants, however, were not concerned about Home
Governments and instructions. All they knew or cared
to know was that the system that prevailed and the Colo-
nial administration of affairs were not in accordance with
the principle that majorities should govern. The Canadian
Spectator, a Lower Canada journal, commenting on the
elections, while they were still in progress, said : " The
elections are nearly over ; the friends of our King, country
and Constitution have achieved a signal victory. The
functionaries of Lord Dalhousie and his whole government
system have been practically condemned generally and
formally."
It is difficult to understand how the Spectator could
call the opposers of the Government friends of the Con-
stitution, when we reflect that the Governor was only per-
forming his duty in carrying out the Constitution. If the
Constitution were at fault, it was not his fault. However,
the turn the elections had taken afforded a good oppor-
tunity for uttering a philippic against the Governor, and
it was seized upon with avidity. One cannot but express
a feeling of sympathy with the Governor. Here was an
officer of much distinction placed in the position of gov-
erning a Province under a Constitution which subjected
him to the appearance, if not actuality, of always being
DA LHO US IE ATT A CKED. 99
at war with the people, while it may be that his sympathies
may always have been with those who were clamorous
for reforms in the government. Lord Dalhousie's subse-
quent administration in India shows that he was a man
most worthy of his Sovereign's favour.
Lord Dalhousie was not the people's favourite, their
compatriot Papineau was. The time had now come to
try a fall with this gentleman. In the new House the
question of Speakership necessarily arose. The Governor
would have preferred that Papineau of all men should
not have been elected President of the Assembly. The
Governor's wishes, however, were not in the least
regarded. The Assembly, rightly, no doubt, considered
themselves an independent body, and in making choice
of the mouthpiece of the House cast their votes almost
unanimously for Mr. Papineau. Mr. Papineau with
several others had since the prorogation of the House
issued a manifesto on public affairs, in which, not
content with giving voice to his political opinions and
condemnation of the Government, he very unadvisedly
made a bitter and unwarranted personal attack upon
the Governor. In his individual capacity Lord Dal-
housie could have overlooked this attack, but as His
Majesty's Representative in the Province he felt bound
to resent it in the most marked and public manner.
The Governor now regarded Mr. Papineau as a fomenter
of discord, as a disturber of the public peace, as an
enemy seeking to destroy the props by which the Govern-
ment was upheld. When the House presented Mr.
100 REBELLION OF 1837.
Papineau to the Governor as their Speaker, on His
Excellency going down to open Parliament, the Governor
refused to recognize him.
The Assembly returned crestfallen, but not beaten.
They in confidence determined that if the Governor
desired to address the House should do so with Papineau
as their Speaker, or not at all. The Governor absolutely
refused to open Parliament while Papineau was Speaker,
and no compromise being effected or offered immediately
prorogued the House, the British part of the population
highly commending him for this act of firmness in
dealing with the leader of what was considered by them
a rebellious party.
These proceedings produced a large crop of addresses
to the British Parliament and to the Home Government
from the partisans of both sides of the House. The
French-Canadians were accused of sedition, the Govern-
ment party of tvjrannjg. Violent diatribes were renewed
in the public press, and the Province was in the throes
of a political revolution. Agents were sent to England
by both parties to represent their various views to the
British Government.
When the addresses were laid before the House of
Commons there opened a field day for the discussion of
Canadian affairs. The Canadian Constitution and its
administration came under review in the Commons in a
manner refreshing to those who were desirous of ripping
to pieces the Colonial system. Mr. Hume was specially
aggressive ; he warmly espoused the cause of the French- .
DISCUSSION IN THE COMMONS. 101
Canadians. Mr. Hume was seconded by Mr. Labouchere,
a member of the Commons of French descent. His
attack was more on the administration of the Constitution
than on the Constitution itself. He said : " I look upon
the act of 1791 as the Magna Charta of Canadian
freedom. I am of the opinion that if the intentions of
Pitt and his coadjutors had been better followed out by
those who came after him and them, Lower Canada
would have attained to that height of prosperity they
destined for that Province ; and that it would at this
hour be in the enjoyment of the concord and tranquillity
its connection with Britain must have assured."
Mr. Huskisson, Government Minister, recognizing that
there was a crisis in Lower Canada, felt it necessary to
propose that a Committee of the House should be
nominated to enquire into the condition of the two
Canadas. He, at the same time, took occasion to defend
the Constitution, though he did so in a rather apologetic
manner. He said : " There may be many defects in the
Colonial Constitution; but this was inevitable at the
epoch of the initiation ; and it is not at all to be wondered
at, that imperfections should exist in that Constitution,
although it was drawn up by the greatest contemporary
statesman of Britain."
The Committee appointed on the motion of Mr.
Huskisson had before it the various addresses to Parlia-
ment, and besides a petition from traders in London
asking for a re-union of the Provinces of Lower and
Upper Canada. After due deliberation the Committee
102 REBELLION OF 1837.
reported, but in such a manner as to be satisfactory to no
one. Lord Dalhousie condemned it as being too favourable
to the French-Canadians, while the French-Canadians,
thankful for some concessions, were not contented because
they did not get more. The result was that nothing came
of the report. Matters were left to drift along in the old
way. The Colonial office exercised supreme control.
Lord Dalhousie left the Province and was appointed
Commandant of the forces of India. The Lieutenant
Governor of Nova Scotia, Sir James Kempt, was transferred
to Lower Canada and the wheels of government once
more set moving under his administration.
CHAPTER VI.
Governor Gore's Second Term War of 1812 and Its Rewards
Slow Fulfilment Robert Fleming Gourlay His Life in Canada
and his Trials He was Strong, Impetuous, Honest in his
Convictions His Advocacy of Immigration He Calls a Con-
vention to Discuss Canadian Affairs Indicted for Seditious
Libel Twice Tried, Twice Acquitted Finally Expelled from
the Province on Other Grounds His Address to the King
Imprisoned in England Return to America Declines to Sup-
port Mackenzie's Rebellion Subsequent Life Sir Peregrine
Maitland, Governor His Administration A Tory House
Liberal Measures Barnabas Bidwell Elected to Parliament
His Subsequent Expulsion Marshall S. Bidwell Elected Promi-
nent Figure in the Rebellion of 1837 William Lyon Mackenzie,
his Birth, Parentage and Early Life Mackenzie's Politics His
Arraignment of the Governor and its Consequences His Ban-
ishment Advocated.
IN the year 1811 Lieutenant Governor Gore left Upper
Canada for England on temporary leave of absence.
He did not return to the Province till after the war.
Governor Gore had not been long in the Province, after
his second assumption of the duties of government, when
he found that the body politic was in a less friendly frame
of mind than he had anticipated. The loyalists of the
Province had nobly acquitted themselves in the war which
their kinsmen of the United States had waged against
them, but the honours and rewards, which they believed
104 REBELLION OF 1837.
themselves entitled to, were slow in coming, and might
possibly never reach them. The Volunteers and Militia. .
had been promised grants of land, but for some reason
the patents were withheld, and the people murmured and
denounced the Government in no stinted terms. Besides
this there was no longer that large expenditure of money
which had been made during the war. The people would
almost rather the war had continued than to find them-
selves reduced to a comparative state of poverty by the
peace. There was no immigration, no trade, no com-
merce. The people would gladly have welcomed^ immi--
grants from the country with which they had been at war.
rather than to be without their capital and their eutei>__
prise. The Government had set its far.ft Against, grnnf.g
of land being made to Americans, and
to Americans even being admitted into the~.crnintr.y.<_ ___
This was the state of things when the Legislature met
in 1817. The Assembly after meeting lost no time in
going into committee to take into consideration the state
of the Province. The feeling which prevailed among the
people in regard to the matters of which they complained
had its reflex in the Legislature. Resolutions on these
subjects were submitted to the House, and the Govern-
ment was about to be called to account. This did not
suit the views of the Lieutenant Governor or his Council.
In reviewing the proceedings of the Lower Canada Legisla-
ture, we have seen how common it was for a Governor
when the Assembly became too independent or outspoken
to prorogue, and in some instances to dissolve the House.
ROBERT FLEMING GOURLAY. 105
Governor Gore followed this precedent in Upper Canada.
When he found that the Assembly had the temerity to
threaten to probe into the affairs of government, he
prorogued the House in a curt speech of three paragraphs.
The members of the House of Assembly of Upper
Canada were not the men to submit to be treated con-
temptuously by any man, though that man should occupy
the position of Governor of the Province and be the
Monarch's Eepresentative. It no doubt galled the
Governor to find the people's agents so independent, but
then it is to be remembered they were independent in a
good cause. The lands which they had fairly earned by
their services in the war were withheld. The Clergy
Eeserve lands, one-seventh of the lands of the Province,
were withheld from settlement. Favourites of Govern-
ment and the ruling party were accused of securing
grants of wild lands, holding them for speculative pur-
poses. The settlement of the country was retarded and
there was great discontent.
At this time there crossed the sea for Canada, a Scotch-
man, the son of a lawyer (but not himself bred to the law),
who took advantage of a proclamation inviting emigrants
to settle in Upper Canada, for the improvement of their
condition.
Robert Fleming Gourlay, born in Fifeshire between
1780 and 1784, was a remarkable man. Endowed with
great natural abilities, he had not arrived at the age of
twenty-one years when he was employed by the Govern-
ment to enquire into the condition of the English poor and
106 REBELLION OF 1837.
suggest a remedy for prevailing distress. This was in
about the first year of the century, when great poverty
afflicted the people of the British Isles.
He made a report, which led to a bill being introduced
in the House by the President of the Board of Agriculture,
which, however, was thrown out.
After this Gourlay seems to have taken up the role
of agitator in his own land, and took up the cause of the
people against the landlords and the Church. In 1808,
according to his own statement, he took up the cause of
the farmers against the Lairds of Fife. In 1809, he pub-
.lishedan appeal for Parliamentary reform, and in 1815,
attacked the Church property, demonstrating, to his own
satisfaction, at least, that Church property was the
property of the people, and in the same year, as he says,
posted the Bath Society as rogues for deserting the com-
mutation of tithes. He rented a farm from the Duke of
Somerset in Wiltshire, and seems to have been an
advanced student of agriculture and to have been fairly
prosperous.
Having acquired some land in Upper Canada, in 1817,
he determined to make a visit to the country, intending
to be away about six months. Arrived at Quebec he
travelled through Upper Canada and New York State, and
resolved to establish a land agency for his own benefit and
promote emigration. He had not been long in the
Province before he became convinced that the existing
system of government, or rather the administration of it,
retarded the settlement of the Province. The govern-
ADVOCATES IMMIGRATION. 107
ment of the Province, which was largely in the hands of the
original settlers, was opposed to free grants. If immigration
increased there would be a demand for grants of Crown
lands, while those who had the control of public affairs
preferred to have control of the lands also, and sell their
"^JS 1 - 1
own lands to the people who came to the country with
means to buy, which was not the class of immigration
Gourlay had in view.
There were many land agents in the Province, many
of whom were employed to look after soldiers' claims, and
U. E. rights, as they were called. This consisted in
securing for the United Empire Loyalists the lands to
which they were entitled under King George III. bounty
for losses occasioned by the War of the Eevolution. Mr.
Gourlay was shrewd enough to observe that this kind of
business might be made remunerative. He set about
acquiring a knowledge of the national resources of the
Province and the wants and wishes of the people. He
prepared, at the cost of much labour, a compilation called
" Statistical Account of Upper Canada, with a view to a
grand system of Emigration." This book of several hundred
pages must have cost him much time as well as labour.
He was indefatigable. Some people might say, and some
people did say as is generally said of men with an idea
that he had a " bee in his bonnet," especially on this sub-
ject of emigration.
When he found that the Governor had prorogued the
Legislature, and for the reason, as was thought, that the
Assembly was too free in criticizing the land policy of the
108 REBELLION OF 1837.
Government, Gourlay conceived the idea of calling dele-
gates from all parts of the Province to meet in convention
" to deliberate upon the propriety of sending commissioners
to England to call attention to the affairs of the Province."
If Mr. Gourlay had been a man of judgment, or had under-
stood the people of Canada, he could not have done a more
harmful thing to himself or his reputation than propose
a convention. The very name of y convention " was
odious to Canadian ears. It was a mode of procedure so
much in favour with the rebels in the Colonies before the
American Revolution of 1776 that anything in the shape
of convention or congress was considered insulting to a
Canadian community, and their promoters hostile to the
best interests of the country.
Mr. Gourlay, in promoting his immigration scheme,
addressed to the farmers throughout the country a circular
containing a number of queries with a view of ascertaining
the probabilities of success, if immigrants on his recom-
mendation should determine to take up lands in the
Province. One of the questions calculated to bring
answers that the people favoured emigration was this :
" What in your opinion retards the improvement of your
township in particular or the Province in general, and
what would most contribute to the same ? " This was a
very innocent question, but was construed by the Gov-
ernment as intended to invite a reply that the want of
immigration and the mismanagement of the public lands
were the cause of Upper Canada's backwardness. The
Government must look into this. Here was a new-comer
CALLS A CONVENTION. 109
interfering with the province of Parliament, proposing
conventions, suggesting deliberations as to the propriety
of sending commissioners to England to call attention
to the affairs of the Province, and criticizing the Governor
and the Government party on the land policy. This
stranger in the land must be gotjrid of in some way, and it
did not seem necessary to be very particular as to the way
to go about it.
The convention, the idea of calling which arose in the
fruitful brain of Mr. Gourlay, was actually held. This
in itself shows what influence Mr. Gourlay had obtained
with the masses. The convention, or Gourlay's circular,
seconded by the writings of the Scotch immigrant in the
public press, produced the hoped-for effect, so far as the
Assembly was concerned. At the next meeting of the
Legislature, in 1818, a resolution for an enquiry into the
affairs of the Province was carried in the Assembly, but
before the resolve of that body reached the Executive,
the Governor again hastily prorogued the House.
The outcome of the convention was that the militia
embodied during the war got their patents. Mr. Gourlay,
in continuance of the proceedings of the convention, pub-
lished the draft of a petition to the Crown, to be adopted
by the people as far as they thought proper. Never choice
in his language, and often offensive, this petition had
in it the following passage : " Corruption indeed has
reached such a height in this Province that it is thought no
other part of the British Empire witnesses the like. It
matters not what characters fill situations of public trust
110 REBELLION OF 1837.
at present ; all sink beneath the dignity of men and have
become vitiated and weak."
gj^ This language, to the minds of the Executive Govern-
ment, afforded an opportunity for indicting Mr. Gourlay
*
for seditious libel : accordingly he was twice indicted, but
on each occasion acquitted. An Act, however, was seized
upon to enable his enemies to attain their object. He
was arrested, brought before two members of the Assembly
under an Act of 1804, aimed at persons, not being inhabi-
tants, who should give cause to suspect that they were
endeavouring, or about to endeavour to engage in sedition,
and providing for their expulsion from the Province.
By these members of the Assembly he was ordered
to leave the Province, and, choosing to disregard their
j order, Gourlay was arrested and confined in the jail at
Niagara for eight months. Weak in body, the heat and
confinement seemed to have partially affected his mind.
He was prevented from having free consultation with
friends and brought at last into Court in August, 1819,
where he appeared indifferent to what was going on.
As was said by the witnesses at the Parliamentary enquiry
afterwards held, his speech was incoherent, and he
appeared in a great measure unconscious of what was
going on around him. This was attributed to his physical
condition, brought about by his confinement. However
!~ >: this may be, the unfortunate Gourlay was convicted and
sentenced to banishment from the Province.
Gourlay now made his way back to England, his mind
full of resentment at the wrongs he had suffered. Arrived
RETURNS TO ENGLAND. Ill
there he found his affairs in disorder. In his absence
his landlord, the Duke of Somerset, had preferred a claim
for rent, although Gourlay claimed that when he left
England the Duke owed him some hundreds of pounds.
The action of the Duke so oppressed Gourlay's wife, whom
he had left in care of his farm, that she gave it up, and
Gourlay found himself banished from Canada and home-
less in England. Nevertheless, his indomitable, heart was
not yet broken. He sought redress in law through that
most tedious Court of that day, the Court of Chancery.
Six years were consumed in bills, interrogatories, refer-
ences, and all the endless proceedings of the Court of that
period. In the end Gourlay got judgment, but did not get
his costs. A most barren result, as no doubt the costs
consumed all that was gained by the judgment.
During this time, Gourlay had proceeded to petition '
- - d&x-t/.p*'*
Parliament with regard to his treatment in Upper Canada,
but no attention was paid to his complaint. He had con-
fided one petition to Mr. Brougham to present, and con-
ceiving that Mr. Brougham had neglected his case, the
man seems to have become desperate. He made a pre-
meditated assault on Mr. Brougham in the lobby of the
House, was at once arrested and committed by the Speaker
and the House to confinement during the session of the
Parliament for his contempt. On Parliament rising, he
was released from the custody of the Sergeant-at-arms,
only to be arrested again and committed to the House of
Correction, in default of bail, as a dangerous person of
unsound mind. Here he remained for nearly four years,
112 REBELLION OF 1837.
making endless appeals to the public through the press,
and publishing an appeal to the nation of some two
hundred pages.
Gourlay had many friends in his own country, and had
a friend in the House in Mr. Hume, then a prominent
Eeformer. Through the efforts of friends, he was at last
released from confinement in March, 1828, and went
to Scotland, where he resided till November, 1833,
tortured as he says by unsettled affairs. He then set
sail again for the New World, landing in New York in
December of that year. On board ship he indited the
following address to his creditors :
"NOTICE TO CREDITORS.
" THE PACIFIC AT SEA, Nov. 9, 1833.
" I hereby intimate that I have sailed for America, not to evade
payment of debts, but that all may be paid in full, for which funds
are more than sufficient.
"Witness my hand,
" ROBERT GOURLAY,
" Late of Leith, subject of the King, now Robert Fleming
Gourlay of the ocean and subject of Neptune ! ''
Arrived in New York, he opened communication with
his Canadian friends, who invited him to return to the
Province, in which there was a large class which
still maintained feelings of animosity to the Govern-
ment of the Province. Gourlay, however, refused all
their overtures, and in fact exhibited a profound distrust
of the leaders of the Eeform party. Following his
own course, he addressed a series of remonstrances
PETITIONS TO THE CROWN. 113
to the Lieutenant Governor, Sir John Colborne, and
his successor, Sir Francis Bond Head, and to the
Duke of Wellington, then at the head of the Home
Government, in his addresses to the latter urging an
enquiry into the affairs of the Colony, as well as
reparation of his own wrongs. During the year 1835,
he addressed several communications to the Duke,
urging that the Canadians should be given the right
to legislate for themselves, in all matters, civil and
.religious. He expressly explained that he had no
desire to see the Colony separated from the Empire.
Gourlay was in fact always a constitutional agitator,
and his writings show he had no sympathy with those
who incited revolt or sedition. His last address, prior
to the breaking out of the Rebellion, was to Her
Majesty Queen Victoria, then lately come to the
Throne, in October, 1836, urging her to visit the
Colony in person, and free it from the existing abuses
of government.
In 1837, when William Lyon Mackenzie was leading
the armed revolution, he was informed that Mackenzie
wanted his assistance in the movement headed by
him. He communicated with Mackenzie, and urged
him to abandon the course he was pursuing. He
reminded him that there were constitutional means
for reform in Canada, and (Mackenzie's movement
having at the time met with a check), assured him
that had he succeeded, so far from rejoicing, he would
have turned his back on America forever. He had,
1U REBELLION OF 1837.
it is true, been in sympathy with Mackenzie until
about 1829, when, as he says, " finding he had no
^C-O-l
stability, he cut correspondence with him." In 1834,
Mackenzie wrote to him in New York. Gourlay would
have no dealings with him, and said that while he
had " no bad feeling personally towards him, he
wished to have no correspondence with him on
'political subjects." Mackenzie writing twice to him
again, he peremptorily desired him to desist. In
his methods entirely differing from Mackenzie, Gourlay
was always a loyal subject. Amid all his trials
and losses, and although his mind was at times
clouded, possibly by the troubles he had endured,
he never lost faith in Canada, or in the Empire.
His differences were in truth more with the administra-
tion of affairs in Canada by the ruling party there,
than with the Home Government.
In 1841, after the fall of the Kebellion, Gourlay peti-
tioned the Canadian House of Parliament, gave a detailed
account of his sufferings, and demanded redress. The
petition was referred to a select Committee which reported
" That the Petitioner's imprisonment in 1819 was
illegal, unconstitutional, and without the possibility of
excuse or palliation."
The Government felt that Gourlay deserved better
treatment than he had received during his short career in
Upper Canada, and Sir Charles Bagot, while Governor of
the Province, offered him a pension of fifty pounds, from
the civil list. Gourlay considered himself insulted by this
GOURLAY'S SUBSEQUENT LIFE. 115
offer : he refused to accept any grant made on the score of
compassion, and declined to accept the pension.
What he wanted was not a state pension, but full
indemnity for the wrongs that had been inflicted on him,
acknowledged to be such by the Legislature. He con-
tinued his addresses to the Government and to the Legis-
lature, but they, feeling that they had endeavoured to
make compensation and that their efforts had not met
with success, did no more for him. He returned to Scot-
land, where he lived till 1863, when he died at the ripe
age of eighty.*
To return to chronological sequence, we find that
Alexander Smith was Administrator of the Province in
the spring and summer of 1818, and was followed by Sir
Peregrine Maitland, who was Governor of the Province in
succession to Governor Gore. He opened Parliament on
the 12th of October, 1818.
Mr. Gourlay's imprisonment occurred during the early
administration of Sir Peregrine Maitland. The popula-
tion of the Province at this time was about one hundred
and twenty thousand, and was steadily increasing. Sir
Peregrine, on opening the eighth Parliament, in January,
1821, was enabled to congratulate Parliament that the
current of immigration was now setting steadily into the
Canadas. In contrast with Lower Canada, the Upper
Province presented an entirely different aspect. In the
former the Executive was stoutly opposed by the
* " The Banished Briton and Neptunian," published by Gourlay in 1843, is the
principal authority for the facts relating to Gourlay's connection with Upper
Canada.
116 REBELLION OF 1837.
Assembly, while in Upper Canada, the Governor,' the
Council and the Assembly were in complete accord. The
House might be called a Tory House, and yet the statutes
show that the Assembly thoroughly appreciated the wants
of the people, and even their prejudices were considered.
Several acts of a liberal character were passed. Certain
persons in the Province had endeavoured to persuade
the electorate that it was the purpose of Parliament to
endeavour to exact tithes, for the support of a Protestant
clergy. Parliament, however, soon undeceived the people
by passing an Act declaring " That no tithes should be
claimed, demanded or received by any ecclesiastical
parson, rector, or vicar of the Protestant Church within
the Province."
There were at this time agitators in the Province,
willing to set afloat any tale, to deceive credulous people
as to the administration. The truth seems to have been,
that the new settlers in the Province were imbued with
the idea that the old settlers had too many favours from
Government, and these agitators continually worked, so
that whenever these old settlers held office, they should be
worked out from that office, for the accommodation of the
new comers. That, however, was not the idea of the
United Empire Loyalists, who, it must be admitted, had
the principal control of affairs. Their opinion on this
subject may perhaps be best gathered from an address
of the House of Assembly to the Governor, when referring
to Mr. Gourlay and his proceedings. " We remember,"
said they, " that this favoured land was assigned to our
BARNABAS BID WELL. 117
fathers as a retreat for suffering loyalty, and not as a
sanctuary for sedition. We lament that the designs of
one factious individual [Gourlay] should have succeeded
in drawing into the support of his vile machinations, so
many honest men and loyal subjects of His Majesty."
If there was one class of men that the United Empire
Loyalists abhorred more than another, it was the Ameri-
can, who leaving the United States, had come to Canada
to there make his home. The schoolmasters, the singing
men, the quack doctors and the peddlers, who were in the
habit of invading the Province, were looked upon with
suspicion, not because of their professions or trade, but
because of their continual endeavours to undermine
the loyalty of the settlers, and to convert them to Eepub-
licanism.
The first session of the eighth Parliament was
prorogued by Sir Peregrine Maitland on the 14th April,
1821, and the second session opened in November, 1821.
In the recess between the two sessions a vacancy occurred
in the representation of the Counties of Lennox and
Addington.
Barnabas Bidwell was then a resident of those counties.
He had been Attorney-General of the State of Massachu-
setts, and had been indicted for some offence in that
state and fled to Canada. He taught school for some
time in the village of Bath. A lawyer by profession, and
ifted of speech, he had no difficulty in ingratiating
imself with the electors. When the election to
11 the vacancy came to be held, he was put forward
118 REBELLION OF 1837.
as a candidate for the suffrage of the constituents,
and was elected member of Parliament. It is but fair to
say, that the majority of the electors did not know that
Mr. Bidwell was a fugitive from justice, and for those who
had heard it so stated he had a ready explanation, which
was that his political enemies there had got up an
accusation against him for misapplication of public
moneys, but that he had not been convicted of that
offence. The fact was that Mr. Bidwell had fled the
country on account of a warrant having issued for his
apprehension.
Whether innocent or guilty of the charge it was not
necessary to enquire, as he was a foreigner, foreign -born,
and owed allegiance to the United States. His election
was petitioned against on this ground, and he was expelled
the House.
Barnabas Bidwell had allied himself with the party
of Reformers which had by this time sprung into existence,
and as he could not be a member of the Legislature him-
self, Marshall S. Bidwell, his son, ran for the same con-
stituency and was elected. An attempt was made to unseat
him also, but the attempt failed, and he became a promi-
nent politician and one of the most shining lights of the
Beform party.
Marshall S. Bidwell was technically a British subject,
having been born in Massachusetts before the revolt of
the American colonies. He had not held office under the
United States Government, and had not taken the oath
of allegiance to the Government. Nevertheless, he was
MARSHALL S. BID WELL. 110
a Republican at heart, and would have been glad if Canada
could have been prevailed upon to cast in her lot with
the United States. Mr. Bidwell was a man much respected
by those who knew him, was a profound lawyer, and well
qualified to hold the highest position in the state. His
Republican proclivities, however, operated to his disadvan-
tage, and he ultimately left the Province, residing many
years in New York, where he practised his profession with
great success. He died in the land of his birth, mourned
by many friends, amongst whom may be classed those
who knew him best in Canada.*
At or about the same time that Robert Fleming Gourlay '
emigrated to Canada, William Lyon Mackenzie, a young
man of Scotch birth, the son of Daniel Mackenzie, of
Dundee, Forfarshire, crossed the Tweed and took up his
abode in England. Mackenzie was an active, pushing
young man, and going out into the world to make a
living at an early age, he did not neglect any opportunity
to strengthen both body and mind for the arduous duties
of life. His mother was a woman of great force of char-
acter and resolute will. An ardent Presbyterian, she ( O v>
doubtless instilled into her son's mind that love of inde-
pendence which was a characteristic of his life. Or was
it that, left without the care of a father when but a month
old, deprived of the restraining influences of the head of
* Mr. Bidwell died in 1872. He is buried in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The
following inscription on his tomb is supplied by the Rev. Arthur Lawrence, the
Rector of the Episcopal Church there :
" He hath showed thee, O, Man, what is good ;
And what doth the Lord require of thee
But to do justly, and to love mercy,
And'to walk humbly with thy God."
120 REBELLION OF 1837.
the family, a fond and widowed mother allowed him a
latitude which subsequently affected his erratic and restless
life ? Unfortunately, Mackenzie's independence of character
was always swayed by his extreme and restless disposition.
Mrs. Mackenzie, the mother, was left in rather strait-
ened circumstances on her husband's death, in 1795.
Notwithstanding this, she strove to educate her son. He
had not only home, but school education. Her circum-
stances compelled the mother to allow her son William
to " gang his gait," and strike out for himself. He first
entered a counting-house in Dundee. After being there
for a short time he entered into the employ of a wood
merchant. In the year 1814, when only nineteen years
t ) of age, he went into business for himself, keeping a general
shop, with a circulating library, in a small place called
Alyth, near Dundee. He was a great reader, and natu-
rally joined the book business with his general store
keeping. His business not being profitable, he crossed
the Tweed in 1817, and went to England, where he became
managing clerk to a canal company in Wiltshire. It
would be interesting to know if at this time he made
the acquaintance of Gourlay, for we find him in Wiltshire
about the same time. After leaving Wiltshire-, he was
for a brief period in London ; he then made a flying visit
to France, and, in 1820, being then twenty-four years
of age, he emigrated to Canada. Comparing dates, it will
be seen that this was but a short time after Gourlay
had gone through his trial experience, and had been ban-
ished the Province.
WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE. 121
The sound of Gourlay's voice still echoed in the
ears of the people of the Province, but was soon to be
stilled by the more potent voice of this his countryman,
who had come to Canada prepared to show the people
the way 'they should walk.
Sir Peregrine Maitland was doomed to have his
administration clouded by the aggressiveness of this
intruder upon the public peace of the Province. It
cannot be said that these aggressions were not in some
measure good for the future of the Province, but a
scrutiny of the list of those who had been in the Prov-
ince for years before either Gourlay or Mackenzie set
foot on her soil, will show that there were many men,
quite as well qualified as either the one or the other
of these gentleman for reforming the laws, manneys.
and customs of the Province. It was galling to these
to find comparative strangers entering upon a crusade
to change the institutions of the country.
Mackenzie had not been long in the Province
before he undertook the office of General Censor. This
was about the year 1824. He had occupied his time
between his arrival in 1820, and 1824, in selling
drugs and general merchandise, at one time in Toronto,
then Dundas, and then Queenston. He was for fifteen
months in the general store and book business with
Mr. Leslie, in Dundas. The style of the firm was :
" Mackenzie & Leslie, druggists and dealers in hard-
ware, cutlery, jewellery, toys, confections, dye stuffs,
and paints," and in their posters, the business was
122 REBELLION OF 1837.
said to be carried on "at the Circulating Library,
Dundas." It is probable they divided the business
according to their respective tastes, Mr. Mackenzie
taking to himself the profits of the " Circulating
Library " part of the business, and Mr. Leslie the
general, but more profitable part of the venture.
Altogether the businesses in which Mr. Mackenzie
had engaged were not unprofitable, and if his restless
nature had not prevailed on him to leave the count-
ing desk for the life of a journalist and politican, he
would without question have been among the foremost
in commercial life. Co-0A/> <x-
While still at Queenston, in 1824, he abandoned
the business in which he had been engaged, and, on
his own account, and wholly unaided, he established and
published a newspaper, giving it the name of The
Colonial Advocate. As^its verv^jiarne implies, Mr.
Mackenzie had constituted himselftji daampion of,
_ . . ^
Colonial rights. The building is still standing in
which this first newspaper, in the modern sense of
what a newspaper should be, was published. It is a
brick building, on the main street of \ Queenston, at
the foot of the hill. It is now without a roof, but it
^is still known as the "Printing House." Thus does
tradition keep in remembrance the occupation of
William Lyon__Mackenzie, the greatest agitator that
ever Upper Canada has had within her limits.
Tne reason Mr. Mackenzie had for establishing
this paper was that, at that time, there was really
WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE.
MACKENZIE'S POLITICS.
123
no independent organ of public opinion in the Prov-
ince. There was the Upper Canada Gazette, published
at York, by Mr. Fothergill, the Government printer ;
but that was an official paper, principally used for
official notices, with now and then a guarded reference
to political events, but in its general character absolutely
and essentially a Government organ.
Mr. Mackenzie held views in some respects^ similan.
to_Jhose entertained by Mr. Gpurlay, especially on the
subjects of immigration^ and the monopoly^ of public
landsT~~There were-
other subjects which gave
him much concern. These were the Clergy Eeserves,
and the Provincial University. Neither of these sub-
jects need have disturbed him in his daily round or
prevented his sleeping at nights. Before he started
The Colonial Advocate, the people were alive to tbe_
necessity^ of a change in the distribution of the
revenues of the Clergy Ke_serves^__which were claime32_
to belong exclusively to the Church of England^ One-
seventh of the lands of the Province had been_, RPJ; _
apai-rjiythe Constitutional Act of 1791, for "the
The term, " Protestant Clergy/ 7 " opened a very wide
field for political discussion and difference of opinion.
While adherents of the Church of England, who were
the minority of the population, contended that EEe
revenues were TtsttreafecT to~~theTr Church, all other
Protestant denominations~~contenaeci tney "were entitled__
to a sHaro If~~Tle~^revenues were to be divided
124 REBELLION OF 1837.
beiw^en_ail__Protestant Churcbes 1 _o^ which there were_
many, Jbhe^income would fiave been filtered away, ^ no
one receiving the benefit intended by the grant of the
lands by the king.
Mr. Mackenzie well understood the prejudices of
the majority of the people on this question. There
were many, who although supporters of the Government
on other questions, were ready to cast in their lot with
the opposition, if any agitation were commenced, leading
to an issue on this particular subject.
The Constitutional Act had wisely provided that
the Colonial Parliament might, at any time, vary or
altogether repeal the law which had devoted one-seventh
of the Crown lands and their revenues to the support
and maintenance of a Protestant Clergy. There was
thus a ready-made opportunity for an agitator to get
up an excitement on this important question. Mr.
Mackenzie was not the man to lose the opportunity.
In the first number of the Colonial Advocate, distri-
buted broadcast through the country, free of expense,
he expressed a hope that a law would be enacted
" by which the ministers of every body of professing
Christians, being British subjects, should receive equal
benefits from the Clergy Eeserves."
In the same number of the journal, Mr. Mackenzie
assailed the Governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland, the
Executive Council, and the Legislative Council. The
latter he represented as being " always selected from
the tools of servile power."
BANISHMENT ADVOCATED. 125
As viewed nowadays, there was probably not much
in Mr. Mackenzie's expressions which would be regarded
as a political crime. There was nothing clearly
indicated by his writings, further than that he was
a Kadical reformer, and as such desired to catch the
ear, and it may have been with a view at some future
time to capturing votes of the people. It is fair to
presume that Mr. Mackenzie, in establishing a newspaper,
printing it at his own expense, and distributing it all
over the Province, had some object in view other
than pure patriotism and a desire to sacrifice himself
on the altar of liberty. It was his privilege to criticise
the Government and its acts ; if he had confined
himself to this and not assailed the Governor, no
doubt his effusions would have gone unheeded. But
when he went so far as to arraign the Governor and
to declare that the Legislative Council was " always
selected from the tools of servile power," these tools
could not be expected to view with equanimity the
actions of this man, a comparative stranger in the Prov-
ince, and but little known to the ruling dynasty.
It was left to the organ of the official party to take
up the cause of the Government, and to mete out such
punishment to him as he seemed to deserve. The organ
referred to suggested that Mr. Mackenzie should be ban-
ished the Province, and that the whole edition of his
newspaper should be seized and suppressed. However,
the advice came too late. The offending edition of the
Advocate was not seized, since it had already been dis-
126 REBELLION OF 1837.
tributed throughout the Province ; neither was Mr. Mac-
kenzie banished the Province, and it is quite sure that
if he had been expelled he would have soon found his
way back again. (_Mr. Mackenzie was as agile as he was
clever, and it would have been found pretty difficult
either to have kept him behind bolts and bars in the
ProvinceVlor if sent out of the country, to keep him from
wandering back again to his "printing house" in Queen-
ston. At any rate, here he was to be found, after the
sentence of banishment was pronounced against him by
the organ of the official party, periodically sending out
the Advocate and his fulminations among the people.
The paper had not got further than its fourth num-
ber when Mr. Fothergill, the Government printer, under-
took to describe him in the Gazette as a thorough-going
Democrat and a disloyal subject. This was a grave charge
to bring against a Mackenzie of the Mackenzies, and
more than he could submit to without reply. In .the
Advocate of the 10th June, 1824, he took Mr. Fothergill
to task for the supposed libel on his character. Mr.
Mackenzie was a Democrat, but certainly not, at this
time at least, a disloyal subject. He certainly opposed
the local Government, but his disloyalty to the Empire
at that time could not be proved. In his reply to Mr.
Fothergill, he said : "I will refer to every page of the
four numbers of the Advocate now before the public; I
may ask every impartial reader ; nay, I may even ask
Mr. Bobinson* himself, whether they do not, in every
* Mr. Robinson was the Attorney- General, afterwards Sir John Kobinaon,
Chief Justice of the Province.
^ s: ^**
MACKENZIE PROFESSES LOYALTY. 127
line, speak the language of a free and independent British
subject." . . .
In another place he said : "It may be proper that
I should for this once add a few other reasons why dis-
loyalty can never enter my breast ; even the name I
bear has in all ages proved an insurmountable barrier."
He then gives his reasons, protesting the loyalty of all
the Mackenzies, reflecting on the horrors of alliance with
a foreign power, and the fearful responsibility of him
who goes in battle array against the heritage of his ances-
tors. Prophetic thought ! How lightly it was regarded
in Mackenzie's future action.
Notwithstanding the differences between Mr. Fother-
gill and Mr. Mackenzie, Mr. Fothergill soon afterwards
from his place in Parliament gave credit to Mr. Mac-
kenzie for the accuracy with which he reported the pro-
ceedings of the Assembly in the Advocate, and even went
so far as to get a sum of money placed in the contingency
account of the House expenses as some remuneration
to him for this service. The item passed the House,
but was afterwards struck out by the Lieutenant-Governor.
In July, 1824, the general election was held for the
return of representatives to the House of Assembly, when
the Government party was defeated and a majority
returned who were in favour of the Eeform party. There
were twenty-six new members elected to this House, the
majority of whom were for reforming the Government.
Marshall S. Bidwell was returned as a member for Lennox
and Addington, his colleague being Peter Perry. These
128 REBELLION OF 1837.
were no doubt doughty champions of reform, but, on the
other hand, the old party sent many able men to_ the
House, among whom were John Beverley Bobinson and
Archibald McLean, Chief Justice of the Province. A
return of a majority opposed to the Government in those
days did not necessarily cause a change of Government.
This was a defect in the Constitution of which the Keform-
ers loudly complained. The complaint was a just one,
but such was the form of Colonial government at the time.
The Constitution of both the Provinces of Upper and
Lower Canada was founded on a similar principle, the
mainspring of which was the retention by the Imperial
Government of power to regulate Colonial affairs through
a Governor and Legislative Council. The people had
only a semblance of power in the Assembly, which was
constantly subject to the control of the Government and
^Government appointees.
CHAPTER VII.
Papineau and Bepublicanism Personalities Lord Dalhousie a
Soldier Sir Walter Scott's Estimate of Him Inaugurated
Monument to Wolfe and Montcalm His Departure from the
Province Sir James Kempt Succeeds Lord Dalhousie Endeav-
ours to Conciliate the French- Canadians Petitions to the King
Commending Constitutional Act of 1791, but Asking for Redress
of Grievances Sir James Kempt Receives Papineau as Speaker
Committee for Redress of Grievances Committee of House of
Assembly Disapprove Constitution of 1791 Arraignment of
Legislative Council Council and Assembly on Granting Sup-
plies Sir James Kempt's Opinion of Legislative Council Not
Prepared to Revolutionize the Government^Assembly Makes
Demands that Could Not be Granted The People and the
Press-^Rival Factions--Riots in Montreal ^The Cholera Year
Legislative Council Increased Governor's Censure on House of
Assembly for Refusing Supplies House Asks for an Elective
Legislative Council The Legislative Council Advise the King
that the Legislation of Lower Canada Assembly was Alarm-
ing Mr. Viger, Delegate in London Assembly Arraigns Lord
Aylmer, Governor Judges in the Assembly.
GLANCING back at the history of the events happening
just before the nineteenth century entered upon its
third decade, one is struck with the progress which public
men in Lower Canada, especially Mr. Papineau and
others of the Liberal party, were making towards that kind
of government then called Republican, but now rather
constitutional, as opposed to the mixed form of govern-
ment of a limited monarchy. Mr. Papineau started out
REBELLION OF 1837.
ell as a politician, applaudingjhe British Government,
d the Colonial Government instituted in Canada, but
was now opposing, not only measures taken by that
Government within the limits of its jurisdiction, but in
a most violent manner assailing the Governor sent out
to carry out the will of the Imperial power.
When a man descends to personalities, he weakens his
arguments, and he is sure to bring on himself the indig-
nation of the better class of people. The French-
Canadians of the higher classes, and all English-Cana-
dians, were indignant with the Speaker-elect for his
unmerited abuse of Lord Dalhousie, the retiring Governor,
in 1828. Lord Dalhousie was a soldier who had seen
much service under Wellington before coming to Canada,
and on the occupation of Bordeaux by a division of the
British army, under that great Commander, was left
Commandant of the Garrison.
Sir Walter Scott in his "Life of Napoleon," referring
to that occupation, said of Dalhousie : " If excellent sense,
long experience, the most perfect equality of temper and
unshaken steadiness be necessary in so delicate a trust,
the British Army had not one more fit for the charge."
It would thus seem that Lord Dalhousie succeeded in
his governorship of Bordeaux, but in the opinion of Mr.
Papineau and the habitants who followed his lead, he
entirely failed in the government of Lower Canada. It
was Lord Dalhousie who inaugurated the movement for
the erection of the monument to Wolfe and Montcalm,
in Quebec, and under his auspices subscriptions were
DEPARTURE OF LORD DALHOUSIE. 131
obtained from the military and civilians in the Province,
for the accomplishment of that object. The subscribers
to the fund were nearly all British and British-Canadians,
not French-Canadians. One would have thought that
the noble act of the Governor, in thus commemorating
the French Commander Montcalm, in conjunction with
the hero -Wolfe, would have at least animated Mr.
Papineau and softened his feeling towards Lord Dalhousie.
Lord Dalhousie had the satisfaction of knowing that
he left Canada sincerely regretted by those whose opinion
he most valued. The manly character of the Governor
is seen in a reply to an address he received at Three
Elvers previous to his departure. He said : " I have
never varied from the course of my duties, so far as I could
comprehend those of the representatives of our most
gracious Sovereign, in the distant colonies of the British
Empire. I have studied to walk the path of honour as
a man and as a soldier. I have above all things studied
to do justice with impartiality, without any respect of
persons. I have disregarded popular clamour and the
slander of wandering scribbjers. My sense of duty has
never been influenced by such common weapons, and I
leave them behind me, utterly inoffensive. The favour-
able opinions expressed in the language of this address
are to my mind the highest reward of public life ; they
are lasting and imperishable to me and to those who shall
follow me to sustain my name. I can leave no better
record to guide the young to a close as honourable as that
which you now testify to me."
10
132 REBELLION OF 1837.
Sir James Kempt succeeded Lord Dalhousie as
Governor-General in the autumn of 1828. Sir James'
instructions were to pursue a more conciliatory policy to-
ward His Majesty's Lower Canadian subjects. At the same
time he was not to loosen the reins of Imperial control by
negativing the powers and duties of the Legislative Council.
To satisfy the French, he ordered the prosecutions for libel,
which had been commenced under his predecessor, to be
discontinued. He also warned the press that the ribaldry
and license in which they had indulged should cease. In
this regard he was more attentive to the ministerial than
to the opposition press. Both parties had gone beyond
the bounds of decency in criticising the acts of opponents,
but it was thought wise to leave the opposition press to
the discipline of their leaders and the agents of the French
party, who had returned from England, whither they had
gone to present petitions to the Imperial Government and
Parliament, praying for redress of grievances.
One of these petitions may be given as a sample of the
whole. It was signed by the greatest number of the
habitants, at the instigation of their leaders, and may be
presumed to pretty well represent the grievance -mongers'
complaints.
" To the King's Most Excellent Majesiy :
"We, your Majesty's faithful and loyal subjects, inhabitants of
your Province of Lower Canada, most humbly supplicate your Majesty
to receive graciously, this, our humble petition, which we now lay at
the foot of your Imperial throne, with hearts full of gratitude and in-
violable attachment to your Majesty's paternal Government.
PETITIONS TO THE KING. 133
" Among the numerous benefits for which the inhabitants of Lower
Canada are indebted to your Majesty's Government, there is none
that they more highly prize than the invaluable Constitution granted
to this Province by the Act of Parliament of Great Britain passed in
the thirty- first year of the reign of our beloved Sovereign, your august
father, of ever-revered memory.
" Called by that Act to the full enjoyment of British constitu-
tional liberty, and become the depositaries of our own rights
under the protection of the Mother Country, we contracted the
solemn obligation of preserving inviolate this sacred deposit, and
transmitting it to our descendants, such as it was confided to
us by the great men who then presided over the destinies of
your powerful and glorious Empire.
" Deeply impressed with a sense of this obligation, alarmed
by the abuses which have crept into the administration of the
Government of this Province, and suffering under the evils which
weigh on its inhabitants, we entertained an anxious hope that
the House of Assembly, in the session of the Provincial
Parliament called for the despatch of business on the twentieth
of November last, would take into consideration the state of
the Province, and adopt efficacious measures to obtain *the
remedy and removal of these abuses and evils. We had a sure
reliance on the well-tried loyalty and disinterested zeal of our
Representatives, but we had the mortification of seeing our hopes
frustrated by the refusal, on the part of His Excellency the
Governor in-Chief, to approve of the Speaker elected by the
Assembly, and by the Proclamation of the twenty-second of the
same month of November, proroguing the Provincial Parliament.
In these circumstances, deprived of the services of our Repre-
sentatives, suffering under great evils and threatened with others
still greater, we humbly implore the protection of your Majesty,
the source of all grace and of all justice.
"The enlightened and patriotic statesman, who devised our
Constitutional Act, and the British Parliament by which it was
granted, intended to bestow on us a mixed Government,
modelled on the Constitution of the parent state : the opinions
134 REBELLION OF 1837.
publicly expressed at the time in Parliament and the Act itself,
record the beneficent views of the Imperial Legislature ; a Governor,
a Legislative Council and an Assembly were to form three
distinct and independent branches, representing the King, the
Lords, and the Commons ; but the true spirit of that funda-
mental law has not been observed in the composition of the
Legislative Council ; for the majority of its members, consisting
of persons whose principal resources for the support of them-
selves and of their families, are the salaries, emoluments and
fees derived from offices which they hold during pleasure, they
are interested in maintaining and increasing the salaries, emolu-
ments and fees of public officers, paid by the people, and also
in supporting divers abuses favourable to persons holding offices.
The Legislative Council, by these means, is in effect the Executive
power, under a different name, and the Provincial Legislature
is in truth reduced to two branches, a Governor and an Assembly ;
leaving the Province without the benefit of the intermediate
branch, as intended by the aforesaid Act : and from this first
and capital abuse, have resulted, and still continue to result, a
multitude of abuses, and the impossibility of procuring a
remedy.
"We acknowledge that the Legislative Council ought to be
independent, and if it were, we should not be entitled to
complain to your Majesty of the repeated refusals of that branch
to proceed upon various bills, sent up by the Assembly, however
useful and even indispensable they might be ; but considering
these refusals as the natural results of the composition of that
body, and of the state of dependence in which the majority of its
members are placed, we are compelled to consider its acts as the
acts of the Executive Government ; and we most humbly represent
to your Majesty, that the Legislative Council of this Province,
the majority of which is composed of Executive Councillors,
Judges and other persons dependent on the Executive, have, year
after year, rejected such bills, refused and neglected to proceed on
several other bills sent up by the Assembly, for the remedy of
abuses, for encouraging education, promoting the general conve-
PETITIONS TO THE KING. 135
nience of the subject, the improvement of the country, for
increasing the security of persons and property, and furthering
the common welfare and prosperity of the Province particularly,
' ' Various annual bills granting the necessary sums for all
the expenses of the civil government of the Province, but
regulating and setting limits to the expenditure.
''For affording a legal recourse to the subject having claims
against the Provincial Government.
" For regulating certain fees and offices.
" For enabling the inhabitants of the towns to have a voice
in the management of their local concerns, and a check on the
expenditure of moneys levied upon them by assessment.
"For facilitating the administration of justice throughout
the Province, for qualifying and regulating the formation of
juries and introducing jury trials in the country parts, and
diminishing the expenses occasioned by the distance of suitors
from the present seats of justice.
" For providing a new and sufficient gaol for the district
of Montreal.
"For qualifying persons to serve in the office of justice of
the peace.
" For continuing the Acts regulating the militia of the
Province.
"For increasing and apportioning the representation in the
House of Assembly equally among the qualified electors throughout
the Province, particularly in the new settlements and townships.
" For the security of the public moneys in the hands of
His Majesty's Receiver-General in the Province.
" For the independence of the Judges, by securing to them
their present salaries, upon their being commissioned during good
behaviour, and for providing a tribunal for the trial of impeach
ments by the Assembly, so as to ensure a just responsibility in
high public officers within the I'rovince.
" For appointing and providing for an authorized agent for
the Province, to reside in England, and attend to its interests
there."
136 REBELLION OF 1837.
If the two first paragraphs of that petition expressed
the true sentiments of the French-Canadian population
of Lower Canada, there ought not to have been a rebellion
in that Province, for they undoubtedly, in an unneces-
sarily pointed manner, lauded the Constitution which
had been given by the Act of 1791, acknowledged that
the population were " in the full enjoyment of British
Constitutional liberty," and that " they had become
the depositaries of their own rights under the protection
of the Mother Country."
It is a singular comment?.ry on this petition of the
people, that the people's House were presenting a very
different view of the situation. At or about the same time
a Committee of the House of Assembly proposed and the
House adopted the following resolutions :
" 1. That it is the opinion of this Committee, that from the
instant when by the capitulations, the inhabitants of Lower Canada
became British subjects, they had a right to the benefit of the repre-
sentative system and to fhe liberties and political rights of English-
men.
" 2. That it is the opinion of this Committee, that the provision of
the Act 31st Geo. Ill, Chap. 31, which invests his Majesty with the
power (at once extraordinary, unusual and contrary to the pinciples
of the British Constitution,) of composing according to his pleasure,
one entire branch of the Provincial Legislature, is incompatible with
the principles of free government.
" 3. That it is the opinion of this Committee, that experience of
more than forty years has demonstrated that the Constitution and the
composition of the Legislative Council of the Province were not, and
are not, adapted to assure contentment and good government to this
Province, nor, therefore, to favour the development of its resources
and its industry."
.
PA PINE AU AS SPEAKER. 137
The Legislative Council was alwUys the bete noir of the
French party. It disturbed their work by day and their
sleep by night, and yet how could the British Parliament,
as it were in a day, give to its Canadian subjects the
same measure of liberty that had taken it hundreds of
years to establish ? The House of Assembly of Lower
Canada seemed to forget that the government of Canada
was Colonial, not Imperial, nor as yet advanced to the full
measure of manhood.
Sir James Kempt' s first official act, after he assumed
the duties of his office, was to recognize Mr. Papineau as
Speaker of the House of Assembly, which was convened
shortly after his arrival. It may be said, generally, of the
whole of Sir James Kempt's administration that it WRS
eminently conciliatory. He endeavoured in every way to
reconcile the differences existing between the .Council and
the Assembly. It was his happy privilege, in a week after
the opening of the session of Parliament, to lay before
that body a message from the Imperial Government, which
it was announced went a long way in granting the reforms
which the Assembly had asked for.
The message, in fact, proposed a compromise between
the Assembly and the Government. The Assembly, after
referring' the message to a committee, for consideration,
arrived at the conclusion that the compromise offered by
the Home Government would prove nugatory, and passed
a series of resolutions which were embodied in an address
to the Imperial Parliament, which, at their request, was
transmitted by the Governor to England. This address
138 REBELLION OF 1837.
asked for several redresses, among others (1) That the
judges be independent and secluded from the political busi-
ness of the Province. (2) Eesponsibility of public officers. (3)
Independence of support from public revenue. (4) Appli-
cation of Jesuit estates to educational purposes. (5)
Kemoval of obstruction to land settlement.
When Sir James Kempt opened the second session of
Parliament he congratulated the House on substantial
progress having been made in the trades, commerce and
general improvement of the Province, and he assured
them that the petition would be submitted by the British
Ministry to Parliament, although they had not been able,
up to that time, to do so.
' There was one incident which occurred during this
session, which goes to show that there was, in the minds
of supporters of the Government, a suspicion that the
leaders of the French-Canadian party were imbued with
rebellious designs. Mr. A. Stuart was a prominent mem-
ber of the Assembly and supporter of the Government.
It so happened that Lord Dalhousie, during his term of
office, for reasons satisfactory to himself, had recourse
to the old militia ordinances, passed for the protection of
the Province. The House had resolved that these ordi-
nances were still in force. They were thought to be too
stringent in their operation, and were but poorly obeyed.
Mr. Papineau, speaking to a motion for an address to the
King, on the subject of these ordinances, and to harmonise
some difference of opinion as to whether they were
abrogated or not, said : "If the House yields to the
CONDITIONAL GRANT OF SUPPLIES. 139
desires of the inhabitants, then these ordinances are
abrogated, for when all the people in a country unani-
mously repudiate a bad law, there is no possibility of
executing it, therefore I say, the laws in question are
already abrogated." Whereupon Mr. A. Stuart exclaimed,
" This is rebellion."
This session of the Legislature may be considered a
memorable one, as in granting supplies "the Assembly
declared they only did so conditionally that the grievances
of which they complained should be redressed, the
grievances being mostly those specified in the petition of
which mention has been made. The Legislative Council
were much agitated over this method of granting supplies,
with the condition attached, but finally, in order to con-
ciliate the Assembly, passed the bill, with a majority of
one, the minority strongly protesting against the Act.
Sir James Kempt was the means of bringing about this
temporary peace, and thought he had succeeded in
harmonising the contending branches of the Legislature.
The sequel will show that his expections were wholly
fallacious.
A despatch from the Colonial Minister apprised him
that the question was being considered by the Imperial
Government, whether or not it might be possible to
reconstitute both the Executive and Legislative Councils.
The despatch asked for Sir James' opinion in the matter.
The Governor replied that the Legislative Council was
composed of twenty-three members, twelve of whom were
lacemen ; and in religious profession, sixteen Protestants
piacem
140 REBELLION OF 1837.
and seven Catholics ; that the Executive Council had nine
members ; that only one of them could be said to be indepen-
dent of the Government, and all were Protestants but one.
The Governor further stated that although he thought
more independent members, than those in the Legislative
Council, might be gradually introduced, he, nevertheless,
was of opinion that no organic change in the Consti-
tution of the Council was desirable. The opinion of the
Governor, so expressed to the Home Government, proves
that however desirous he may have been to modify existing
institutions, and in every way to improve the existing order
of things, especially in the Legislative Council, he was not
prepared to radically change the existing form of govern-
ment.
The French-Canadians, on the other hand, were deter-
mined, if possible, to get rid of the Council, root and
branch. So soon as it came to their ears that Sir James
Kempt had sent a despatch to England, pronouncing
ngainst any organic change in the Council, the habitants
in those counties and parishes about Montreal, which
afterwards were most open in promoting the rebellion,
viz., Richelieu, Vercheres, St. Hyacinthe, Eouville and
Chambly, met at St. Charles in public meeting, and pro-
tested against the action of the Governor, adding that,
" if the Executive and Legislative Councils were not to
reformed, the most serious disorders might be expected
to ensue."
Sir James Kempt, like many another Governor before
him, became convinced that, notwithstanding concessions,
LORD AYLMER GOVERNOR. 141
I the majority of the population of Quebec were determined
to force a conflict with the British Government, a conflict
in which he did not care to engage. He accordingly
retired from the Government.
Sir James Kempt was succeeded by Lord Aylmer,
who opened his first session of the Colonial Parliament
in January, 1831. Lord Aylmer came to the Parliament
at a most critical time in the administration of the affairs
of the colony. He had to face a powerful opposition to
the Government, one that was more powerful than at
any former period. The malcontents were getting the
upper hand, almost to the point of revolt. The British
Government would fain have quieted the people by even
more concessions than those already made. Lord Aylmer
informed the Parliament that the Government of the
Empire were willing to give over to the colony full con-
trol over all revenues levied in the Province, on condi-
tion that a civil list of 19,000 a year were granted to
His Majesty for life. It was thought that the French-
Canadians would be satisfied, and all apprehensions as
to the future would be thus allayed. This was not to
be so. The Assembly was unwilling to accept this over-
ture of peace and good will, or to be satisfied with any-
thing less than the abolition of the Council, which the
British Government still esteemed the safeguard of British
dominion in the Province.
The more advanced of the French-Canadian party,
boasted, that situated as they were, in a province bor-
dering on the American Piepublic, England, .to avoid
142 REBELLION OF 1837.
complications, would in the end grant them all that
their most extreme wishes finnlrL dnaire. Things were
going from bad to worse, and the Assembly began to brow-
beat the Governor, and finally decided to refuse all sup-
plies until the public income, without excepting any part
of it whatever, should be put under the control of their
House, till the judges were finally excluded from the
Council, and the Council reformed in all other respects.
These demands were so opposed to the instructions of
the Governor, and so far outside of the Constitution,
under which he held his commission, that they could
not possibly be acceded to. The constant demands made
on the Imperial Government, added to reiterated com-
plaints made to the Governor, induced him to think that
the French-Canadians had other designs than mending
the Constitution. When a committee of members of the
House of Assembly placed in his hands a petition to the
King, asking for further concessions, he enquired of the
committee if there were not something behind, and desired
to know if the petition contained all that they sought or
were likely to seek to obtain. The committee could not
but perceive that the Governor more than suspected that
influences were at work to thwart, or make wholly unwork-
able, the office which he held under the Crown. And,
indeed, he was not far astray in his conjectures, as there
were at that time a number of ardent young men in the
Assembly who were forcing their leaders to make unlimited
demands on the Imperial authorities, with the purpose
of throwing the country into a state of revolution, from
ELECTION RIOTS OF 1832. 143
which they hoped to derive benefit to themselves and
the French-Canadian people.
During all -this period one is struck with the fact that --V
many reforms were gradually being made under the \
tutelage of the British Government ; and this in spite of> /
or perhaps indeed on account of the ceaseless clamour
for immediate action on the part of the French-Canadians
and the Colonial Assembly. Impatience seemed to char-
acterize all the proceedings of those who were moving
against the Government in Lower Canada. This was
owing, possibly, to the impulsive nature of the French-
Canadian people, especially their young people, which
kept the whole Province in a state of excitement, and
which neither the Government nor the elders of the
Province were in the least able to control. The news-
papers of the Province were inspired to spare neither
the Governor or Council in their most offensive criticisms.
At the same time they proceeded to overload the Assem-
bly, the people's House, with praise and laudation.
A Parliamentary election was always a time of excite-
ment in the Province of Lower Canada. This was especi-
ally the case in 1832, when was held the first general
election under Lord Aylmer's administration. The rival
factions had been goaded on to a state of frenzy. Parties
met in the streets of Montreal, fought, bled and killed.
Three men lost their lives in the riots that took place,
and two were wounded. The military were called upon
to quell the disturbance, which they did effectually, and,
as it would appear, very distastefully to the French-
144 REBELLION OF 1837.
Canadian faction. The French-Canadians succeeded in
having the colonel and captain of the troops which were
called upon to perform their duty arrested. They were
under arrest, however, for a few hours only and then
were admitted to bail.
' The affairs of shooting the citizens engaged in the
riots created a great sensation among the habitants.
" Were the citizens to be shot down by the soldiers
of the king ? Never." " Aux armes, citoyens, aux
armes ! " was the battle cry. It was with the greatest
difficulty that the public feeling was appeased. These
occurrences took place in 1832, the year of the intro-
duction of the Asiatic cholera into Canada. The cholera
itself, terrible as it was, more than three thousand
persona dying of it in Quebec, was powerless to stay the
political conflagration which raged in the Province. The
habitants assembled in great numbers to denounce the
Government and the military. To pacify the French, eight
French-Canadian members were added to the Legislative
Council. It was thought this would satisfy the French -
Canadian element, but all in vain. The Governor, not
wishing to offend the Legislature, passed over the insults
that had been heaped upon him and his Government.
In his address to the Assembly, when he met the Legis-
lature a second time, in 1832, he proved how able and
willing he was to sink his private feelings in the fulfil-
ment of duty and obligation to the Crown.
In the performance of the service, which he was
required to render, however, he had to communicate to the
I
ADDRESS OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. 145
Assembly the intelligence that the Home Government
treated the refusal of the supplies, at the last session, as
equivalent to a declaration that the Government must cease,
if it was to depend on Colonial sustenance. The King
would, therefore, apply other funds, which he had in his
disposition, to meet the public expense.
This determination of the British Government did but
add further fuel to the flames. The districts about Mont-
real were again in a condition nigh bordering on rebellion.
A meeting of the whole House of Assembly was called for
the 14th January, 1833.
After consuming a month's time in discussing
grievances, the House, by a resolution of a considerable
majority, addressed the King, praying that he would
reconstitute the Legislative Council as an elective body.
This may be regarded as another proof that the French
party were aiming at complete control of the Province.
On this occasion the Council acted with great dignity.
In place of exchanging ungraceful compliments with the
Assembly, they addressed themselves to the King, pointing
ut that the evils flowing from the legislation of His
Majesty's French-Canadian subjects were alarming; that
a state of prosperity was being turned into a state of ruin ;
hat the races, French, French-Canadian and English,
were divided ; that the trade and commerce of the country
was being seriously affected ; that the Elective Council was
but another term for an additional Elective Assembly, and
that if the 150,000 subjects of his Majesty of British birth
and descent in the colony were to be made secure, it was
146 REBELLION OF 1837.
absolutely necessary that the existence of the Council, as
then constituted (a nominative and not an elective body),
should be maintained.
The Council farther informed the King that His
Majesty's subjects in Upper Canada would not look calmly
on and see Eepublican institutions introduced into Lower
Canada, but would resent it, even if it brought about
fraternal war. However well the Council may have
thought they were serving British interests, by plain speak-
ing, their address was not so well received as they had
expected. Nothing better illustrates how completely the
Council were, at the home office, considered to be the King's
servants, than the reply made by the King to their address.
His Majesty could not help commending their loyalty and
attachment to the Constitution. He took occasion, how-
ever, to rebuke them for not confining themselves to more
temperate language in their references to the Lower
Canadian Assembly. He said : " His Majesty cannot but
wish that the Council had abstained from using, with
reference to the other branch of the Canadian Legislature,
language less temperate in its tone than is consistent with
its own dignity, or calculated to maintain or restore a good
understanding between the two bodies. More especially
His Majesty laments the introduction of any words having
the appearance of ascribing to a class of his subjects of one
origin, views at variance with their allegiance."
It is to be borne in mind that when this reply was
written, Mr. Viger, the Lower Canadian Assembly's repre-
sentative in the capital of the Empire, was in London,
MR. VIOER IN LONDOX. 147
and that bis presence there added much to the strength of
the Gallican party in the Province of Lower Canada. Mr.
Viger was too loyal a French- Canadian to be within
bearing of the King's ministers and not impart to them
sentiments not far different from those expressed in the
King's reply to the Legislative Council.
If the sailor King could have lived to the time of the
actual rebellion in Lower Canada and to receive the report
of High Commissioner the Earl of Durham on the affairs
of Canada, made to his successor, Her Most Gracious
Majesty Queen Victoria, in 1839, he would have had cause
to commend the Legislative Council, not for a part only,
but for the whole of their address to the Sovereign.
The Earl of Durham frankly admitted that he, in
common with the people of England, had been deceived
in regard to the true condition of affairs in Lower
Canada, and had wholly misunderstood the causes of
the differences which had existed in the Province.
He said : "I expected to find a contest between a
Government and a people. I found two nations warring
in the bosom of a single state, a struggle, not of principle,
but of races."
Reference has been made to the insults which the
Lower Canadian Assembly, in their own way, heaped
upon the Governor of the Province. Lord Aylmer did
not deserve this at their hands, as he was conscientiously
desirous of promoting the interests of the French-Cana-
dian, as of other subjects of the Crown. Here is a
specimen of the Assembly's deliverance, on a subject
148 REBELLION OF 1837.
which really was of little importance in itself, but
was regarded by the people's House as a great breach
of their privileges. A vacancy occurred in the repre-
sentation of the County of Montreal, on the 24th
November, 1833. The Speaker's warrant for a new
writ of election was issued on the 27th of the same
month. The Governor, owing to the special circum-
stances under which the vacancy occurred, conceived
it to be his duty before issuing the writ of election,
to refer the matter to the Colonial Office, and so informed
the Assembly by message, stating at length the reasons
that had prevented him from issuing the writ, and that
he was awaiting instructions from his superiors in
England.
The communication between England and her Colony
was not at that time as rapid as the present. To give
time for the Home Office to deliberate on the matter,
and to inform the Governor of the result of their
deliberations, necessarily consumed some time. The
Assembly, on the 5th March, addressed the Governor
on the subject of the delay. Lord Aylmer informed
the House that no answer had yet been received from
the Colonial Office to his application for guidance. His
message to the Assembly was delivered on March 8th,
and was at once referred to a Committee of the House.
The Committee, with great precipitancy, considering the
more important business that was then engaging the
attention of Parliament, reported that " His Excellency
had, in violation of the Constitution and laws of the
me v
ASSEMBLY ARRAIGNS LORD AYLMER. 149
Province, and in infringement of the privileges of the
House, for a long time, and until the present time,
prevented the County of Montreal from being represented.
Under these circumstances, which must put an end
to every feeling of good understanding between His
Excellency the Governor-in-Chief and the House .of
Assembly, the House ought perhaps to suspend all
further proceedings, and all communication whatever
with His Excellency, until he has made reparation for
this breach of its rights and privileges. The only circum-
stance which may induce them to defer the communication
of such a determination to the Commander in Chief, is the
indispensable necessity of passing a bill with the view of
preventing, as far as human means may permit, by a
proper system of quarantine, the return of the cholera
morbus, or to diminish its ravages, if it breaks out afresh
in this Province, as there is but too much reason to fear."
The Quebec Gazette, published at the time, refers to
the expulsion of Mr. Mondelet from the House for accept-
ing the position of member of the Executive Council, which
was the very same thing that Mr. Panet had done with
the approbation of the House, and relates how the
Governor had been assailed with addresses for information,
and the palpable object and character of some of those
addresses. " How very strangely the warrant for a writ
for the west ward of the City of Montreal was delayed, on
the ground of danger of riot, and the magistrates and the
military, while an immediate issue of the writ, calling on
the very same electors to act in the immediate neighbour-
150 HKIiELLION OF 1837.
hood of the same magistrates and military, is urged and
made a subject of disrespectful expressions and accusa-
tions against the Governor. A just ground for putting an
end to the whole business of the country and throwing
everything into confusion, were it not for fear of the
cholera." And adds " Well, we are glad the cholera
has at last been found good for something."*
A fruitful subject of discussion in Lower Canada, which
came to a head during Lord Aylmer's administration, in-
volv^d the right of the judges of the Province, or_anxj>f
them, to sit or vote in the Legislative Council. The
practice had been for the Crown to nominate the judges, or
some of them, to the Legislative Council, and, as the judges
were mostly of British origin, the French -Canadian party
made of this one of the grievances they were subjected to.
The judges in the Province held their office during pleasure.
The British Government was of opinion this ought not to
be. Not only was it contrary to the English system, but
the judges, by being made subject to the whim or caprice
of the Assembly, for the annual vote of their salaries, were
thus deprived of their independence.
The Assembly, in order to incapacitate the judges from
sitting or voting in the Eiecutive or Legislative Council,
on the 10th April, 1832, passed an Act, designed to
accomplish that purpose. When the Act came to be sub-
mitted to the British Government, it was found to be
wanting in the essential element of creating a fixed salary
for the judges. Viscount Goderich, Colonial Secretary,
Christie's Lower Canada, Vol. IIF, p. 501.
JUDGES IN THE ASSEMBLY. 151
thereupon addressed a despatch to Lord Aylmer, in which
he informed him of the King's command to acquaint the
House of Assembly, that His Majesty was not only pre-
pared, but was most desirous to co-operate with them in
the enactment of the law, which should render the tenure
of the judicial office dependent on the good behaviour of
the judges, and the salaries independent of the future
votes of the House of Assembly. The Governor com-
municated a copy of this despatch, which was found to
contain a clause announcing to Lord Aylmer that with no
ordinary feelings of regret he was informed that His
Majesty would not be advised to assent to the particular
Bill passed by the Assembly. The despatch was not a
bald one, but entered minutely into the whole question
covered by the Bill, and fully explained why it was neces-
sary that the judges should not be made subject to an
annual or uncertain vote for their salaries. It said,
" The Bill does not make a fixed and permanent provision
for the maintenance of the judges. I observe that the
enactment itself amounts to nothing more than a declara-
tion that the judges shall be paid out of those collective
funds of which the House of Assembly have, or claim to
themselves, the right of appropriation. Such a provision
will not supersede the necessity of an annual vote of the
House to sanction the payment of the judges' salaries, nor
authorize the Governor to issue his warrant to the Receiver
eneral for the sums, in the event of such a vote being
withheld. The popular branch of the Legislature would,
therefore, retain the power of diminishing the official
152 REBELLION OF 1837.
incomes of the judges, or of stopping the payment of them
altogether, and would thus exercise an influence over the
Bench, subversive of that sense of independence of all
parties in the state, so requisite in the members of a body,
whose high office it is to ascertain and protect the rights
of all with strict impartiality. The British Parliament
have studiously divested themselves of all such means of
controlling the freedom of the judges."
The conclusion to be drawn is, that while the Assem-
bly and their electors were clamorous to have the judges
independent of the Crown, they were quite willing to have
them dependent on the Legislature. This is not, however,
surprising, as all the energies of the French party in the
Province of Quebec were directed to making, not only the
judges, but everybody and everything, dependent on that
branch of Parliament controlled by themselves.
CHAPTER VIII.
Mackenzie and the Reform Party Defects in Government Macken-
zie's Printing Office Attacked Type Distributed and Thrown
Into the Bay Action for Damages Mackenzie Profited by the
Rash Act Collins and the Newspaper, " The Freeman " Collins
Prosecuted for Libel Young Men who Attacked Mackenzie's
Office on Trial Convicted Mackenzie Did Not Countenance
Prosecution Report of Select Committee of House of Assem-
bly " The Advocate's :> Comments Thereon Offensive and Libel-
lous Mackenzie Prosecuted for Libel Appeal to the Electors
Alien Laws Mackenzie~"Makes~~Fnends of Old Settlers Mac-
kenzie Not Admirer of the American Constitution Mackenzie's
Address to Electors, County of York, 1827 Dr. Baldwin Mac-
kenzie's " Black List " Mackenzie and Small Opposed Sir
Peregrine Maitland's Administration Colonial System of Gov-
ernment Mackenzie's Activity Mackenzie's Thirty-two Resolu-
tions Grievances Sir John Colborne, Governor The Execu-
tive Council Governor Responsible to English Government
Incongruous Position of Executive and Legislative Council
Colonial Despatch to Sir James Kempt Death of George
IV. Dissolution of House Tory House Reform Not a Suc-
cessMackenzie Expelled the House of Assembly The Elec-
tion for York.
As in nature and the life of man, so in the political life
of a nation, there are periods of gloom and of brightness,
sunshine and shade, of storm and of calm. The period \
in the life of Upper Canada between the years 1824 and 1
1830 may justly be called the stormy period, and William
Lyon Mackenzie was the stormy petrel which followed \
in the wake of the ship of state, foreboding wreck for 1
it at every turn. ~
154 REBELLION OF 1837.
\l What may be termed a Reform. House was elected
i for the Parliament which commenced its first session in
I January, 1825. There was a considerable majority of the
^-members of this House who adopted the principles, or
some of the principles, espoused by Mr. Mackenzie.
Prominent among the Reform members were the well-
known names of Rolph, Perry and Bidwell. Those in
the Province, opposed to the policy and procedure of the
Government, were much elated at the success they had,
for the first time, attained in the political development
of the Province.
Mr. Mackenzie, by his writings, had contributed not
a little to the success of the Reform party, if that may
_ -be called a success which placed a number of gentlemen
in a House of Assembly, the principal function of which
was to pass resolutions, without power to carry them
into effect. The defect in the colonial system of gov-
ernment was that the Legislative Council, composed of
Government nominees and Government place-men, could,
when so disposed, block all legislation that did not accord
with their views, or, it may be, conflict with their interests.
It was -not the fault of the men who constituted either
the Executive or Legislative Council that they owed no
responsibility to the people's House. These men were
given their places by the higher or sovereign power of
the State, and under the Constitutional Act, which they
were bound to respect. If they erred at times, it was
nothing more than human, and they might well have
been spared the virulent attacks made upon them by
MACKENZIE'S OFFICE SACKED. 155
Mr. Mackenzie in his paper, The Colonial Advocate. This<~n
weapon, in the hands of Mr. Mackenzie, enabled him, /
metaphorically speaking, to throw vitriol into the face /
of the officials of the Government, calculated very seri- /
ously to disfigure them in the eyes of the inhabitants of-^_
the Province generally.
The officials had no means of parrying the attacks
made upon them, unless they had recourse to the law
courts, which would have been tiresome and expensive.
Fifteen ardent young men, the most of them officials, or '
the sons of officials, in the month of June, 1826, deter-
mined to punish Mr. Mackenzie for the offences, manyj"
and oft-times committed by him, in libelling themselves,
their sires, or immediate relatives in the columns of the
Advocate. In broad daylight, they visited Mr. Mackenzie's
printing office, at the corner of Caroline and Palace
Streets (the latter now Front Street), in the City of
Toronto, and distributed some of the type over the floor of
the office, as freely as Mr. Mackenzie had distributed
his paper through the length and breadth of the Province.
Other types they threw into the bay, broke a new printing
press that they found in the building, and committed havoc
generally. All this was done to resent the calumnies of
Mr. Mackenzie. It was a very foolish act on the part
of these young men, for even supposing that Mr. Mac-
kenzie had been more vituperative than he need have-"
been, or even more censorious of the official conduct of
the fathers or kinsmen of the young men than the cir-
cumstances and condition of things demanded, a destruc-
156 REBELLION OF 183
of his property, besides making a martyr of the
individual attacked, would compel the law officers of the
II
Crown, however unwilling, to take action against the
One of the first results of this attack' of the young
men was that one of the party of assault, Mr. Lyons,
who held the office of private secretary under Governor
Maitland, was dismissed from his position, no doubt with
a view to pacifying public opinion. Mr. Mackenzie
commenced a civil action against the perpetrators of the
trespass on his property. The case went to trial, and the
"-offenders were mulcted in $2,500 damages, which was,
/ however, raised by private subscription of their friends.
I. This destruction of Mr. Mackenzie's property gained for
\ him considerable sympathy from the non-official class
A in Toronto (York). The official class, on the other hand,
rather gloried in the act, and the Governor, or Govern-
ment, condoned the offence by rewarding the offenders.
Mr. Lyons, who lost his position as secretary, was
appointed to the office of Registrar of the Niagara District.
. Samuel Peters Jarvis, another of the rioters, obtained
an Indian Commissionership. Mr. Charles Richardson,
student in the office of the Attorney-General, was given
the office of Clerk of the Peace for the Niagara District,
no doubt recognizing his services to the Crown. That
these young men should have been promoted, rather
than degraded, on account of this illegal act of theirs,
llin destroying Mr. Mackenzie's property, shows very clearly
that Mr. Mackenzie was regarded by the ruling powers
V*
MACKENZIE PROFITS BY THE ATTACK. 157
s a nuisance, which they would be glad to get rid of,
yjany means. ^__
'"Mr. Mackenzie, for his part, rather prided himself in/ j
[being considered a nuisance by the officials. It seems /
{to have been his mission in life always to have been ai ,/
war with the official class. Mr. Macaulay, afterwards
Chief Justice, was a practising lawyer in York at the
time of the press destruction, and endeavoured to bring
about a settlement of Mr. Mackenzie's claim, without a
trial at law. A passage in his letter to Mr. Small, who
acted for Mackenzie, to this end, shows that he con-
sidered Mr. Mackenzie was not blameless in the matter,
and that if there was no legal justification, there was at
least some excuse for the conduct of the young men in
attacking the printing office. The passage is this : " The
real cause of the step is well known to all ; it is not to be
ascribed to any malice, political feeling, or private animosity;
the personal calumnies of the latter Advocates point out
sufficiently the true and only motive that prompted it,
and I have now to offer to pay at once the full value of
the damage occasioned to the press and type, to be deter-
mined by indifferent and competent judges selected for
that purpose." *
This episode shows the extreme party spirit of
the time, and the relation in which Mr. Mackenzie, the
principal promoter of the rebellion, stood with the Gov-
ernment and its adherents. I /Mr. Mackenzie could not
but profit by the occurrence which brought about the
* See Lindsey'a Life of William Lyoa Mackenzie, pp. 78-100.
158 REBELLION OF 1837.
trial, and put $'2,500 of good money in his pocketJ|J
Without this assistance the Advocate would probably'
have been discontinued, and the officials relieved from
its irritating remarks. After the trial, Mr. Mackenzie
himself, according to his biographer, Mr. Charles Lind-
sey, referring to the result, said : //That verdict re-estab-
lished on a permanent footing The Advocate press,
because it enabled me to perform my engagements, without
disposing of my real property."//
A series of accusations, recriminations, assaults,
libels and other proceedings, legal and illegal, followed
in the wake of the trial of the young men who destroyed
Mr. Mackenzie's property. Mr. Mackenzie was not the
only libeller of those days. At this time (1828), Mr.
Frank Collins edited a paper in York, which, following
in the footsteps of the Advocate, was very unsparing
in its attacks on the officials of the Government.
In April, 1828, Mr. Kobinson, afterwards Sir John
Robinson and Chief Justice, felt it his duty to prosecute
Collins criminally for four libels published in his
paper, The Freeman. Mr. Collins, by way of retaliation
on the Attorney General, determined to make it hot
for the young men, whom Mackenzie had prosecuted
for the attack on his office. These young men were
friends and political supporters of the Attorney General,
and so Collins would stab the Attorney General
and the members of the House, his friends, named
in the article, by instituting criminal proceedings.
Seven were tried, and after a prolonged trial were
CONVICTION OF MACKENZIE'S ASSAILANTS. 159
found guilty. To the credit of Mr. Mackenzie, be it
said, that he was no party to this prosecution. In
giving his evidence at the trial, he disclaimed all
connection with it, and expressed the wish that the
rioters, if convicted, should be let off with but nominal
damages, and this was the result.
Prosecutions for libel seem to have been the order
of the day. Mr. Neilson, a publisher in Lower Canada,
was at the same time undergoing the ordeal of trial
for libel, keeping pace fairly with Mr. Collins and
Mr. Mackenzie. One could almost have wished that
Mr. Mackenzie, owing to his generous conduct in the
Collins' trial, would have been excused for his next
offence. His restless nature would not allow him to
stop. It was not long before he gave an opportunity
to the authorities for another prosecution for libel.
In an article in the Advocate, which dealt with a
report of a select committee of the House of Assembly,
on the complaint of one Forsyth of Niagara Falls,
complaining of the conduct of the Crown officers, and
of the defective and partial administration of justice,
Mackenzie said: "The report speaks a language not
to be misunderstood ; and we trust that a perusal of
it will serve to stir up the dormant energies of the
wholesome part of the population, and induce them to
exert themselves manfully to clear the House of
Assembly next election of the Attorney General, Speaker
Wilson, Jonas, David and Charles Jones, Messrs. Burn-
ham, Coleman, McLean, Vankoughnet, and the whole of
160 REBELLION OF 1837.
that ominous nest of unclean birds, which have so long
lain close under the wings of a spendthrift executive and
(politically to speak) actually preyed upon the very vitals
of the country they ought to have loved, cherished and
protected. No wonder is it that Parliament should find
its energies all but paralyzed when such an accumula-
tion of corrupt materials is left unswept with the besom
of the people's wrath from out of these halls they have so
long and so shamefully ' defiled with their abomination.' "
The incisiveness of the libelous matter was no doubt
the cause of the prosecution which inevitably followed.
The article was evidently intended as an " avant courier "
in the race for the next Parliamentary election, an
election which Mr. Mackenzie and his friends hoped
would sweep every particle of Toryism out of the
Assembly. The indictment was laid, but was never
brought to trial before a jury, but seems to have been
laid over for trial by the electors of the Province.
Before the time fixed for the next Parliamentary elec-
tion, Mr. Mackenzie was given an opportunity to make
friends in the constituencies of very many who had been
supporters of the Government. The means to this end
was afforded by the wretched condition of the Alien Law. .
: -
As this law then stood, American citizens, even those
who had taken up arms on the British side during the
Colonial Eevolutionary War, were denied the rights of
British subjects in Canada, if born in the old Colonies
before the Treaty of 1783, or if they had continued to
in the United States for the period of one year
THE ALIEN LA WS. 161
after 3rd September, 1783, and a British subject who!
came to Canada, by way of the United States, was held!
to have become an alien. We have seen how, in 1825 1
the law was pressed in the case of Gourlay. This state
of affairs was by virtue of Imperial legislation, and the
treaty between Great Britain and the United States,
under which the Americans secured their independence.
By the joint operations of these measures, such persons
were considered American citizens. Besides the class of
old colonists of ante-revolutionary days, the latter-day
Americans, that is to say, Americans _born__under th&
Stars and Stripes, who had ..no ideal but the Eepublican
form of government, sought to get a foothold^inJJanada,
by taking up land, more for speculative purposes than
otherwise.
The rights of such last named persons to hold lands in
Canada was disputed by the old settlers. When the alien laws
and the treaty came to be consulted, and a legal decision
had on the subject, it was found that the old settlers
were in no better condition in the matter of citizenship
than the new. Mr. Mackenzie came to the rescue of the
' ~ " ' ^
old settlers, and strongly denounced the alien laws, aij
the same time advocating legislation to place the old
settlers on the same level as British subjects born within
the boundaries of the British Isles. When it is considered
that a great portion of the lands of these old settlers
were in jeopardy, because of the alien law, and their being
\ Iplaced in the category of aliens, it will readily be seen
^ Wiat a powerful lever Mr. Mackenzie had to work with.
162
REBELLION OF 1837.
This lever he used for its full power. He roused the
interested, got an agent sent to England to advocate
repeal of the laws, and finally succeeded in getting the
law placed on a footing that secured to the old Canadian
ttlers titles to their lands, thus gaining the confidence
f many former opponents, and paving the way for a
at in the Legislature, which, at no distant day, would
ave to receive, if not to welcome him within its halls.
Mr. Mackenzie was not an admirer of the American
Constitution. On the contrary, he preferred the British
Constitution, and would have been satisfied with that C
stiiution enforced in its entirety, including: responsibility
of the Executive to the Elective House and so to the
people, instead of its responsibility to the Crown, as it
prevailed in Canada. When he succeeded in getting Mr.
Randall appointed a delegate to England, to advocate a
epeal of the alien laws, he addressed letters to Lord
alhousie, Governor-General, in which, after making
trong profession of loyalty, and referring to the Ameri-
Federal Union and its then threatened disruption,
e said : " And is this the Government, and are these
the people whose alliance and intimacy we ought to court
instead of those of Ejagland ? No, my Lord, their con-
stitutional theory is defective, and their practice neces-
sarily inconsistent. Their Government wants consolida-
tion. Let us take warning by their example." *
The Ninth Provincial Parliament, the last held under
the administration of Sir Peregrine Maitland, was dissolved
*LincUey, Vol. I, p. 128.
ELECTION OF 1828. 163
in July, 1828. Mr. Mackenzie, always in advance of the
times, issued his first Parliamentary address for the
election to follow the dissolution so early as the 17th
December, 1827. This address was to the Electors of the*
County of York. In his address to his constituency Mr.
Mackenzie exhibited the same independent attitude and
uncompromising opposition to the ruling power, as he had
shown by his writings in the press. He said: "That
corrupt, powerful_asd_lojag- esdurd^m^jnc^_wjbich_ha,s
hitherto interfered with your rights and liberties, can only
be overthrown by your unanimity and zeal. I have been
a careful obse~rvel'-uf Ihe eOncTuct of the people's represen-
tatives in the"0olonial Assemblies. I have seen men, in
whom was placed the utmost confidence, fall from their
integrity and betray their sacred trust. But there are
6ffiers~wtio continue to maintain and~uphold the Interests,
of their country. . . . Among thislatter class Jl_am-
desirous of being numbered." *
An independent TrTouse of Assembly would be an
inestimable boon for Upper Canada, and Mr. Mackenzie,
to attain that end, desired to clear the House of all office-
holders. Especially was|[ it JbJs___desire._iQ,_.diapQSse.as_. the
existing Legislative Council, and ifpossible_io have 4hir
places filled with menToF advanced ideas, such a^s Marsjiall
S. Bidwell, Peter Terry, Ketchum, Eandal and others who
had espoused the MackenzTe"poIitical faith.
There was one man in the Reform ranks of that day,
who, while strongly impressed with reform doctrines, was
* Lindsay, Vol. I, p. 144.
12
164 REBELLION OF 1837.
of the more conservative class of Eeformers, not disposed
to be led, but rather washing to lead Mr. Mackenzie and
his friends. He was a, man of excellent judgment, honest
in his convictions and deservedly popular. That man was
Dr. Baldwin. Dr. Baldwin was a Whig, Mr. Mackenzie
was a Eadical. In that lay the difference.
In seeking the suffrages of York, Mr. Mackenzie made
a good choice. It was the county in which the capital of
the Province was situated. There was his home, and there
he had built up for himself a reputation ; true, a bad repu-
tation in the eyes of the reigning powers, but, in the eyes
of thoseppposed to the prevailin^system, he was looked
upon as the man to force the citadel of Toryism, and to
"~ for the Incoming of men who
le fortressto its foundations, and plant upon the ra
)arts the bannerof Beform, if not the flag ojLEejfl.lution.
Mr. Mackenzie commenced the campaign for the
election of 1828 by publishing a " Legislative Black List,"
in which he set down the names of members who had,
as they believed, faithfully served their constituents in
the Ninth Parliament, but who had not been, able to see
eye to eye with Mr. Mackenzie. Mr. James E. Small, of
York, was a Eeformer, but not of the advanced school of
Mr. Mackenzie. Mr. Small had indeed been Mr. Mac-
kenzie's attorney in his actions for damages against the
type distributors, and, strange to say, it was Mr. Small who
contested with Mr. Mackenzie the constituency, and was
made to feel that Mackenzie the Eadical was master of a
power greater than that exercised by the moderate re-
SIH JOHN COLBORNE. 165
formers of his own class. Mr. Mackenzie was elected ^
over his political friend, but less advanced reformer,
James E. Small.
I Sir John Colborne succeeded Sir Peregrine Maitland
as Governor, and opened the Tentli Provincial Parliament
in January, 1829. Mr. Bidwell was elected Speaker, and
from this circumstance the political complexion of the
House may be gathered, as also from the address of the
House, in reply to the Governor's speech at the opening.
The House said : " Although we at present see your
Excellency unhappily surrounded by the same advisers
as have so deeply wounded the feelings and injured the
best interests of the country, yet in the interval of any
"Saebessary change, we entertain an anxious belief that
mper the auspices of your Excellency, the administra-
tion will rise above suspicion."
"Unhappily surrounded by the same advisers,"
" Intervals of any necessary change." That was it. The \
House fondly hoped there would be a change in the
personnel of the Government, in its policy, in its general I
administration. And so there would have been if there
had existed in the
exists at the prese
that then, the Cofe
Colony Eesponsible Government, as it
t day. Unhappily that was not the
system of Colonial G overnment in Canada, or in any other
British Colony, at thje time, the great difference being
-lad Government was responsible to the
Colonial Office, now, the people's representatives have it in
their power to change the Government, whenever, in their
wisdom, they think it should be changed.
166 REBELLION OF 1837.
Mr. Mackenzie, as a member of the Assembly, showed
the same unflagging energy, which he had shown in every-
thing he had undertaken in life. In Committee, or
in the House, he was the same prying, inquisitive,
irritating Mackenzie. Everything, in his estimation, had
gone wrong. He first attacked the Post Office Depart-
ment, which was then under Imperial control. It
was urged that the postage on letters and newspapers was
unnecessarily high, that the Department was inefficiently
managed, that it should be taken out of the ^control of
the Imperial Government, and placed under local control.
The principle he advocated was no doubt a good one, but
in this, as in everything else, Mr. Mackenzie was in
advance of his contemporaries, and of the times, and this,
his biographer, Mr. Lindsey, has frankly admitted. Mr.
- Lindsey has had much experience in political matters,
and no one is better qualified to give an opinion on such a
subject.
^ Mr. Mackenzie, before the close of the first session of
the Assembly, introduced to the House thirty-one Resolu-
tions, enumerative of grievances, that, in his judgment,
afflicted the Province, and required to be remedied.
The principal grievances of which he complained were :
The absence of local self-government substantially Responsible
Government
The institution of criminal prosecutions at the instance of the
Crown for political libels.
The want of independence of the judges.
The power of the sheriffs, holding office during pleasure, in the
selection of juries.
THE THIRTY-ONE RESOLUTIONS. 167
\
The patronage exercised by the Crown and the Lieutenant-
Governor of the Province, uncontrolled by the Legislature.
The unpaid war losses (War of 1812), or their being charged >
to the Provincial, instead of the Imperial Government.
The absence of a protective system in the trade of the Province. ^fe&
The budget of grievances was enlarged by other com-
' plaints, but they were of a minor kind or administrative
character.
The resolutions were not pressed on the House for
adoption, but were referred to a special committee, of
which Mr. Mackenzie was chairman, called " The Com-
mittee on Grievances."
Mr. John Beverley Kobinson was Attorney-General of
the Province throughout the first session of the Tenth
Parliament, in which Mr. Mackenzie had a seat. It fell
, to his lot to defend the Government against the assaults
. of the new member. There had never been in the House,
up to this time, so fearless a denunciator of the ruling
powers, and all connected with them, as Mackenzie. The
nature of the Government was such, however, that he
was powerless to alter the existing state of things. The
G-overnment had the patronage and control of the purse.
They cared no more for hostile resolutions of the House
ot Assembly than they would have cared for as many
blang cartridges, fired into their midst. Mr. Mackenzie
had hoped, that with the incoming of Sir John Golborne
as Governor, the Parliamentary majority would have had /
a voice in the regulation of the affairs of the Province. \
He soon found it was a very small voice, not louder I
168 REBELLION OF 1837.
than the utterance of the Assembly of Lower Canada,
explained in a previous chapter, and for the same reason
the controlling power of the Legislative Council.
Mr. Mackenzie was comforted by one thing during
the recess following the session of 1829. A vacancy
in the representation of York having occurred through
the elevation of Mr. John Beverley Eobinson to the
Bench, as Chief Justice of the Province, Mr. Mackenzie
was enabled to welcome, as a member to fill his place,
Mr. Eobert Baldwin, who, if he did not share all Mr.
Mackenzie's opinions, was more congenial to his tastes
than the talented Attorney-General. Mr. Baldwin had
been opposed in his candidature for a seat in the
House by Mr. James E. Small, who, as we have seen,
was the candidate in opposition to Mr. Mackenzie,
when he was elected for York.
The second session of the Tenth Parliament was
opened by Sir John Colborne, in January, 1830. The
Legislative Assembly seized at once upon the oppor-
tunity to inform His Excellency that the advisers
about His Excellency, in other words the Executive
Council " from the unhappy policy they had pursued
in the late administration, had long deservedly lost
the confidence of the country." This they did in reply
to His Excellency's speech, at the opening of the House.
Such a reply to the speech from the throne, in England,
would inevitably have led to a change of the Monarch's
advisers. Why should not the same result follow in the
case of the Canadian Executive Council '?
DESPATCH TO GOVERNOR KEMPT. 169
It must not be supposed that the British Govern-
ment was not impressed with the incongruous position
of the Executive and Legislative Councils in the Prov-
inces. Sir George Murray, the Colonial Secretary, in
1829, had, in September of that year, written to Sir
James Kempt, administrator in chief, who advised Sir
John Colborne of the despatch : " The constitution of the
Legislative and Executive Councils is another subject
which has undergone considerable discussion, but upon
which His Majesty's Government must suspend their
opinion until I shall have received some authentic
information from your Excellency. You will, therefore,
have the goodness to report to me, whether it would be
expedient to make any alteration in the general consti-
tution of those bodies, and especially how far it would
be desirable to introduce a larger proportion of members
not holding offices at the pleasure of the Crown ; and if
it should be considered desirable, how far it may be
practicable to find a sufficient number of persons of
respectability of this description."
The newspaper organs of the two recognized parties
in the Province in 1830, the Tory and the Reform
parties, were but a little less chary in their calumnies,
charges and recriminations than were the newspapers in
Lower Canada. The Eeformers and.their leaders being
accused of disloyalty by the Tory^press, Mr. Mackenzie,
tb^~^!rampion~~oT_^e|orm, advocated their cause with all
the energy he could master. He published a series of
letters, addressed to Sir John Colborne, aimed at removing
170
REBELLION OF 1837.
the stigma of disloyalty which the Tory party sought to
fix upon them. In one of his letters hewrote : " The
ppmTlf of f.Vn'a Prny^nce_ neither desire to break up their
ancient connection with Great Britain, nor are they
to become"" members of IhTe North American
trolled by their own nxed land marks ; They seek a system
?tice, protect property, establish
jestic tranquillity, and afford a reasonable^ prospect^
"civil and religious liberty jgill_Jbe perpetuated.,
id the safety and happiness of society effected^"
The death of King George IV, in 1830, caused a
dissolution of the House, and a new election. Mr.
Mackenzie again offered himself as a candidate for
the County of York, and, with his colleague, Mr. Jesse
Tjv|>r his Tory opponents by a
considerable majority. The general complexion of the
House after this election, however, was different from
that of the previous Assembly. Mr. Mackenzie secured
his own election, but his party was not so successful
as a whole. ^&ny of the old members were defeated,
,nd Mr. Baldwin's name does not appear among the
ames of those who were elected. The majority in
,he Assembly was decidedly Tory.
So far as Mr. Mackenzie was concerned, this
House was an unfortunate one to deal with. He made
attempts to carry Eeform measures, but generally failed.
He did however get a Committee on the Eepresenta-
COMMITTEE ON GRIEVANCES. 171
tion of the Province appointed, of which he was chairman.
His object was to call attention to the weakness of
the Assembly as a representative body, inasmuch as
many members were office-holders under the Crown,
and dependent on the Crown for their salaries. The
same was the case with certain members of the Legis-
lative Council.
Mr. Mackenzie magnified grievances as no one else
could, and he was certain to make the most of this,
as of other complaints. His prying disposition and
succession of assaults, political of course, on the Govern-
ment and its supporters, made him obnoxious to the
House. It was determined that he should be got rid
of in some way. It was first proposed to expel him-
from the House for having published the journals of
the House without its consent. This project, how-j
ever, was not carried out ; but a libel on the House
published by him was seized upon as a ground oi
expulsion. On the 10th December, 1831, a motion
was carried in the House for the expulsion of the
obnoxious Mackenzie. During the proceedings in the
House, on the motion for his expulsion, he was called
a "reptile" by the Attorney-General, and by the
Solicitor-General a "spaniel dog." These certainly were
unpleasant names to be given by one member of the
House to another, but the character of Mr. Mackenzie's
alumnies brought upon him the full force of the/
eloquence of the Crown officers, coupled with a good
deal of abuse.
aeai ot ab
1T2
REBELLION OF 1837.
The expulsion of Mr. Mackenzie caud^ a L _great
sensation at the time. His constituents, and those
sympathizing with him^ to the number ^f aearly a"
tousand, petitioned the Lieutenant-Governor against
~~Hie~ proceedings of the House, commenting on the
unfairness of visiting on Mr. Mackenzie the penalty_
of expulsion, when it was contended that__Tory
had been equally culpable and had notbeen prosecuted.
The Governor dismissed th~e petition by merely
acknowledging its receipt and making no further reply.
This incensed the petitioners, andthey determined to
show
le troTeTnment and the Assembly that they
would stand by the expelled member. They proceeded
to his house, took him under their protection, carried
him through the streets of the town of York, and
visited the Parliament House, when the procession halted
and cheered the honorable member to the echo. On
the sjtBae day_that__Mr. Mackenzie was expelled the
House a writ was issued for a new election IrT^theT
constituency. "The freedom of the press " became
the watchword. On the 2nd January, 1832, the electors
of York reversed the judgment of the House of Assembly,
and returned Mr. Mackenzie as their member, his
opponent receiving but one vote.
Mr. Mackenzie's constitutents, to the number of a
thousand or more, escorted him to the House when he
went to take his seat on his re-election, with great
parade and loud acclamations. His triumph was com-
plete, but did not last long, as he was again expelled
MACKENZIE EXPELLED THE HOUSE.
173
I
in a few days after his triumphant entry to the Halls
of Lflorialfljjnn, for another libel__on the Assembly,
ished in his Colonial Advocate of the 5th January, 1832.
On this occasion, the House, by its vote, not only expelled,
but declared him disqualified to be a member of the House-
This second expulsion of M.r. Mackenzie from the
House was the cause of great excitement in many parts
of the Province. Public meetings were held, denouncing
the meeting at Hamiliojj
opposing~paHIesf" nearly came to blows on the preliminary
uestiojx-as to who she-uld be-chairman of the meeting.
t the meeting held in the town of York, on March
23rdj_J-832, there was much violence. The turbulence
rose to the dimensions of a riot, and Mr. Mackenzie's
printing office was again robbed, a portion of the
buildmg"~^estn) i y ed, aud~seie--lJJie__^y_p_e__scattered. At
this meeting Mr. Mackenzie was burnt in effigy.
The Governor, hearing of the disturbance, ordered a
company of soldiers to be in readiness to act, in
case the civil authorities should prove that they were
unable to put down the rioting or prevent its renewal.
Amidst all this excitement, Mr. Mackenzie found
time to have petitions to the King and to the Imperial
Parliament signed by a great number of persons,
complaining of grievances, and he himself became bearer
the petitions to England.
In April, 1832, he sailed for England, where he met
Lr. Viger, the agent of Lower Canada. They got a
\\
174 REBELLION OF 1837.
hearing at the Colonial Office, and Mr. Mackenzie was
surprised to find that he was courteously received. It
was something new to him to be received with con-
sideration in Government circles. This had not been
his experience in Canada.
When the petitions were laid before the House of
Commons by Mr. Hume, whose interest and influence
Mr. Mackenzie had gained, Mr. Hume said that he
presented the petition, not only with the knowledge and
consent of the Government, but : " he was happy to have
the assurance of Viscount Goderich, Secretary of State
for the Colonies, that his Lordship was busy inquiring
into the grievances complained of with a view of afford-
ing relief." After an interview of three hours with the
Colonial Secretary, on the 3rd August, accompanied by
Messrs.' Hume and Viger, Mr. Mackenzie wrote to his
friends in Canada : " We left the Colonial Office, well
satisfied that measures are about to be taken that will
go a great way towards neutralizing the existing discon-
tent."
..The discontent referred to^bv Mr. Mackenzie liaiLJn-
many cases, Jjeen aroused and promoted by himself. It
f : was not the discontent of the_jjeopie of^Upper__Canada
\as ^whole^but of a faction led by Mr. Mackenzie^^but
?wbatever it .may have been, the ^Jj^rgfirnor was nog
'instructed by the Colonial Office to apply remedies_quite_
{sufficient to cure7without the attempt to kill Jbe_^atintr-
jan attempt afterwards made by Mr. Mackenzie and his_
{followers in the Province of Upper CanadaT
CHAPTER IX.
The Real Rebellion in Lower Canada Mr. Papineau and Despotism
Despatch of Mr. Stanley The King Will Not Assent to Elective
Legislative Council In the Future Institutions of Canada May
Be Modified The Monarchical Form Must Be Maintained Papi-
neau's Ninety-two Resolutions His Speech on Introducing to
Assembly The Resolutions Resolutions Revolutionary Mr.
Morin Sent to England No Supply Bill Passed by Assembly
Mr. Roebuck and the English House of Commons Roebuck
Champion of Lower Canada Mr. Stanley Checkmates Roe-
buck Resolutions Referred to Committee O'Connell and
Bulwer Members of Committee Hume and "Baneful Dom-
ination of Mother Country " Report of Committee on Ninety-
two Resolutions Mackenzie in London Agent of Malcontents
in Upper Canada Report of Committee Censured by Macken-
zie's Followers Grievance -mongers Roebuck and Hume Favour
Mackenzie and Papineau and Their Principles "Reform Com-
mittees and Constitutional Associations "-<-A French-Canadian
Killed ^His Blood Must Be Avenged -JFrench Ascendancy in
Lower Canada Lower Canada Assembly of 1835 Papineau at
the Pinnacle of his Power Assembly Expunge Governor's
Speech from Journals- Morin Moves Resolution to Consider
State of Province of Lower Canada Speeches of Papineau and
Gugy thereon.
JET us now return to the narrative of still more im-
portant events in Lower Canada, which lead to the
Rebellion, and which has been left in order to deal with
Lr. Mackenzie and his group of friends in Upper Canada,
the really serious Rebellion had its seat in Lower
Canada, the part or share in it which developed itself in
176
REBELLION OF 1837.
Upper Canada, bearing to it about the same proportion
that the smallest stream in Canada bears to the might}'
St. Lawrence,
In April, 1832, the Governor-in-Chief, Lord Aylmer,
communicated to the House of Assembly a despatch from
the Home Government, refusing sanction to a Colonial
Act to incapacitate the judges from sitting or voting in .the
Executive Council, and giving the reasons for such refusal.
The House of Assembly had now become convinced that
the reforms asked by it would not be granted by the
Imperial Government. Mr. Papineau set to work to
prepare a stupendous series of Resolutions for submission
to the House of Assembly, declaratory of the grievances
of which the French party in Lower Canada complained,
as affecting their political condition. These Resolutions
were prepared as an offset to a despatch from the Colonial
Office, then presided over by Mr. Stanley, in answer to
an address from the House of Assembly to the King, which
was laid before the Assembly in January, 1834.
Referring to the address of the Assembly, Mr. Stanley
wrote, that: "The object of this address was to pray His
Majesty to sanction a national convention of the people
for the purpose of superseding the Legislative authorities
and to ascertain whether in order to destroy the Constitu-
tion it was better to introduce the Elective principle to
the Legislative Council, or abolish that body entirely.
His Majesty was willing to put no harsher construction on
such a proposal than that of extreme inconsiderateness ;
but he can never approve of such a measure, inconsistent
PAPINEAU'S NINETY-TWO RESOLUTIONS. Ill
as it would be with the very existence of monarchical
institutions ; yet His Majesty on the other hand was well-
disposed to sanction every measure likely to secure the
independence and raise the character of the Legislative
Council." He said he was not prepared to advise the
King to propose to Parliament a measure of such import
as a repeal of the Act of 1791", but if events should con-
strain the British Legislature to interpose its supreme
authority to compose the internal dissensions of the
Colony, it would then, indeed, become his duty to submit
for the consideration of Parliament some modifications of
the charters of the Canadas, not, however, for introduc-
ing institutions inconsistent with monarchy, but to main-
tain and strengthen the connection with the Mother
Country, adhering ever to the spirit of the British Consti-
tution, confirming too, within their due limits, the rights
and privileges of all classes of His Majesty's subjects.
An idea of the purport and intent of the Eesolutions
prepared by Mr. Papineau may be gathered from his
speech in introducing these to the House.
" Long have we uttered our complaint," said he, " and
we are all of one mind regarding our grievances ; there is
no doubt as to the parties who inflict them upon us ;
the only difficulty is, how to find a remedy : it is time
now to set about obtaining it. There are persons among
s, whose minds, preoccupied with the workings of Euro-
n institutions, would have us to adopt their ideas in
is matter. But it is not for us, imperfectly informed
we are of the nature of such institutions, to judge
178 REBELLION OF 1837.
of their merits or demerits. Let us enquire rather into
things that more nearly concern our own destiny, and
strive to build up our liberties as socially and durably as
possible. It is certain_that before long the whole of
America will be republicanized. If a change be necessary"
in our present constitution, is it to be undertaken in view
of such a conjuncture as I have just mentioned ? Would
it be a crime were J to demand that it should ? The
members of this House are all answerable to their con-
stituents for whatever decision they may come to in this
regard, and even though the soldiery should slaughter
them for it, they ought not to hesitate, for a moment,
to pronounce for any change which they may consider
beneficial to their country. It needs not that we enquire
what is our present, what was our past situation in America.
Britain herself has founded mighty Eepublics on this
continent, wherein flourish liberty, morals, commerce
and the arts. The French and Spanish-American colo'nies,
with political institutions much less free, have been
unfortunate, and had. to struggle against the inherent
vices of their constitutions. But British rule in the
Colonies, what has been its nature? Has it been more
aristocratic than democratic? It is therefore a great
mistake on the part of Mr. Stanley to discourse . to us
of British Monarchical sway in this present year, eighteen
hundred and thirty-four. In the days of the Stuarts,
those who maintained that the monarchic principle was
paramount in Britain lost their heads on the scaffold.
Ever since that age Britain has had a government called
PA PIXEA U 'S SPEECH. 9
mixed, and no other qualification can we apply to xt.
Owing to this, its true quality, it is that Mr. Stanley has
got into place and power, the entry to which would have
been barred against him, if a vote of the House of Com-
mons had not constrained Royalty to give up its own
wishes. The King was told to yield, else he would be
discrowned. And yet this man, despised as he is by the
British people, now enlarges, for our edification, on the
monarchic government of Britain. We, the while, well
knowing that the British people, so great for their com-
merce, for their institutions, for their progress in civiliza-
tion and the arts, and yet more for the liberty which they
have borne to the ends of the earth, are free at any
moment to upset the monarchy thus spoken tJf, whenever
they list."
Following his speech, Mr. Papineau introduced his
ninety-two Resolutions, which, in the published proceedings
. of the Assembly, are dated 21st February, 1834. In their
printed form they take up forty- six pages of the proceed-
The first five Resolutions are protestations of loyalty
to the Empire on the part of the people of Lower
Canada.
Resolutions 6 and 7 refer to a Petition, in the year
1827, of 87,000 persons of the Province to Imperial
Parliament, complaining of grievances ; that such
grievances did then, and still exist ; that a Committee
of the House of Commons after investigation reported
on 18th July, 1828 :
13
180 REBELLION OF 1837.
1st. That the embarrassments and discontents that
had long prevailed in the Canadas, had arisen from
serious defects in the system of laws and the constitu-
tions established in those colonies.
2nd. That these embarrassments were in a great
measure to be attributed to the manner in which the
existing system had been administered.
3rd. That they had a complete conviction that neither
the suggestions which they had made, nor any other
improvements in the laws and constitutions of the
Canadas will be attended with the desired effect, unless an
impartial, conciliating and constitutional system of govern-
ment were observed in these loyal and important colonies.
Resolution 8. Bad administration continued; recom-
mendations of committee not carried out.
9 to 39. Condemn the Legislative Council, the mode
of appointment thereto. Its partiality and abuse of power.
Its antagonism to the Assembly and general unsuitable-
ness for the Colony.
Resolution 40. Expresses a wish that : " the Imperial
Legislature will comply with the wishes of the people and
of this House, and will provide the most effectual remedy
for all evils, present and future, either by rendering the
Legislative Council elective in the manner mentioned in
the Address of this House to His Most Gracious Majesty
of 20th March, 1833, or by enabling the people to express
still more directly their opinions as to the measures to be
adopted in that behalf, and with regard to such other
modifications of the Constitution as the wants of the people,
THE NINETY-TWO RESOLUTIONS.
and the interests of His Majesty's Government in this
Province may require ; and that this House perseveres in
the said address."
Eesolutions 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46. That the
neighbouring United States have a form of govern-
ment very fit to prevent abuses of power, and very effective
in repressing them : that the reverse of this order of things
has always prevailed in Canada under the present form
of government. That there exists in the neighbouring
States a stronger and more general attachment to the
national institutions than in any other country, and that
there exists also in those States a guarantee for the pro-
gressive advance of their political institutions towards
perfection, in the revision of the same at short and deter-
mined intervals by conventions of the people, in order that
they may without any shock or violence be adapted to the
actual state of things.
Eesolutions 47 to 52. Condemnatory of the despatch
of Mr. Stanley, Colonial Secretary, to which allusion has
been made. That such despatch was ill-timed and abusive,
and that if it was meant to contain a threat to introduce
into the Constitution any other modifications than such
as are asked for by the majority of the people of the
Province : " This House would esteem itself wanting in
candour to the people of England if it hesitated to call their
attention to the fact that in less than twenty years British
America would be as populous as the old American
Colonies when they threw off their allegiance.''
182 REBELLION OF 1837.
Eesolutions 52 to 54. That the majority of the inhabit-
ants of this Province are in no wise disposed to repudiate
any one of the advantages they derive from their origin,
and from their descent from the French nation, which, in
the progress it has made in science, letters and the arts
has never been behind the British nation.
Eesolutions 54 to 62. Principally concerning seigniorial
tenure, and the opportunity that had been given the
seigniors to obtain grants direct from the Crown, to the
prejudice of the people's claim.
Kesolutions 63 to 74. Condemn Executive Govern-
ment. Eepudiation of its claims, set up for many years,
to the control and power of appropriating public revenues
levied in the Province.
Eesolutions 74 to 78. That the preponderance of the
French over English population was very great, yet that
all the best offices were given to English, or those of
British descent. That judges were brought out from Eng-
land, or lawyers of English birth not familiar with
Canadian laws were made judges.
Eesolutions 79, 80, 81. House of Assembly claims all
the rights, immunities and privileges of the English House
of Commons.
Eesolutions 81 to end. General maladministration.
Complain of composition of Executive Council, the mem-
bers of which are judges of the Court of Appeal. Exorbi-
tant fees exacted in public offices. Judges frequently
called upon in Executive Council to give their opinions on
cases they are subsequently called upon to try. Accmnula-
THE RESOLUTIONS IN THE ASSEMBLY. 183
tion and plurality of offices. Members of the Legislative
Council interfering in elections. Military force interfering
in elections. Crown lands appropriated by officials and
official favourites. Increase of the expenses of government
without the authority of Legislature. Too frequent reser-
vations of bills. Neglect of Colonial Office.
Although Mr. Papineau was the author of these
Eesolutions, and the acknowledged leader of the French
party as a whole, there were, nevertheless, in that party
some members of the Assembly who were of opinion
that the Resolutions were more revolutionary than the
condition of the Province called for. There was a Quebec
party, as well as a Montreal party in the Province, the
[ontreal partv being the more_revolutionary of the two.
Mr. ^eJJard was understood, sub modo, to lead the Quebec
party, while at the same time he was a personal friend
and supporter of Mr. Papineau. The members of his
section of the party had nothing to gain, but much to
lose by a revolution. The Garrison of Quebec was a
source of revenue to the people of that town, and, not
only the town, but the whole surrounding country pro-
fited greatly by the great lumber and ship-building trade,
then carried on so largely at this seaport. This business
was chiefly in the hands of British merchants. British
interests had therefore more charm for the Quebecers,
of whatever race or religion, than for the inhabitants
of the district of Montreal, where French influences and
interests were largely in the ascendant. It would be a
politic move, therefore, on the part of Mr. Papineau, to
184 REBELLION OF 1837.
secure the support of the Quebec party in favour of his
Besolutions ; not that the Resolutions might not have
carried in the House, without the aid of that party ;
still, it would give greater prominence to his radical
measure, if he could gain the confidence of the more
conservative members of the party of the Quebec district.
At the previous session of the Legislature, Mr. Bedard
had showed symptoms of distrust in Mr. Papineau. It
was therefore necessary that he, and with him the
Quebec section of the French-Canadian party, should be
captured and reconciled to the great leader Papineau
and to all his works. Mr. Papineau, with characteristic
shrewdness, entrusted the introduction of the ninety-two
Resolutions in the House to Mr. Bedard, which office
Mr. Bedard undertook, having secured certain modifica-
tions which freed the Resolutions of their more offensive
assumptions. After the elimination of the more objection-
able parts, enough was left to satisfy the discontented
French-Canadian and his aspirations.
The Resolutions were debated for several days. Mr.
Neilson, a Scotch member of the House, and a party,
supporter of Mr. Papineau, was not prepared to break
with the British Government, and moved an amendment,
which, if it had been adopted, might have saved the
Province from turmoil and bloodshed. Mr. Neilson's
amendment was as follows : " That as the despatch
of the Colonial Minister of date July 9th, 1831, in
reply to the address of the House of March 16th
previous, contained a formal promise that the Colonial
1C C
ke
MJt. NEILSON'S AMENDMENT. 185
Office would co operate with the Assembly in redressing
the chief grievances complained of, it now became the
duty of the Chamber to labour in conformity with the
spirit of the despatch for the improvement of the
Colonial Government within the limits of the existing
Constitution, and to endeavour to maintain the tran-
quillity of the country meanwhile. That as the despatch
from the Colonial Office, dated 14th January last,
confirmed the promise already adverted to, the House
ought to undertake the duty of ameliorating the con-
dition of the Province generally, and that especially
it ought to regulate the occupancy of waste lands,
end the laws affecting property, secure judicial
independence, improve judicial procedure, increase official
responsibility, bring in order the public accounts and
tbolish every useless office."
Mr. Neilson in support of his amendment, having
ue regard to his liberal principles and party prejudices,
ishing for reform but not revolution, thus spoke :
" I cannot vote for these Resolutions as they now stand. In
Titain and the United States alike, I would observe, the rather
oecause the example of the latter has been just held up for our
imitation, ' that defenders of popular interests laboured to effect
changes, not from a mere craving for reforms, but because their
rulers were ever endeavouring to violate constitutions already existing-
The line of demarcation is quite distinct, therefore, between our
position and theirs in time past. It is this, that whereas the
American Revolutionists and the British Liberals combined for the
maintenance of franchises already acquired, we oppositionists are
reaching out our hands, over-eagerly extended, for freedom we
never yet possessed. The result in our case must necessarily differ.
186 RKBELLIOX OF 1837.
History is always the safest guide for our direction ; it is a monitor
which tells us that consequences are always conformable to
principles."
Notwithstanding Mr. Neilson's able attempt to stem
the tide of Eevolution, seconded as he was by the
more conservative members of the French party, notably
by Messrs. Cuvillier, Quesnel, and a few others, Mr.
Neilson's amendment was defeated, and in February, 1834,
the ninety-two Resolutions of Mr. Papineau were carried
by a vote of fifty-six members, while only twenty-six
members recorded their votes for Mr. Neilson's amend-
ment.
The Resolutions having been carried in the House,
the next step was to present them to the Governor, Lord
Aylmer, for transmission to the Imperial Government ;
and Mr. Morin, who lent his support to them in the
Assembly, was despatched to England to convey the
address of the House, consequent on the passage of the
Eesolutions, to Mr. Viger, the Lower Canadian agent in
London, for presentation to the Lords and Commons of
England. No Supply Bill was passed at the session in
which the Eesolutions were passed, and the Governor,
for want of a quorum, on the 18th March, prorogued the
House.
Mr. Roebuck, the champion of the Lower Canadians
in the House of Commons, on the 15th April, moved
for the appointment of a select committee of the
House to enquire into the means of remedying the evils
which existed in the form of government of the two
THE RESOLUTIONS IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. 187
Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada. Mr. Stanley,
the Colonial Secretary, feeling that if blame was to be
attached to any Government, the Liberal Government
of England, of 1828, should bear its fair share of the
blame, moved in amendment for a select committee to
enquire into and report to the House, how far the
grievances complained of in the year 1828, on the part
of certain inhabitants in Lower Canada, had been
redressed, and whether the recommendation of the com-
mittee, which sat thereon, had been complied with.
This move, on the part of Mr. Stanley, discon-
certed Mr. Roebuck and the other Liberals of the
Commons, and he withdrew his motion, thus giving
place to Mr. Stanley's amendment. To this com-
mittee, composed of members on both sides of the
House, the ninety-two Resolutions were submitted,
ulwer, the celebrated novelist, and Daniel O'Connell,
e Irish patriot, were members of this committee ;
and Mr. Hume, the special champion of the Lower
Canadians, would have been on the committee had he
ot contrived to have his name withdrawn, suspecting
that the report of the committee would not sustain
him in the somewhat extreme position he had assumed
on Canadian affairs, thereby indirectly censuring his
past course in relation thereto.
Mr. Hume was that honourable member of the Com-
mons who wrote a letter addressed to William Lyon
Mackenzie, published in the English newspapers, in
which the Canadians were called upon to resist the
188 REBELLION OF 1837.
"baneful domination of the Mother Country," which
rang through all Canada, and brought down upon him
the censure of the greater part of the British in the
two Provinces.
The report of the Committee of the House of Com-
mons, to whom these Eesolutions were submitted for
investigation, stated, in effect, that the Home Government
had been unremitting in their endeavours to carry out
the suggestions of the select committee of 1828, and
that any want of success on their part was entirely
owing to the quarrels between the two branches of
the Canadian Legislature, and between the House of
Assembly and the Home Government. The report further
stated that it would be inexpedient to lay before the
House the evidence taken, or the documents which had
been submitted to the committee, and that the interests
of the Empire would be best subserved by leaving
practical measures, for the future administration of
Lower Canada, entirely in the hands of the Imperial
Government.
Mr. William Lyon Mackenzie, impressed with the
conviction that affairs were approaching a crisis, had
got himself appointed agent of the malcontents of Upper
Canada, and was at this time in London, pressing on
the attention of the British Government and Parliament
the grievances alleged to exist in Upper Canada. He
had, by this time, gained the confidence of the Reform
and Liberal party in Lower Canada, the Central Com-
mittee of which passed a resolution strongly eulogizing
ACTION OF HOUSE OF COMMONS CONDEMNED. 189
Mr. Mackenzie and Mr. Bid well for the active interest
they had taken in promoting the reform of grievances
in Upper Canada. Mr. Mackenzie's followers in Upper
Canada, and the followers of Mr. Papineau in Lower
Canada, were much incensed on learning the decision
of the House of Commons Committee. Especially were
they incensed at that part of the report which declares
" that the interest of the Empire would be best subserved
by leaving practical measures for the future administra-
tion of Lower Canada entirely in the hands of the
Imperial Government."
Mr. Mackenzie and his friends contended that this
was declaring, in effect, that the state of affairs
was such, in Canada, that the seat of government should
be removed from the Province to the Capital of the
Empire. Here was a splendid opportunity for the
grievance-monger to ply his trade. Imperial rule,
Arbitrary despotism, Tyrannical oppression, were phrases
common in the speeches of the discontented.
The people had been clamorous to obtain the control
of affairs, and here was a Committee of the House of
Commons declaring that the people of Canada were
not able to govern themselves, but ought to be
governed by the Imperial Government, in which they
had no voice or representation. It was said that this
was but a repetition of the means which brought about
the Kevolution of the American Colonies, in 1776.
Meetings were called in different parts of Upper and
Lower Canada to protest. Committees were appointed
190 REBELLION OF 1831.
to give voice to the opinions of the people, or rather
that part of the people that took the same stand as did
Mr. Mackenzie and Mr. Papineau. The Montreal Com-
mittee was in correspondence with Mr. Roebuck. He
wrote that committee that he had no hope of reform
in the affairs of Canada so long as Mr. Stanley was
in office, but he had better hope of Mr. Spring Rice,
who seemed more tractable. Mr. Bice had at this time
been appointed to the office of Colonial Secretary, in
a Liberal administration, succeeding Mr. Stanley, Colonial
Secretary in the Tory administration, which had gone
out, owing to differences among its members regarding
the affairs of Ireland. Mr. Roebuck recommended the
committee to allow time to Mr. Rice to show his
hand. He added, " It were better to fight for the
privilege of self-government than to yield one's natural
rights, but all other means ought assuredly to be tried
before having recourse to force of arms." Mr. Roebuck
was a strong advocate for the abolition of the Legis-
lative Council ; more than that, he advised that the
people should be stirred up to stand by the principles set
forth in the ninety-two resolutions, and Jhe other
resolutions which attacked $he existing form of govern-
ment of Canada, and sought to set it up on a new
basis. Mr. Roebuck had much to answer for in
fanning the embers of the flame of Rebellion in the
Canadas. Mr. Hume was equally to blame. It was
all very well for these Honorable gentleman, while
sitting on the opposition benches in the House of
REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEES FORMED. 191
Commons to hurl their anathemas at the heads of
politicians, both in Canada and England, who did not
see through the same spectacles as themselves. The
evil effect of their course was felt when a Liberal
Government, responsible for the administration of Colonial
affairs, had come into power. In August, 1834, on
occasion of a motion made in the House of Commons
by Mr. Hume, relative to the ninety-two resolutions,
Mr. Spring Pace, then Colonial Secretary, referring to
the letter of Mr. Hume, in which he had called on
the Canadas to resist " the baneful domination of the
Mother Country," said : " It does not befit a man sitting
in security here among us, and so far removed from
the scene of action, to promulgate counsels inciting
others to do that which may call down so many ills on
Britain and Canada as ever attended on civil war. If
a recourse be had to arms ultimately, I hope that those
who conspired to bring it on will be signalized for
conspirators, if not denounced as rebels." The advent
to power of a Liberal administration in England gave
reat encouragement to the followers of Papineau and
Mr. Mackenzie in both the Canadas : committees
already formed were urged to increased activity and new
committees of a revolutionary character formed both in
Upper and Lower Canada.
The Tory party in the Province, not to be behind
iheir political adversaries, were up and doing also.
Constitutional Associations " were formed, members
nrolled, and all necessary steps taken to cope with
192 REBELLION OF 1837.
a rebellion, if unhappily the malcontents should go so
far as to jeopardise their lives and liberties in an
attempt at revolt. In Lower Canada, the British
party, composed of the English, Irish and Scotch in
that Province, felt that their Anglo-Saxon and Celtic
origin demanded that the people of another race should,
at all hazards, be prevented from having ascendancy
in a British Province. Not that some of them did not
feel that certain reforms would be beneficial to the
Province, but that the French-Canadians, according to
tlmr catechism, were seeking to oust the British
population from the Province, and, let us add, from its
offices and emoluments.
In Upper Canada, the " Eeform Association " placed
itself in communication with all the standing com-
mittees in Lower Canada, and thus was established an
entente cordiale between the "opportunists of the two
Provinces.
It was becoming more apparent every day that
unless the British Government acted vigorously there
would be civil war in the Province of Lower Canada,
if not in both Provinces. There really was not at this
time any great fear in the minds of the more con-
servative people of Upper Canada, that a rebellion
would occur in that Province. There was not a race
and religion question to contend with in Upper Canada, as
there was in Lower Canada, The majority of the people
of Upper Canada, Protestant and Catholic, were loyal
to the British Crown. The Keform party in that Province
I
ELECTION RIOTS AT SO BEL. 193
was not all Mackenzieites ; indeed, the majority of that
party were just as loyal to the Crown as were the
members of the Tory party. It is true that they joined
with Mr. Mackenzie in opposing the Tory Governments
of the Province ; they were with him in the taking of
all steps leading to constitutional reform, but they
were not with him in promoting rebellion.
The year 1834 was not to pass without some blood
being shed, but it was not shed in armed rebellion,
and was only one of the incidents of a severe political
contest in the election for the House of Assembly in
the latter part of the year. In Montreal, the relations
between the British and French party were very
strained. In that city, the violence of the political
contestants was so great that the elections had to be
suspended for a time. No blood was shed, but at Sorel a
French- Canadian was shot during an election brawl.
As may be imagined, the incident added fresh fuel to the
flame already spreading with great heat over the whole
horizon. The blood of the French-Canadian must be
avenged ; such was the cry of the Papineau party in the
Province of Lower Canada. v
The elections terminated in favour of the FrenchA
Canadians. Their majority in the Assembly was greater I
than ever. This was found to be the case when th/
Legislature met in February, 1835 ; it was found also
that by the assistance of the French-Canadian elector-
ite, several members of British or American origin,
rat of French-Canadian sentiment, had been returned
194 REBELLION OF 1837.
members of the Assembly. These members were from
the Eastern Townships, that part of the Province
bordering on Vermont, one of the United States of
America. Mr. Papineau was now at the pinnacle of
his power, and in the height of his glory. His com-
patriots had expressed their entire confidence in him
and his principles, however radical his principles may
have been, and, besides this, he had members of British
origin who lent him their support.
The first proceeding of the new House was to
expunge from the journals the report of the speech of
the Governor, made at the last prorogation of the
House. What would be thought of expunging the King's
or Queen's speech from the journals of the House
of Commons ? It certainly would be regarded as tan-
tamount to a declaration of war by the Commons
against the Crown. And in like manner in Canada,
the expunging of the Governor's speech from the journals
was looked upon as a declaration of war against the
Crown Representative.
The second proceeding of the Assembly was when
Mr. Morin moved the House into a Committee of the
Whole, for taking into consideration the state of the
Province. Mr. Gugy, afterwards Colonel Gugy, had
been returned a member to this House. He opposed
Mr. Morin's motion, observing that he would prefer
to have an administration composed of men born in
the Province. This gave Mr. Papineau an opportunity
to make a speech, in which he, with great force and
LOWER CANADA ASSEMBLY OF 1835. 195
eloquence, denounced exclusiveness, especially that ex-
clusiveness which prevented his French-Canadian
countrymen from sharing in the honours and responsi-
bilities of government.
Mr. Papineau was essentially a French-Canadian.
It galled him to the quick to see places in the Govern-
ment given to men whose homes and hearts were in
England. He demanded justice for his countrymen,
but not preference. In reply to Mr. Gugy's statement,
that he would prefer to have an administration com-
posed of men born in the Province to any other, Mr.
Papineau said : "I have no such preference ; the Govern- /\ 1
ment that I long for is one composed of friends of A j -
legality, liberty and justice, a Government which would *
protect indiscriminately every proper interest, and
accord to all ranks and to each race of the inhabitants
equal rights and privileges. I love, I esteem all good
men as men, not preferentially because they are of this
or that descent, but I detest those haughty dominators
who come among us and dispute our right to enjoy
our own laws, customs and religion. If such be not
content to intermix with us, let them remain in
their own country. There is no lawful distinction
between their status in the Province and ours, the same
rights and a like just claim for protection are common
to us both. Assuredly I should prefer a Government
composed of such men as I have indicated, and as
certain is it, too, that my own countrymen have given
proofs of a capacity and the possession of such integrity
14
196 REBELLION OF 1837.
as would enable them to become members of a most
desirable Government. Those parties even who claim
exclusive governing privileges disapprove of them in
their hearts, and, if obtained, will themselves be
victimized by them in the end. For supposing that
the Exclusionists succeeded in making an Acadia of
Canada, and could expel from it all its French derived
/people, they would soon fall out with each other. Did
they find means to constitute rotten borough repre-
sentation, it would quickly be turned against its creators.
It^is natural to the mind of man to abhor all exclusive
privileges, but passion and party spirit pervert the
N judgment of too many. ^The call is made upon us,
' Let us all be as brothers.' I respond, so let us not
be, if you, who thus adjure us, keep a selfish grasp
of all place, power and emolument, and refuse to share
these with us. That is unjust, and we cannot suffer
such injustice. Briefly, we demand for ourselves such
political institutions as are in accordance with those of
the rest of the Empire and of the age we live in."
No one can read the sentiments of Mr. Papineau,
as expressed in this address, but must feel that he was
animated by a high feeling of love for his fellow-country-
men. The greatness of the man is evidenced by his
'love of liberty and justice. Those, however, who are
not French-Canadian will perhaps take exception to
that part of Mr. Papineau's speech wherein he strenu-
ously claims the right of the French-Canadians to enjoy
their laws, customs and religion, and implies that this
DEMANDS OF FRENCH-CANADIAXS. 197
right was denied them. Now there never has been
a time when these rights were denied to the French-
Canadians, so far as those laws, customs and exercise
of religion were granted to them by the British Empire. \
It is only when they showed a disposition to place ;
these laws and customs and their religion above the
laws of the Empire, and beyond the rights and privileges
secured under the Treaty of Paris and the Constitution
of the country, that they came in conflict with the
English. The disaffected French-Canadians of that
time made claims to rights as existing under the
Treaty which never did so exist. As against all such
claims the British-Canadians set their face. Beyond
that, they ought not to be subject to the reproach of
endeavouring to hinder the patriotic French-Canadian
from enjoying all the liberty he was entitled to, as a
subject of the Empire and of his native Canada. Such
grievances as he could justly complain of were common
to all inhabitants of the Canadas, and were owing to
the want of self-government; and, as has been
England very naturally hesitated to give absolute self- \
government to a people animated as they were with
feelings inimical to the British race, and with no desire
but the absolute supremacy of the French-Canadian, /
a supremacy which it was justly feared would operate /
most harshly upon the British minority.
CHAPTER X.
Mackenzie's Prophecy in 1832 Papineau and Mackenzie in Con-
cert Reform Central Committee and Montreal Committee in
Correspondence Petitions to Home Government For and
Against a Change in the Constitution Lord Aylmer Informs
Lower Canada House that the British Government Were About
to Adopt Coercive Measures to Allay Discontent Papineau's
Defiant Speech House of Commons Appoint Special Com-
mittee to Report on Canadian Grievances Gosford, Grey, and
Gipps Instructions to Commissioners Lord Gosford's Address
to Canadians Montreal Constitutional Association Organizes
Concessions of Lord Gosford and British Government British
Party Dissatisfied Colonial Secretary's Concessions to Macken-
zie Attorney-General Boulton Mackenzie, Mayor of Toronto
Mackenzie Acquitted of Personal Resentment House of 1835
Reform Majority Mackenzie's Seventh Report on Grievances
Reform Party Loyal to the Crown Lord Glenelg's Answer to
Seventh Report on Grievances Sir F. B. Head, Governor-
Parliament of 1836 Governor's Speech and Assembly's
Answer Instructions of Home Government Lord Gosford's
Criticisms Thereon Assembly's Answer Papineau's Address
to House Shows Determination to Resist All Attempts at Con-
ciliation Dunn, Baldwin and Rolph Made Executive Council-
lors in Upper Canada.
1! IN a narrative of the Canadian Rebellion it is impossible
to dissociate the names of Papineau and Mackenzie. They
were joint leaders in the two Provinces of a movement
which each must have seen, must, if persevered in, almost
inevitably end in bloodshed. That this was apparent to
Mackenzie is shown by what he afterwards termed a
PA PINE AU AND MACKENZIE CO-OPERATE. 199
prophecy, made by him when in London in 1832, pressing
the Government to take immediate steps to remedy the
grievances which he complained of as existing in Canada.
On this visit he had many interviews with the Colonial
Secretary, and was permitted to place his views in writing
before that official. This he did in many papers. In
those papers he gave the Colonial Secretary to understand
that unless the system of government in Upper Canada
were ameliorated the result must be civil war. We have
seen that a correspondence was carried on between the
Central Reform Committee in Montreal, and the Upper
Canada Committee formed for similar ends. It is therefore
apparent that the two leaders must have been well
acquainted with the designs which each had in pushing
his demands to the utmost length.
The petitions which Mr. Mackenzie carried with him
to England, craving redress of grievances, had attached to
them upwards of twenty-five thousand signatures, but on
the other hand Lord Goderich had before him petitions
signed by upwards of twenty-six thousand persons, who,
as Lord Goderich informed Mr. Mackenzie, " concurred in
expressing their cordial satisfaction in those laws and
institutions which the other set of petitioners had
impugned." The Colonial Office was in fact deluged with
petitions both from Upper and Lower Canada, presenting
entirely different views as to the alleged grievances exist-
ing in Canada.
In the session of the Parliament of Lower Canada
held in 1835, the Governor, Lord Aylmer, having become
200 REBELLION OF 1837.
hopeless of reconciling Mr. Papineau and his party to the
Government, opened the House by a speech, in which he
informed the House of the change in the office of Colonial
Secretary ; that he expected further instructions, which he
would communicate ; that he had issued warrants for pay-
ment of the officials, in consequence of the last House
having stopped the supplies, and that beyond this he had
nothing in particular to communicate to Parliament. The
Assembly took this to mean that Lord Aylmer felt himself
bound in some measure to show his entire dissatisfaction
with the proceedings of that body, and had taken this
means to do so. The Governor, in the performance of
his duty, on the 5th of March, communicated to the House
a despatch from the Colonial Secretary, stating that
the decision of the Committee of the House of Commons,
to which their petitions of the previous session had been
referred, was adverse, and that while the Government
had not decided to introduce a bill suspending the powers
of the Assembly, it might be necessary to introduce a bill
of that character, although the new Secretary, Mr. Spring
Eice, trusted that the necessity for any such measure
might be averted. The Assembly voted an address to the
British Parliament, reiterating former complaints, and
demanding the recall of the Governor, to whose requests
they paid no attention, and whose address, in closing the
last session, they now formally ordered to be expunged.
A debate occurred on the address. The members of
Mr. Papineau' s party even were not unanimous in voting
for this address. Some of the recalcitrants, especially Mr.
LORD AYLMER AND THE ASSEMBLY. -201
Bedard, declined to vote for it, as the address, in its terms,
in a peremptory manner, contained a refusal to comply with
the wishes of the Governor, complained of his " arbitrary
and unbecoming conduct," and even went so far as to say
that they considered his conduct, in neglecting the applica-
tion of the corporation of Montreal for extended quarantine
regulations, was one of the principal causes of the fright-
ful ravages committed by the Asiatic cholera during the
preceding summer. In speaking on the motion for the
address in the Assembly, Mr. Papineau eaid : "It would be
a libel on Britain to assume that she may possibly pass a
coercive bill against us and send ten regiments over to
enforce it. If such were the case, however, we ought to
be prepared all the sooner to rid ourselves of so tyrannical
a domination. If there is ground for apprehending such
a struggle, we may say that the danger exists at this
hour, and that we have already gone much further in
bringing it on than the stride taken in this address."
After such an inflammatory speech from the acknowledged
leader of the French party in Lower Canada, the surprise
is not that there was a rebellion in that Province, but
rather that the insurrection did not take place at once,
instead of being delayed for more than a year.
The address was carried in the House, and was sent to
England, to be presented to the House of Commons by
Mr. Roebuck, the champion of the French-Canadian
interests in the Commons ; but long before it reached
England, and in fact before the address was passed, the
Government of England had determined to make an
202 REBELLION OF 1837.
exhaustive investigation of Canadian affairs, and to this
end to send to the Colony commissioners, charged with
the duty of examining into all alleged grievances, who
should report the result to the Home Government. Lord
Aylmer called Parliament to meet, and, on the 30th of
May, communicated the intention of the Home Govern-
ment to appoint this Commission Extraordinary, which
should have the advantage of personal instructions from
the Government and would know their views better than
could be communicated by means of despatches.
Notwithstanding the fact that Lord Aberdeen, the
Premier, had stated in the House of Lords that " if he
could have prevailed on himself to recall Lord Aylmer, he
should never have thought of sending out a commissioner,"
the Government decided upon his recall, which was
announced in a despatch in the official Quebec Gazette
of June 25th. We are told by Mr. Christie* that his
recall created a very general feeling of regret among the
British population of Lower Canada, who joined in
presenting addresses to him, regretting what they termed
his " untimely recall," and a farewell entertainment was
given to him and Lady Aylmer by the principal citizens
of Quebec on the eve of his departure, which took place
on September 17th. Lord Aylmer seems to have been
actuated in all his public acts by the highest motives.
That he had no antipathy to the French is shown by the
fact that he erected a marble slab to the memory of
Montcalm in the Ursuline Convent at Quebec. Before
* Christie's Lower Canada, Vol. IV, p. 81.
THE SPECIAL COMMISSION'. 203
leaving Canada he now erected, at his own expense, a
monument on the Plains of Abraham, marking the spot
where Wolfe fell, which, having been almost destroyed by
memento seekers chipping off pieces, was, in 1849, super-
seded by the more ambitious shaft now there, erected
by the officers of the British army serving in Canada.
The Commission, that was to settle the interminable
complaints of the French-Canadians, was composed of
three persons whose capacity and aptitude in political
affairs were sufficiently acknowledged to enable them to
undertake the important task laid before them. The
Commissioners were the Earl of Gosford, Sir Charles
Grey and Sir James Gipps. Lord Gosford was not only
Commissioner Extraordinary, but was also appointed
Oovernor-in- Chief, to succeed Lord Aylmer. The supposed
advantage to be gained in having Commissioners was that
people of all classes, creeds and parties could go before
the Commission and be heard. The Commissioners were
specially instructed to hear complaints from whatever
quarter arising ; that they were to put themselves in
familiar relations with all manner of applicants, to note
the acts and discourses passing and spoken at public
meeting, to study social relations, to make inquests in
different parts of the country, and generally to remark
all that took place which might in any way assist them
in forming an opinion as to the cause of the unsettled
state of affairs in the Province.
Nothing goes further to show that the policy of the
English Government at this time, as it had been the
JU4 REBELLION OF 1837.
policy of all Governments since the Act of 1791, and even
before that Act was passed, was to retain a legislative
control, not only in Canada, but in all other colonies,
than the restraint placed on this commission. "Whatever
jjj else they might do they were not to lay their hands on
the Legislative Council, the very institution which above
I all others caused contention in Canada.
The Commissioners arrived at Quebec in August, and
Lord Gosford at once set about the duties he had under-
taken. He was very gracious to all with whom he came
in contact. The French party especially he moved with
marks of evidence of his solicitude. He invited the
leaders to his house. He visited their religious institu-
tions, and sought in every way to gain their confidence. But
just so much as he fondled and conciliated the French
party he estranged the British residents. To do what
he thought was necessary to satisfy the French-Canadians,
he informed them that their social institutions would
remain intact. In opening the session of Parliament,
in October, 1835, he spoke both in the French and
English languages, a delicate compliment to the nation-
ality of the great majority of members of the House.
Appealing to the Colonists, he said : " To the Canadians,
both of French and British origin, I would say, consider
the blessings you might enjoy, but for your dissensions.
Offsprings, as you are, of the two most foremost nations of
the earth, you hold a vast and beautiful country, having a
fertile soil, with healthful climate ; while the noblest river
in the world makes seaports of your most remote havens.'*
LORD GOS FORD'S ADDRESS TO HOUSE. 2U5-
The British party in the Province, from the tone of
the French press, the speeches of members of the
Assembly, and the general demeanor of the French party,
were still suspicious of the loyalty of their fellow- subjects
of French-Canadian origin. The Montreal Constitutional
Association resolved to organize District Committees in
each quarter of that city, in case union and force became
needful. This organization believed in the adage "to
be forewarned is to be forearmed." It raised a body of
volunteer riflemen, with cries of " God save the King."
This determination of the Montreal Constitutional
Association was incited, at the present time, by the feeling
which prevailed among the British residents that their
rights, which they had enjoyed as British subjects, were
about to be surrendered to a French-Canadian domination.
It was true that the language of the French press had
not been as insulting as it had been before Lord Gosford's
advent, but then they attributed this to the desire of
the French party to gain concessions, and so their real
aspirations were veiled. Lord Gosford's speech, in his
address on opening the House, was too full of concessions
to please the British party. He said, " Some of the
grievances complained of could be redressed by the
Executive alone, others by the aid of one or both branches
of the Legislature, but some of their demands could only
be complied with by the act of the Imperial Parliament."
He declared himself prepared to act impartially in every
respect. Plurality of offices should no longer exist, and
French-Canadians of talent and standing would have
206 REBELLION OF 1837.
the path of official preferment opened to them equally
with their British fellow-citizens. In future every infor-
mation with regard to public accounts and all other
public matters should be rendered to the Assembly,
and copies of the Blue Book, or general, annual, financial
and statistical return, which he invited both Houses to
make in future as complete as possible, would be
presented to each branch of the legislature. Bills should
not, unless on the gravest grounds, be reserved for the
decision of the Crown, nor would any undue partiality
be given to the English language over the French.
Whatever abuses might exist in the law courts, the mem-
bers of the Legislature were themselves invited to
remedy, as well as to regulate by enactment the matter
of the Clergy Eeserves. He offered his warrant to both
Houses without any condition attached. " The Home
Government was prepared," he said, " to surrender the
control of all public revenues arising from any Canadian
source, on condition of a moderate provision being made
for the civil list." As regarded the inhabitants of British
descent he urged, " they had nothing to fear on the score
of commerce, the main support of the Empire," while
to those of French origin he repeated, " that there was
no design to disturb the form of society under which
they had so long been contented and prosperous."
To ordinary minds the action of the Government,
in appointing the Commission, and this assuring speech
of the Governor to Parliament, ought to have been
sufficient to quench the fire of discontent in Lower
A SSEMBL Y CA NNO T BE SA TISFIED. 207
Canada. Not so, however, with Mr. Papineau. He had M
in fact become imbued with the idea that Canada L.
f
should be a Bepublic, with perchance Louis Joseph \
Papineau at the head of it. In a speech which he
made at the Assembly, he said : " The time has gone 1
by when Europe could give monarchies to America. /
On the contrary, an epoch is now approaching when )
America will give Eepublics to Europe."
The House of Assembly, in answering the Address
from the Throne, avoided all notice of the Commission,
and an amendment being moved expressing satisfaction
at the appointment and hoping for a satisfactory
result to its labours, it was negatived by the House.
Mr. Papineau declaimed at great length, as usual. He *
said that he considered the appointment of the Com-
mission an insult to the House. The Commissioners,
he contended, had no constitutional powers whatever.
They might, it is true, report to the Home Govern-
ment, and, if it coincided with the wishes of the House,
well and good. But if they differed from the demands
of the Assembly they might be assured that body
would not recede one iota, but would force its claims
to the utmost. Such was the attitude of the Lower
Canadian French party.
The British Government at this time was prepared
to make concessions, not only to Lower Canada, but
to Upper Canada also. Mr. Mackenzie had gained
considerable success in his mission and interviews with
Lord Goderich, the Colonial Minister. Lord Goderich,
208 REBELLION OF 1837.
after full consideration of the grievances urged by Mr.
Mackenzie, determined to take action. In order to
relieve the Canadian Government from the imputation
of favouritism in the allotment of public lands, the
King, on the advice of his Colonial Minister, forbade
the gratuitous disposition of public lands, and directed
that they should be made subject to public competition,
with a view "to the utter exclusion of any such
favouritism as is thus deprecated." In fact the Colonial
Minister made so many concessions to Mr. Mackenzie
that the Government party in the Upper Canadian
House and in the country were disposed to treat Lord
Goderich's despatch containing those concessions with
a certain degree of contempt. The Legislative Council
refused so much as to place it on their journals, and
returned it to the Lieutenant-Governor. The view they
took was that Mr. Mackenzie, an irresponsible agent,
had gone to England, interviewed the Colonial Minister
on- grievances when they were not represented, gave a
colouring to statements not borne out by facts, and
had thus warped the mind of the Minister. Mr. Boulton,
the then Attorney General of the Province, with more
asperity than dignity, when the question came up in
the Assembly, and the House was made acquainted
with the representations, both verbal and written,
which Mr. Mackenzie had made to the Colonial Secre-
tary, said it ill became the Colonial Secretary to " sit
down and answer all this ignoble trash," and that " it
would much less become the House to interfere with
MACKENZIE MAYOR OF TORONTO. 209
it by giving it publicity." Mr. Mackenzie was not a
man to be thwarted. Though, for the time being, while
the Reform party was in the minority, the journals
of the House were freed from the Colonial Secretary's
despatch and the accompanying documents, Mr. Mackenzie,
at a subsequent period, in a Reform House, caused the
documents to be remembered in his celebrated " Seventh
Report on Grievances."
It is a remarkable fact with reference to Mr.
Mackenzie, that the more he was opposed by the
Government and Government party, the more popular
he became with a section of the people. Though
five times expelled from the House, he was, in the year
1834, elected the first Mayor of Toronto. His election
to the Mayor's chair was undoubtedly due to the
sympathy felt for him by many in the capital of the
Province who were not of his party. The combined suf-
frages of his party supporters and of the more moderate
Tories placed him in the office of chief magistrate of
the city. It has never been doubted that the choice
then made was a good one. It is but fair to the
memory of Mr. Mackenzie to say that, in all his
political conduct and extravagances, he was not actuated
by personal resentment. He was a determined advocate
of reform, and in his political course made himself
many enemies, but they were not personal but political
enemies. His trenchant pen and carping style of criticism
were his bane. The nature of the man was such that
he could not mend his ways. Speaking of himself, he
210 REBELLION OF 1837.
said, " I entered the lists of the opposition to the
Executive, because I believed the system of govern-
ment to be wretchedly bad, and was uninfluenced by
any private feeling, or ill will, or anger towards any
human being whatever." Mr. Mackenzie was a very
different man from Papineau. The latter was cool,
calculating, reflective; Mackenzie, on the other hand,
was fiery, impulsive and of a most combative dis-
position.
In the House, which met in the month of July,
1835, Mr. Mackenzie found himself in a more congenial
political atmosphere than had heretofore surrounded
him in the Legislative Assembly of the Province. He
had now around him such men as Mr. Marshall
Bidwell, Mr. John Ham Perry and other Reformers,
all bent on suppressing, if not destroying the Govern-
ment that then subsisted. In the publications preceding
the meeting of the House, and in the elective campaign
which gave the Reformers a majority in the House,
the party opposing the Government had been very fully
(taunted with disloyalty. Disloyal they were, but only
to the Government of Canada, not to the Government
of Great Britain. No man in Upper Canada had yet
gone as far as Mr. Papineau in his declaration of
hostility to monarchical rule, and favour to the intro-
duction of Republican institutions into Canada. When
the Legislature met, they felt the importance of declaring
to the world that whatever else they might be accused
of, they could not be justly charged with being disloyal
SEVENTH REPORT OX GRIEVANCES. 211
to the Crown. In their addresses in answer to the
Lieutenant-Governor's speech, at the opening of the
session, they said : " His Majesty has received through
your Excellency, from the people of this Province, fresh
proofs of their devoted loyalty and of their sincere
and earnest desire to maintain and perpetuate the
connection with the great Empire of which they form
so important a part, proofs which would serve to correct
any misrepresentations intended to impress His Majesty
with the belief that those who desire the reform of
many public abuses in the Province are not well affected
towards His Majesty's person and Government." The
address concluded: "Should the government be admin-
istered agreeably to the intent, meaning and spirit of
our glorious Constitution, the just wishes and con-
stitutional rights of the people duly respected, the
honours and patronage of His Majesty indiscriminately
bestowed on persons of worth and talent who enjoy
the confidence of the people, without regard to their
political or religious opinions, and your Excellency's
Councils filled with moderate, wise and discreet individuals,
who are understood to respect and be influenced by the
I public voice, we have not the slighest apprehension
but the connection between this Province and the
parent state may long continue to exist and be a blessing
mutually advantageous to both."
During this session Mr. Mackenzie made to the
House a report of the committee of which he was chair-
man, which went by the name of "Mackenzie's Seventh
15
212 REBELLION OF 1837.
Eeport on Grievances." This report was practically an
arraignment of the whole system of Colonial Government.
It dwelt upon " the almost unlimited extent of the patro-
nage of the Crown, or rather of the Colonial Minister for
the time being." " Such," it added, " is the patronage of
the Colonial Office, that the granting or the withholding
of supplies is of no political importance, unless as an
indication of the opinion of the country concerning the
character of the Government."
The report entered at length into the objections which
existed to the Legislative Council, showing that it was a
body responsible to no one in Canada, and was appointed
by and responsible only to the Crown. It recom-
mended an independent Board of Audit of Public Accounts.
In a political sense the most important passage in the
report was that which said, " One great excellence of
the English Constitution consists of the limits it im-
poses on the will of the King by requiring responsible
men to give effect to it. In Upper Canada no such
responsibility can exist. The Lieutenant-Governor and
the British Ministry hold in their hands the whole
patronage of the Province, they hold the sole dominion
of the country, and leave the representative branch of
the Legislature powerless and dependent. Finally the
report wound up with a declaration that "the second
branch of the Legislature had failed to answer the purpose
of its institution, and could never be made to answer
the end for which it was created," and that " the
ATTACK ON LEO IS LA TI VE CO UNCIL. 2 1 3
restoration of legislative harmony and good government
requires its reconstruction on the elective principle."
The report is in itself a bulky volume. The state-
ments made in regard to the Council, coupled with what
has been said with regard to the Legislative Council
in Lower Canada, which was a counterpart of that in
Upper Canada, fairly express the grievances of Mr.
Mackenzie and his Committee, so far as they were
attributable to the Constitution, and most, if not all other
grievances set forth in the report, flowed from the main
source of the system of government and the consti-
tution of the Province. It is but too evident that if the
Legislative Council of the Province had been more
liberal than they were, and had extended the Govern-
ment patronage beyond the circle of their immediate
friends and relatives, the seeds of rebellion, though
planted, might not have taken root. The very first
paragraph of the report goes a long way to prove this.
The Keformers at this time saw themselves nominally
in power, having a considerable majority at their
back, and yet they were not allowed to enjoy what they
considered were legitimate fruits of their success in
the country. The advocacy of an Elective Legislative
Council, as put forth in the report, was a radical
proposal, absolutely differing from the Constitution as
it existed, and it could not, therefore, receive coun-
tenance from the ruling powers in Great Britain, no
matter what party, Whig or Tory, were in the ascendant
in the parent State, unless that Constitution was
t
214 REBELLION OF 1837.
amended. This neither party was prepared then to do. In
jower Canada the French-Canadians desired to get
rid of the Legislative Council, that they might govern
place of the English. In Upper Canada there were
no racial lines dividing the people ; still we find the
Legislative Council obnoxious to a considerable class
in the community. Principally, no doubt, because
owing to it the party of the people, as distinguished from
the more aristocratic class which had the friendship of the
Representative of the Crown, had no control of public
affairs, or of the emoluments thereof. The Reform party
sought for no more than was in force in England
then, and in Canada soon after this time Responsible
Government. Possibly this boon was withheld from
Upper Canada for fear of Lower Canada. It could
hardly be granted to the one without the other, and
if to \he latter what would become of the English
minority ?
Lord Glenelg was Chief Colonial Secretary at the
time the grievance report reached London and was
brought to the notice of the Colonial Office. He did
not give a mere perfunctory attention to this report,
but examined it in every detail. After full investiga-
tion he, on the 5th December, 1835, sent a despatch
to Sir Francis Bond Head, recently appointed Lieutenant-
Governor of Upper Canada, in which he fully answered
all the objections contained in the report. In refer-
ence to the subject of patronage of the Crown or of the
Colonial Minister, which was the first grievance com-
LORD GLEXELO'S ANSWER. 215.
plained of in the report, Lord Glenelg said : " With
respect to the patronage of the requisite offices, His
Majesty's Government are not solicitous to retain more
in their hands, or in those of the Governor, than is
necessary for the general welfare of the people and the
right conduct of public affairs. I confess myself, how-
ever, unable to perceive to whom the choice amongst
candidates for public employment could with equal
safety be confided. It requires but little foresight or ex-
perience to discover that such patronage, if exercised in
any form of popular election, or if committed to any
popular body, would be liable to be employed for pur-
poses far less defensible, and in a manner less con-
ducive to the general good. Chosen by irresponsible
patrons, the public officers would themselves be virtually
exempt from responsibility, and all the discipline and
subordination which would connect together in one un-
broken chain the King and his representatives in the
Province, down to the lowest functionary to whom any
portion of the powers of the State may be confided,
would be immediately broken."
With respect to auditing the public accounts, and
constituting by law a Board of Audit, Lord Glenelg
said : " His Majesty will gladly concur in the enactment
of any law which shall be properly framed for consti-
tuting such a board."
With reference to the Executive Government, Lord
Glenelg said : "A very considerable part of the report
is devoted to the statement and illustration of the fact
li
216 REBELLION OF 1837.
that the Executive Government of Upper Canada is
virtually irresponsible, and the conclusion drawn is that
under the present system there can be no prospect of a
good and faithful administration of public affairs. . . ,
Experience would seem to prove that the administra-
tion of public affairs in Upper Canada is by no means
exempt from the control of a practical responsibility.
To His Majesty and to Parliament, the Government of
Upper Canada is at all times most fully responsible for
its official acts. . . . This responsibility is not
merely nominal. It is the duty of the Lieutenant-
Governor to vindicate to the King and Parliament every
act of his administration. This responsibility to His
Majesty and to Parliament is second to none which can
be imposed -on a public man, and it is one which it
is in the power of the House of Assembly at any
time by addresses or petition to bring into active
operation." Proceeding, "Lord Glenelg said : "I next
refer to two subjects of far more importance than any
of those to which I have hitherto adverted. I refer
to the demand made, partly in the report of the com-
mittee and partly in the address of the Assembly to
His Majesty, for changes in the mode of appointing
Legislative Councillors, and for the control of the
Assembly of the territorial and casual revenues of the
Crown. On these subjects I am, to a considerable ex-
tent, relieved from the necessity of any particular in-
vestigation, because claims precisely identical have
been preferred by the Assembly of Lower Canada, and
SIX FRANCIS BOND HEAD. 217
because in the instructions to the Commissioners of
Inquiry, who have visited that Province, I have already
had occasion to state the views which have received His
Majesty's deliberate sanction. The principles of govern-
ment in the two sister Provinces must, I am well aware, be
in every material respect the same. I shall, therefore,
annex for your information, as an appendix to this des-
patch, so much of the instructions to the Earl of
Gosford and his colleagues as applies to these topics."
This despatch of Lord Glenelg was communicated by
the Lieutenant-Governor to the Legislative Assembly,
and thus gained publicity. The despatch accompanied,
or was contained in the instructions given to Sir F. B.
Head for his guidance, and it is doubtful if the Colonial
Secretary intended that publicity should be given to it.
However this may be, it got to the ears of the political
leaders in Lower Canada, and was made the subject of com-
ment by the press of that Province, both French and English.
Another circumstance of an untoward character occur-
red at this time, which gave an opportunity to the Reform
leaders in both Provinces to clamour against the Gov-
ernment. Sir F. B. Head, who had just arrived in the
Province of Upper Canada, on the 14th January, 1836,
opened the session of the Upper Canada Legislature. The
new Governor- had had _LK> political experience before
^coming to the^rovince. If it had been otherwise, per-
haps he would not have so committed himself as to
communicate to the Assembly his instructions, or a
garbled statement of them, nor would he in his open-
218 REBELLION OF 1837.
ing speech to the House have gone beyond the sphere
of his duties by alluding to the affairs of Lower Canada,
with which he had no concern. TJTJH,
/"and, in referring to the political conditions in Lower
1 Canada, and to the labours of Lord Gosford and the
other Eoyal Commissioners, gave the House fully to under-
stand that come what might the Constitution ^j
Province would be maintained.
The answer of the House to the Governor's speech
was both critical and remonstrative. The House said :
" We deeply regret that Your Excellency has been advised
to animadvert upon the ajfairs of the sister Province,
which has been engaged in a long and arduous struggle
for an indispensable amelioration in their institutions
and the manner of their administration. We respect-
fully but firmly express our respect for their patriotic
exertions, and we do acquit them of being the cause of any
embarrassment and dissensions in the country."
The Quebec Gazette, a paper supposed to represent
the opinions of the English and the more moderate of
the French party in the Province of Lower Canada, dealing
with Lord Glenelg's despatch, said : " The publication
of the instructions has occasioned great regret and dis-
appointed public expectations generally. Very certainly
their tenor betrays dispositions and interests little suited
to inspire confidence in ministerial liberality, or reliance
on the soundness of official polity in respect to our inter-
ests. Lord Glenelg evidently plays a double part, that
of a Reformer in London, of a Conservative in Quebec.
COMMENTS ON LORD GLENELG'S DESPATCH. 219
These instructions contain also, as did the opening speech,
an untoward enunciation, which we have not dwelt upon
as yet, namely, the mortifying mis-estimation of the
oligarchic faction and the general population, for in speak-
ing of each, the same weight and worth are assigned to
the opinions and aspirations of both, with an equal claim
to the consideration 'of the Imperial Government. This
misapprehension arises, questionless, from the aristocratic
training and usages in repute with denizens of the Old
World. It is there believed that the oligarchy in the
ascendant here fills the same place, with us, as the British
nobles and gentry in the three kingdoms. This mistake
and the prejudices attending it, if they be not corrected,
and if more sound appreciations of Colonial circumstances
and a better knowledge of Colonial society do not take
their place, thence the loss of one of the brightest jewels
in the British Crown may result at no distant date. It is
only with ideas and principles of equality put in opera-
tion that Americans can now be governed. If British
statesmen be not content to learn their duty through
representations, they will be taught it ere long, in a
rougher way, for things move on rapidly in this new
world of ours. . . ."
This was pretty plain language for a Canadian journal. V
It shows two things : first, that the stilted uppishness n
of the oligarchy in the Province was distasteful to the 1 1
independent people of Canada ; second, that the spirit
of democracy had got a fast hold on a considerable por- ) J
tion of the Crown's territory in the Province.
220 REBELLION OF 1837.
The instructions given to Lord Gosford and the Boyal
Commissioners were calculated to lead the people of Quebec
to believe that reforms would be made in the system of
government in the immediate future. The Quebec French-
Canadian party, led by Mr. Bedard, was inclined to accept
the assurances of Lord Gosford. Not so Mr. Papineau.
The despatch of Lord Glenelg to Sir F. B. Head becom-
ing known to him, and the Bedard party's seeming defec-
tion, spurred him on to further effort to enforce the prin-
ciples of the Ninety-two Eesolutions.
On a motion in the House of Assembly as to granting
supplies Mr. Papineau spoke, and with his fiery eloquence
and oratorical ability fairly carried the House by storm.
Facing Mr. Bedard and those who followed him, he said :
" We have yet to learn if there be any new circumstance
in the political situation of the country which can justify
those who now seem as if they would desert the cause
of their country, or why they should now incline to-
separate themselves from the great majority of their com-
patriots, who adopted in spirit and sanctioned in act the
votes deposited by their representatives in the electoral
urn for sustaining the Ninety-two Eesolutions passed by
this House. . . . We are not struggling against any in-
dividual personally, but a system of vicious Colonial Govern-
ment, which, as now explained by Lord Glenelg, contains
in the essence of corruption the germ of manifold disorders.
Our task is not light, indeed, for we are called on to defend
the rights of all British Colonial dependencies, as well
as that we inhabit. The same evil genius whose work-
SIX F. B. HEAD'S ADDRESS TO THE HOUSE. 221
ings drove the provincials of the neighbouring States, in
their own despite, into the paths of a righteous and
glorious resistance, presides over our affairs also. That
malign spirit it was which inspired the instructions given
to the Commission now in our midst. . . . Briefly,
these Commissioners' instructions comprise a formal
refusal on the part of those who drew them up to listen
heedfully to any representation of the many grievances
which both Canadas have to complain of." This speech
of Mr. Papineau, and the evident determination to resist
all attempts at conciliation, prompted the Governor to
immediately prorogue the House.
In Upper Canada Mr. Mackenzie, like Mr. Papineau,
was provoking the House of Assembly to wage war with
trleTGovernor, the Government, and all who gave them
'countenance or support. He moved a series of resolu-
tions in the House, aimed at discrediting the Government
for not having carried out the Imperial wishes. This
move of Mr. Mackenzie's had one good effect, it elicited
from the Governor a communication to the House, which
was then a Keform House, presided over by Mr. Bid well,
in which he asked from the House the consideration due
to a stranger to the Province, unconnected with the
differences of party, sent by his Sovereign with instruc-
tions " to correct, cautiously, yet effectually, all real
grievances, while maintaining the Constitution inviolate."
How this was to be done, and yet the Legislative Council
maintained in its original shape, was a problem which
would take a cleverer man than Sir F. B. Head to solve.
222 REBELLION OF 1837.
He, however, undertook a task in which he was sure to
fail.
He commenced by calling three new members to the
Executive Council. This office he performed on the 20th
February, 183Q. The new members so called were
Messrs. John Hemy Dunn, Kobert Baldwin and Dr. John
Rolph, all members of the Reform party. These gentle-
men soqn found, however, that the Governor's opinions
were not their opinions. They wished to govern in
accordance with the wishes of the House. He wished to
govern in accordance with his own views. They
acknowledged responsibility to the House. He would
have it that they were only responsible to himself, the
Governor. In discussing the matter with them, he said :
" The Lieutenant-Governor maintains that responsibility
to the people, who are already represented in the House
of Assembly, is unconstitutional, that it is the duty of the
Council to serve him, not them."
Not being able to come to an agreement with the
Governor, as to their respective positions and responsi-
bilities, the three newly appointed members to the
Executive Council, on the 4th of March, resigned their
offices.
The stand taken by the Governor brought down upon
him the denunciation of the House and stoppage of the
supplies. A report of a Committee of the House, to which
was referred the duty of enquiring into the differences
existing between the Governor and the Council, which
report was adopted by the House, said that it was the
SIH F. B. HEAD DISSOLVES THE HOUSE. 223
duty of the House either " to abandon their privileges
and honour, and to betray their duties and the rights of
the people, or to withhold the supplies." The supplies
were withheld, and thus a crisis brought about which bid
fair to disrupt the Government and bring discredit on the
Governor. To avoid this, Sir Francis, on the 14th March,
appointed four new councillors, viz., Messrs. Robert B.
Sullivan, William Allen, Augustus Baldwin and John
Elmsley. Three days after these new appointments
were made, the House, not to be baffled by the Governor,
declared its " entire want of confidence " in the Council,
and demanded their dismissal.
The Reform party, then in a majority in the House,
which foT'some reason or other had laboured under the
delusion that in Sir F. B. Head the Province had got a
"Liberal Governor," were rudely awakened from their
dream in finding their idol of a day was indeed a veritable
autocrat. Sir Francis unreservedly threw himself into
the arms of the "Family Compact," a name by which
the ruling powers had come to be called, defied the House,
and, on the 28th of May, 183G, dissolved Parliament.
CHAPTER XI.
Hon. Robert Baldwin Conservative by Nature Mackenzie Not
the Reform Party Reform Society of Upper Canada Their
Principles Announced Address to Inhabitants of British North
America Governor Dissolves Upper Canada House, 20th May,
1836 Lower Canadians Distrust Royal Commission Report of
Royal Commissioners Disappoints the Hopes of Revolutionists
Mr. Morin s Comments Thereon " Vive Papineau ; Vive la
Liberte 1 "Death of William IV. Ascension of Queen Victoria-
Lord Gosford's Attempt to Reconcile Lower Canada Excitement
at High Pitch in Upper Canada Upper Canada Elections of
1836 Riots and Disturbances " Bread and Butter" Parlia-
ment Question of Union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada
Agitated Confusion in the House Declaration of Reformers
to People of Upper Canada, June, 1837 Public Meetings
" Liberty or Death " Plans for Revolt.
MB. ROBERT BALDWIN, who was the son of that old Re-
former Dr. William Warren Baldwin, was the most promi-
nent Liberal of his day, but of a very different type from
William Lyon Mackenzie. In everything but politics
Mr. Baldwin was most conservative in all his ways.
True it is, that he was associated with Mr. Mackenzie
as a party man, but it can never be said that he was
:esponsible for his actions. Mr. Mackenzie was " sui
generis," and could not be restrained by anyone, not
/j even by the most prominent of Reformers, from resort-
J \1 ing to most extreme means to accomplish a purpose.
\The Reform party had within its ranks men of
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM SOCIETY. 225"
moderate and men of most advanced views. Mr.
Mackenzie by no means represented the opinions of
the whole party, but only those of a section.
The Eeformers of those days, as a body, must be
judged by their acts, as a body, and not by the in-
dividual acts of any one member. The Constitutional
Eeform Society of Upper Canada, formed on the 16th
July, 1836, issued an address declaratory of their princi-
ples, which were :
1 The British Constitution in its purity.
2. Connection with the Parent State.
3. Encouragement of emigration from the Mother Country,
And it was said in the address, to secure and pro-
mote those objects for which they contended, they de-
manded :
1. Responsible advisers to the Governor.
2. Equal rights to all men, whether Protestant or Catholic,
Churchman or Dissenter. The abolition of all the rectories estab-
lished by Sir John Colborne, security being given that no
dominant Church or Churches should be tolerated in Upper Canada.
3. The disposal of all revenues of the Province for the benefit
of its inhabitants.
4. The reformation of the Legislative Council and the land
granting department.
5. The redress of all known grievances.
The address concluded thus : " As Eeformers they
want no more ; as British freemen they never will be
satisfied with less." The address was signed by William
Warren Baldwin, president of the society.
This address was issued on the eve of the election
then approaching, necessitated by Sir F. B. Head's dis-
226 REBELLION OF 1837.
solution of the House. The abolition of the rectories,
which had been established by Sir John Colborne,
referred to in the address, was a new cause of grievance
to the Keforin party. Sir John Colbovne, acting, as he
held, within his province and the requirements of the
Constitutional Act of 1791, had created fifty-seven
rectories for the support of the Church of England
clergy. As might be expected, this step of His Excel-
lencyj was regarded by all other Churches than the
Church of England as a great stretch of prerogative.
The demand to abolish these rectories was now seized
upon by the Eeform party as a weapon with which to
fight their opponents at the election. It was a good
weapon, and with its aid the Eeformers would doubtless
ihave carried the elections, had not the Government
party been spurred on to increased energy in the battle
for power. The rectory question did not trouble the
people of Lower Canada, but the dedication of lands
for the support of a Protestant clergy was put forward,
as a grievance in that Province, with as much force as
in the~Province of Upper Canada.
Leaving that particular subject for the present, and
directing our attention to that which most concerned
the Province of Lower Canada at this time, the begin-
ning of 1836, viz., the proceedings and probable result
of the inquiries of Lord Gosford and the Royal Com-
mission, we find that both the British and French-
Canadians were suspicious of the doings of this
Commission. The French-Canadians, watching distrust-
MONTREAL CONSTITUTIONAL ASSOCIATION. 227
fully the general conduct of the Commissioners, con-
cluded that they were too gracious to be sincere, while
the British-Canadians thought them too concessive to
be trusted. The fact was they were trying to please
both parties, and ended by pleasing neither. The
enunciation which Lord Gosford had made at the open-
ing of Parliament, and his evident desire to propitiate
the French-Canadians, by offering to surrender to them
privileges which the British party thought they ought
not to enjoy, roused the Montreal Constitutional
Association to action. The Association determined to
appeal to all the people of British North America, in
the hope of identifying all subjects in all the Prov-
inces, Upper Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick
and Prince Edward Island, with the cause of their
fellow-subjects in Lower Canada. To this end the
Association, in the month of January, 1836, issued
the following address : .
" ADDRESS FROM THE CONSTITUTIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MONTREAL TO
THE INHABITANTS OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
" When an industrious population, after years of suffering,,
are aroused to a sense of danger, by renewed attacks upon their
rights and liberties, an appeal to those of kindred blood, animated
by the same spirit, and allied by a communion of interests, can
excite no surprise and requires no justification.
"Long and patiently have the population of British and Irish
descent in Lower Canada endured evils of no ordinary descrip-
tion, relying on the interposition of the Imperial Government for
relief. Deceived in their fondly cherished trust, they are im"
pelled to seek from their own energies that protection which has
been withheld by the power on whose justice they reposed.
16
228 REBELLION OF 1837.
"For half a century they have been subjected to the domina-
tion of a party whose policy has been to retain the distinguishing
attributes of a foreign race, and to crush in others that spirit of
enterprise which they are unwilling or unable to emulate. During
that period, a population descended from the same stock with our-
selves have covered a continent with the smiling monuments of
their agricultural industry. Upper Canada and the United States
bear ample testimony of the flood tide of prosperity, the result of
unrestricted enterprise and of equitable laws, which has rewarded
their efforts ; Lower Canada, where another race predominates, pre-
sents a solitary exception to this general march of improvement.
There, surrounded by forests inviting the industry of man, and
opening a rich reward to his labour, an illiterate people opposed to
improvements have compressed their growing members almost
within the boundaries of the original settlements, and present in
their laws, their mode of agriculture, a not unfaithful picture of
Prance in the seventeenth century. There also may be witnessed
the humiliating spectacle of a rural population not ^infrequently
necessitated to implore eleemosynary relief from the Legislature
of the country.
" It were incredible to suppose that a minority, constituting
nearly one-third of the entire population, imbued with the same
ardour for improvements that honourably distinguishes their race
throughout the North American continent, and possessing the undis-
puted control of all the great interests of the Colony, would resign
themselves to the benumbing sway of a majority differing from
themselves so essentially on all important points, whilst any mode
of deliverance was open to the choice. Nor would supineness or
indifference on their part produce a corresponding change in their
opponents, or mitigate the relentless persecution with which they
have been visited. The deep-rooted hostility excited by the French
leaders against those of different origin which has led to the perpe-
tration of outrages on persons and property and destroyed confi-
dence in juries, who have been taught to regard us as their foes,
has extended its pernicious influence beyond the limits of Lower
Canada. Upper Canada, repulsed in her endeavours to open a direct
ADDRESS OF ASSOCIA TION. 229
channel of communication to the sea, has been driven to cultivate
commercial relations with the United States, whose policy is more
congenial with their own. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick will
learn, with indignant surprise, that the destruction of their most
important interests is countenanced and supported by the Assembly
of this Province.
"A French majority in one Province has caused these accu-
mulated evils. A British majority in the United Provinces will
compel their removal.
"If it be the desire of the French-Canadians to isolate them-
selves from the other objects of the Empire by cherishing the
language and customs of a country which stands to them in the
relation of a foreign power, the effects of such a prejudice will chiefly
be felt by themselves, and may be left for correction to the hand
of time ; but, when national feeling is exhibited in an active oppo-
sition to the general interests of the British American Provinces,
when immigration is checked, the settlement of the country retarded,
and the interests of commerce sacrificed to the visionary scheme of
establishing a French power, it becomes the solemn duty of the
entire British population to resist proceedings so pregnant with
evil. Let it not be said that a million of freemen permitted their
rights to be invaded, and their onward course impeded, by a faction
which already recoils in alarm from the contest it has already provoked.
"Connected as are the Provinces of British America by a chain
of rivers and lakes affording the means of creating an uninterrupted
water communication between their extremities at a comparatively
small expense, possessing within themselves the elements of an
extensive trade by the interchange of those products which ar e
peculiar to each, and forming parts of the same Empire, they have
the undoubted right to require that these advantages shall not be
sacrificed by the inertness or the mistaken policy of any one state,
more especially when, as in the case of Lower Canada, that state,
from geographical position, exercises a preponderating influence on
the property of all.
"The facts which have been made public in two addresses
emanating from this Association, conclusively establish the want
230 REBELLION OF 1837.
of education among the French population, their subserviency to
their political leaders, and the hostility of those leaders to the
population of English and Irish descent. Many additional illustra-
*tions of their hostile policy might be adduced."
The address then gives several instances of such
hostile policy, such as the encouragement of the Baltic
timber trade instead of the Canadian, opposition to
building the St. Lawrence Canal, opposition to the
introduction of foreign capital, etc., etc., and then
continues :
" It is to the great body of the people thus characterised, that
His Excellency, the Earl of Gosford, the representative of a British
King, and the head of the Commission deputed to enquire into our
complaints, has declared that all future appointments to office shall
be made acceptable. A Legislative Council constituted on such a
principle would be but a counterpart of the Assembly ; it might, and
no doubt would relieve the Executive from the odium of sanctioning
the illegal appropriation of a part of the provincial revenues by the
mere vote of the Assembly ; but it would not prevent the same mis-
application of the public funds being effected by bill, which is now
accomplished by an address to the head of the Administration. A
Government thus conducted would forfeit all title to our confidence,
would be regarded but as an instrument to secure the domination of
a party, and the brief period of its duration would be marked by scenes
of outrage and by difficulties of no ordinary description.
"The French leaders, if we are to credit their reiterated
assertions, entertain an attachment so deep, so absorbing for elective
institutions, that they would at once confer that important privilege
to its fullest extent, without reference to previous habits, education
or political dissensions. How much of this ardour may have
been called forth by a desire to establish French ascendancy,
and to depress British interests, may fairly be deduced from a
review of the past proceedings. Without discussing the question
of elective institutions, which it is obvious, cannot be introduced
ADDRESS OF ASSOCIATION. 231
to the extent demanded by the Assembly, under the existing
political relations of the Colony, which relations we are resolute
to maintain, we distinctly aver, that we are not influenced by
idle apprehensions of a government of the people and for the
people, but it must be emphatically a government of ' the
people,' truly represented, and not that of a French faction ;
the government of an educated and independent race, attached
to the principles of civil and religious liberty, and not that of
an uninformed population, strong for domination, and seeking to
perpetuate in America the institutions of feudal Europe. To the
people of the sister Colonies we appeal, earnestly recommending
the adoption of measures for assembling at some central point
a Congress of Deputies from all the Provinces of British North
America. A British American Congress, possessing strength from
Union and wisdom from Counsel, by the irresistible weight of its
moral influence would supersede those other remedial measures
which are the last recourse of an insulted and oppressed com-
munity. On it would devolve the solemn duty, calmly to deliberate
on all matters affecting the common weal, and firmly to resist
all attempts to invade the rights or impair the interests of the
United Provinces.
" In submitting a brief recapitulation of the objects of the
Constitutional Association, it may not be misplaced to offer a
few observations explanatory of the position of parties in Lower
Canada, and of the sentiments of the British population towards
their fellow-subjects of French origin. The moral guilt of exciting
national hostility undoubtedly rests with the French leaders, who
alone benefit by the distracted state of the country, but the
facility with which the French peasantry have received these
impressions and the unanimity with which they support the
aggressive policy of their leaders, render them, although less
culpable, yet equally the determined opponents of our rights and
of our liberties. Unhappily their want of education prevents a
direct appeal being made through the press to their judgment,
but those of their countrymen who are not blinded by the in-
fatuation of party, who possess education to comprehend and
232 REBELLION OF 1837.
opportunity to make known the sentiments of the British popu-
lation, may be led to reflect upon the consequences that must
result from their present delusion. Should the admonition be
disregarded, on them let the responsibility rest.
' ' The Province of Lower Canada, whether regarded as a part
of the British Empire or of the great North American family, is
evidently destined to receive the impress of national character
from those states by which she is surrounded. An obstinate
rejection of all measures, having for their aim the gradual removal
of those peculiarities which distinguish the population of French
origin, may retard for a time an inevitable event that will cer-
tainly hasten the introduction of changes of a more abrupt and
decisive character.
" A dispassionate examination of the changes required by the
British population will satisfy all unprejudiced men that they are
adapted to the general interests of society, are liberal and com-
prehensive in their character and unconnected with party objects.
"To relieve landed estate from the exactions and servitudes
of feudal law.
" To introduce Registry Offices and put an end to the iniquitous
frauds that grow out of the present system.
" To promote works of public improvement.
" To recognize an equality of rights among all classes.
'To resist the domination of sect or party, and to establish
a general system of education, divested of sectarian tests.
" These are our objects and our demands. They are based
on truth, are essential to national prosperity and to individual
security ; they admit of no compromise, and from them -we will
not recede.
"The threatening aspects of the time demand action ; neutrality,
the usual recourse of ordinary minds, will not be attended with
an immunity from danger ; it must remain with the population of
French origin to decide whether, by continuing to support the
leaders they have hitherto selected, they are to be regarded as
hostile to onr just claims, or by uniting with their fellow-sub-
jects of British origin they will compel the introduction of
DEPARTURE OF COMMISSIONERS. 233
salutary reforms, consign to their native insignificance the few-
individuals who alone profit by the present system of misrule,
and by repudiating ancient prejudices and exclusive pretension?,
place themselves in accordance with the spirit of the age.
" WILLIAM ROBERTSON,
<l Chairman."
This address had a profound effect and influence in
all the Provinces. In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick,
resolutions which had been passed, condemning the
Executive, were rescinded. In Upper Canada, the
Lieutenant-Governor was encouraged thereby to dissolve
the House of Assembly and appeal to the people. In
Lower Canada it dissipated the hopes of the French-
Canadians or such portion of them as thought that some-
thing advantageous to their interests might be obtained
from the Royal Commission. They began now to consider
a certainty that which they had surmised might be a
possibility, namely, that the Royal Commissioners would
be influenced to report to the Home Government adversely
to the contentions of Mr. Papineau and his party.
In this supposition they were within the mark. One of
Lord Gosford's associates embarked for England in
November, 1835, and the other in the following February.
They carried with them the report of the Commission,
which was laid before the Imperial Parliament early in
the next session. The report recommended :
1. Expenditure of the public income without the
concurrence of the Assembly, and that coercion should
be resorted to if the Assembly refused to submit.
234 REBELLION OF 1837.
2. It justified the Legislative Council for refusing to
sanction supplies for six months only, and suggested that
means be sought for to ensure a majority of the British
party being returned through a recomposition of the
electoral franchise.
3. It advised that the allowance of a fixed civil list of
19,000 a year, either for the sovereign's life or for a term
of seven years at the least, should be insisted on.
4. That no Elective Council should be tolerated.
5. That Ministerial responsibility was inadmissible.
6. That the Commissioners considered a reunion of
the two Canadas inadvisable.
The report was fully debated in the House of Commons
in March, 1837, and its recommendations approved by a
large and decisive majority.
Lord John Eussell, who moved in the House of Com-
mons the series of Kesolutions on which the House
acted, when discussing the report, said : " No other
American dependency of Great Britain advances such
pretensions as Lower Canada, and everything, therefore,
forebodes a satisfactory arrangement between the other
Colonies and ourselves. An Elective Council for legisla-
tion, and a responsible Executive Council combined with
a representative Assembly, would be quite incompatible
with the rightful inter-relationship of any Colony and
the Mother Country." It is almost unnecessary to say
that this doctrine laid down by Lord Eussell is now ex-
ploded. Not a shred of it is left. No English statesman
would promulgate such a doctrine at the present day.
ACTION OF HOUSE OF COMMONS. 235
Mr. Morin, one of the most prominent supporters of
Mr. Papineau in Quebec, referring to Lord John Russell's
resolutions and a Bill which had been introduced into
the House of Commons founded thereon, under which it
was proposed to administer the revenues of the Province
without the consent of the Assembly, said : " This
Ministerial measure is a violation of our most sacred
rights and will cause the spoliation of our substance, it
is an act of the greatest oppression and the most tyranni-
cal character, it is a measure which the Canadians ought
never to suffer being carried into operation, one which
they ought- to resist with every kind of power and by all
means whatever. From what has just passed in Britain,
it is clear that the people there have no sympathy with
us, and that we must look for it elsewhere. We are
despised, oppression is in store for us, and even annihila-
tion. It is intended to put us under the yoke of degrading
oppressiveness. No more liberty for us. Slavery is
about to become our portion. But this state of things need
endure no longer than while we are unable to redress it."
These words of this follower of Mr. Papineau did not
fail to have great influence with the excitable French -
Canadians. Meetings were held in different parts of the
Province to denounce the report of the Royal Commis-
sioners, Lord John Russell's Resolutions, the British
House of Commons, and everything British coming within
the sphere of the French-Canadian vision. These meet-
ings were attended by Messrs. Papineau. J^Jorin. Lafon-
taine, Girouard and others, but Papineau was the peer of
236 REBELLION OF 1837.
them all. He was the man to whom the French-Canadians
looked for guidance. Unfortunately for the Province he
had gained an ascendancy which might in some degree
be curbed, but not controlled. Th^jmirjids ef-^h^ people
were kept in a constant state of agitation and unsettled,
not by public meetings alone, but by writers in the press,.
who stimulated their action by representing that the
oppression and tyranny of Britain could not long endure
in the Colonies, that the United States Government would
be obliged to intervene ; that all must stand shoulder to
shoulder, and keep up agitation; that trade must cease
with Britain, and that these means being resorted to Britain
might be brought to terms. In Montreal, the hotbed of
Papineauisrn and rebellion, and in the districts around
Montreal, the British residents were constantly compelled
to hear the shouts of the Eepublican party "JVive
Papineau, vive la liberte, point de despotisme."
Lord Gosford summoned the House to meet on the 22nd
of September, 1836. The House, in obedience to the sum-
mons, met at Quebec. The Governor did his best to
conciliate the Assembly, but all to no purpose. The
people's House rejected all his overtures, and, while
expressing confidence in Lord Gosford personally, refused
to pass a Supply Bill or transact any business till their
demands were complied with. The Governor, finding
his task hopeless, on the 4th of October, prorogued the
House, with a clear intimation that, as the Assembly had
abandoned its duties, other means would be resorted to>
for the government of the country.
REVOLUTIONARY MEETINGS HELD. 237
Following upon the news of adoption of the report
of the House of Commons, a continued succession of
public meetings were held throughout the Province,
Mr. Papineau being the chief speaker, escorted from
parish to parish by processions on horseback and in
caleches, the meetings being held principally at the
church doors on Sundays. These proceedings, under
a central committee of a revolutionary character,
compelled Lord Gosford to take measures to stop
them. On the 15th of June, 1836, Lord Gosford issued
a proclamation exhorting all good subjects to eschew
all meetings of a dangerous character, and calling on
the magistrates and officers of the Militia to protect
the laws of the Province. The meetings however con-
tinued, and such violent statements were made at some
that the Governor felt compelled to call on Mr. Papineau,
who held a commission as Major of the 3rd Battalion,
Montreal Militia, for an explanation of his presence at
one of the meetings. This he declined to give, stating
that he treated the Governor's pretensions to interrogate
him as an impertinence, which he repelled with contempt
and silence. Mr. Papineau had apparently struck the
stars with his exalted head. The Governor had no
recourse but to dismiss him from the service, which he did
in August, 1837.
In the meantime, King William the Fourth died on
June 20th, the news of his death reaching Quebec
m July 31st, 1837. He was succeeded by her Gracious
Majesty, the beloved Victoria. The measures contem-
238 REBELLION OF 1837.
plated by the Home Government for governing Canada
minus a Legislative Assembly, were for the time
abandoned, and Lord Gosford instructed to call the
House to meet again, which it did on August 18th.
The members presented a singular appearance. Many
of them were clad in homespun coats, striped blue
and white trousers, straw hats, cow boots, and other
home-made habiliments. This was according to general
orders issued from their Central Committee to wear
no goods of British manufacture. These advanced
patriots were imitating the stalwarts of the American
Revolution of 1776. The Governor addressed the House
at length, informing it of the Eesolutions of the House
of Commons, and urging them to attend to the business
of the Province. The House did nothing but consider
this address and formulate an answer, delivered in eight
days after meeting, in which they at great length
repeated their protests, and stated they would not
respect the unbridled and uncontrolled sway of the
Colonial Minister. The House declining to fill their
duties, the Governor dismissed the members with regret
and assurances that he would continue to exercise his
powers to the best of his judgment.
While these events were proceeding in Lower Canada,
excitement was at a high pitch in the Upper Province ;
the general election for members of Parliament now
being held under the auspices of Sir F. B. Head.
There never was at any time so exciting an election
throughout the Province of Upper Canada as that of
REVOLUTIONARY MEETINGS HELD. 239
1836. The two rival parties, the Tories and Eeformers,
were arrayed against each other in hostile camps two
armies fighting for supremacy. The elections in these
days lasted a whole week, and there was open voting.
Eiots occurred at many polling places ; there was general
confusion throughout the length and breadth of the
land.
Mr. Mackenzie stood for the second riding of York. I
It was anticipated that violence would be resorted to
at the nomination. Mr. Mackenzie made a speech
which was calculated to inspire the violence his sup-
porters professed to apprehend. The opposite party made
a demonstration, but did not resort to violence. Bands
of armed men paraded the streets of Streetsville, where
the election was held, playing party tunes, but did no
harm to Mr. Mackenzie or anyone else. Their object
was to carry the election, and they succeeded, Mr.
Mackenzie being beaten by his opponent, Edward
Thompson, by one hundred votes. Bidwell, Perry and
others of the party lost their elections, and the Eeform
party was generally defeated and put to a complete
rout.
The writer remembers the election well. His father
v
was Returning Officer for the County of Grenville, the
election being held at Merrickville, in the rear part of the
county. On the fourth or fifth day a party of men came
in from the adjoining County of Leeds. They presented
the appearance of a squad of Cavalry, being mounted.
Taking advantage of the mid-day hour, when the poll was
240 REBELLION OF 1837.
closed for dinner, they seized the poll books in the hands
of the poll clerk as he was going from the polling booth
to the Returning Officer's house for his dinner, tore it into
a thousand pieces and left it littered on the village green.
This caused a protest of the election. The Reform
candidate, however, was ahead at the time the book was
taken, and was returned as the successful candidate and
took his seat in the House. The Returning Officer, of
the Tory party himself, although deprived of the poll
book, knew that the Reform candidate was ahead in the
voting and gave him the benefit of his recollection of the
state of the poll.
It has been said, and with a great deal of truth, that
Sir F. B. Head not only took great interest in this elec-
tion, but that he took active means to ensure the success
of the Tory party. Lord Durham, who made an enquiry
for the Home Government, speaking of it in his report,
said : " In a number of instances, too, the elections were
carried by the unscrupulous exercise of the influence of
the Government, and by a display of violence on the part
of the Tories, who were emboldened by the countenance
afforded to them by the Government."
In referring to the Government, Lord Durham
evidently meant the Governor, for Sir F. B. Head showed
by his acts that he identified himself with his Council,
not acting under their advice only, but as their master.
He had thrown himself into the elections as if the success
of the Government party were a matter of life or death to
him.
SIX F. B. HEAD'S ELECTION ADDRESS. 241
In an address which the Governor issued to the
electors of the Newcastle District, he said : " I consider
that my character and your interests are embarked in
one and the same boat. If by my administration I
increase your wealth, I shall claim for myself credit,
which will be totally out of your power to withhold from
me ; if I diminish your wealth, I feel it would be hopeless
for anyone to shield me from blame. As we have there-
fore one object in view, the plain question for us to
consider is, which of us has the greatest power to do good
to Upper Canada, or in other words, can you do as much
for yourselves as I can do for you ? It is my opinion
that you cannot. It is my opinion that if you choose to
dispute with me, and live on bad terms with the Mother
Country, you will, to use a homely phrase, only quarrel
with your bread and butter." This was a direct appeal by
the Governor to the electorate to support the Govern-
ment. If a Governor at the present day were to attempt
to control the electorate in this manner, he would soon
be brought to account by the Home Government. But
at that time more latitude was allowed to the Governors
of outlying Provinces than at the present day, or at all
events the Governor conceived he was justified in acting
as he did. No Governor, however, before Sir Francis'
time had gone so far as he in making so direct an appeal,
to the extent of appealing to their base material
iterests, to sustain the monarch's representative in his
support of one party as against another. The excuse
that has been offered for Sir F. B. Head is that he was
242 REBELLION OF 1837.
deeply imbued with the idea that the Eeform party, in
which he had an utter want of confidence, was striving to
destroy the system of British government in Upper
Canada, with the purpose of raising on its ruins a
Eepublic. It was unfortunate that he should have gone
out of his way to influence the electors as he did. The
use of an unhappy expression in the Newcastle address
enabled the Reform party to apply to the Parliament,
elected under his auspices, the name of " The Bread and
Butter Parliament."
The session following the election, which was the first
session of the Thirteenth Parliament, commenced on 8th of
November, 1836, and ended on the 4th of March, 1837.
An unprecedentedly long session. During this session com-
plaints against Sir Francis Head were made by Dr. Dun-
combe, who had been a member of the Legislative Assembly,
on account of his partisan conduct during the past elections.
The complaint was transmitted to the Colonial Secretary,
who in turn sent it to the Assembly, who referred it
to a committee to deal with. The Committee, with praise-
worthy thoroughness, not only fully exonerated the erring
Governor, but declared that the country was greatly
indebted to him for his patriotic conduct. Hardly any
other report could be expected from the party whose
election he had ensured by his addresses to the electors.
The question of a Union of Upper and Lower Canada
was before the House during the session, and resolutions
were passed condemning the project. Dr. Eolph, a mem-
ber of the House, urged that the House should be
SIti WtAXCIS HEAD DISSOLVES HOUSE. 243
dissolved, so that the sense of the people might be taken
thereon, but before his resolution could be put the
Governor arrived to prorogue the House. At the time
of the Governor's arrival the House was in great con-
fusion, a wild altercation going on between Dr. Eolph
and Government supporters in the House, which, but for
the intervention of the Speaker, might have ended in
blows. The Speaker vainly tried to maintain order,
while the more moderate members shouted for respect
to the chair. The confusion would no doubt have been
prolonged had not the opportune arrival of the Governor
allowed the Speaker to atinounce that the time had come
to wait on the Lieutenant-Governor. The Speaker's order
was imperative, and the session was brought to a close with
a parting salvo of word}' pyrotechnics, which to some gave
indication that another session of the Legislature would
not be held before this war of words would be succeeded
by more warlike deeds.
At this time, as if to make the troubles of the country
more unbearable, the additional calamity of a financial
panic came to aggravate popular discontent. The banks
of the United States suspended specie payment, and the
banks in Montreal followed suit. With a malign determiua- .
tion to promote disorder, Mr. Mack Q ifljp| ; " f4>nHiTi/.a
"of his political schemes, now urged the farmers through-
out the country to call on the bank of Upper Canada for
their deposits, and for payment of their notes. I It-
managed to create a run on the bank, but the bank,
17
244 REBELLION OF 1837.
which was in a perfectly solvent condition at the time,
was able to delay payment by getting theirMends 4o.
crowd 'the office, demanding payment, j.ll L _day,__and after
the bank closed returning the money they had with-
drawn. By this ingenious means the run was stopped
and the bank saved.
The Bank of Upper Canada was the Government
bank, and in order to help it over the difficulty and
save its credit an extra session was called for the 19th
of June. A Bill to protect its charter from forfeiture
on account of possible suspension was passed, but very
little other business was done? and the session only
lasted a month.
On the 31st July, 1837, a meeting of Reformers
took place at Doel's Brewery in Toronto, at which an
address was passed which was afterward sent forth
broadcast over the Province. The address was headed,
" The Declaration of the Beformers of the City of
Toronto to their fellow TJeformers in Lower Canada,"
and was principally the work of Mr. Mackenzie and
Dr. Bolph. It went forth to the country signed by
T. D. Morrison, Chairman of the Committee, and John
Elliot, Secretary. After reciting the many grievances
that Beformers complained of, it declared, " We, there-
fore, the Beformers of the City of Toronto, sympathizing
with oar fellow-citizens here, and throughout the
North American Colonies, who desire to obtain cheap,
honest and responsible government, the want of which
has been the source of all their past grievances, as
MEETING AT DOE US BREWERY. 245
its continuance would lead them to their utter ruin
and desolation, are of opinion
" 1. That the warmest thanks and admiration are
due from the Eeformers of Upper Canada to the Honorable
Louis Joseph Papineau, Speaker of the House of Assembly
of Lower Canada, and his compatriots in and out of
the Legislature, for their past uniform, manly and
noble independence, in favour of civil and religious
liberty ; and for their present devoted, honourable and
patriotic opposition to the attempt of the British
Government to violate their Constitution without their
consent, subvert the powers and privileges of their
local Parliament, and overawe them by coercive measures
into a disgraceful abandonment of their just and reason-
able wishes.
" 2. That the Keformers of Upper Canada are called
upon by every tie of feeling, interest and duty, .to
make common cause with their fellow-citizens of Lower
Canada, whose successful coercion would doubtless be
in time visited upon us, and the redress of whose
grievances would be the best guarantee for the redress
of our own."
The address concluded with a recommendation that
public meetings should be held throughout the Prov-
ince. That a convention of delegates should be elected,
and assembled at Toronto, to take into consideration
the political condition of Upper Canada, with authority
to its members to appoint Commissioners to meet
others to be named on behalf of Lower Canada and
246 REBELLION OF 1837.
any of the other Colonies, " armed with suitable powers
as a congress to seek an effectual remedy for the
grievances of the Colonists."
The meeting also passed resolutions appointing a
Viligance Committee, to be composed of members who
had prepared the draft Declaration, and that, " W. L.
Mackenzie be invited to perform the important duties
of agent and corresponding secretary."
The duties required of the agent and corresponding
secretary were congenial to Mr. Mackenzie, and he
entered upon them with alacrity. As many as two
hundred meetings were held in different parts of the
Province, at which the Declaration of the 31st of July
) was read and approved. Mr. Mackenzie attended very
many of these meetings and was the moving spirit in
1 their organization. One hundred and fifty vigilance
committees were formed in connection with the Central
Committee at Toronto. Disturbances of a most serious
character took place at many of those meetings. Mr.
Mackenzie got on very well with his meetings at such .
hotbeds of radicalism as Vaughan, Newmarket and
Lloydtown, in which latter place a flag was displayed
imprinted with a star surrounded with six minor stars,
with a Death's Head in the centre, and the inscription
" Liberty or Death " ; but when he attempted to hold
meetings in Albion, Caledon and Cooksville he met
with a warm reception from the Orangemen, noted
for their loyalty, and at some of the meetings his life
was in danger.
MACKENZIE ORGANIZING REBELS. '247
While these meetings were being held there is no
doubt Mr. Mackenzie had already laid his plans for
a revolt, but only some of the members of the branch
societies were actually trusted with the secret of the
intended insurrection. Some of the active Eeform
leaders joined no association, either because they dis-
approved of extreme measures, or because they did
not desire to be known in the movement. Like the
French-Canadian clergy in Lower Canada, they were
favourably inclined so long as reforms were advocated
within the lines of prudence, but were not willing to
commit themselves to revolutionary action. BiUi^J\lac-
kenzie had no mind for half measures^ He was con-
tinually organizing men, enrolling members of his
union and drilling them weekly, ready for service if he
could arm them. Mr. Lindsey says that before November Hp
he had fifteen hundred men enrolled ready to bear arms.
It has been said of the Lower Canada French-
Canadian clergy that they were silent spectators of
the revolutionary movement in that Province, until
such time as the movement got to such a head that
they could not control it. It is at least the case that
the clergy made no strong effort to stay the con-
flagration till the building was on fire. The clergy
lad a very difficult problem before them. If they set
lemselves against the people, they would incur their
imity. If they sided with them, they incurred the
enmity of the State. So they preferred to disregard the
rothy declarations of the agitators and to remain passive.
248 REBELLION OF 1837.
To all outward appearances the Roman Catholic
clergy of the Province of Lower Canada have always
been loyal to the Crown. The Church, which in that
Province largely directs public affairs, has ever acknow-
ledged its obligation to the British Government for
the privileges it enjoys. There is a class of people
who in their republican and revolutionary designs have
no regard for Church or State. The means taken by
the Church to restrain this class in the Kebellion
of 1837, which, if adopted before the Rebellion was at its
height, might have stopped the destruction of life and
property, will be shown as the narrative proceeds.
CHAPTER XII.
Movement Towards Rebellion Armed Men -French and English
Organizations in Lower Canada Revolutionary Meetings
Inflammatory Speeches Papineau and Dr. Wolfred Nelson
Riot in Montreal Incipient Rebellion Warnings of the
Church Recommends Obedience to Authority Fire of Rebel-
lion Stronger than Ever Birthplace of the Rebellion St.
Eustache, St. Charles, St. Denis Battles and Defeat of Insur-
gents "The Doric Club" Death of Lieut. Weir Papineau 's
Abandonment of Insurgents and Flight to United States.
THE condition of the Province of Lower Canada in the
late summer and early autumn of 1837 was truly deplor-
able. Bands of armed men assembled, as was pretended
to discuss political questions, but really to perfect them-
selves in drill to meet an armed foe. Mr. Papineau and
other agitators prowling the country to incite the populace,
by most violent speeches to resist the Government ; clubs
formed, bearing banners with inscriptions, such as
"Papineau and the Elective System," "Liberty," "In-
dependence/' all tending to excite the people to throw
off the yoke of what Mr. Hume had been pleased to call
" the baneful domination of the Mother County." The
British residents, not to be behind their neighbours,
formed organizations to keep watch and ward over their
opponents. In Montreal, district committees were formed
in each quarter of the city. The Montreal Constitutional
250 REBELLION OF 1837.
Association raised a body of volunteer riflemen, who
marched with cries of " God save the Queen." The " Doric
Club " of Montreal, famed for its enthusiasm and loyalty,
was at any time ready to meet the French-Canadian
organization of the "Sons of Liberty" or any other
French organization of whatever name or title. French
and English passed each other on the streets with a
frown. Suspicion was rife through the whole city. The
clergy began to perceive that their silence had been
encouragement to the rebel faction. How could it have
been otherwise ? Revolutionary meetings had been held
after Mass on Sundays, under the eye and within hearing
of the priests, and yet none protested. In the country
parts the poor inhabitants, and in the city the bourgeoisie,
were thus led to believe that the revolutionary movement
had the sanction of the Church.
At St. Charles, within twenty miles of the city of Montreal,
a meeting was held on the 23rd October, which was
attended by two thousand people and by Messrs. Papineau,
L. M. Viger, Lacoste, Cote, T. S. Brown and Girod, all of
whom made inflammatory speeches to the assembled
multitude. Armed militiamen, hostile to the Government,
were present at the meeting, a kind of "'Declaration of
the rights of man " was subscribed, and resolutions passed
insurrectionary in their character and import, no less
than an appeal to arms. The resolutions were in fact
worded so strongly that even Papineau disapproved. He
had led the people to the brink of a precipice, but was
himself afraid to make the plunge. Mr. Papineau, though
CATHOLIC BISHOPS COUNSEL PEACE. -251
a brilliant orator and Parliamentarian, was far from being
a man of courage. He was a man of affairs, very well in
the cabinet, but very inefficient in the field. Dr. Wolfred
Nelson, who presided at the meeting at St. Denis, on the
contrary, was a man of vigour and all for war. He was
not for temporising, and strongly insisted that the
Province must be roused to action. He carried his point,
and the insurrectionary resolutions passed at the meeting
;vere distributed all over the country.
M. Lartigue, the Bishop of Montreal, now began to
alarm, and feared lest his people should be caught
the meshes of an active and bloody rebellion. He issued
pastoral to his people to be on their guard against the
3vil counsels of Dr. Nelson, and reminded his flock
it obedience to the powers established was a cardinal
lie of the Eomish Church.
M. Signal, the Bishop of the See of Quebec, following
example of his brother Bishop of Montreal, issued a
landement, which said :
For a long time back, dear brethren, we hear of nothing but
Citation, yea even of revolt, and this in a country which has hitherto
2n distinguished by its loyalty, its spirit of peace, its love for the
eligion of our fathers. On every side we see brothers rise up against
leir brothers, friends against their friends, citizens against their
ellow-citizens, and discord from one extremity of this diocese to the
ler seems to have burst asunder the bonds of charity, which united
members of the same body, the children of the same Church, the
lildren of that catholicity, which is a religion of unity. It is not
len our intention to give an opinion, as a citizen, on any political
lestion between the different branches of government, which is in
right and which in the wrong. This is one of those things which
252 . REBELLION OF 1837.
God has delivered to the consideration of seculars, but the moral
question, namely, what is the duty of a Catholic towards the civil
power established and constituted in each State ? This religious
question falling within our jurisdiction and competency it is undoubt-
edly the province of your Bishop to give you all necessary instruction
on that subject, and your province is to listen to him. Should then
any wish to engage you in a revolt against the established government,
under a pretext that you form a part of the Sovereign people, suffer
not yourselves to be seduced. The too famous National Convention
of France, though obliged to admit the principle of the Sovereignty
of the people, because it was to this principle that it owed its exist-
ence, took good care to condemn popular insurrections, by inserting
in the Declaration of Rights, which heads the Constitution of
1795, that the sovereignty resides not in a part, nor even in the
majority of the people, but in the entire body of the citizens. Now
who will dare to say that, in this country, the totality of our citizens
desire the overthrow of the Government ? "
The address of the Bishop had a good effect and so
had that of the Bishop of Montreal, hut the fire of rebellion
was too much ablaze to crown these efforts with success.
The strong arm of the law was required to quell the inci-
pient rebellion.
On the 16th of November, 1837, warrants were issued
for the arrest of Papineau. T. S. Brown, O'Callaghan,
editor of the defunct Vindicator (defunct by its destruction
in the riots of the 6th jaoid_Ztli Jio.v ember), Ovide Perrault
and others. The four first named, having heard of the
issue of the warrants, fled to the Eichelieu District to join
the rebels there, especially at St. Denis and St. Charles,
then on the point of rising in insurrection. At this time
there was a troop of Volunteer Cavalry in Montreal. This
troop, under the command of Lieutenant Ermatinger, was
FIRST CONFLICT WITH REBELS. 253
despatched to St. John's, twenty-seven miles south-east of
Montreal, to aid a constable to capture the postmaster
there and a doctor charged with high treason. The arrests
were made, and about three o'clock on the next morning,
Ermatinger started on the return journey. A short dis-
tance from Longueil he was confronted by a body of
some three hundred insurgents, armed with shot guns,
muskets and other weapons, and securely posted behind a
high fence. They at once opened fire on the Volunteers,
who being armed only with sword and pistol could do little
to protect themselves. In turning to retreat, the waggon
in which were the constable and pursuers upset, and they
had to be left behind by the Volunteers, who finally made
their way across the fields into Longueil. Lieutenant
Irmatinger and three others were severely wounded on
lis occasion.
The troop of Cavalry, under command of Lieutenant
Irmatinger, was the first of the Volunteer corps in the
'rovince to be engaged in active service. The rebellion
brought into existence many other corps of Cavalry and
[nfantry in the Province. These Volunteer corps and the
)yal Militia under the command of experienced officers
lid good service in aid of the regular troops. When it
>ecame necessary to strengthen the garrison of Montreal by
:afts, some of the regulars, if not indeed the whole of the
regulars then in Quebec, the Volunteers and Militia were
3ft to guard the citadel in the old capital of the Province.
Sir John Colborne, who had surrendered the govern-
lent of Upper Canada to Sir F. B. Head, and had arrived
254 REBELLION OF 1837.
at New York on his way to England, had been summoned
to Montreal to take command of the forces, and arrived
in February, 1837, and the military operations were from
that time under his direction.
The rebellion had its birthplace in the City of Montreal
and in the parishes to the north-east of the city, and it
may be said to have had its beginning in what took place
in Montreal on the 6th and 7th of November, 1837.
Local historians, especially Messieurs Carrier, Globen-
sky and David, have given very vivid descriptions of events
in Montreal and surrounding districts. They differ so
little from the account of the same events given by Capt.
Lord Charles Beauclerk, an officer of the Royals, then
stationed in Montreal and who was on active service, that
I adopt his statement of the military operations connected
with the rebellion, so far as they came under his notice.
The following is Captain Beauclerk's statement:
"The Royals had scarcely fixed their quarters at Montreal, when
visible indications of revolt occurred. In the outskirts of the city,
the disaffected were to be seen at drill in hundreds, frequent meetings
were held, and placards of a revolutionary character posted in
different parts.
" The Constitutionalists were by no means idle witnesses of these
proceedings.
" A meeting announced for the 6th of November by an anarchical
body, calling themselves ' The Sons of Liberty,' at which Mr. Papineau
was to preside, was looked upon by them with a jealous eye, and as a
crisis of importance. Nor were they deceived, for in a yard belonging
to a Mr. Bonacina, situated in front of the A. P. Church, G. St.
James St. , about 250 persons were assembled on that day, eventful as
being the period of the first collision between British subjects of
MI LIT A R Y OPERA TIONS IN LO WER CA NA DA . 255
English and French origin, in support of those political opinions
whinh have so long estranged them from each other.
" After a short debate, it was resolved by ' The Sons of Liberty
that a confederation of six counties should be formed at St. Charles
on the Richilieu, and there raise the cap and plant the tree of liberty.
An attack on the Royalists was the immediate consequence of this
meeting, which with the assistance of a J^My of
styling themselves ' The Doric Club,' ended in the dispersion of the
assailants, and the destruction of the office of the Vindicator, a paper
of violent radical principles.
" In a house in Dorchester St., where the Patriots were in the
habit o f drilling, seme firearms and a banner having inscribed on it
'En avant association des Fils de la Liberte,' were seized and
handed over to the proper authorities. ' The Sons of Liberty ' lost
no time in carrying the resolution of the 6th into effect ; and as arms
were supplied, the Priest of St. Charles, is said to have consecrated
them.
" Summonses were immediately issued for the most active in
committing this open breach of the law ; and a Constabulary force,
aided by sixteen of the Montreal Volunteer Cavalry, under the
command of Lieut. Ermatinger, received orders to serve them. Of
eight that were arrested, two, Davignon and Demaray, whilst under
the escort of the Montreal Cavalry from St. John's to Montreal, via
Chambly and Longueil were rescued, about three miles from the
latter place, by a large force of habitants well armed. The waggon
conveying the prisoners was broken, the horses killed, and three of
the little band of Cavalry wounded.
" The Canadians to a man had by this time vacated the city, the
shops were closed, and a general insurrection commenced.
"Property was no longer held sacred, murders daily occurred,
dwellings houses were fortified, breastworks thrown up, and the
military openly defied. At L'Acadie in the neighbourhood of St.
John's, and in several other parts of the confederated counties, a system
of terror sanctioned by Papineau and Cot^ was adopted ; and against
all those who refused to resign their commissions, whether as Justices of
the Peace or as officers of Militia, a coercive crusade was commenced.
-256 REBELLION OF 1837.
" OPERATIONS AGAINST ST. CHARLES AND ST. DENIS
" To dislodge the Rebels from their strongholds, St. Charles
and St. Denis on the Richelieu, by different routes, making one
combined movement, was the first step of Government.
" For this purpose two brigades were formed, the one consisting
of the 24th, 32nd and 66th detached companies with two pieces of
artillery, under the command of the Hon. Col. Gore, the other under
Col. Wetherall, of four companies of the Royals, two of the 66th, a
party of artillery with two field-pieces, under Capt. Glasgow, and a
detachment of the Montreal Cavalry, under Capt. David.
" The Deputy Sheriff, Mr. Duchesnay, and S. Bellingham and P.
E. LeClere, Esq., Magistrates, accompanied them to authorize their
movements.
" On the morning of the 18th Nov., the Brigades were in motion.
Col. Wetherall marched for the Village of Chambly, formerly a strong
depot of the French, distant about 18 miles, where there still remains
a Fort, but at present almost in ruins. He arrived at sunset, and
united to his force two companies of the 66th Regiment under Capt.
Dames.
" With the exception of a partial destruction of the landing place
on the eastern side of the St. Lawrence, where the Brigade disem
barked, and of slight skirmishing, wherein seven prisoners were taken,
no serious opposition presented itself. That armed parties of insur-
gents were seen is true, but on the slightest demonstration of attack
they quickly dispersed. The broken waggon and dead horses lay
near the spot, as we passed, where Davignon and Demary escaped,
and tracks of blood marked the spot where the asssistance had been
posted. The houses and barns by the road side were entirely
deserted.
" Torrents of rain followed in quick succession during our stay at
Chambly, and had not ceased on the evening of the 22nd, when in
consequence of despatches brought by an officer of the 32nd Regiment
we were, with the exception of the Grenadiers of the Royals, under
Major Warde, and one Company of the 66th Regiment left in charge
of the prisoners, in active motion, commencing a secret march for St.
Charles one hour after sunset.
ST. DENIS AND ST. CHARLES. 257
" The landing of the guns and horses on the east side of the
Richelieu, crossed by Col. Wetherall in bateaux at the rapid of
Chambly, caused, as might be expected, considerable delay. Four
hours elapsed before the last section disembarked, and notwith-
standing an incessant rain, which froze as it fell, each man took up
his position on the road. During the landing, blue lights were seen,
fired by the Rebels for the twofold object of ascertaining our numbers
and signalising the march of the troops to their distant associates.
" The roads in Canada previously to the frost setting in, are of
difficult passage, but so impracticable for artillery had the late rains
rendered them, that in three hours we advanced but three miles,
during the whole of which time the insurgents were skirting our line
of march. After halting an hour at Pointe Olivier, we pushed
forward for St. Hilaire de Rouville, our intended quarters, until
further orders, where we arrived at ten in the morning. An agreeable
reception awaited us here at the house of a Canadian gentleman, a
Colonel of Militia, who entertained the officers ; and in his out-
houses and the adjoining villages, our men were quartered.
" From a neighbouring height, called the Beloeil mountain, the
movements of the Brigade were closely watched by the insurgents,
who had surrounded it on all sides, and more than once an attack
was threatened, the fuse lighted and the troops placed under arms.
' ' Thus all communication with Montreal being cut off, the chances
were very much against the safe arrival of despatches from Sir J.
Colborne, now Lord Seaton. hourly expected ; we also learned from
report that Col. Gore's expedition against St. Denis had failed, with
loss of a field piece and several killed and wounded.
" Col. Wetherall, with the aptitude and foresight of a veteran
officer, most gallantly determined, notwithstanding the report of Col.
Gore's defeat, to unite with his force the Grenadier Company of the
Royals then at Chambly and march upon his own responsibility against
St. Charles. To effect this union was no easy matter, for a consider-
able force of armed peasantry was collected between us and Chambly.
As in such enterprises British soldiers delight, volunteers were not
wanting to bear the necessary despatch ; a selection from the Cavalry
was, however, made, as being men well acquinted with the country.
258 REBELLION OF 1837.
The attention of the Rebels was so riveted to the camp movements,
that Major Warde with his company by embarking on board bateaux
and floating down the Richelieu, a movement the Rebels did not look
for, joined the main body unmolested. At ten a.m. of the 25th Col.
Wetherall commenced his march against St. Charles. All the bridges
across the small streams, which contributed to the Richelieu, were
destroyed, rendering it necessary to form temporary fords by throw-
ing into them piles of rails from the fences. The last bridge near St.
Charles was not only destroyed , but the pass fortified. Along a deep
gully, at the base of a steep hill, a small stream takes its course, and
crowning the height, where the road passes along, a breastwork was
raised, which extended some yards on each side of the thorough-
fare. Had the military attempted to pass by night, it was the inten-
tion of the Rebels to make this spot a place of active defence. To an
able officer and man of courage, what a field of operations here
presented itself. The Rebel leader at St. Charles, T. S. Brown, how-
ever, was not that man.
"In order that the troops might be harassed as little as possible.
Col. Wetherall in his further progress to the fortified village, avoided
the road by making a detour through the fields at the right. About
a quarter of a mile from St. Charles the Light Company of the Royals,
whilst skirmishing, and in advance of the main body, received a sharp
fire from some houses and barns, which were loop-holed and occupied ;
these were the outposts of the Rebels, who, on delivering their fire,
retreated on their position.
" The houses from which we received the fire were immediately
in flames, and one prisoner taken, who, on our opening the view of
St. Charles war sent to the town to demand a surrender. The sum-
mons was answered by a deafening cheer of contempt, the voice of
hundreds. There being no alternative now left but to attack the place,
Col. Wetherall deployed on his rear division, as the Brigade marched
in close column, the Light Company being extended on each flank
under Major Warde. In front of the deployment was a level space
of ploughed fields, to the right well wooded land, and to the left the
Richelieu, about 300 yards wide, taking a course parallel to the village,
which was long and straggling.
MILITARY OPERATIONS IN LOWER CANADA. 259
" Col. Wetherall hoped that a display of his force would induce
some defection among the infatuated people, but unfortunately for
the sake of humanity, it was far otherwise. From the west side of
the river the insurgents commenced a determined fire, that in spite of
the distance did some execution, whilst from the woods an attack was
made so desperate that the Grenadier Company of the Royals was sent
to its support. The Artillery under Capt. Glasgow was now ordered
to advance within 100 yards of the breastwork, and a severe cannonad-
ing of shrapnel], shell, round shot and canaster was commenced. The
prudence of making a detour in the field was evinced from the fact
that the Rebel guns were placed in embrasure to command the road,
and thus prevented from doing execution, were, after firing a few
guns, altogether silenced. From behind the breastwork a continual
fire was directed against the centre of the line, ordered in consequence
to lie down, notwithstanding which from the exposed position it
materially suffered. This gave rise to an order for the three centre
companies, headed by Col. Wetherall in person, to fix bayonets and
charge the works ; seeing this the Rebels redoubled their efforts and
a galling fire was the consequence, which raked the earth in every
direction, yet, strange to say, some dwellings to the right of the breast-
work were gained, with but the loss of one killed and a few wounded.
Nevertheless, the place was far from being taken, the barns and out-
houses which flanked each other, were so well fortified and so obsti-
nately defended, that it took fully twenty minutes' sharp firing to reduce
them. The defenders fought with great bravery, many maintaining
their posts, until shot or put to the bayonet. By this time the guns
had advanced a few paces, supported by a sub-division of the Royals,
and poured in canaster shot upon the multitude of heads that appeared
in front. At the same tin-e, both on the right and left of the line, an
active scene presented itself. To the left a constant discharge of
musketry was directed against the breastwork, while to the right
skirmishers were to be seen busily employed in cutting off the retreat
of those who sought safety in the woods. The fire of the Artillery
having in a great measure disorganized the Rebels at their strong-
holds, the breastworks were destroyed. The Rebels were mostly put
to flight, but about fifty appeared on bended knees with arms reversed.
18
260 REBELLION OF IS.;:.
When the troops advanced to take their apparently willing prisoners,
the traitors quickly assumed an attitude of attack, and in the discharge
of their muskets killed a sergeant and wounded several men. This
act of treachery caused, until restrained by the officers, a general
massacre, which, whilst it lasted, was indeed dreadful, for many in
their flight committed themselves to the Richelieu, choosing rather to
meet a watery grave than to yield to the enraged soldiery. Poor
creatures, it was but the struggle of the moment, for a severe frost
having set in since morning, the icy stream at once paralysed their
efforts, and they sank to rise no more. What an awful warning have
we here to promoters and abettors of civil war. If one spark of
humanity holds a space in the breasts of those who advocate the
expediency of contending by force for a scheme of government of
their own choosing, surely the fate of these poor deluded peasantry
will arouse them to a sense of their wickedness.
" The no less brilliant and well judged attack led by our gallant
Colonel, and the judicious and effective fire of Artillery under Capt.
Glasgow, assisted by the handful of Cavalry under Capt. David, soon
caused the total confusion and rout of the Rebels, and had our small
force admitted of a reserve, a host of prisoners would have been
taken.
" So deficient in courage was the Rebel leader that on the first
appearance of the military, he left his dupes under pretence of pro-
curing reinforcements, while Papineau and O'Callaghan preferred
viewing the engagement from the house of a Mr. Drolet at St. Marc,
on the opposite bank of the river. Not so the defenders of the
village, who amounted to about 1,500. With a spirit worthy of a
better leader and a better cause, they maintained their supposed
rights, and the fact that Col. Wetherall's horse was shot under him,
together with the loss in consequence of having been wounded of
those of Major Warde, Capt. David and several others, tends to
confirm it.
" The loss of the Royals consisted of one sergeant and one private
killed, and fifteen rank and file wounded. Of the insurgents between
fifty and sixty were taken prisoners, and about 150 lay stretched
within their works, but the estimated loss was calculated at 300, many
MILITARY OPERATIONS IN LOWER CANADA. 261
having perished by fire and water, while a few were carried away by
their countrymen.
"The breastworks, composed of trunks of trees filled in with
earth and supported at intervals by piles, extended to nearly nine
acres round the dwelling of Mr. Debartzch, which was a large brick
building, with a raised veranda. This house served as a commanding
position for the insurgents and was completely riddled with shot-
holes. The base of the breastwork was six feet in thickness, the
height four feet, gradually narrowing to two and a half, while the
exterior and interior slope equalled half the height.
" The cap of Liberty and pole were seized, 100 stand of arms
taken and destroyed, and two French six-pounders, found mounted
within the intrenchments, spiked and committed to the safe-
keeping of the Richelieu. Attached to the Liberty pole was a
tablet bearing this inscription, ' A Papineau par ses concitoyens
reconnaissans. "
" Onr guns having been placed to command the road incase of
attack, both officers and men retired to rest, while the prisoners
were placed under guard in the church. There I passed a sleepless
night, it being requisite to keep a constant watch, as an attempt to
rescue the prisoners was generally expected. The alarm was twice
given and the windows manned, the lowermost panes having been
broken out for the purpose of defence, by which means the tempera-
ture was reduced to that of the surrounding atmosphere, then much
below zero. In the centre of the church a large fire blazed, where
groups of soldiers were regaling themselves, along the gloomy aisles
a single candle cast its dim light, by the altar lay the dead bodies of
the soldiers, in the vestry room adjoining the church the prisoners
were lodged, most of whom assumed a kneeling posture, engaged
apparently in silent and solemn prayer. This scene made a deep
impression on my mind not to be easily forgotten. The following day
the dead of our own party as well as those of the Rebels were buried,
and while preparing for the interment, a most repulsive sight presented
itself. A drove of pigs were devouring the bodies, a scene so painful
that to prevent its continuance, the voracious animals w.ere ordered
to be shot by a party brought out for the purpose.
262 REBELLION OF 18J7
" Amongst other matters of importance which occurred in the
course of the day, was in the first place the seizure of a document con-
taining a detailed account of the defeat of the troops at St. Denis
and the murder of a British officer, no name given ; and secondly
that which was more welcome, a report well authenticated, that
of St Denis having been vacated immediately on their hearing
of the fall of St. Charles. Their leader, Wolfred Nelson, or the
' Grand Loup,' as he was called, having tried in vain to muster his
men, in anticipation of a second attack, forty only obeying him, he
left them in disgust.
" The breastworks having been fired and thus converted into a
watch-fire for the troops, we sat down about twenty in number at the
invitation of some brother officers, who had been quartered in a
substantial house with an abundant cellar and a well-stocked larder,
to* a banquet, far more sumptuous than any we had partaken of for
some time, where much conviviality and good humour reigned in every
face, and we soon forgot the disagreeable work we had to perform
during the morning.
" The sun had set and the long-looked-for despatches had not yet
arrived from Montreal, Col. Wetherall therefore determined to march
for headquarters at dawn of day. The firm state of the ice afforded
a shorter route than ths outward march, but the Colonel having
received information of a large body of insurgents collected for the
purpose of disputing his return, determined upon humoring them.
Accordingly on the morning of the 27th, Rouville was again the
rendezvous, and after leaving the wounded with a detachment for pro-
tection, the march was resumed. Arrived within two miles of Point
Olivier, the advance party gave information that the Rebel force was
stationed upon a hill, which formed part of the road, when two com-
panies of skirmishers were immediately thrown out, while the main
body advanced in close column, but formed line during the advance.
In front of the Rebels' position was an inclined plane, well wooded,
having concealed among the trees a breastwork, against which our
guns were directed ; the Rebels, however, soon retreated, with three
field-pieces that had been planted to command the road, but left
behind them several barrels of powder, and a few heaps of iron cut into
MILITARY OPERATIONS IN LOWER CANADA. 263
squares, as a substitute for shot. The Cavalry pursued and came up
with the guns at the river side, but the Rebels took to the ice and
escaped, with the exception of their leader, who was killed, extraordin-
ary it may appear, by a musket ball fired from a distance of at least 300
yards. In the -hurry of retreat the Rebels abandoned their prisoners,
most of whom had been entrusted with despatches to and from Sir
John Colborne, but in every case the bearers had taken the precaution
to destroy the papers, and in consequence underwent the severest ill
treatment. It was not a matter of surprise, therefore, on crossing the
Richelieu, that we should be welcomed as lost men by the 33rd Regi-
ment there, by order of Sir John Colborne on their eve of commenc-
ing a march of research. We arrived at Montreal on the 30th, amid
the enthusiastic cheering of hundreds, who had long since given us up
for lost, and for the first time for fourteen days, enjoyed the luxury
of a bed and a change of clothes.
" It was generally supposed, had the troops been def eater! at St.
Charles, that a large force would have crossed the lines to sympathize
with the Rebels, and the sequel will render the supposition more than
probable.
" The success of Col. Wetherall's gallant attack crushed rebellion
while yet in its infancy, and thus formed the basis upon which the
General Commander in Chief subsequently established a victorious
career for Her Majesty's Troops and a land of peace for the Canadians.
" The citizens of Montreal were not insensible to Col. Weatherall's
exertions, and expressed their gratitude in a most lasting manner by
the presentation of a testimonial of value bearing an inscription of
which the Colonel had just reason to be proud."
We now become acquainted with the particulars of the
expedition against St. Denis, and the following is a brief
description taken from notes furnished by an officer who
was present :
"Col. Gore's brigade, consisting of two companies of the 24th
Regiment under Lieut. -Col. Hughes, the Light Company of the 32nd,
Capt. Markham, a detachment of Artillery under Lieut. Newcomen,
with a few Volunteer Cavalry, left Montreal on the morning of the
264 REBELLION OF 1837.
22nd November by the St. George steamer for Sorel, where they
arrived at 8 the same evening. Two companies of the 66th, already
there, reinforced the Brigade, when Col. Gore pushed forward for St.
Denis by the upper road via St. Ours, and notwithstanding a tempes-
tuous state of weather and almost impassable roads, accomplished his
march by 10 the following morning. Near the entrance of the
village the advanced piquet of Cavalry made two prisoners, from
whom it was ascertained that the Rebels, headed by Dr. W. Nelson,
were posted in great force. Immediately afterwards the Light Com-
pany of the 32nd, under Capt. Markham, received, whilst skirmishing
in advance, a sharp fire from several fortified houses. The guns main-
tained three distinct positions during the engagement, which lasted
until 3 in the afternoon, about which time Capt. Markham, assisted
by Lieut. Inglis and small party, in attempting to carry a building
received a severe wound in his right leg and two in the left side of his
neck that brought him to the ground. The Rebels had by this time
gained considerable advantage. The Brigade was threatened in the
rear by the seizure of the bridge and on all sides by the reinforcements
of the Rebels, the larger field-piece, immovably fixed in a deep
rut by the frost, could not be brought to bear ; the ammunition
nearly expended, and Capt. Markham's party driven back. Under
these circumstances Col. Gore did not hesitate to make a retrograde
movement to Sorel, leaving in the hands of the Rebels several killed
and wounded and a howitzer. The gallant Capt. Markham was, more-
over, on the point of being made a prisoner, when a sergeant nobly
rushed forward in the face of the enemy, under a heavy fire, and bore
him away in safety, but not until he had received a fourth wound,
whilst in the arms of that brave soldier.
" The seizure of the bridge prevented Col. Gore from retracing
his steps, but the lower road was yet open to him. Having reached
Sorel in safety, or without further loss, a despatch was immediately
sent to Sir J. Colborne.
"Leaving Col. Gore actively engaged in the defence of that
place, I shall now return to headquarters.
" On the arrival of the troops from St. Charles, Sir John des-
patched a force to act under the Hon. Col. Gore, who had orders to
10
-
MI LIT A K Y OPERA TIOXS IX LO WEB CAN A DA . 265
follow up the advantage that had been gained and to subdue the
whole line of disaffected country on the Richelieu. This force em-
barked on board two steamboats for Sorel, comprising the Light Com-
pany of the 24th, three companies of the 32nd, one of the 83rd, and
two field-pieces. Reinforced there by one company of the 32nd and
two of the 66th, Col. Gore, having passed through St. Ours, entered
St. Denis on the 2nd of December, and St. Charles on the 3rd, without
meeting with the least opposition.
"At St. Denis the howitzer and wounded were retaken, the forti-
fied buildings of the Rebels reduced to ashes, and owing to informa-
tion furnished by one of the prisoners, the mangled body of poor
Lieut. Weir was found lying in a ditch by Lieut. Griffin. This un-
fortunate officer was the bearer of despatches by land to Sorel, the
morning prior to the attack on St. Denis, and taking a wrong road,
fell into the hands of the cowardly ruffians, and was basely murdered
by a villain named Jalbert. His remains, mourned by the whole city,
were buried on the 8th, at Montreal, with military honours."
Carrier in his book, " Les Evenements de 1837-1838,"
and other French-Canadian writers have, in an impartial
manner, given details of the various events leading up to
and directly connected with the rebellion which ought not
to be overlooked. It will be seen from M. Carrier's state-
ent that in the Montreal affair of the 6th and 7th of
November the French-Canadian party were the assailants,
the first to commence open hostilities. He says that on
e 7th November the " Doric Club " and the Club of " The
ms of Liberty " met in the yard of a tavern, in Great St.
ames Street, the Dorics marching along the street, halting
posite the tavern, when the " Sons of Liberty " men
Hied out of the yard and pelted the Dorics with stones
d sticks. Some or one of the " Sons " fired a pistol, and the
11 pierced the coat of a carpenter named Whitelaw. The
266 REBELLION OF 1837.
Dorics, of whom about a dozen members only were there,
retired, and were followed by " The Sons of Liberty " along
St. James Street, and were greeted with stories from all
directions. " The Sons of Liberty " broke the windows of
the house of Dr. Robertson and of many other houses.
They descended St. Francis Street and entered Notre Dame
Street, continuing to throw stones. They broke the
windows and doors of Mr. Bradbury's shop 1 and invaded
the interior of the apartments. From Notre Dame the
" Sons " re-entered St. James Street, where they were joined
by others of their club ; they there also unexpectedly met
a body of the " Dorics," who hearing of the treatment their
comrades had received, had hurried up to their rescue. At
the sight of " The Dorics " the " Sons," now streugthened <
in numbers, fled by St. Lament Street. At the corner of
Dorchester Street, club met club at close quarters and a
fight took place, with the result that none were killed, but
several were wounded. In Captain Beauclerk's account,
he says that it was in a house on Dorchester Street that
the rebels, or as they called themselves, patriots, met for
drilling, and that here they had fire-arms stored and a nag
said to have been consecrated by a priest of St. Charles.
At one o'clock the riot act was read, the military called
out, and through the excellent arrangements made by CoL
Maitland of the Royals, the disturbed districts of Montreal
were restored to a condition of comparative quiet.
M. Carrier in his account takes occasion to say that,
" the violence of the journals and the commencement of
hostilities compelled the Government to issue warrants of
DEATH OF LIEUTENANT WEIR. 267
arrest against the most prominent of the Canadian party ;
notably MM. Papineau, Nelson, O'Callaghan, Morin, who
evaded pursuit by concealing themselves in houses of
sympathizers. Mr. Morin fled to the woods in rear of St.
Michael, his native parish."
As regards the affair at St. Denis and St. Charles, there
is one incident related by M. Carrier that deserves notice.
This is connected with the death of Lieutenant Weir.
Lieutenant Weir's regiment had been in Toronto before
being removed to Montreal. It was a very popular regi-
ment, and the Lieutenant a very popular officer, and his
death roused a great feeling of sorrow in the Capital of
Upper Canada, and in fact throughout the Province.
Carrier, in describing the incident, says :
" After the departure of the troops from Montreal for Sorel,
Lieut. Weir of the 32nd Regiment was sent from Montreal by land to
carry despatches to Col. Gore ; arriving at Sorel, he found that the
troops had already marched on ; he hired a carriage to take him to
join the Commandant, but the latter had avoided St. Ours by passing
along the Pot-au-beurre road, and as Lieut. Weir had taken a shorter
route, he did not meet the detachment and arrived at St. Denis at
two o'clock in the morning. Here he was arrested by the rebel guard
and taken before Dr. Nelson. When Lieut. Weir found himself in
the presence of the Doctor and surrounded with rebels in considerable
lumbers, he asked in English, ' What they were going to do with
im ? ' ' This is what we are going to do with you ' said the Doctor,
' to treat you as a gentleman, as we would wish you to treat us under
similar circumstances. You are going to remain our prisoner just on
le eve of a battle, which is imminent, but we demand your word of
lonour that you will not attempt to escape from us ; if you attempt to
cape, I cannot answer for you, and more than that I will give orders
my soldiers to shoot you.' So that the Lieutenant should not take
part in the combat, Dr. Nelson ordered that he should be conducted
to the Rebel camp at St. Charles, under the guard of two men, but
268 REBELLION OF 183?.
scarcely had they set out when he attempted to escape, near the con-
vent of St. Denis. The Rebels did all in their power to stop him,
but to no purpose, he leaped from the carriage and attempted to
reach the troops ; as, however, he was bound by a rope it was not
difficult to restrain him, as the guards did by striking him with their
swords. They inflicted him with such wounds that he asked them as
a favour to despatch him, which one of the guards did by firing a
musket into his head."
Dr. Wolfred Nelson, into whose hands Lieutenant Weir
fell, was acquainted with the proprieties and was a gentle-
man who was highly respected. He was the most
prominent person in St. Denis, and owned considerable
property there. He was born in Montreal, descended from
a respectable English family by his father's side, while his
mother was the daughter of a U. E. Loyalist. Shortly after
the war of 1812 he settled at St. Denis, on the Richelieu
River, became thoroughly identified with the French popu-
lation, and as a medical man in large practice and the pro-
prietor of an extensive brewery and distillery, acquired
great influence with the habitants. Having represented the
district in Parliament, he was brought into immediate con-
tact with Papineau, whose republican principles he
espoused. Hence we find him associating with Papineau
in fomenting rebellion in Lower Canada. Taking Carrier's
account of the capture of Lieutenant Weir and his subse-
quent escape and death to be the correct one, Lieutenant
Weir must have known he took his life in his hands when
he attempted to escape from his guards. He was a brave
soldier and deserved a better fate than to meet an early
death in a strange country, surrounded by men in rebellion
against the Crown which he served. Even Dr. Nelson
DOCTOR XKLSOX. 269
could not but lament his death, and the circumstances by
which it was brought about. It will be observed that the
Lieutenant when despatched was not in the immediate
custody of Dr. Nelson, but of the two guards, who had set
out with him from St. Denis, for the rebel camp at St.
Charles. The English account differs entirely from that of
M. Carrier. According to the English account, while
inioned and attempting to escape from his guards, in the
me he was mercilessly shot, sabred, hacked, and
bbed as though he had been a mad dog, and that he was,
hile seeking shelter from the cart from which he had
ped, foully murdered in the presence of a crowd of
iators. It is not possible to believe that Dr. Nelson
sonally had any hand in the murder, or whatever it may
,ve been, for Dr. Nelson himself was a brave man, and
y the blood from which he was descended. We have
that at the revolutionary meeting held at St. Denis, on
the 28th October, he differed from Mr. Papineau in the
atter of calling the people to arms to redress their sup-
sed grievances. Papineau, having started the flame, ^
an to tremble for the result of his temerity, and would
have, even at the last, temporized, while Dr. Nelson, who felt
at the affair had gone too far to be halted, was for imme-
diate action. T. S. Brown, who was in command of the
rebel forces at St. Charles, was an American. He had been
most violent in the affair of the 6th and 7th of November
in Montreal, and was the recognized leader of " The Sons
of Liberty " on that occasion. He had, in some way,
impressed the too confiding French-Canadians with the
270 HK11KLLION OF 1837.
idea that he was a leader of courage and ability, and thus
was allowed to take command at St. Charles. His courage
and ability, in fact, consisted in big words and small actions.
He proved himself a coward when opposed to the " Doric
Club " in Montreal, and was the first to take to his heels
when the regular troops appeared at St. Charles. His con-
duct on that occasion ought to have proved a warning to
the French-Canadians, that neither their lives not_their
liberties were safe in the hands of the vaporing American.
In truth it would have been better if they had trusted them-
selves entirely to the protection of their best friends, the
British. There were many loyal French-Canadians who
would have had it so, but the simple-minded peasants, led
away by the gasconade and show of their self-appointed
leaders, were easily entrapped. And so it happened that
not only at St. Charles, but in subsequent affairs when
they fell into the hands of sympathetic Americans, they
learned to their cost that their new-made friends were
but old deceivers, quite unworthy the confidence of the
patriotic French-Canadian.
How different was the conduct of Dr. Nelson, who was
in command of the rebel camp at St. Denis. Here we
find a physician, not skilled in the art of war, neverthe-
less taking the precautionary steps of an experienced
commander to protect his post. It was Nelson's good
generalship that caused the bridges leading to the village
to be destroyed, which retarded the advance of the troops
led by Col. Gore. It was Nelson's genius that fortified
St. Denis in a respectable manner, fit to oppose the
PAPIXKAU'X I'LKIHT. 271
advance of the regular troops. It was Nelson, in fact,
who caused Col. Gore to retire, and for the time to
abandon the attack on the village. The repulse of the
corps under Col. Gore was, in fact, a victory for the rebels.
It was not a lasting victory, but, nevertheless, one that
gave the Canadians heart, and had they been well armed,
which they were not, and better led than they were by
such men as T. S. Brown, they might afterwards have
shown considerable resistance to the British troops.
Papineau's physical courage was apparently not much
greater than that of T. S. Brown. After his flight from Mont-
real, following the affair of the 6th and 7th of November,
he was a guest of Dr. Nelson at St. Denis till the appear-
ance of the troops under Col. Gore. Instead of joining his
compatriots whom he had led into revolt and resistance
of lawful authority, he abandoned them in the moment
of danger and fled to Yamaska on the St. Hyacinthe Eiver,
whence he subsequently made his way, in company with
his friend O'Callaghan, into the United States.
This ended Papineau as a rebel leader. He took DO
part in the following proceedings, but seems to have
remained quietly, first in the United States and afterwards
in France, until after the amnesty, ^when he came back to
Canada, in 1845, and subsequently entered the House of
Commons of the United Provinces of Upper and Lower
Canada.
In considering Papineau's conduct one is met at the
very threshold with the difficulty of explaining his action
in leaving the rebels as he did. Was it fear, despair of
272 REBELLION OF 1837.
success, or because he did not approve of the active
rebellion then in progress ? Papineau was a man of great
personal magnetism. A man of culture and refinement,
of education and talent, of commanding presence and
speech. Ennobled with the divine^ j*ift_ of oratory,
Papineau seems to have had absolute control of the French -
Canadians. A man of undoubted Eepublican convictions,
for which none can impute the slightest blame, and ani-
mated with the warmest love for his fellow-countrymen,
his imagination seems to have been fired with the concep-
tion, grand in itself, of establishing a Canadian Kepublic.
Here was where Papineau made his initial error. Had his
people been oppressed, had their laws, their customs, their
ancient religion been scorned, then indeed would he have
merited a place in history with that great liberator,
William the Silent, whose indomitable heroism and cour-
age freed the Netherlands from the corrupt and cruel rule
of the Spaniard. But such was not the case here. The
rule of the English was honest, fair and impartial. The
Colonial Office, as we have seen, had had the severe criticism
in the House of Commons of such Eadical leaders as Mr.
Hume, and a Eeform Ministry had made .the most careful
enquiry with a view to ruling these French- Canadians with
the most impartial hand.
Papineau's theory of government was then purely ideal
and imaginary, founded on his feelings and not on reason.
Carried away by his own oratory perchance, he followed
headlong on that career which led to the funeral of his
hopes. Like the" King of France he led his men up the
'
PAPINEAU'S CONDUCT. 27
hill and then he faltered and fled. But why? Did his
heart fail him ? Was it want of courage, or was it, as we,
to relieve the name of a leader most beloved of his
fellows from the reproach of cowardice, in charity trust,
that his eyes were at length opened that he saw the
men who had for years been trying to conciliate the
French at last aroused the lion awake and shaking
free from the torpors of slumber and the steady march of
men. The roll of that drum, whose tap encircles the world
itself, awoke this dreamer, and he saw that he was only
a petty leader in a really petty cause, leading his con-
fiding countrymen to certain destruction, for nothing but
an idea ; no wrongs to be redressed, no injuries to be
avenged, simply that he, Papineau the Canadian, might be
ruler of his people. Little wonder is it that after, as Dr.
Nelson says, penning a declaration of independence, the
thought of his bleeding countrymen drove him to throw up
all and become an exile.
Why did he not even then call them to halt ? Was
his pride greater than his love of his fellow men ? Per-
haps it was so, and that he preferred the role of defeated
patriot, treating his opponents, to use his own language,
with silence and scorn. Perhaps he felt that this struggle
for his countrymen's claim to govern the country they in-
habited was vain ; but surely the reproach of cowardice laid
at his door in after years by Dr. Nelson, and indignantly
spelled by Papineau's friends, cannot be approved. Mr.
Christie has devoted a great deal of trouble to collecting
documents containing Nelson's attack on Papineau and
-274 REBELLION OF 1837.
the answer made by Papineau's friends. Dr. Nelson, it
must be observed, did not attack Mr. Papineau until he
(Nelson) had taken office under Mr. Lafontaine, Papineau's
political opponent in the House. The whole controversy
was not very edifying, but it may be fairly said to acquit
him of the charge of cowardice.
CHAPTER XIII.
Revolutionary Clubs Council of War Mackenzie Unfolds his
Plans How to Take Toronto and Carry Off the Governor
Hon. B. Baldwin Disclaims Knowledge of Rebellion Jack
Cade's Rebellion Mackenzie's Similar Mackenzie's New Con-
stitution Publication in Mackenzie's Newspaper Trip to the
Country to Promulgate Constitution Mackenzie as a Recruit-
ing Sergeant Appointment to Meet in Toronto on 7th Decem-
ber Declaration of Independence Arms and Ammunition
Samuel Lount Dr. Rolph Alters the Day for Rising Discon-
certs Mackenzie His Plans Upset Tries to Retrieve Sir F.
B. Head Reluctant to Believe there Would be Rebellion Col.
FitzGibbon's Activity and Foresight College Bell Rings Out
Alarm Mackenzie and Force at Montgomery's Col. Moodie
.Shot Threshold of Rebellion.
evidence is too clear to admit of doubt that thp
sbellion in Upper Canada was started by its leaders
ith a regularly organized plan to overturn the Govern-
lent of the Province, and to establish in its stead a
Republic which should be entirely independent of England,
not directly attached to the United States. The vigi-
ince committees throughout the Province, in correspond-
ence with the central committee at Toronto, of which Mr.
[ackenzie was agent and corresponding secretary, were
)thiug more nor less than revolutionary clubs, formed
riih the express purpose of carrying out their designs by
inconstitutional means and a resort to arms. It cannot
19
276 REBELLION OF 1837.
be said that all the members of even these vigilance com-
mittees were aware of their ulterior purpose, but that such
was the design of Mr. Mackenzie, and those permitted
to enjoy his entire confidence, does not admit of question.
Mr. Mackenzie had his own trusted agents, and Mr.
Jesse Lloyd, of Lloydtown, thirty miles north of Toronto,
was one of them. On the 9th October, 1837, Mr. Lloyd
returned from Lower Canada with a message from the
insurgent leaders there that the French-Canadians were
about to make a brave strike for liberty, and asking Mr.
Mackenzie to co-operate with them by raising the standard
of revolt in Upper Canada.
Early in November a certain M. Dufort arrived in
Toronto. He was a stranger to the city, but he came with
a message from Mr. Papineau to Mr. Mackenzie
associates in Toronto, the purport of his mission being an
appeal to the Upper Canada Liberals to support their
Lower Canada brethren, when a resort to arms should be
made. Whether or not he made known to the Liberals of
Toronto his further business is not known. It is however
highly probable he did, as by this time a complete accord
existed between Mr. Papineau and the revolutionary party
in Upper Canada. It became known not long afterwards
that Mr.-I>ttfor4'*~further^business was a continuance of
his journey to Detroit, in the State of Michigan, -in ike _
United States, to get up an expedition_to assisJLJke.jQana-^
dians, in connection with Judge Butler, a prominent
member of the House of Representatives of that SJiaJte^Jio
form (and they together in fact did form) a "Council of
MACKENZIE UNFOLDS HIS PLANS. 277
War," embracing prominent and influential members of
tHe~House ^f_Representatives, StaTe"6nicer8 and wealthy
citizens.,^.
About this time Mr. Mackenzie called upon fourteeen
or fifteen persons with whom he had been acting in con-
nection with the vigilance societies or committees through-
out the Province, to meet him in the evening at the
house of Mr. Doel, corner of Bay and Adelaide Streets,
Toronto. They ail attended, and Mr. Mackenzie pro-
ceeded to give his views of what ought to be the proper
course to pursue in the then condition of affairs. Here is
his own statement, which has been preserved.
" I remarked," he said, in substance, " that we had, in a declara-
tion adopted in July, and signed approvingly by many thousands,
affirmed that our wrongs and those of the old thirteen colonies were
substantially the same ; that I knew of no complaint made by the
heir of the house of Russell in 1685 against the Government of
England, overturned three years thereafter, that could not be sustained
against that of Canada ; that not only was redress from Britain hope-
less, but that there was imminent danger that leading Reformers
would be seized and sent to the dungeon ; that the House of Assembly
had been packed through fraud the clergy hired and paid by the
State, the endowment of a hierarchy begun in de6ance of the Royal
pledge, the public credit abused and the Provincial funds squandered
offices created and distributed to pay partisans, emigration arrested,
discontent rendered universal, and government converted into a de-
testable tyranny ; while in Lower Canada chaos reigned, backed by
the garrison troops ; and British resolutions to leave no check in the
hands of the people, upon any abuse whatever, had passed the House
of Commons. Law was a mere pretext to plunder people systemati-
ly with impunity and education, the great remedy for the future,
iscouraged in Upper and unknown in Lower Canada while de-
Iters, cheats, embezzlers of trust funds and of public revenue, were
onoured and encouraged, and peculators sheltered from the indigna-
in of the people they had robbed. I stated that when I saw how
278 REBELLION OF 1837.
Ireland, the condition of which was fully understood in London, had
been ruled, I had no hope for Canada except in resistance, and
affirmed that the time had come for a struggle, either for the rights of
Englishmen in connection with England, or for independence. Can-
ada, as governed, was an engine for the oppression of our countrymen
at home.
" I spoke with great earnestness, and was only interrupted by
some brief casual remarks.
"In adverting to the condition of society, I remarked that Head
was abhorred for the conduct of those he had upheld and cringed to ;
that in the city all classes desired a change credit was prostrate,
trade languishing and asked if the proper change could be obtained
in any possible way short of revolution ?
"Still there was no answer.
" I stated that there were two ways of effecting a revolution : one
of them by organizing the farmers, who were quite prepared for re-
sistance, and bringing them into Toronto, to unite with the Toronto
people ; and the other, by immediate action.
"Dr. Morrison made some deprecatory or dissenting remark,
but I continued.
" I said that the troops had left ; that those who had persuaded
Head to place four thousand stand of arms in the midst of an unarmed
people in the City Hall, seemed evidently not opposed to their being
used ; that Fort Henry was open and empty, and a steamer had only
to sail down to the wharf and take possession ; that I had sent two
trusty persons, separately, to the garrison that day and it was also
' to let ' ; that the Lieutenant-Governor had just come in from his
ride, and was now at home, guarded by one sentinel ; and that my
judgment was that we should instantly send for the Dutcher's foundry-
men and Armstrong's axe-makers, all of whom could be depended on,
and, with them, go promptly to the Government House, seize Sir
Francis, carry him to the City Hall, a fortress in itself, seize the arms
and ammunition there, and the artillery, etc., in the old garrison ;
rouse our innumerable friends in town and country, proclaim a Pro-
visional Government, send off the steamer on that evening to secure
Fort Henry, and either induce Sir Francis to give the country an
Executive Council responsible to a new and fairly chosen Assembly to
be forthwith elected, after packing off the usurpers in the ' Bread and
Butter Parliament,' such new Assembly to be convened immediately ;
MEETING AT DOEL'S BREWERY. 279
or if he refused to comply, go at once for Independence, and take
the proper steps to obtain and secure it.
" I also communicated, in the course of my remarks, important
facts relative to Lower Canada, and the disposition of her leading men.
"Dr. Morrison manifested great astonishment and impatience
toward the close of my discourse, and at length hastily rose and
exclaimed that this was treason, if I was really serious, and that if
I thought I could entrap him into any such mad scheme, I would find
that he was not my man. I tried to argue with him, but finding that
he was resolute and determined, soon desisted.
' ' That the proposition I made could have been easily and
throughly carried into effect, I have never for a moment doubted ;
and I would have gone about it promptly, in preference to the course
afterwards agreed upon, but for the indecision or hesitancy of those
who longed for a change, but disliked risking anything on such issues,
made no request to anyone about secrecy, believing that the gentle-
3n I had addressed were honestly desirous to aid in removing an
itolerable burthen, but that much difference might exist as to the
st means of doing so ; and that the Government would be kept
bive, even if it knew all, its pretended friends, headed by a fool,
ling one way, and its enemies another."
This rhodomontade did not have immediate weight
rith those who heard Mr. Mackenzie's appeal. Dr. Morri-
son, who was chairman of the meeting held in July, did
lot approve the seizing of public property, in the way pro-
ved by Mr. Mackenzie. This he said was treason. No
>ubt he was startled at the sudden proposal for
imediate action, which was doubtless premature. Mr.
Mackenzie was rather disappointed at the stand taken by
Dr. Morrison and reasoned with him afterwards. Whether
or not he gave him to understand he would forego a part
of his enterprise is not known, but that he afterwards
secured his co-operation is matter of history. None of the
prominent leaders of the Reform party, as for instance the
280 REBELLION OF 1837.
Baldwins or Bidwell. were present at this meeting. The
Baldwins were too highminded to be engaged in such
projects. Mr. Robert Baldwin, afterwards Attorney-General,
in his statement made to the Commission in January,
1838, said : " With respect to the insurrection itself, I had
no personal knowledge whatever of either the conspiracy
itself, the intention to rise, the attack on the city, or the
persons said to be implicated in it, and since my return
from England, in February last, I have been wholly un-
connected with the parties or politics of the Province."
It might almost be termed amusing, if the consequences
had not been so serious, to follow the various steps taken
by Mr. Mackenzie to redeem the Province of Upper Canada
from the evils to which he asserted she was subject. It
recalls the attempt to capture London, the capital of the
Empire, in 1450. If we forget the disproportion of size,
as between great London and small Toronto, we have
history repeating itself in the resemblance that Mr. Mac-
kenzie and his followers bore to those of Jack Cade and his
army of yokels.
History tells us that Jack Cade was the leader of an
insurrection, which broke out in Kent, June 1450, that
Jack was an Irishman, an illegitimate relation to the
Duke of York, and called himself Mortimer. With fifteen
or twenty thousand men this son of Erin marched on
London, and encamped at Black Heath, where he kept up
a correspondence with the citizens, many of whom were
favourable to his enterprise. The Court sent to inquire why
the good men of Kent had left their homes. Jack, in a
JACK CADE' 'S REBELLION.
281
paper entitled " The Complaint of the Commons of Kent,"
replied that the people were robbed of their goods for the
King's use ; that mean and corrupt persons, who plundered
and oppressed the Commons filled the high offices at Court,
and explained further grievances. In another paper, called
" The Requests of the Captain of the Great Assembly in
Kent," Cade demanded that the King should resume the
grants of the Crown, which he complained the preachers
about the Royal person fattened on.
Cade, with better success than his antitype, succeeded
so far as to get a lodgement in the city for two days, but
making an attack on London bridge, was defeated. A
promise of pardon sowing dissension among his followers,
they dispersed, and a price being set upon Cade's head he
fled, but was followed by an Esquire, who fought and
killed him. Mackenzie's fate, as we will see, was less hard.
Mr. Mackenzie, in order to convince his followers that
he did not intend to stop short in his advance on the
enemies' bulwarks, with admirable forethought, prepared a
draft constitution for the new state or province, which was
to have been established under his regime. To avoid the
reproach of being a usurper even in thought, he said he
intended to submit his proposal to a convention of the
people as soon as a provisional government should have
been formed. This constitution was published in Mr.
Mackenzie's newspaper, The Constitution, on the 15th of
November, 1837. Within ten days after this publication
he set (jut on a mission to the northern townships of the
County of York, taking with him a printer and a small
282 REBELLION OF 1837.
press for the purpose of striking off copies of this document.
Mr. Mackenzie's Constitution for Upper Canada was as
follows :
" WHEREAS the solemn covenant made with the people of Upper
and Lower Canada, and recorded in the Statute Book of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as the thirty-first chapter of
the Acts passed in the thirty-first year of the reign of King George
III, hath been continually violated by the British Government.
and our rights usurped ; AND WHEREAS our humble petitions,
addresses, protests and remonstrances against this injurious interference
having been in vain ; WE, the people of the State of Upper Canada,
acknowledging with gratitude the grace and beneficence of God, in
permitting us to make choice of our form of government, and in order
to establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for the
common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings
of civil and religious liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do establish
this Constitution :
' 1. Matters of religion and the ways of God's worship are not at
all intrusted by the people of this State to any human power, because
therein they cannot remit or exceed a tittle of what their con-
sciences dictate to be the mind of God, without wilful sin. Therefore
the Legislature shall make no law respecting the establishment of
religion, or for the encouragement or the prohibition of any religious
denomination.
"2. It is ordained and declared that the free exercise and
enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination
or preference, shall forever hereafter be allowed within this State to
all mankind.
" 3. The whole of the public lands within the limits of this State,
including the lands attempted, by a pretended sale, to be vested in
certain adventurers called the Canada Company (except so much of
them as may have been disposed of to actual settlers now resident in
the State), and all the land called Crown Reserves, Clergy Reserves,
and Rectories, and also the school lands, and the lands pretended to be
appropriated to the uses of the University of Kings College, are
declared to be the property of the State, and at the disposal of the
Legislature, for the public service thereof. The proceeds of one
MACKENZIE'S NEW CONSTITUTION. \ 283
millions of acres of the most valuable public lands shall be specially
appropriated to the support of Common or Township Schools.
"4. No minister of the G'ospel, clergyman, ecclesiastic, bishop
or priest of any religious denomination whatsoever, shall, at any
time hereafter, under any pretence or description whatever, be
eligible to or capable of holding a seat in the State Senate or House
of Assembly, or any civil or military office within this State.
" 5. In all laws made, or to be made, every person shall be bound
alike, neither shall any tenure, estate, charter, degree, birth, or place,
confer any exemption from the ordinary course of legal proceedings
and responsibilities whereunto others are subjected.
"6, No hereditary emoluments, privileges, or honours shall ever
be granted by the people of this State.
" 7. There shall neither be slavery or involuntary servitude in
this State, otherwise than for the punishment of crimes whereof the
party shall have been duly convicted. People of colour, who have come
into this State, with the design of becoming permanent inhabitants
thereof, and are now resident therein, shall be entitled to all the
rights of native Canadians, upon taking an oath or affirmation to
support the constitution.
"8. The people have a right to bear arms for the defence of
themselves and the State.
" 9. No man shall be impressed or forcibly constrained to serve
time of war ; because money, the sinews of war, being always at
le disposal of the Legislature, they can never want numbers of men
enough to engage in any just cause.
" 10. The military shall be kept under strict subordination to
le civil power. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in
ly house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but
a manner to be prescribed by law.
"11. The Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate,
ill choose all militia officers above the rank of Captain. The people
11 elect their own officers of the rank of Captain, and under it.
' ' 12. The people have a right to assemble together in a peaceful
manner, to consult for their common good, to instruct their repre-
sentatives in the Legislature, arid to apply to the Legislature for
redress of grievances.
" 13. The printing presses shall be open and free to those who
may wish to examine the proceedings of any branch of the govern-
284 REBELLION OF 1837.
ment, or the conduct of any public officer ; and no law shall ever
restrain the right thereof.
" 14. The trial by jury shall remain forever inviolate.
" 15. Treason against this State shall consist only in levying war
against it, or adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort.
No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony
of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open
court.
" 15a. No ex post facto law, nor any law impairing the validity
of legal compacts, grants, or contracts, shall ever be made ; and no
conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate.
" 16. The real estate of persons dying without making a will shall
not descend to the eldest son to the exclusion of his brethren, but be
equally divided among the children, male and female.
" 17. The laws of entail shall be forever abrogated.
" 17a. There shall be no lotteries in this State. Lottery tickets
shall not be sold therein, whether foreign or domestic.
" 18. No power of suspending the operation of the laws shall be
exercised except by the authority of the Legislature.
" 19. The people shall be secure in their persons, papers and
possessions, from all unwarrantable searches and seizures ; general
warrants, whereby an officer may be commanded to search suspected
places, without probable evidence of the fact committed, or to seize
any person or persons not named, whose offences are not particularly
described, and without oath or affirmation, are dangerous to liberty,
and shall not be granted.
' ' 20. Private property ought, and will ever be held inviolate, but
always subservient to the public welfare, provided a compensation in
money be first made to the owner. Such compensation shall never be
less in amount than the actual value of the property.
" 21. AND WHEREAS frauds have been often practised towards the
Indians within the limits of this State, it is hereby ordained that no
purchases or contracts for the sale of lands made since the day
of in the year , or which may hereafter be made with the
Indians within the limits of this State, shall be binding on the Indians
and valid, unless made under the authority of the Legislature.
" 22. The legislative authority of this State shall be vested in a
General Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and House of
Assembly, both to be elected by the people.
MACKENZIE'S NEW CONSTITUTION. 285
"23. The legislative year shall begin on the day of , and
the Legislature shall every year assemble on the second Tuesday in
January, unless a different day be appointed by law.
" 24. The Senate shall consist of twenty-four members. The
Senators shall be freeholders and be chosen for four years. The House
of Assembly shall consist of seventy-two members, who shall be
elected for two years.
" 25. The Senate shall be divided into six Senate districts, each of
which shall choose four Senators.
" The first district shall consist of, etc.
" The second district shall, etc., (and so on, as a convention may
decide).
" 26. An enumeration of the inhabitants of the State shall be taken,
under the direction of the Legislature, within one year after the first
meeting of the General Assembly, and at the end of every four years
thereafter ; and the Senate districts shall be so altered by the Legisla-
ture after the return of every convention, that each Senate district"
shall contain, as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants,
and at all times consist of contiguous territory ; and no county shall be
divided in the formation of a Senate district.
" 27. The members of the House of Assembly shall be chosen by
counties, and be apportioned among the several counties of the State,
as nearly as may be, according to the numbers of their respective
inhabitants. An apportionment of the members of Assembly shall be
made by the Legislature, at its first session after the return of every
enumeration.
" 28. In all elections of Senators and members of the House of
Assembly, the person or persons having the highest number of votes
shall be elected. In cases in which two or more persons have an equal
number of votes, where only one is required to be elected, there shall
a new election.
" 29. All elections shall be held at those places which may be con-
sidered by the electors to be the most central and convenient for them
to assemble at. No county, district, or township election shall con-
tinue for a longer period than two days.
"30. In order to promote the freedom, peace and quiet of elections,
and to secure, in the most ample manner possible, the independence of
the poorer classes of the electors, it is declared that all elections by the
people, which shall take place after the first session of the Legislature
286 REBELLION OF 1837.
of this State, shall be by ballot, except for such town officers as may
by law be directed to be otherwise chosen.
" 31. Electors shall in all cases, except treason, felony, or breach
of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at
elections, and in going to and returning from them.
" 32. The next election for Governor, Senators and Members of
Assembly, shall commence on the first Monday of next ; and
all subsequent elections shall be held at such time in the month of
or , as the Legislature shall by law provide.
" 33. The Governor, Senators and Members of Assembly shall
enter on the duties of their respective offices on the first day of
next.
" 34. And as soon as the Senate shall meet, after the first election
to be held in puruance of the Constitution, they shall cause the
Senators to be divided by lot, into four classes, of six in each, so that
every district shall have one Senator of each class ; the classes to be
nuiabered 1, 2, 3 and 4. And the seats of the first class shall be
vacated at the end of the first year ; of the second class, at the end of
the second year ; of the third class, at the end of the third year ; of
the fourth class, at the end of the fourth year ; in order that one
Senator may be annually elected in each Senate district.
"35. A majority of each House shall constitute a quorum to do
business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and
compel the attendance of absent members. Neither House shall,
without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than two days.
" 36. Each House shall choose its Speaker, Clerk and other
officers.
"37. In each House the votes shall, in all cases when taken, be
taken openly, and not by ballot, so that the electors may be enabled
to judge of the conduct of their representatives.
' ' 38. Each House shall keep a Journal of its proceedings, and
publish the same except such parts as may require secrecy.
r--~ V 39. Each House may determine the rules of its own proceedings,
judge of the qualifications of its members, punish its members for
disorderly behaviour, and with the concurrence of two-thirds expel a
member, but not a second time for the same cause.
' 40. Any bill may originate in either House of the Legislature ;
and all bills passed by one House may be amended or rejected by the
other.
MACKENZIE'S NEW CONSTITUTION. 287
"41. Every bill shall be read on three different days in each
House, unless, in case of urgency, three-fourths of the whole members
of the House where such bill is so depending, shall deem it expedient
to dispense with this rule ; in which case the names of the majority of
members present and consenting to dispense with this rule shall be
entered on the Journals.
"42. Every bill, which shall have passed the Senate and Assembly,
shall, before it becomes law, be presented to the Governor. If he
approve, he shall sign it ; but if not, he should return it with his
objections to that House in which it shall have originated, which shall
enter the objections on its Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If,
after such reconsideration, two-thirds of the members present shall
agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to
the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered ; and if
approved by two-thirds of the members present it shall become law.
In all such cases, the votes of both Houses shall be determined by
yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against
the bill shall be entered on the Journals of each House respectively.
If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within ten days
(Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him the same
shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Legis-
lature shall, by its adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it
shall not be a law.
" 43. No member of the Legislature who has taken his seat as
such, shall receive any civil appointment from the Governor and
Senate, or from the Legislature, during the term for which he shall
have been elected.
"44. The assent of the Governor and of three-fourths of the mem-
bers elected to each branch of the Legislature, shall be requisite to
authorize the passage of every bill appropriating the public moneys or
jrty for local or private purposes, or for creating, continuing,
ring, or renewing any body, politic or corporate ; and the yeas and
nays shall be entered on the Journals at the time of taking the vote
on the final passage of any such bill.
"45. The members of the Legislature shall receive for their ser-
irices a compensation to be ascertained by law and paid out of the
iblic treasury.
46. Members of the General Assembly shall, in all cases, except
son, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arresc
288 REBELLION OF 1837.
during their continuance as such members ; and for any speech or de-
bate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place.
" 46a. No person shall be a Senator or member of the House of
Assembly who shall not have attained the age of years, and been
years a citizen of the State, and who shall not, when elected, be an
inhabitant of the State.
" 47. No Judge of any Court of Law or Equity, Secretary of State,
Attorney General, Register of Deeds, Clerk of any Court of Record,
Collector of Customs or Excise Revenue, Postmaster or Sheriff, shall
be eligible as a candidate for, or have a seat in, the General Assembly .
' : 48. No person who hereafter may be a collector or holder of the
public moneys shall have a seat in the General Assembly, until such
person shall have accounted for and paid into the treasury all sums
for which he may be accountable or liable.
' ' 49. All officers holding their offices during good behaviour, or for
a term of years, may be removed by joint resolution of the two
Houses of the Legislature, if two-thirds of all the members elected to
the Assembly, and a majority of all the members elected to the
Senate, concur therein.
" 50. The House of Assembly shall have the sole power of impeach-
ing, but a majority of all its members must concur in an impeachment.
"51. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate, and when
sitting for that purpose, its members shall be on oath or affirmation to
do justice according to law or evidence ; no person shall be convicted
without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Senators.
"51a. The Legislature shall have power to pass laws for the
peace, welfare, and good government of this State, not inconsistent
with the spirit of this Constitution. To coin money, regulate the
value thereof, and provide for the punishment of those who may
counterfeit the securities and coin of this State.
I. To fix the standard of weights and measures.
II. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization.
III. To establish uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies.
IV. To regulate commerce.
V. To lay and collect taxes.
VI. To borrow money on the credit of the State, not, however,
without providing at the same time the means, by addi-
tional taxation or otherwise, of paying the interest, and
of liquidating the principal within twenty years.
VII. To establish post offices and post roads.
MACKENZIE '8 XEW CONSTITUTION. 289
" 52. Gold and silver shall be the only lawful tender in payment
of debts.
" 53. No new county shall be established by the General Assembly
which shall reduce the county or counties, or either of them, from
which it shall be taken, to less contents than four hundred square
miles, nor shall any county be laid off of less contents.
" 54. There shall be no sinecure offices. Pensions shall be granted
only by the authority of the Legislature.
"55. The whole public revenue of this State, that is, all money
received from the public, shall be paid into the treasury, without any
deduction whatever, and be accounted for without deduction to the
Legislature, whose authority shall be necessary for the appropriation
of the whole. A regular statement and account of the receipts and
expenditures of all public money shall be published once a year or
oftener. No fees of office shall be received in any department which
not sanctioned by legislative authority.
"56. There shall never be created within this State any incor-
rated trading companies, or incorporated companies with banking
powers. Labour is the only means of creating wealth.
"57. Bank notes of a lesser nominal value than shall not be
wed to circulate as money, or in lieu thereof.
" 58. The Executive power shall be vested in a Governor. He
shall hold his office for three years. No person shall be eligible to
,t office who shall not have attained the age of thirty years.
" 59. The Governor shall be elected by the people at the times
places of choosing members uf the Legislature. The person
having the highest number of votes shall be elected ; but in case two
or more persons shall have an equal, and the highest number of votes,
the two Houses of the Legislature shall, by joint vote (not by ballot),
choose one of the said persons for Governor.
" GO. The Governor shall have power to convene the Legislature,
the Senate only, on extraordinary occasions. He shall communi-
by message to the Legislature, at every session, the condition of
the State, and recommend such matters to them as he shall judge ex-
pedient. He shall transact all necessary business with the officers of
Government ; expedite all such measures as may be resolved upon
by the Legislature ; and take care that the laws are faithfully executed.
He shall, at stated times, receive a compensation for his services,
which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the term for
which he shall have been elected.
the
choc
cate
290 REBELLION OF 1837.
" 61. The Governor shall have power to grant reprieves and
pardon, after conviction, for all offences, except in cases of impeach-
ment. A notice of all such pardons. or reprieves shall be published, at
the time, in some newspaper published at the seat of government.
"62. The Governor shall nominate by message, in writing, and
with the consent of the Senate, shall appoint the Secretary of State,
Comptroller, Receiver-General, Auditor-General, Attorney-General,
Surveyor-General, Postmaster-General, and also all Judicial Officers,
except Justices of the Peace and Commissioners of the Courts of Re-
quest, or Local Courts.
"63. In case of the death, impeachment, resignation, or removal
of the Governor from office, the Speaker of the Senate shall perform
all the duties of Governor, until another Governor shall be elected
and qualified, or until the Governor so impeached shall be acquitted,
as the case may be.
" 64. The Executive authority shall issue Writs of election to fill
up vacancies in the representation of any part of the Province in the
General Assembly.
" 65. The judicial power of the State, both as to matters of law
and equity, shall be vested in a Supreme Court, the members of
which shall hold office during good behaviour, in District or County
Courts, in Justices of the Peace, in Courts of Request, and in such
other courts as the Legislature may from time to time establish.
" 66. A competent number of Justices of the Peace and Commis-
sioners of the Courts of Request shall be elected by the people, for
a period of three years, within their respective cities and town-
ships.
"67. All Courts shall be open, and every person for any injury
done him in his lands, goods, person or reputation, shall have remedy
by the due course of law ; and right and justice shall be administered
without delay or denial.
" 68. Excessive bail shall not be required ; excessive fines shall not
be imposed ; nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
" 69. All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, unless for
capital offences, where the proof is evident or the presumption great ;
and the privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended
by any act of the Legislature, unless, when in cases of actual rebellion
or invasion, the public safety may require it.
" 70. In all criminal prosecution, the accused hath a right to be
heard by himself and his Counsel, to demand the nature and cause of
MACKENZIE'S NEW CONSTITUTION. 291
the accusation against him, and to have a copy thereof ; to meet the
witnesses face to face, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses
in his favour, and in prosecutions by indictment or presentment a
speedy public trial, by an impartial and fairly selected jury of the
County, District or Division in which the offence shall be stated to
have been committed ; and shall not be compelled to give evidence
against himself, nor shall he be twice put in jeopardy for the same
offence.
"71. In prosecutions for any publication respecting the official
conduct of men in a public capacity, or when the matter published is
proper for public information, the truth thereof may always be
given in evidence, and in all indictments for libel the jury shall have
a right to determine the law and the fact.
" 72. No person arrested or confined in jail shall be treated with
unnecessary rigour, or be put to answer any criminal charge except
by presentment, indictment or impeachment.
" 73. It shall be the duty of the Legislature so to regulate the
proceedings of Courts of Civil Jurisdiction, that unnecessary delays
and extravagant costs in legal proceedings may not be a cause of
complaint.
" 74. Sheriffs, Coroners, Clerks of Peace, and Registers of Coun-
ties or Districts, shall be chosen by the electors of the respective
Counties or Districts once in four years, and as often as vacancies
happen. Sheriffs shall hold no other office and be ineligible for the
office of Sheriff for the next two years after the termination of their
offices.
" 75. The Governor and all other Civil Officers under this State
shall be liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office ; but
judgment in such cases shall not extend farther than removal from
office, and disqualification to hold any office of honour, profit or trust,
mder this State. The party, whether convicted or acquitted, shall,
jvertheless, be liable to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment
^rding to law.
" 76. After this Constitution shall have gone into effect, no per-
>n shall be questioned for anything said or done in reference to the
iblic differences which have prevailed for some time past, it being
for the public welfare and the happiness and peace of families and
lividuals that no door should be left open for a continued visitation
the effects of past years of misgovernment after the causes shall
lave passed away.
292 REBELLION OF 1837.
" 76a. For the encouragement of emigration, the Legislature
may enable aliens to hold and convey real estate, under such regula-
tions as may be found advantageous to the people of this State.
" 77. The River St. Lawrence of right ought to be a free and
common highway to and from the ocean ; to be so used, on equal
terms, by all the nations of the earth, and not monopolized to serve
the interest of any one nation, to the injury of others.
"78. All powers not delegated by this Constitution remain with
the people.
"79. Such parts of the common law, and of the acts of the
Legislature of the Colony of Upper Canada, as together did form the
law of the said colony on the day of , shall be and con-
tinue the law of this State, subject to such alterations as the Legisla-
ture shall make concerning the same. But all laws, or parts of laws,
repugnant to this Constitution are hereby abrogated.
"80. The Senators and members of the House of Assembly
before mentioned, and all Executive and Judicial Officers within this
State, shall, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices
or functions, be bound, by an oath or solemn affirmation, to support
the Constitution ; but no religious test shall ever be required as a
qualification to any office or public trust under this State.
" 81. This Constitution; and the laws of this State, which shall be
made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be
made under the authority of this State, shall be the supreme law of
the land, and the judges shall be bound thereby.
" Several clauses for the carrying a Constitution like the above
into practice are omitted, the whole being only given in illustration of,
and for the benefit of a comparison in detail, with other systems.
" We have not entered upon the questions, whether any, and if
so, what restrictions ought to be laid upon the right of voting, or a
to residence in the State, taxation, performance of militia duty, etc.
These matters, however, might be advantageously discussed by the
public press.
" Committee Room, Nov. 13, 1837."
Truly Mr. Mackenzie believed in taking time by the
forelock. It will be noticed, however, that' even he could
not make a republic in his own printing office, and that
to i
I
MARSHALLING OF RECRUITS. 293
some matters were left unsettled, perhaps with a view to
letting the people have some voice in the matter, as he
suggests discussion in the public press. As for this builder
of imaginary republics himself, he was not only busy in
Constitution making, but active in enlisting troops in his
service. He was a regular recruiting sergeant in this
particular. On the 24th of November he left Dr. Eolph's
house to rouse the disaffected in Stouffville, Lloydtown,
Newmarket and other hotbeds of revolution in the County
of York, to strike for liberty and independence. He carried
with him a summons to his followers to join him with
arms in their hands on the 7th of December, when they
would see the downfall, not only of the Tory party but of
monarchical government and everything connected with it.
Not a vestige was to remain.
It is the custom of all great generals when they go forth
to conquer or die, to strengthen the hearts of their followers
ith flowing words, and further to show them how much
ey will be benefited by striking down their enemy. This
what General Hull did when he came to take Canada
in 1812. Mr. Mackenzie, not to be outdone by General
Hull in generous offers to his followers, promised every
volunteer several hundred acres of land. It will be doing
injustice, however, to Mr. Mackenzie's war-like spirit and
his literary talent unless the whole of the proclamation
which he distributed among the inhabitants of North
York, with no respect for persons, Tory or Liberal, be
given :
294 REBELLION OF 1837.
"INDEPENDENCE.
"There have been nineteen strikes for independence from
European tyranny on the continent of America. They were all suc-
cessful. The Tories therefore by helping us will help themselves.
" 'The nations are fallen and thou still art young,
The sun is but rising, when others have set ;
And though heavy clouds o'er thy morning hath hung,
The full tide of Freedom shall beam round you yet.'
" Brave Canadians ! God has put into the bold and honest
hearts of our brethren in Lower Canada to revolt not against ' law-
ful,' but 'unlawful authority.' The law says we shall not be taxed
without our consent by the voices of the men of our choice, but a
wicked and tyrannical government has trampled upon that law, robbed
the exchequer, divided the plunder, and declared that, regardless of
justice, they will continue to roll their splendid carriages, and riot
in their palaces, at our expense ; that we are poor, spiritless, ignorant
peasants, who were born to toil for our betters. But the peasants are
beginning to open their eyes and to feel their strength ; too long have
they been hoodwinked by Baal's priests by hired and tampered-with
preachers, wolves in sheep's clothing, who take the wages of sin, and
do the work of iniquity, ' each one looking to his gain in his quarter.'
" Canadians ! Do you love freedom 1 I know you do. Do you
hate oppression ? Who dare deny it ? Do you wish perpetual peace,
and a government founded upon the eternal heaven-born principle of
the Lord Jesus Christ a government bound to enforce the law to do
to each other as you wish to be done by? Then buckle on your
armour, and put down the villains who oppress and enslave our
country ; put them down in the name of that God who goes forth with
the armies of His people, and whose Bible shows that it is by the
same human means whereby you put to death thieves and murderers,
and imprison and banish wicked individuals, that you must put down,
in the strength of the Almighty, those governments which, like these
bad individuals, trample on the law and destroy its usefulness. You
give a bounty for wolves' scalps. Why ? Because wolves harass you.
The bounty you must pay for freedom (blessed word !) is to give the
strength of your arms to put down tyranny at Toronto. One short
hour will deliver our country from the oppressor ; and freedom in
RE VOLUTION A R Y P ROC LA MA TION. 295
religion, peace and tranquillity, equal laws, and an improved country
will be the prize. We contend that in all laws made, or to be made,
every person shall be bound alike, neither should any tenure, estate,
charter, degree, birth, or place, confer an exemption from the ordinary
course of legal proceedings and responsibilities whereunto others are
subjected.
" Canadians ! God has shown that He is with our brethren, for He
has given them the encouragement of success. Captains, colonels,
volunteers, artillerymen, privates, the base, the vile hirelings of our
unlawful oppressors, have already bit the dust in hundreds in Lower
Canada : and although the Roman Catholic and Episcopal Bishops
and Archdeacons are bribed by large sums of money to instruct their
flocks that they should be obedient to a government which defies the
law, and is therefore unlawful and ought to be put down ; yet God
has opened the eyes of the people to the wickedness of these
reverend sinners, so that they hold them in derision, just as God's
prophet Elijah did the priests of Baal of old and their sacrifices. Is
there anyone afraid to go to fight for freedom, let him remember that
" ' God sees with equal eye, as Lord of all,
A hero perish, or a sparrow fall.'
" That the power that protected ourselves and our forefathers
the deserts of Canada, that preserved from the cholera those whom
e would, that brought us safely to this continent through the dangers
the Atlantic waves, aye, and who has watched over us from infancy
manhood, will be in the midst of us in the day of our struggle for
r liberties, and for governors of our free choice, who would not dare
to trample on the laws they had sworn to maintain. In the present
ggle we may be sure that if we do not rise and put down Head
his lawless myrmidons, they will gather all the rogues and villains
the country together, arm them, and then deliver our farms, our
ilies, and our country to their brutality. To that it has come, we
ust put them down, or they will utterly destroy this country. If we
move now, as one man, to crush the tyrant's power, to establish free
institutions founded on God's law, we will prosper, for He who com-
mands the winds and waves will be with us ; but if we are cowardly
and mean-spirited, a woeful and a dark day is surely before us.
" Canadians ! The struggle will be of short duration in Lower
Canada, for the people are united as one man. Out of Montreal and
296 REBELLION OF 1837.
Quebec, they are as one hundred to one, here we Reformers are as
ten to one ; and if we rise with one consent to overthrow despotism,
we will make quick work of it.
"Mark all those who join our enemies, act as spies for them,
fight for them, or aid them ; these men's properties shall pay the
expense of the struggle ; they are traitors to Canadian freedom, and
as such we will deal with them.
" Canadians ! Tt is the design of the friends of liberty to give
several hundred acres to every volunteer, to root up the unlawful
Canada Company, and give free deeds to all settlers who live on their
lands ; to give free gifts of the Clergy Reserve lots to good citizens
who have settled on them ; and the like to settlers on Church of Eng-
land Glebe lots, so that the yeomanry may feel independent, and be
able to improve the country, instead of sending the fruit of their
labour to foreign lands. The fifty-seven Rectories will be at once
given to the people, and all public lands used for education, internal
improvements, and the public good ; 100,000 drawn from us in pay-
ment of the salaries of bad men in office, will be reduced to one-
quarter, or much less, and the remainder will go to improve bad roads
and to ' make crooked paths straight ;' law will be ten times more
cheap and easy, the bickerings of priests will cease with the funds
that keep them up, and men of wealth and property from other lands
will soon raise our farms to four times their present value. We have
given Head and his employers a trial of forty-five years, five years
longer than the Israelites were detained in the wilderness. The
promised land is now before us up then and take it but set not the
torch to one house in Toronto, unless we are fired at from the houses,
in which case self-preservation will teach us to put down those who
would murder us when up in the defence of the laws. There are
some rich men now, as there were in Christ's time, who would go
with us in prosperity, but who will skulk in the rear, because of their
large possessions mark them ! They are those who in after years
will seek to corrupt our people, and change free imtitutions into an
aristocracy of wealth, to grind the poor, and make laws to fetter their
energies.
" MARK MY WORDS, CANADIANS ! The struggle is begun, it might
end in freedom ; but timidity, cowardice, or tampering on our part,
will only delay its close. We cannot be reconciled to Britain, we
have humbled ourselves to the Pharaoh of England, to the ministers
REBELS ASSEMBLE. 297
and great people, and they will neither rule us justly nor let us go ;
we are determined never to rest until independence is ours. The prize
is a splendid one. A country larger than France or England, natural
resources equal to our most boundless wishes, a government of equal
laws, religion pure and undefiled, perpetual peace, education to all,
millions of acres of lands for revenue, freedom from British tribute,
free trade with all the world but stop I never could enumerate all
the blessings attendant on independence.
" Up then, brave Canadians. Get ready your rifles, and make
short work of it ; a connection with England would involve us in all
her wars, undertaken for her own advantage, never for ours ; with
governors from England, we will have bribery at elections, corruption,
villainy, and perpetual discord in every township, but independence
would give us the means of enjoying many blessings. Our enemies
in Toronto are in terror and dismay ; they know their wickedness and
dread our vengeance. Fourteen armed men were sent oat at the
dead hour of night, by the traitor Gurnett, to drag to a felon's cell
the sons of our worthy and noble-minded brother departed, Joseph
Sheppard, on a simple and frivolous charge of trespass, brought by
a Tory fool ; and though it ended in smoke, it showed too evidently
Head's feelings. Is there to be an end of these things ? Aye, and
now's the day and the hour. Woe be to those who oppose us, for
4 in God is our trust.' "
The appeal had its effect. The men engaged in the
cause furbished up their arms. Pike-heads, forged in a
blacksmith's shop of Samuel Lount, near Holland Landing,
were got ready, and ammunition was provided. It was now
necessary to secure a competent commander to lead the
army of rebellion into action. Mr. Mackenzie, with his
accustomed energy, had managed this. There lived in the
County of Bruce a Liberal of advanced ideas, known to Mr.
Mackenzie a man who had been a colonel under Napoleon
Bonaparte. His name was Van Egmond. To him Mr.
Mackenzie wrote, desiring him to assume command of his
army, which was to be marshalled at Montgomery's tavern,
298 REBELLION OF 1837.
four miles north of Toronto, on Thursday, the 7th day of
December. This was the day set for the rising by
Mackenzie in concert with Dr. Kolph and the executive.
But " the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglee."
Dr. Eolph, during Mr. Mackenzie's absence in the country,
owing to a fear he had that the loyal militia might be
called out for service before the 7th of December, took upon
himself, without consulting Mr. Mackenzie, to alter the day
for the rising to Monday, the 4th of December, thus discon-
certing all Mr. Mackenzie's plans. Mr. Mackenzie did not
hear of the change till he arrived at Mr. Gibson's house,
not far from Montgomery's. If Mr. Mackenzie's original
plan had been carried out, Van Egmond would have had
under his command as many as two thousand men for an
attack on Toronto, which, in all human probability, would
. have been captured, as it would have been found wholly un-
defended. Sir Francis Head, either because he did not
realize the importance of the rebellious movement that had
been going on in different parts of the Province, especially
in the Home District, for some time, or because he desired
to earn glory for himself at the expense of the loyalists of
the Province, had not taken any means to ward off the
rebellion. The Governor had time and again been warned
that the disaffected in various parts were drilling and
accustoming themselves to bear firearms, and that meetings
of rebels were being held for the purpose of concerted
action. Miss Mary Agnes FitzGibbon, in her book " A
Veteran of 1812," in a note referring to a conversation
which the Keverend Egerton Eyerson had with his brother
THE RENDEZVOUS AT MONTGOMERY'S. 299
William, regarding the efforts he had made to induce Sir
George Arthur to commute the sentence of death afterwards
enforced on Lount and Matthews for their conduct in the
affair, says that Rev. Egerton Ryerson said, " I also men-
tioned to the Governor that you [the Rev. William Ryerson]
and the Rev. I. Stinson had waited on Sir Francis about
four weeks previous to the insurrection, that you informed
him of insurrectionary movements about Lloydtown and
other places that you had learned from me, that you had
strongly urged Sir Francis to raise volunteers and put the
city and other places in a state of defence, that you and
waited on the Attorney-General next day, and that we
had urged these things on him in a similar manner, but
that these statements and advice had been disregarded, if
not disbelieved." So deaf was Sir Francis to the repre-
sentations made to him by the Rev. Egerton Ryerson
and others, that he had sent out of the Province to Lower
Canada all of the regular troops that had been quartered
at Toronto. Had these regular troops been retained there
would have been no rebellion. The Governor and his
Council, down to the very last, were blind to the rebellious
proceedings being enacted in their very midst. On the 2nd
of December, Saturday, but two days before the actual
breaking out of the rebellion, a Freemason, in the confidence
of brotherhood, informed Col. FitzGibbon, an officer who
had won much distinction in the war of 1812, that bags of
pike-heads and pike-handles had been collected, and that
he had observed all the signs of a rapidly ripening revolt.
Mr. Lindsey, in his "Life and Times of W. L. Mackenzie,"
300 REBELLION OF 1837.
says, " FitzGibbqn sought out Judge Jones, to whom he
repeated what he had heard from the Freemason. They
went before the Executive Council together, where the
statement was once more repeated. Mr. Justice Jones
exclaimed, ' You do not mean to say that those people are
going to rebel ? ' FitzGibbon replied that undoubtedly
they were, when Mr. Jones, turning to the Lieutenant-
Governor, contemptuously exclaimed ' Pugh, pugh.' "
Col. FitzGibbon, with a better appreciation of the
danger that threatened the city, on this same Saturday
made an appeal to Sir Francis to permit him to warn some
one hundred and twenty-six men whom he knew to be loyal,
to be ready to repel an attack on the city should it be made.
This he meant to do by ringing the Upper Canada College
bell as a summons to the men west of Yonge Street, and
St. James Cathedral bell as a summons to the men east
of Yonge Street. So satisfied was the Colonel that the
danger was imminent, that he told His Excellency that
whether he gave his sanction or not, he, Col. Fitz-
Gibbon, had determined to act, and if the Governor refused
he should act on his own responsibility. It is doubtful if
there was another man in Toronto at the time who would
have had the courage thus to approach His Excellency. It
is certain that no one in Toronto had so clear an appre-
ciation of the danger and the necessity for immediate action
as Col. FitzGibbon. Sir Francis reluctantly gave his con-
sent to the Colonel's demand. Col. FitzGibbon went
immediately to work, and had to order the alarm by the
COLONEL FITZGIBBON'S WARNINGS. 301
College bell before he had time to warn more than fifty of
the one hundred and twenty-six men he had on his list.
The truth is that Sir Francis did not believe there would
be a rebellion, and had so impressed his Council and
those around him with his own ideas that Col. FitzGibbon
was set down as a mad man for daring to have a contrary
opinion. By Saturday, the 2nd of December, FitzGibbon
had become thoroughly alarmed, owing to recent informa-
tion he had received, and laid the matter before the
Governor and Council, who discussed the matter at great
length FitzGibbon urging preparation, and the Governor
and Council holding to their opinion that there was no
danger. The Honorable William Allan alone of the Council
was more inclined to share in Col. Fitz Gibbon's apprehen-
sions, and so informed the Governor.
On Monday morning, the 4th of December, Sir Francis
Head, being at last aroused to action, sent for Col. Fitz-
Gibbon and read to him a militia general order appointing
him Adjutant- General, which the Colonel was disposed to
decline, as Col. Coffin was then Adjutant-General, and the
law only allowed one of that rank. Col. FitzGibbon, with
that high sense of honour that was a characteristic of his
life, did not wish to interfere with the duty of Col. Coffin,
but, yielding to the urgent demand made upon him, he
accepted the position with the condition attached that he
should be nominated Acting Adjutant-General. A Militia
General Order was at once issued appealing to the officers
commanding regiments and corps in the Province, and con-
veying instructions for their guidance in the event of a
302 REBELLION OF 1837.
possible outbreak of rebellion. It was rather late in the
day, but the first obvious duty had to be performed, even
though the Governor and his Council could not be per-
suaded to see that the inevitable conflict was so near at
hand.
There were no regular troops then in Toronto. There
were six thousand stand of arms and some ammunition in
the City Hall, which had been sent up from Kingston
guarded by two constables ; but of what use would these
arms have been with only fifty men to use them against
the hundreds of men that Mackenzie was assembling on
the outskirts of the city ? At ten o'clock of the night of
the 4th of December, FitzGibbon got information which
left no doubt in his mind that the rebels were at the very
doors of the city. He lost no time in going to Government
House, rousing the Governor, who had retired for the night,
and warning him of the danger. An hour later the Colonel
learned that the rebels were approaching from the north,
by way of Yonge Street. Having given instructions for
the ringing of the alarm bells he mounted and rode about
the city, calling at the houses of the citizens and directing
them to arm and gather at the Parliament buildings to be
ready to meet the enemy. There was other work for him
to do, and old campaigner that he was, he knew it. It was
a busy night, not only for him, but for many another man
in Toronto, that night of December, 1837. The Colonel
bad first to see that the cases containing the arms at the
City Hall were opened and the arms distributed to the few
who on such short notice could be got together. The
REBELS INFESTING YONGE STREET. 303
ammunition had to be examined and everything got ready
for an attack. The Colonel then, accompanied by two law
students, Messrs. George Brock, a nephew of the lamented
General Brock, and Bellingham, mounted on horses, pro-
ceeded up Yonge Street to reconnoitre the rebel position.
Having gone as far north as Severn's Brewery in Yorkville,
and not meeting with any organized body of rebels, the
Colonel returned to the city, first taking the precaution to
have a picket placed on Yonge Street between the city and
Yorkville, to check any advance of rebels that might be
made. Messrs. Brock and Bellingham continued their
journey north, and had not gone far when they fell into the
hands of the rebels and were made prisoners.
On his return journey to the city the Colonel met Alder-
man John Powell and a Mr. McDonald, also riding north to
ascertain what truth there was in the rumours of the
rebels mustering at Montgomery's.
When Col. Fitz Gibbon arrived at Government House
he found that Mr. Powell had arrived there before him.
He then learned that his young student friends had been
made prisoners by the rebels and that Powell had also been
made prisoner, but had escaped and had hurried back to
Government House to give intelligence of what he had seen
and heard. His report was that between Yorkville and
Montgomery's he and McDonald had met Mackenzie and
three others of the rebel force, and had been made
prisoners ; that they had resorted to stratagem and had
made their escape. The fact was that Powell on being
questioned as to whether he was armed or not, denied that
304 REBELLION OF 1837.
he had arms. He, nevertheless, had a pistol on him, which
he drew on Captain Anderson, one of the rebel guard, and
shot him dead. This was a great loss to Mackenzie, as
Captain Anderson was looked upon as the military leader
of the party of rebels at Montgomery's hotel.
When Capt. Anderson was shot, Mackenzie returned to
the hotel, and there found that Col. Moodie, a loyalist and
retired officer of the regular army, had met the rebels
when he was proceeding from his home to the north of
Montgomery's, had turned to go back to town to give the
alarm, and, in attempting to pass Mackenzie's guard at the
hotel, had been shot dead by one of the rebel force from
the platform of the hotel. Thus were two lives lost at the
very threshold of the rebellion.
If the Mackenzie body of men, although but indiffer-
ently armed, had marched on the city that night, it might
well have fallen, considering the very limited means of
defence and the panic that often follows in a night attack.
Mackenzie himself wished to make the advance, even though
Capt. Anderson had fallen, but was overruled by his party.
Not being a military man himself, and a determined advo-
cate of popular rights, he had to submit or pronounce
against one of his first principles of action. His attach-
ment to popular government proved his ruin. His follow-
ers had their way, and their delay lost their promised
reward.
CHAPTER XIV,
Sir F. B. Head Made to Realize the Situation Leaves Government
House at Night Makes City Hall the Headquarters, Tuesday,
5th December Preparing for Defence of City Picket Placed
at McGill Street Attack on Picket Rebels Retire Gover-
nor Sends Messenger to Mackenzie Under Flag of Truce
Result Rolph and Baldwin Wednesday, 6th December Arms
Removed to Parliament Buildings " The Men of Gore"
Rebels' Threat to Burn Toronto Mackenzie Urges Attack on
City on Wednesday, 6th December His Men Refuse to Move
Dr. Rolph Flees for Safety Rebels at Yorkville Fire Dr.
Home's House Lount and Mackenzie Intercept Mail Van
Esmond His Arrival in Rebel Camp Plan to Attack City
Loyalists Forestall Rebels Attack Rebels at Montgomery's
Dispersion of Rebels Mackenzie's Escape Battle of St. Eus-
tache, Lower Canada.
TUESDAY, the 5th of December, was an anxious day in
Toronto. The alarm of the previous night had called to
:ms all the able-bodied men that could be mustered.
?here were young men of the town who had belonged to a
:ifle company that Col. FitzGibbon had organized, and was
the habit of drilling twice a week during the summer
lonths for the past three years. This he did to encourage
le young men to bear themselves in correct military style,
accustom them to discipline and the use of arms. The
jompany numbered seventy. Col. FitzGibbon could always
jly on these men, who had the greatest affection for him,
and would at any time follow where he led. It was one
306 REBELLION OF 1837.
of these young men that he had sent to ring the College
bell to give the alarm of the approach of the rebels. That
young man was John Hillyard Cameron.
Col. FitzGibbon in the afternoon of the 4th December,
had asked six of his rifle corps to meet him in the evening
at his room in the Government buildings. This he did to
have them at hand in case of an emergency. He was an
agreeable entertainer and made every one happy around
him, but it was not for entertainment they met then, but
because he had a most lively sense of the importance of
showing a bold front in case of the rebels getting into the
city. He entertained them by engaging in a game of chess.
When Mr. Powell arrived in the city and reported to Fitz-
Gibbon, he related how he had been taken prisoner and
escaped, and the danger there was of an immediate attack on
the city, Col. FitzGibbon set these men of his rifle corps to
guard Government House and offices. The guard consisted
of J. H. Hagarty (now Chief Justice), Thomas Gait (now Sir
Thomas Gait), Ferguson Blair, John Hillyard Cameron,
Thomas Hector and Walter McKenzie. They were in fact
the Governor's body guard, and for the time being he had
no other. Orders were given to batten and loophole the
windows of Government House and the Secretary's office on
the corner of King and Simcoe Streets, and to make them
as defensible as possible. This was a new kind of work
for these members of the rifle corps, most of whom were
law students, to be engaged in, but they obeyed orders and
did their duty. The Governor had to realize the situation,
and after giving orders that his plate should be buried in
SIR F. B. HEAD REALIZES SITUATION. 307
the Government House grounds, a service which Mr.
Alexander, his coachman (now an Usher of the Court at
Osgoode Hall), duly executed, and giving orders that his
family should seek refuge on a steamer on the bay, he
left his comfortable quarters on this December night and
accompanied Col. FitzGibbon to the City Hall, the only
headquarters in the city. It was here that the arms and
ammunition were stored, and it, above all other places,
required protection. In the meantime Judge Jones, who
had been awakened an hour before and had become aware
of the threatened danger, had formed a picket and marched
it out to the toll-bar on Yonge Street. As for Col. Fitz-
ribbon, he spent the night in arming and organizing the
citizens. By sunrise on Tuesday morning, the citizens, who
had been roused from their slumber, were formed in'platoons
the market-square, with one gun, a six-pounder, mounted
and loaded in front of the City Hall.
In a letter written by the Kev. William Eyerson to his
ther, the Eev. Egerton Kyerson, on the 5th December,
1837, he described something of the night previous
and the appearance of affairs in the early morning.
He said :
" Last night about twelve or one o'clock the bells rang with great
violence ; we all thought it was the alarm of fire, but being unable to
any light we thought it was a false alarm, and we remained quiet
until this morning, when visiting the market-place I found a large num-
ber of persons serving out arms to others as fast as they possibly could.
Among others we saw the Lieutenant-Governor in his every day suit,
with one double-barreled gun in his hand, another leaning against his
21
308 REBELLION OF 1837.
breast, and a brace of pistols in his leathern belt. Also Chief Justice
Robinson, Judges Macaulay, Jones and McLean, the Attorney- General
and Solicitor-General, with their muskets, cartridge boxes and
bayonets, all standing in ranks as private soldiers, under the command
of Col. FitzGibbon."
By 10 o'clock on Tuesday morning as many as three
hundred men had assembled in the City Hall, to take
part in defending the city, or to march out to meet the
rebels, whichever course might be determined on. Col.
FitzGibbon would have taken out men with the six-
pounder gun and met the enemy if he had not been pre-
vented doing so by the Governor. When he suggested
this being done to Sir Francis, Sir Francis replied, " No,
sir, I will not fight them on their ground, they must fight
me on mine." If Col. FitzGibbon had had his way he
would liave dispersed the rebels without doubt, or cap-
tured them, as he did the Americans at the Beaver Dam
in the war of 1812.
Sir Francis, though not a military man, thought he
knew more than the experienced soldier, and thus the
chance of taking Mackenzie was lost. Tuesday was spent
in making further preparation for the defence of the city.
The picket posted by Judge Jones had been withdrawn in
the morning, and as the evening approached Col. Fitz-
Gibbon undertook to form another to mount guard during
the night. This also the Lieutenant-Governor prevented.
When FitzGibbon urged, not only the importance, but
the absolute necessity of not leaving the road open and
unguarded, Sir Francis refused, saying : " We have not
ENCOUNTER OF PICKET WITH REBELS. 309
men enough to defend the city. Let us defend our posts,
and it is my positive order that you do not leave this
building (the City Hall) yourself." FitzGibbon deter-
mined to have his own way this time. Without the
knowledge of the Governor he formed his picket of about
thirty men, placed them under the command of Sheriff
Jarvis, marched them out and posted them himself at -a
convenient spot, which is now the corner of Yonge and
McGill Streets. To prove the necessity of the picket,
they had not been in position more than an hour when
the rebels, eight hundred strong, under Mackenzie and
Lount, marched down Yonge Street, two hundred men
armed with rifles being in the advance. As* soon as the
advance came opposite the picket, the picket fired a
volley from both sides of the road. The. rebels were
irown into a panic. The Lloydtown pikemen raised
cry "We shall all be killed," threw down their
>ikes, and retreated toward the main body at the toll-
leaving several dead upon the road side. The
ittack of the picket was so sudden and unexpected
that the rebels, who thought to take the city with-
out a shot, fled precipitately to the north. The ad-
itage gained by the driving back of this rebel
irty was important. The following day it was ascer-
tained that they had been sent into the city to fire it
in many places, to distract the small body of defenders,
id to leave the road open for the main body of rebels
to make triumphant entry into the Capital of the Province.
310 REBELLION OF 1837
Sir Francis Head must have felt on this Tuesday,
the 5th of December, that he' had not sufficient men
to cope with the rebels, if they had been bold enough
to make an attack in force on the city that day. To
gain time for more men to come to his rescue, he,
in the forenoon of that day, sent a flag of truce to
the rebel camp, asking what it was they wanted.
Mr. Mackenzie replied, " Independence and a Conven-
tion to arrange details." He added that the Lieu-
tenant-Governor's message must be in writing and said
it must be forthcoming in one hour. It must have
been humiliating to the Governor to be thus treated
by the reb*els. It could only have been the neces-
sity of his position that induced the Governor to
deal with the rebels and be bearded for his pains.
The men selected to confer with the rebel chief under
a flag of truce were two prominent men of the Ee-
form party, Mr. Eobert Baldwin and Dr. Eolph. Two
others accompanied them, one of whom bore the flag.
Surely the Governor could not have known that Dr.
Eolph was head of the Eebel Executive, or he wo aid
not have been selected for such a mission. The
case was different with Mr. Baldwin, for he was not
connected with the Executive, or in any way con-
nected with the rising, or in the slightest degree
connected with the rebellion, and, in fact, did not know
that it was proposed to have an armed rebellion. Dr.
Eolph, on the contrary, knew all about it. Silas
THE FLAG OF TRUCE. 311
Fletcher, a prominent actor in the rebellion, and for
whose apprehension a reward of 500 was offered by
the Lieutenant-Governor, on the 20th July, 1840, wrote
to Mr. Mackenzie from Fredonia, New York, that "on
the Saturday previous to the outbreak he had called
to see Dr. Kolph at his house, and asked him, as
he was in the Executive, whether any alteration was
to be made, or ordered by him, as to the time of
rising." The Doctor answered " No, by no means. I
shall expect every man to be active and vigilant, so
as to be able to get up the expedition and come on
the 7th, and take the city. Fletcher further wrote
Mr. Mackenzie, " On the same afternoon (Saturday, the
2nd,) I returned to Newmarket, and met with Thorras
Lloyd and other friends on Sunday, who told me that
Dr. Rolph had sent William Edmonstone on the same
evening I had seen him, with orders to raise a suffi-
cient number of men to come down and take the city
within the next 48 hours, this is by the Monday night."
An incident connected with the nag of truce must not
be passed over. Justice to the memory of all parties
concerned requires that it should not escape observation,
especially as in the discussion of the matter imputations
have been made against some, which a close scrutiny of
the circumstances may explain: It seems that after the
deputation returned to the city and reported to the
Governor that Mr. Mackenzie must have the Governor's
demand in writing, the same parties were sent out again
312 REBELLION OF 1837.
under the flag of truce to inform Mr. Mackenzie that
the Governor could not yield to his counter demand. It
has been asserted that on one of the occasions of the
interview with Mr. Mackenzie, one of the deputation
winked to Mr. Samuel Lount of the rebel party, who
received the deputation, to walk aside, and that he then
requested him not to heed the message but to go on with
the proceedings. Samuel Lount, in his evidence before
the commission on treason on December the 13th, 1837,
put it in this way. He said : " When the flag of truce
came up Dr. Kolph addressed himself to me. There were
two other persons with it besides Dr. Eolph and Mr. Bald-
win. Dr. Eolph said he brought a message from His
Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor to prevent the effusion
of blood, or to that effect. At the same time he gave me
a wink to walk to one side, when he requested me not to
heed the message, but to go on with our proceedings.
What he meant was not to attend to the message. Mac-
kenzie observed to me that it was a verbal message and
that it had better be submitted to writing. I took the reply
to the Lieutenant-Governor's message to be merely a put
off. I heard all that was said by Dr. Rolph to Mr. Mac-
kenzie, which is as above related."
. Lount did not say whether it was on the first or the
second visit that Dr. Rolph said to go on with the pro-
ceedings. Without any information but Lount's statement
it would seem that Lount referred to the first visit, bui
from what was said by Mr. Baldwin before the Commission
THE FLAG OF TRUCE. 313
it would appear that while it might have occurred at the
second, it could not have occurred at the first visit. Mr.
Alves, who was present, said that it was on the second
visit, and P. C. H. Brotherton, another of the insurgents,
made oath to the same effect, on the 12th December, 1837.
Dr. Rolph denied the whole story, and Carmichael, the flag
bearer, some years afterwards swore it was untrue. Rolph
may no doubt have considered that having delivered his
message and received the reply his mission was ended, and
that he was then at liberty to advise the insurgents not to'
relax their preparations for an attack on the city. The
conversation between Dr. Rolph and Lount did not take
place within hearing of Mr. Baldwin, who knew nothing
of the occurrence, if it happened. In the position Dr.
Rolph stood to the rebel party it seems strange that he
should have accepted the mission. The matter created a
good deal of unnecessary controversy then and since. It
is quite clear that Dr. Rolph was in an unfortunate position.
He was no doubt a secret sympathizer of Mackenzie's
rising, and when asked to be a bearer of messages from the
Governor he was put in a doubtful position. Possibly the
Governor selected him and Mr. Baldwin for the very reason
that they had been prominent Reform leaders, and because
he wished to commit them to his own side, and it may be
that Dr. Rolph acted as has been charged merely to show
his friends that he had not deserted them, as they might
well suppose when he came as one of the representatives of
the Governor.
314 REBELLION OF 1837.
On Tuesday the Governor had become alarmed for
the safety of the arms at the City Hall. If the rebels
had fired the city, as they threatened to do, the first
building to go would probably be the City Hall. On
Wednesday the arms were removed to the Parliament
Buildings, which was thought to be a fitter place for their
safe keeping. It was computed that on the afternoon of
Tuesday there were as many as 500 men, young and old,
available for the defence of the city. Perhaps that num-
ber could have been mustered, but they were not all
reliable, for there were in the city certain persons, like
Dr. Bolph, who sympathized with the rebels, but .had not
joined their ranks. If the rebels were to make an on-
slaught on the city, it was thought these men might be
found numbered with the rebel force. All was uncer-
tainty and confusion. It was not until late that night
or in the early Wednesday morning that there was a ray
of light. During the night a steamer moored at the
Queen's wharf, from Hamilton, with " the men of Gore,"
under command of Sir Allan MacNab. What a thrill of
joy passed through the hearts and minds of the people
of the city ! "The men of Gore, the men of Gore," was
the cry everywhere. " We are saved ! " It was now
thought that there were enough reliable men in the city
to withstand any attack the rebels might make. The
number increased all day, recruits coming in from the
country. By night-fall the city was strong enough not
only to stand a siege, but to meet the enemy in the field.
THE MEN OF GORE ARRIVE. 315
No man was more pleased than Col. FitzGibbon at the
arrival of these reinforcements. He had had an anxious
night, expecting every moment to see fire brands applied
by the rebels to the city. There were not sufficient men
enrolled to guard every approach. During the night
word was Tbrought to Col. FitzGibbon that Sir Allan Mac-
Nab had arrived with his sixty men. Turning to the
Governor, the Colonel said : "Now, sir, we are safe till
morning, for with this reinforcement you can guard
every approach to any distance from which we can be
injured." Wednesday was an uneventful day, except for
the coming of fresh arrivals and marshalling them into
some kind of order. The position of the rebels on Wed-
nesday was one demanding sympathy rather than con-
demnation. They had been led into a trap and deter-
mined to get out of it as quickly as possible. They had
relied on getting assistance and support from the city,
but had received none. It was in vain that Mr. Mac-
kenzie assured them that if they would boldly march
into the heart of the city, there six hundred good and
true men would receive them. It was in vain that Mr.
Mackenzie told them that the Government was friendless,
that it had only been able to muster one hundred and
fifty defenders, including the boys of Upper Canada Col-
lege, and that the Lieutenant-Governor's family had
been put on a steamer in the bay, ready to take flight.
The Governor fearing for his family during Monday
night, had, in fact, placed them on board the steamer
316 REBELLION OF 1837.
Transit, anchored in the bay. The rebel force, mostly
made up of farmers, after the repulse by Sheriff Jarvis*
picket felt more like farming than playing at war. The
majority of the army of destruction returned to their
houses. Although an additional force of two hundred
arrived in the rebel camp during Tuesday night, Mac-
kenzie's whole force during Wednesday did not exceed
six hundred men. The force of Loyalists in the city was
about equal, and was constantly increasing by a flow of
vigorous men from the surrounding districts. Dr. Eolph
becoming alarmed for his own safety, thought it prudent
to leave the city. He was a fugitive, making his way
by devious paths to the United States. The main body
of the rebels still hovered about Yorkville, creating
alarm in the neighbourhood, throwing into paroxysms of
fear many delicate women and children, unaccustomed
to see the public roads infested with bands of armed
men. The people of Yorkville were literally between
two fires, the Loyalists to the south and the rebels to
the north. Dr. Home, a prominent man, connected
with the Bank of Upper Canada, lived in Yorkville.
Anything connected with the Bank of Upper Canada,
animate or inanimate, was thought to be fair game by
Mackenzie's band of freebooters. They invaded Dr.
Home's house, demanded food, which was given them,
and as a return set fire to the house and burnt it to
the ground. On this Wednesday Mackenzie and Lount,
and a small body of their men, intercepted the western
REBELS DECIDE TO ATTACK. 317
mail on its arrival at the Peacock Inn on Dundas Street,
seized the mail bags, the horses and their drivers, and
landed them and the passengers, who were made
prisoners of war, at the Montgomery rendezvous. Pri-
vate letters in the mail bags were opened, money
abstracted and general appropriation made of the con-
tents. So much for Wednesday's work. But the day
of retribution was at hand. That night, after consulta-
tion with Col. FitzGibbon, the Governor decided that the
rebels should be attacked the next day.
By this time Col. Van Egmond had arrived in the rebel
camp and a council of war was held, and some sort of
arrangement made to direct the operations of the greatly
diminished band. When he arrived in camp he had but
a few followers. He would have had many more
had not the day of rising been changed to suit the caprice
of Dr. Kolph. The change of day had enabled the Loyal-
ists to muster to meet the malcontents, and not only
that, but the assembling of the Loyalists was a warning to
many of the rebels that they would meet with stout
opposition.
Van Egmond, after a survey of the situation, deter-
mined on a plan of action, which if successfully carried
out, might still enable the rebels to sack Toronto. Thursday
was the original day fixed for the attack on the city. One
man had promised to bring down to Van Egmond a force
of five hundred and fifty men. These and many
others were on their way to his reinforcement, and he
318 REBELLION OF 1837.
had hopes that they would arrive during the day. His
policy then was to delay his attack till after night-fall, and
in the meantime to occupy the Volunteer Militia by a
demonstration, thus creating a panic amongst the
men in the town. To accomplish this he despatched
sixty of his men to the Don Bridge, which formed
the eastern connection with the city, with orders to
destroy it. By setting the bridge and the adjoining
houses on fire it was thought the Loyalist force might
be drawn off by this pretended flank attack in that
direction, and their centre being exposed, he, with the
remainder of his force, would march into the city and
take it.
Van Egmond's plan was a good one, if it had been put
in operation early in the morning; but unfortunately
for the rebels there was a delay of two hours occasioned
by the holding of the council of war and in patching up
some differences that had arisen among them as to the
plan of campaign. This delay gave the Loyalists in the
town the advantage of forestalling the rebel leader by
forming for an attack on the enemy's camp. On Wed-
nesday night, after some vacillation on the part of Sir
Francis Head as to whom should be confided the honour
of leading the Volunteer Militia troops, it was finally
settled that Col. FitzGibbon, the Adjutant-General,
should have the chief command. Col. FitzGibbon at once
gave out an order of distribution of forces for an attack
on the rebel camp.
VOLUNTEERS' PLAN OF ATT A CK. 319
The following is his memorandum made for this pur-
pose :
December 7th, 1837.
ROUGH SKETCH OF DISTRIBUTION FOR THE ATTACK THIS MORNING.
Col. MacNab.
Lieutenant Nash 1st Company Advance Guard.
Coppinge 2nd "
" Garrett 3rd " "
Major Draper.
Henry Sherwood.
Two Guns.
Capt. William Jarvis 1st Company Battalion.
" Campbell 2nd "
" Nation 3rd
" Taylor 4th
" John Powell 5th
Henry Sherwood 6th "
Henry Draper ...7th "
Donald Bethune 8th "
Col. Samuel McLean Lieutenant Cox to aid.
Lieut.-Col. Geo. Duggan.
Major John Gamble.
Judge Macaulay.
Col. McLean.
Col. Jones For the Left Battalion.
Col. John Macaulay.
Uapt. Macaulay.
Capt. Durnford.
Artillery.
Capt. Mathias.
Major Carfrae.
Capt. Leckie.
320 REBELLION OF 1837.
Dragoons.
Three companies in front.
One gun, Major Carfrae.
Four companies,
The Men of Gore, under Col. MacNab.
One gun.
Four companies,
Right flank under Col. S. Jarvis.
One company Men of Scarborough in the woods with Col.
McLean (Allen).
Left flank under Col. McLean (Archibald).
Two companies under Col. Jones.
When.all jjgfl.fl read^_jdii&b-w^-^bbout-JiQDii. of Thurs-
day, theJ7th December, and before- Van Edmond!s_artj of
sixty men,_sent to firg_the Don bridge, could reach their
dpatinfl.firm^jjTg Tnnin hnrly-Qf jhg ..militia,, under the__ direc-
tion of Col. FitzGibbon, Col. MacNab (afterwards Sir Allan
MacNab) second in command, the right wing commanded
by dol?~K^Jarvis and the left ^by ^oj^ Wm. Chisholm,
asslsfeT^Mr^JjiRt.iV.ft McT.Pa.n, marched up_Yonge Street
with drums beating and flags flying to attack the rebels.
It was a beautiful summer-like day when the body of nine
hundred Loyalists marched out of the city. The writer of
this narrative remembers the day and tke" scene, having
witnessed it. The ^un_gjioue^ith brilliancy and warmth,
as on an April day, notwithstanding a passing cloud sent
down some wandering flakes of snow. The men, with but
little attempt at military neatness of uniform, marched in
column, their bayonets glistening in the sun ; all seemed
bent on one purpose, to crush the sedition. The step and
mien of the men inspired confidence. The few people left
THE AFFAIR AT MONTGOMERY'S. 321
in the town felt relieved, as they saw the militia vanishing
in the distance to disperse the rebel bands that had been
hovering round the town for the past four days and
nights.
The happiness of the town's people was soon, however,
interrupted by the news reaching the town that the Don
bridge was on fire. Van Egmond's men were attiLeir
work, but it was too late to recall the troops who were
already on their way to dislodge the misguided men_ as-
sembled" at Montgomery's underthe flags of Mackenzie
and Van Egmond. When the detachment of rebels had
set fire" to the Don bridge, theyTJeat a sudden^ retreat, and
the fire was pj^^ujTby Loyalists in the neighbourhood.
When the volunteer militia, marching up Yonge Street
at about one o'clock, came in sight of Mackenzie's men,
posted on "Gallows Hill," near Montgomery's, they im-
mediately began thejittack. The rebelswhpjvvere inferior
in numT^rlioThe attackingjjody then not numbering more_^
than five hundred saw a body of mer superior in numbers,
well armed and supplied^_with_arJtillery, in front_pJLih-em ;
they began to realize that the spirit of loyalty wasdominant
after all. The Loyalists at the word of command fired
volley after volley of muskets into the rebel jrankg. The
two pieces of artillery that the militia had with them were
skilfully managed, the rebels were but indifferently armed,
some had rifles, some muskets, and some pikes. With such
odds against them, the insurgents had to give way, and
fled from the field, leaving thirty-six dead and three wounded
behind them.
322 REBELLION OF 1837.
I have never been able to learn that any of the
Loyalists were killed. Mackenzie, however, after the
disaster, wrote of the battle and of the gallant deeds of
his fellow-rebels in hTs usual turgid style7~" Never," he
said, " never did men fight more courageously. In the
face uf a heavy fire of grape and canister, with broadside
following broadside of musketry in steady and rapid suc-
cession, they stood their^_ground firmly and killed and
wounded a large numberj)f the enemy^ but jit_lengthjwere
compelled to retreat." The engagement was a short one,
but sufficient for the time being, at least, to cool the ardour
of the men of York and to throw the responsibility for any
further action in the way of insurrection upon the discon-
tented outside of the Home District. By the Governor's
orders Montgomery's house was set on fire and burnt to
the ground. He also, in spite of the protests of Col. Fitz-
Gibbon, ordered the burning of Gibson's house, two miles
up the road from Montgomery's.
The affair at Montgomery's is sometimes called the
battle ofJl(iaJlas-Sii^
Immediately after the defeat of the insurgents, the
Lieutenant-Governor, who had witnessed the engagement,
returned to the town with the victors and at once issued a
proclamation offering a reward of one thousand pounds to
anyone who would apprehend and deliver up to justice
William Lyon Mackenzie, and five hundred pounds to
anyone who would apprehend and deliver up to
justice David Gibson, Samuel Lount, Jesse Lloyd, or Silas
Fletcher. The proclamation concluded : " The party of
MACKENZIE ESCAPES.
3-23
rebels, under the chief leaders, is wholly dispersed and
flying before the loyal militia. The only thing to be done
is to find them and arrest them." It was not so easy a
matter to find and arrest Mackenzie. As soon as he saw
his cause lost and the rebels dispersing in all directions, he
mounted the fleetest horse to be found, and outriding his
pursuers, made his way to the head of Lake Ontario, and
thence through the Niagara district to Buffalo. The
tempting reward of one thousand pounds set numerous
parties, armed and unarmed, on his trail ; his escape was
miraculous. He was several days getting to the frontier,
crossing streams barefooted, his horse having given out ;
wandering through woods, hiding in hay-ricks, sometimes
in the house of friends, at other times in the house of
enemies, still no one seemed desirous of preventing his
escape. He had almost as many adventures as Prince
Charlie in his wanderings and in the protection he received
everywhere. Indeed, he received such friendship from
Canadians of all classes and creeds that some years after-
wards in narrating his escape he felt compelled to say :
" Why should such a people, as I tried and proved in
those days, ever know hardship, or suffer from foreign or
domestic misrule."
The two leaders of the Canada rebellion, Papineau
md Mackenzie, being refugees in a foreign country, it now
fell to the lot of their friends and accomplices in revolt
to continue the struggle, if it were to be continued. About
Bighteen miles to the northwest of Montreal, in the County
)f Two Mountains, lies the village and parish of St.
324 REBELLION OF 1837.
Eustache. This place was a hotbed of rebellion. After
the defeat of the insurgents at St. Charles, on the 25th
day of November, and the triumphant return of the troops
to Montreal, there was comparative quiet in the Province
of Lower Canada. There were some insurrectionary
demonstrations near the American frontier, but of no
account. A party of sympathizers, coming to the aid of
the Canadians in rebellion from the United States, were
captured or dispersed at Four Corners, near Lake Cham-
plain. The major spirit of rebellion left Lower Canada
after St. Charles and took up its abode in Upper Canada,
in the district around Toronto. We have seen how it fared
at Gallows Hill on the 7th December. Its hydra head
was, however, again raised at St. Eustache on the 14th
day of December following. The people of that parish,
headed by Dr. Chenier, a respectable and wealthy resident
of the place, formed an insurgent body in the district, stole
arms from the Indians of the Indian village and repaired
to the village of St. Eustache. They seized upon the
Convent there and turned it into a block house. The
parish priest, M. Paquin, appealed to Chenier to abandon
the rebellious enterprise of rebellion, and at the instance of
Monsieur Paquin some rebels returned to their homes,
but their places were filled by others from the neighbouring
parish of Grand Brule. Being joined by these new recruits
the Chenier rebels engaged in all sorts of disorder, terrify-
ing the people of the whole district.
The following is a free translation of what Carrier in
his " Les Evenements de 1837-1838" says about these
ST. EUSTACHE. 325
disorders. He says : " The rebels then were under com-
mand of Dr. Chenier and a Swiss, a stranger in the
country, named Amury Girod. They had seized by force
from the Indians of Two Mountains their guns (muskets)
and two cannon. They were joined by a large number
of insurgents of St. Scholastique, St. Benoit, and had
marched towards St. Eustache. The cure of St. Eustache,
M. Paquin, M. Scott, M.P., one of the principal inhabitants
of the country of Two Mountains, and M. Decelles, vicar
of M. Paquin, tried to induce the peasants to promise to
return to their homes, which most of them did. But others
coming in great numbers from Grand Brule, from St.
Martin, and even from St. Laurent, replaced them, so that
by the 29th November there were from 400 to 800 rebels
in the parish of St. Eustache living by extortion, to the
great damage of the merchants and farmers. The insur-
mts, says M. Paquin, made pillage their principal occupa-
m ; they went over all the farms, and by leave or by force
ried contribution of all those who would not join them,
id carried off cattle, horses and carriages. The greater
>art of these soldiers of the new form of religion acknow-
Iged no law but their own, stole liquors from the
lerchant stores and were drunk day and night. Often
content only with stealing liquors, they removed goods
id all that they could lay hands on, and when drunk
rossly insulted the peaceably disposed. The chiefs, and
>ve all Girod, were as bad as the rest ; in this way they
attached a great number of persons to their camp, who
went there for the good things it afforded; for to protect
326 REBELLION OF 1837.
St. Eustache they gorged themselves with eating and
drinking and the soldiers clothed and shod themselves by
pillage. Beyond all other advantages, their chiefs offered
to their soldiers the choice of the best lands, with absolu-
tion from tithes and seigniorial rents. These promises
and the life led in the camp attracted a great number, and
nearly all St. Eustache was in active insurrection.
'" A great many were taken to camp by force. When
the inhabitants refused their behests they threatened them
with pillage, to burn their properties, and even to kill them.
More than once these menaces were put into execution.
Many people who refused saw their houses sacked, the
insurgents went so far as sometimes to fire 'on them."
It was necessary that the rebellion should be crushed
out in this quarter, and Sir John Colborne undertook the
task. What he did is narrated by Capt. Beauclerk, whose
statements of the affair of St. Denis and St. Charles have
already been given. Here is Capt. Beauclerk's account of
the battle of St. Eustache :
' ' OPERATION AGAINST ST. EUSTACHE AND ST. BENOIT.
" Tranquillity having been restored on the Richelieu, and Mont-
real having been put in a state of defence by fortifying the houses and
erecting temporary bulwarks at every avenue leading to the city, Sir
John Colborne determined upon attacking the village of St. Eustache
on the Du Chene River, in the populous and disturbed district of
Grand Brule, where the rebels had taken up a position. For this
purpose the General mustered all his force amounting to 1.500 men,
commanded by the Hon. Col. Maitland, consisting of the 32nd and
83rd Regiments, and the second under Col. Wetherall of the Royals,
the Montreal Rifles, a large party of Cavalry and Volunteers, one corps
of which was named after the Commander, 'The Globenski Corps.'
With this force Sir J. Colborne left Montreal on the morning of the
MILITARY ATTACK REBELS. 327
13th Dec. The ground was covered with snow, which rendered it
necessary to follow a beaten track, scarcely wide enough to admit of
two to walk abreast. To lessen, therefore, the tediousness of the
march, the brigades pursued different routes, but halted together at
night, at the village of St. Marline's, making a distance of twelve
miles. The following day the march was resumed and a rendezvous
appointed within six miles of St. Eustache. The bridges had been
destroyed, but sufficiently repaired by a party that preceded us, to
admit of the uninterrupted progress of the troops, but an insurmount-
able obstacle at last presented itself. Our scouts reported that the
ice in front of the village, and for some distance on both sides, was
broken along the shore, and thus rendered impassable for the troops.
" The Globenski Corps, as being well acquainted with the line of
country, was therefore detached from the 2nd Brigade to reconnoitre
along the direct road to the village and at the same time to carry any
out-posts they might fall in with. The main bcdy by diverging to the
right, and assisted by the Infantry, by cutting a road for the guns,
now mounted on sledges, made the river about six miles below St.
Eustache, not far from St. Rose, and having crossed over from Isle
Jesus, proceeded to the village. The passage of the river proved to so
large a body hazardous in the extreme, in consequence of the unsound-
ness of the ice, and as a precautionary measure the horses were
detached from the guns and ammunition sledges, which were dragged
hand and the troops dispersed in every direction, to avoid the
inger, which must otherwise have arisen, from the accumulated
reight of parties congregating together. Nevertheless the ice gave
fay beneath several horses and a gun, but the water being shallow
id shore near at hand, they were recovered. On the appearance of
large a force many of the rebels were seen retreating from the
village, and, as appeared from their movements, were taking their
cannon with them. Our Artillery immediately opened fire upon them,
and when no longer within range turned upon the village and bom-
irded the church, the fortress of the rebels. Congreve rockets were
at first fired, but laid aside, for one in its progress struck a rail,
reverted upon the troops and exploded within a few feet of the General,
fortunately without doing any injury. Col. Maitland's Brigade by
this time had seized the brigades and store-houses in rear of the
village, while Col. Weatherall, after a most tedious detour through
fields three feet deep in snow, held a position in front of the church,
protected by a turn in the street.
328 REBELLION OF 1837.
" To cover the Artillery, now attempting a breach in the church,
two companies of the Royals, who occupied the surrounding houses,
kept up an incessant fire at the windows of that edifice ; nevertheless
many artillerymen were wounded, and little or no impression was
made upon the building.
" Sir John Colborne now despatched a party of troops to recon-
noitre. A house was fired by them, from which a dense smoke arose,
and from its position immediately to the right and a little in front of
the church, being to windward, hid it entirely from view. So favour-
able an opportunity for storming the church did not escape the
practiced eye of our veteran General.
" The assembly was sounded and an order given, fix bayonets
and advance at double, a manoeuvre so promptly executed and on the
part of the enemy so unexpectedly undertaken that the troops were
under the walls and effected an entrance almost as soon as the besieged
became acquainted with the movement. The rebels were found
stationed in the gallery still defending themselves, and having cut
away the staircase, every attempt to dislodge them for awhile proved
utterly fruitless, but on a sudden the church was in flames and on the
part of the rebels all was lost. The unfortunate and misguided
people were then to be seen dispersing in every direction, few escaped.
One hundred and twenty were made prisoners, but the estimated loss
in killed and wounded was great. A large force, while retreating, was
intercepted by the rear guard and the Globenski Corps proved a very
efficient body.
"Col. Gugy of the Volunteers, a British subject of foreign
extraction, also distinguished himself, as being the first man to enter
the church, and in the attempt was severely wounded in the neck.
This officer, moreover, from his perfect knowledge of the people and
country, had rendered assistance in the military operations on the
Richelieu. As at St. Charles, two of the rebel leaders, Girod and
Pelletier, on the first appearance of the troops made their escape,
under the pretence of procuring reinforcements, but the leader Dr.
Chenier was among the slain. Besides the church, the nunnery and
presbytery, as well as several houses adjacent, occupied by rebels,
were destroyed, but the destructive element spreading far and wide,
extended during the night even to the quarters of the troops, nor
could it be arrested, although the military were ordered out, until
about sixty houses were burnt to the ground. The effect of this
ST. BENOIT DESTROYED. 329
general conflagration was considerably heightened by the temperature,
then below zero, and the scene altogether was most brilliant.
"It may, at firsc sight, seem surprising, that such precaution
should have been taken in the attack of a place defended by a force
very inferior both in number and discipline, but considering the hand-
ful of troops then in Canada, the impossibility of increasing that force,
since the navigation had closed, the extent of country and the impos-
sibility of ascertaining the strength of the rebel force, the importance
of not unnecessarily risking a single life, will, even though humanity
were out of the question, be duly appreciated.
' ' December the 15th we were again under arms marching against
St. Benoit. The Brigade had proceeded but a short distance, when
a party of men advanced, bearing a flag of truce and demanded a parley.
This Sir John refused and immediately made them prisoners, but the
houses along our route having flags of truce suspended, met with respect,
and such was universally the case. With the exception of the dwelling
of a Scotch farmer and loyal subject, around which a stone wall was
built by the rebels as a defence, no hostile appearance was discovered."
At St. Benoit the troops were received by the habitants
bearing flags of truce, drawn up in line in front of the
house of Girouard, one of the chief promoters of the
rebellion. They surrendered unconditionally. Here the
rebels displayed great cunning, for as positions of defence
those supplicants had hitherto sought only those villages
favourable to Government, but the horrors of war no sooner
threatened their own homes than they endeavoured with
the utmost diligence to avoid that devastation of which,
when it affected the lives and property of others, they
were utterly regardless. St. Benoit was nevertheless
destroyed by fire, the extreme violence of its inhabitants
in all the outrages of the rebellion, rendering this severe
measure of retributive justice absolutely necessary. The
General, however, had no intelligence of this event until
330 . REBELLION OF 1837.
after it transpired, nor were the perpetrators ever discov-
ered. Thus by a decisive blow was the rebellion in Canada
East to all appearance quelled, when Sir John returned
to Montreal, followed by the Royals and 83rd. The
remainder of the force under Col. Maitland advanced
against St. Scholastique, but the villagers, like their neigh-
bours of St. Benoit, having submitted to the will of Gov-
ernment, the Colonel returned to headquarters by St.
Therese.
The French account of the Battle of St. Eustache in
the main agrees with that of Capt. Beauclerk, though suffi-
cient credit is not given in the military account of the
battle to the valour displayed by Dr. Chenier. He was
conspicuous for his bravery and daring during the whole
siege. Before the conflict began, when M. Paquin, the
parish priest, and others placed before him the danger
he was bringing on himself and his followers by resisting
the Queen's troops, he said that as for himself he disre-
garded the danger, " that lie intended to die with arms
in his hands." His purpose was fulfilled. When the
church was set on fire, he, with arms in his hands, accom-
panied by seventy or eighty of his men who were in the
church, sought to make a retreat through a small door
in the rear of the church leading to the cemetery, where
he fell and expired in the midst of the graves of those
who had gone before. His compatriots, recognizing his
worth and the sacrifices he made for them in the rebellion,
have erected a statue to his memory in which he is rep-
resented standing, wearing the traditional French-Canadian
PROPERTY DESTROYED BY MILITARY. 331
sash, in which is a huge horse pistol, and a powder-horn
hangs at his side.
Carrier says that one hundred French-Canadians were
killed in the Battle of St. Eustache, and one hundred and
five wounded. The French account seeks to throw dis-
credit on the troops for the burning of houses and other
property that took place after the Battle of St. Eustache.
Captain Beauclerk, in his statement, explains that the
extreme violence of the inhabitants in all the overt acts
of the rebellion rendered this severe measure of retributive
justice absolutely necessary. It has been generally sup-
posed that these acts of retributive justice were committed
by volunteers who had been subjected to most brutal treat-
ment by the rebels. Carrier's account of the disorders
shows this. Besides, there was the death of Lieut. Weir
to avenge. His killing was regarded, by the volunteers
and regulars alike; as an act of perfidious treachery.
Sir John Colborne, the commander of the forces, had
no knowledge of the destruction of property by the troops,
either regulars or volunteers, till after it was committed.
There is not the least reason for saying that the escutcheon
of the British soldier was in any way tarnished by what took
place after St. Eustache, as it is only what often occurs
in war when the enemy is driven from their stronghold.
The soldiers and volunteer militia, some of whom were
French-Canadians, did their whole duty in overthrowing
the rebels, and will ever deserve the thanks of the loyal
R people of Canada for the part they took in putting down
;he rebellion.
CHAPTER XV.
Bishop of Montreal Deplores the Rebellion and Its Result Sends
Out Circular to his Flock Bishop of Quebec Gives Thanks
that his Diocese Not in Rebellion American Sympathizers
Meeting in Buffalo Rochester Follows' Buffalo Doughty Deeds
in Contemplation Mackenzie Occupies Navy Island Pro-
visional Government for Canada Formed Van Rensselaer
Commander-in-Chief Proclamation to Inhabitants of Upper
Canada Loyalists at Chippewa, Sir Allan MacNab in Com-
mandOperations Before Navy Island Burning of the Steamer
Caroline Evacuation of Navy Island" Bois Blanc " Island
at Mouth of Detroit River Gen. Sutherland's Army of Inva-
sion Occupies Sutherland's Proclamation Dr. Duncombe and
Rebel Rising at Brantford and Scotland Dispersed by MacNab
Sutherland's Failure at Bois Blanc Sugar Island Van Rens-
selaer Occupies Hickory Island in St. Lawrence Rebels and
Sympathizers Occupy Pelee Island, Detroit River Invaders
Attacked by British Troops and Dispersed Projected Attack on
Windsor and Fort Maiden Short Hills Hunter's Lodges
Prescott, the Battle of the Windmill Van Shultz.
AFTEK a storrn there comes a calm. The affairs of St.
Eustache and St. Benoit served to convince the rebellious
French- Canadians, for a time at least, that the better
way for them would have been to listen to their spiritual
pastors and masters rather than to agitators, who deserted
them in time of trial. The Bishop of Montreal took advan-
tage of the occasion to address a circular in which he said,
" What misery, what desolation, have overspread many of
the fairest fields since the demon of war has been let
ADDRESS OF BISHOPS OF MONTREAL AND QUEBEC. 333
loose upon our beautiful and, till lately, happy "country,
wherein abundance and content reigned erewhile with order
and security, until brigands and rebels, by means of
sophistry and lies, misled a part of the people of this
diocese. How now about the fine promises made of the
wonderful things they would do for you ? Was it the
controlling spirit of a numerical majority of the people of
this country, who according to the insurgents ought to
have sway in all things, that directed their military opera-
tions ? Did you find yourselves in a condition of greater
freedom than before, while exposed to all sorts of vexations,
thraatened with fire raisings, loss of goods, deprivation of
ven life itself, if you did not submit to the frightful
despotism of those insurgents, who* by violent, not per-
suasive means, caused more than a moiety of all the dupes
they had to take up arms against the victorious armies of
our Sovereign?."
Inasmuch as the rebellion in Lower Canada was confined
to a portion of the district of Montreal, and that notexceeding
a circuit of thirty miles around the city of Montreal, the
Bishop of Quebec gave thanks that his flock had listened to
his admonitions and had abstained from taking up arms
against lawful authority. He said : " For ourselves,
during the disasters of which some parts of this Province
have been the theatre, we have, in imitation of Moses,
implored the Lord not to abandon His people in their
extremity, and now we have the happiness to see, as well
as yourselves, that God in His loving kindness listened to
our humble supplications."
334 REBELLION OF 1837.
The case was different in Upper Canada. Mackenzie on
reaching the land of the Stars and Stripes found plenty of
sympathizers, who received him with open arms. Even_
while he was operating in the vicinity of Toronto he had
on the 6th December, 1837, from his camp at Montgomery's,
addressed a letter to the Buffalo ff#prm,explammg thj?
ajtempt he was making to secure the independence of
Upper Canada, and soliciting aid for his enterprise. In
this respect Mackenzie did not stand on so high a plane
as Daniel O'Connell when battling for the independence of
Ireland. O'Connell while anxious to secure the liberty of
his country was ever ready to resent any attempt at foreign
interference either in the way of arms or money. Mac-
kenzie would have been glad to have had both.
On the llth December a public meeting was held in
Buffalo, the largest ever to that time held in that city,
inviting assistance for the promoters of rebellion in Canada.
The meeting broke up with cheers for Mackenzie, PapineaiT~
and Rolph. On the 12th December another meeting was
held at which Mackenzie was present. At this meeting^
one Thomas Jefferson Sutherland offered his services as
a volunteer to help the people of Canada to get rifl of the
" baneful domination of the Mother Country," as Mr. .
Hume was pleased to term it. Another American patriot-
requested a contribution of arms and ammunition to be
sent to the Eagle tavern in Buffalo, for the benefit of the
downtrodden people of Canada. That these meetings were
composed mostly of ^risj^jjgjjeans ^jgoes without saying.
Mr. Thomas Jefferson Sutherland got 97 of the citizens
THE NA VY ISLAND REPUBLIC. 335
of Buffalo to sign a document, himself heading the list of
names attached, of which the following is a copy : " We,
the youngjnen ; residents of the City of Buffalo, whose jaames
are hereunto subscribed, pledge to each other our mutual
support and co-operation for the commendable purpose of
aiding and assisting our Canadian brethren in their present
struggle for liberty and those principles which have given
to the world that Asylum which we have the honour of
calling our home, and which pronounces to mankind the
sacred dogma of equality."
" That Asylum which we have the honour of calling
our home." That was it. Declared enemies of the United
Kingdom, who hadbeen given an asylum in the United
States,, aiding and abetting rebels in Canada in destroying
the happy relations which existed between the Colony and
the Empire. Eochester, another New York state town, fol-
lowed the lead of Buffalo, beating drums, arming men, fur-
nishing arms and inciting people to hasten to deliver
Canada from the yoke of British tyranny.
Mackenzie, encouraged by the demonstrations in Buffalo
and Rochester, took possession of Navy Island, about two
miles above Niagara Falls on the Canadian side of the
national boundary. When Mr. Mackenzie appropriated to
himself this small piece of Canadian territory he had with
him a gentleman of martial mien, whom Mackenzie had
appointed Commander-in-Chief of the army, not exactly of
the Republic, but of republicans and Cana,dian--fabela,^con-
sorting together for the conquest Df. .Canada. Mr. Mac-
kenzie's General-Commander-in-Chief was MrTYan Rens-
336 REBELLION OF 1837.
selaer__of_J3nfffl1n- The name of Van Kensselaer was not
unfamiliar to Canadians in connection with Queenston
Heights and the war of 1812. Mr. Mackenzie and his
General had only twenty-four men when they landed on
Navy Island. They had heen promised two hundre'd and
fifty men, two pieces of artillery and some four hundred
and fifty stand of arms, besides meat and drink in abund-
ance to start with. It disheartened Mackenzie when he
found his army of invasion reduced to twenty-four. So far
he had been duped by his American friends. Still Mr.
Mackenzie was not to be baulked. Jie,Jiad set out to pull-
down thpJJ2YgrnTnfinj:__nf_f!q.Tiai1a. j fl.nd this VIP, did nnt. ypj^
despair of doing. __Hia_firt_act on taking possession of the
Island was to formally establish a so-called Provisional
Government for Upper Canada.
The Provisional Government composed of Canadian
refugees having been duly established, the next step was,
after the fashion of Hull and the Van Eensselaer of 1812, to
issue a Proclamation calling on the people of Upper Canada
to throw off their allegiance. Here is the Proclamation :
" INHABITANTS OK UPPER CANADA ! !
"For nearly fifty years has our country languished under the
blighting influence of military despots, strangers from Europe, ruling
us, not according to laws of our choice, but by the capricious dictates
of their arbitrary power.
" They have taxgd_us at their pleasure, robbed our exchequer,
and carried off the proceeds to other lauds, they" have bribed and
corrupted ministers of the Gospel with the wealth raised by our in-
dustry ; they have, in place of religious liberty, given rectories and
clergy reserves to a foreign priesthood, with spiritual power dangerous
to our peace as a people ; they have bestowed millions of our lands on
PROCLA MA TION FROM NA VY ISLAND. 337
a company for a nominal consideration, and left them to fleece and
impoverish our country ; they have spurned our petitions, involved us
in their wars, excited feelings of national and sectional animosity in
counties, townships and neighbourhoods, and ruled us, as Ireland has
been ruled, to the advantage of persons in other lands, and to the
prostration of our energies as a people.
" We are wearied of these oppressions, and resolved to throw oft
the yoke. Rise, Canadians ! Rise as one man, and the glorious
object of our wishes is accomplished.
' ' Our intentions have been clearly stated to the world in the
Declaration of Independence, adopted at Toronto on the 31st of July
last, printed in the Constitution, Correspondent and Advocate and the
Liberal, which important paper was drawn up by Dr. John Rolph and
myself, signed by the Central Committee, received the sanction of a
large majority of the people of the Province, west of Port Hope and
Cobourg, and is well known to be in accordance with the feelings
and sentiments of nine-tenths of the people of this state.
" We have planted the standard of liberty in Canada, for the
attainment of the following objects :
" P^rjjetual peace, founded on a government of equal rights to
all, secured by a written constitution, sanctioned by yourselves in a
convention to be called as early as circumstances will permit.
' ' Civil and religious liberty in its fullest extent, that in all laws
made, or to be made, every person be bound alike, neither shall any
tenure, estate, charter, birth, or place, confer any exemption from the
ordinary course of legal proceedings and responsibilities whereunto
others are subjected.
' ' The abolition of hereditary honours, of the laws of entail and
primogeniture, and hosts of pensioners who devour our substance.
" A Legislature, composed of a Senate and Assembly chosen by
the people.
' ' An Executive, to be composed of a Governor and other officers
elected by the public voice.
" A judiciary, to be chosen by the Governor and Senate, and
composed of the most learned, honourable and trustworthy of our
citizens. The laws to be rendered cheap and expeditious.
" A free trial by jury, sheriffs chosen by you, and not to hold
office as now at the pleasure of our tyrants. The freedom of the
338 REBELLION OF 1837.
press. Alas for it, now. The free presses in the Canadas are
trampled down by the hand of arbitrary power.
" The vote by ballot, free and peaceful township elections.
" The people to elect their Court of Request, Commissioners and
Justices of the Peace, and also- their militia officers, in all cases what-
soever.
' ' Freedom of trade every man to be allowed to buy at the
cheapest market and sell Ht the dearest.
"No man to be compelled to -give military service unless it be
his choice.
" Ample funds to be reserved from the vast natural resources of
our country to secure the blessings of education to every citizen
" A frugal and economical Government, in order that the people
may be prosperous and free from difficulty.
" An end forever to the wearisome prayers, supplications, and
mockeries, attendant upon our connection with the lordlings of the
Colonial Office, Downing Street, London.
"The opening of the St. Lawrence to the trade of the world, so
that the largest ships might pass up to Lake Superior ; and the distri-
bution of the wild lands of the country to the industry, capital, skill
and enterprise of worthy men of all nations.
"For the attainment of these important objects, the patriots now
inarms under the standard of liberty, on Navy Island, U.C., have
established a Provisional Government, of which the members are as
follows (with two other distinguished gentlemen, whose names there
are powerful reasons for withholding from public view), viz. :
" William L. Mackenzie, Chairman, pro tern.
" Nelson Gorham. . John Hawk.
" Samuel Lount. Jacob Rymall.
" Silas Fletcher. William H. Doyle.
' Jesse Lloyd. A G. W. G. Van Egmond.
" Thomas Darling. Charles Duncombe.
" Adam Graham.
" We have procured the important aid of General Van Rensselaer,
of Albany, of Colonel Sutherland, Colonel Van Egmond, and othe
military men of experience ; and the citizens of Buffalo, to their eter-
nal honour be it ever remembered, have proved to us the enduring
principles of the Revolution of 1776, by supplying us with provisions,
money, arms, ammunition, artillery and volunteers ; and vast num-
PROCLAMATION FROM NA VY ISLAX1>. 339
bers are floating to the standard under which, heaven willing, emanci-
pation will be speedily won for a new and gallant nation, hitherto held
in Egyptian thraldom by the aristocracy of England.
" Brave Canadians ! Hasten to join that standard, and to make
common cause with your fellow-citizens now in arms in the Home,
London and Western districts. The opportunity of the absence of the
hired red coats of Europe is favourable to our emancipation. And
short-sighted is that man who does not now see that, although his
apathy may protract the contest, it must end in independence, freedom
from European thraldom forever.
" Until independence is won, trade and industry will be dormant,
houses and lands will be unsalable, merchants will be embarrassed,
and farmers and mechanics harassed and troubled ; that point once
gained the prospect is fair and cheering, a long day of prosperity may
be ours.
"The reverses in the Home district were owing, first, to acci-
jnt, which revealed our design to our tyrants, and prevented a
surprise ; and. second, to the want of artillery. Three thousand five
hundred men came and went, but we had no arms for one in twelve of
them, nor could we procure them in the country.
' Three hundred acres of the best of the public lands will be
ily bestowed upon any volunteer, who shall assist personally in
ringing to a conclusion the glorious struggle in which our youthful
mtry is now engaged against the enemies of freedom all the world
( Ten millions of these lands, fair and fertile, will, I trust, be
speedily at our disposal, with the other vast resources of a country
lore extensive and rich in natural treasures than the United Kingdom
>r Old France.
" Citizens ! Soldiers ,of.Libjerty ! Friends of Equal Rights ! Let
10 man suffer in his property, person, or estate let us pass through
Canada, not to retaliate on others for our estates ravaged, our friends
in dungeons, our homes burnt, our wheat and barns burnt and our
horses and cattle carried off ; but let us show the praiseworthy
example of protecting the houses, the homes, and the families of those
who are in arms against their country and against the liberties of this
>ntinent. We will disclaim and severely punish all aggressions upon
ivate property, and consider those as our enemies who may burn or
destroy the smallest hut in Canada, unless necessity compel any one
to do so in any cause for self defence.
23
340 REBELLION OF 1837.
" Whereas, at a time when the King and Parliament of Great
Britain had solemnly agreed to redress the grievances of the people,
Sir Francis Bond Head was sent out to this country with promises of
conciliation and justice ; and whereas, the said Head hath violated his
oath of office as a Governor, trampled upon every vestige of our rights
arid privileges, bribed and corrupted the Local Legislature, interfered
with the freedom of elections, intimidated the freeholders, declared
our country not entitled to the blessings of British freedom, prostrated
openly the right of trial by jury, placed in office the most obsequious,
treacherous and unworthy of our population , and sought to rule
Upper Canada by the mere force of his arbitrary power ; imprisoned
Dr. Morrison, Mr. Parker, and many others of our most respected
citizens ; banishing in a most cruel manner the highly respected Speaker
of our late House of Assembly, the Honorable Mr. Bidwell ; and
causing the expatriation of that universally beloved and well tried
eminent patriot, Dr. John Rolph, because they had made common cause
with our injured people, and setting a vast price on the heads of
several, as if they were guilty persons for which crimes and misde-
meanors he is deserving of being put upon his trial before the country
I do, therefore, hereby offer a reward of 500 for his apprehension,
so that he may be dealt with as may appertain to justice.
" In Lower Canada, divine providence has blessed the arms of the
Sons of Liberty a whole people are there manfully struggling for that
freedom without which property is but a phantom, and life scarce
worth having a gift of. General Girard* is at the head of fifteen thou-
sand determined democrats.
" The friends of freedom in Upper Canada have continued to act
in strong and regular concert with Mr. Papineau and the Lower
Canada patriots ; and it is a pleasing reflection that between us and
the ocean, a population of six hundred thousand souls are now in
arms, resolved to be free.
"The tidings that worthy patriots are in arms is spreading
through the Union, and the men who were oppressed in England, Ire-
land, Scotland and the Continent, are flocking to our standard.
" We must be successful.
" I had the honour to address nearly three thousand of the citizens
of Buffalo, two days ago, in the theatre. The friendship and sympathy
they expressed is honourable to the great and flourishing "Republic.
*The Swiss, Girod, is probably referred to.
G'A THEKIXI1 A T .V.I IT IS LA X U. 341
'* I am personally authorized to make known to you that from
the moment that Sir Francis Bond Head declined to state in writing
the objects he had in view, in sending a flag of truce to our camp in
Toronto, the message once declined, our esteemed fellow-citizen, Dr.
John Rolph, openly announced his concurrence in our measures, and
now decidedly approves of the stand we are taking in behalf of our
beloved country, which will never more be his until it be free and
independent.
' ' Canadians i My confidence in you is as strong and powerful in
this, our day of trial and difficulty, as when, many years ago, in the
zeal and ardour of youth, I appeared among you, the humble advocate
of your rights and liberties. I need not remind you of the sufferings
and persecutions I have endured for your sakes, the losses I have sus-
tained, the risks I have run. Had I ten lives I would cheerfully give
them up to procure freedom to the country of my children, of my
early and disinterested choice. Let us act together, and warmed by
the hope of success in a patriotic course, be able to repeat in the
language so often happily quoted by Ireland's champion,
" ' The nations are fallen and thou still art young,
Thy sun is but rising when others have set ;
And though slavery's cloud o'er thy morning hath hung,
The full tide of Freedom shall beam round thee yet.'
" Militia men of 1812. Will ye again rally round the standard of
our tyrants ? I can scarce believe it possible. Upper Canada
Loyalists, what has been the recompense of your long tried and
devoted attachment to England's aristocracy 1 Obloquy and contempt.
" Verily we have learnt in the school of experience, and are
prepared to profit by the lessons of the past. Compare the great
and flourishing nation of the United States with our divided and dis-
tracted land, and think what we also might have been, as brave, inde-
pendent lords of the soil. Leave then Sir Francis Bond Head's defence
to the miserable serfs dependent on his bounty, and to the last hour
of your lives the proud remembrance will be yours, ' We also were
among the deliverers of our country. '
" Navy Island, December 13, 1837."
The proclamation had some effect. By the end of the
month of December a body of men with munitions of war
occupied Navy Island. Six hundred men had answered to
342 REBELLION OF 1837.
the bugle call. After that date many more joined the
standard of the Provisional Government, all bent on
sharing with Mackenzie the spoil of Canada. But where
was the General ? Sad to say, he was dilatory, neglectful,
ready to fight but no fighter he. Mackenzie had com-
menced his compaign without an army, and now he found
himself with an army but without a General ready to lead it.
The men under the command of Van Rensselaer clamoured
to be allowed to cross over to the mainland on the Canada
side, but the General would not move, for if he had he
would have encountered on the Canadian shore a body of
Canadian militia under Colonel, afterwards Sir Allan
MacNab, quite able and willing to disarm any force that
Mackenzie had it in his power to bring against them. Cc>l.
MacNab had more than a thousand men in and around
Chippewa, infantry, cavalry, and artillery. Mackenzie's
occupation of Navy Island lasted about a month, during
which time there was cross-firing between the main shore
of Canada and the Island. A great deal of ammunition
was used, but not much damage done. It was long range
shooting, and had but little effect. The rebel refugees and
American citizens on the Island had twenty-four cannon,
which they used to the best advantage, but for all that only
lessened the number of the Loyalists by one or two. The
greatest damage was done to the houses on the Canadian
shore, and the inhabitants were kept in a constant state of
anxiety. The guns of the Loyalists had not much effect on
the Island occupants, owing to the distance and the wooded
character of the Island. After about a fortnight's fighting,
CUTTING OUT THE CAROLIXK.
343
Col. MacNab ordered Capt. Drew, of the Eoyal Navy, but a
volunteer in this service, to organize such a force of armed
vessels and boats for a flotilla as would protect the landing
and transport of a thousand men from the Chippewa shore
to the Island, with the object of clearing the Island of the
rebels. While the expedition was being prepared, on the
29th December, Col. MacNab saw a small steamer, the
Caroline, 48 tons burthen, engaged in carrying men, prp_-
visions and munitions of war from Buffalo to Navy jlsland
in the interest of the rebels.. _!n1- M?mIvLfl4va.fc nv>^*.<<kpr}
Capt. Drew if he could cut the boat out, and so cut off their
"supplies. Capt. Drew said it could be done, and was in-
structed to do so. There was no difficulty in getting
volunteers for the service. Late that same night the
Expedition, comprising seven boats, with an average of nine
J men each, armed with pistols, cutlasses, and pikes, pushed
off from the Chippewa shore to perform the duty assigned.
The boats of the little naval brigade were under command
of Capt. Drew, the several boats being officered by Lieuts.
McCormick, Elmsley, and Christopher Breen, of the Royal
Navy, Capt. John Gordon, of the steamboat Britunnin, run-
ning on Lake Ontario, Lieut. Battersby, of London, Canada
West, Mr. Harris, Master, E.N., and Mr. Lapenotiere. The
expedition did not reach the Island till about midnight, and
found that the vessel was moored at the wharf at Fort
Schlosser, on the United States side of the river, instead of
at the Island itself. This was embarrassing, as by seizing
the vessel at the wharf, the Canadian volunteers would be
invading American territory. But Capt. Drew had deter-
344 REBELLION OF 1837.
mined to risk the consequences. Jhe boats went silently
towards the fated vessel. When they reached the hoat they
boarded her, cleared her of her crew, set her on fire,
detached her from her moorings and sent her adrift down
the rushing river and over the Niagara, Falls. T ^ Lg
adventurous act of the Canadian Naval Brigade was well
nigh bringing about .fUEarJ?etween England and the United ^
States, the Americans claiming that their territory had .
been unlawfully invaded by the Canadian force. The
British Government, while regretting its occurrence,
assumed the responsibility of the act and conferred ths-
honour of knighthood on Col. MacNab. The Upper Canada
House of Assembly tendered its thanks to the men engaged
in the expedition and granted swords of honour to Col.
MacNab and Capt. Drew.
In a fortnight after the burning of the Caroline Mr.
Mackenzie, Van Eensselaer, and the force under his com-
mand evacuated Navy Island.
During the time that Mackenzie occupied Navy Island
his friends on the mainland were not idle. Dr. Duncombe,
a prominent Reformer in the West, had mustered four or five
hundred men at Brantford to give battle to the Loyalists
and Tories in that region. Col. MacNab having been
informed of Dr. Duncombe's proceedings marched to Brant-
ford with a detachment of 150 volunteers and 100 Indians,
under command of Capt. Kerr. On their approach the
rebels under Dr. Duncombe retreated to Scotland, a village
a few miles to the south-west of Brantford. Col. MacNab
followed them up. By the 14th of December he had nearly
SCOTLAND AND BO IS BLANC. :ur>
two thousand volunteers ready to face Dr. Buncombe's band
and those who might choose to cast in their lot with him,
who were expected from the London district. Col. MacNab's
show of force overawed the rebels and they dispersed. Dr.
Duncombe fled to the United States and made common
cause with Mackenzie in the Republic.
Befqrejleayi ng-JKLavy. Island , Gen. Van Rensselaer, Mr.
Mackenzie's Commander-in-Chief, had determined to invade
Canada with a force of American sympathizers and Cana-
dian refugees. There was in Buffalo an individual of the
name of Sutherland, who had, or professed to have had
military experience. Upon him was conferred the rank of
Brigadier-General of the second division of the army of
invasion of Upper Canada. On December 28, 1837, Gen.
Van Rensselaer issued the following order :
" Headquarters, Navy Island.
" Brig. -Gen. Sutherland will repair with all despatch to Detroit
and its vicinity and promote every arrangement for making a descent
upon Canada in favour of the Patriots, as he in his judgment may
deem advisable, after consulting with the Canadian and American
friends in that quarter."
Gen. Sutherland, on the 9th of January, 1838, called
for volunteers. About sixty at once responded, and, under
his command, took possession of Bois Blanc, an island in
Canadian waters at the mouth of the Detroit River, not
far from Fort Maiden. His object was with these sixty
men and eighteen others, whom he had embarked on the
schooner Anne, to surprise Fort Maiden, seize the arms
stored there, and thus supplied to make another attempt
to establish a footing in Upper Canada. Not to be out-
346 REBELLION OF 1837.
done by his predecessors in the art of war, he, from his
headquarters on Bois Blanc Island, issued another pro- "^
clamation breathing sentiments of devotion to Canada
and her political interests. Here is his manifesto :
"PROCLAMATION TO THE PATRIOTIC CITIZENS OF UPPER CANADA.
"You are called upon by the voice of your bleeding country to
join the patriot forces and free your lands from tyranny. Hordes of
worthless parasites of the British Crown are quartered upon you to
devour your substance, to outrage your rights, to let loose upon your
defenceless wives and daughters a brutal soldiery. Rally then around
the standard of liberty, and a victory and a glorious future of inde-
pendence will be yours."
It has always been a marvel to Canadians how it
happens that there are so many citizens of the United
States who in some way conceive that Canada is a bleeding
country, when the fact is that she has always been con-
tented and happy. There may at times be an ebullition
of over-strong political feeling, but Canadians have always
been able to harmonize their political differences without
foreign interference.
Gen. Sutherland did not succeed in his enterprise.
The schooner Anne lost her helmsman by a shot from
the Canadian shore, drifted shoreward and was beached
in three feet of water, much to the dismay of the sympa-
thizers on Bois Blanc Island. The vessel was taken pos-
session of by the Canadian militia, and Col. Radcliffe,
in command of the boarding party, reported that he found
on board " twenty-one persons (one killed, eight wounded,
twelve prisoners), three pieces of cannon, about two
hundred stand of arms, buff cross belts and ammunition."
By Gen. Sutherland's orders those who made their escape
( ; KX. HA XD Y A T 8 UGA R 18 LA XD. 347
retreated to Sugar Island on the American side of the
boundary, further down the Detroit River, near where it
enters Lake Erie.
At this time Gen. Sutherland had a rival in the Patriot
forces in the person of Gen. Handy, of Illinois. This
warrior had disputed with Sutherland who should com-
mand the western forces of the Patriot band. Gen. Handy
was the commander of what was called the Patriot Army
of the North-West, and was not disposed to yield com-
mand to Sutherland, who commanded the force gathered
in Ohio and other volunteers from the east. The two
generals quarrelled about the right to command. _Jn_trjie.
republican fashion it was left to the -seve^- hundred -me*
tojdecide who should have the honour ol. fading. .the rafilL-
to the conquest of Canada and to elect their commander.
The choice fell on Gen.^Handy^ and now let us see what
he did. The net result of his operations was nothing
beyond some ineffective measures taken by him with a
view to the invasion of the Province from Sugar Island.
He found, however, that he had neither men, arms or
ammunition sufficient to cope with the Eoyal Canadian
Militia, which stood ready to receive him on the Canadian
shore. In this helpless condition he was forced to apply
to the American authorities for friendly assistance to extri-
cate him from his position. The Governor of Michigan
went in a steamer to Sugar Island, took over tbe_arjn.fl, and
Gen. Handy . and^ng_Joj^^_jBYacjialeji._jthfi islajicL
The evacuation of Sugar Island did not, however, end
the attempt at invasion in the western part of the Province.
348 REBELLION OF 1837.,
Before proceeding to describe the further attempts in the
western part, we must turn to the East to watch the
refugees' and .American sympathizers' movements in the
East. Near the end of February, Van Eensseiaer made a
show of force on Hickory Island, about two miles from
Gananoque, where two companies of British regulars with
a few militia were stationed. He had with him about two"
thousand five hundred men. The Loyalists were only
about two hundred strong at Gananoque, and, had Van
Eensseiaer been a skilful general or brave soldier, he might
have occasioned some trouble to the force at Gananoque.
But as he was neither the one or the other his men
lost confidence in him, deserted him in squads, and before
two days were over Hickory Island was barren of sympa-
thizers, and Canadians on the main shore could peace-
fully rest in their beds. The Canadians about Kingston,
indeed, required rest. It had been reported in Kingston
that Van Rensselaer with a great force was advancing to
capture Fort Henry, Kingston's arsenal. The fort was
garrisoned by civilians only, and the town itself was
almost defenceless. There was, however, no lack of vol-
unteers who came forward to serve their country in time
of need. Sixteen hundred men were placed under arms,
with a view r of defending the old town of Kingston, but
when Van Eensseiaer evacuated Hickory Island, they were
free to return to their homes and their families.
Turning again tojbe West. inJVIarch. 1838, American
sympathizers made another attempt to take Canada, this
time by way of Pelee Island, some forty miles south-east
PELEE ISLAND AFFAIR. 349
of Anihfirqthnrgh _Abrmf. four hundred men mustered on
this island with this object, not by their own strength
alone, but with the hoped-for assistance from Canadians . .
when they should reach the main shore. But it so hap-
pened they were not permitted to reach the main shore.
British troops, consisting of five companies of regulars,
with about two hundred militia and Indians, under com-
mand of Gen. Maitland, made a descent on the island,
defeated the self-styled Patriots, killing about sixty of
them, and making nine prisoners Gen. Sutherland being
one of the prisoners and left the balance of the rebel
force to their fate.
It would almost have been better if the exiled rebels
and their friends in the United States could have pene-
trated the mainland of the Province for some little dis-
tance, for then they would have learned from the people
themselves how futile it was for them to expect Canada
to be subjugated and passed over to the United States.
As it was, the border was kept constantly in a state of
excitement by the reports spread abroad that the refugees
and outpourings of the United States were, in formidable
numbers, about to pounce on the inoffending people of
Canada with a force that would crush them to atoms.
There was some reason for these reports, as without doubt
the organization for this purpose in the United States
had by March, 1838, assumed formidable proportions.
About this time there was formed on the other side of the
border an association called " The Canadian Refugee Jtalief
Association." The object of tbTis association was to focus all
350 REBELLION OF 1837.
the refugees in the United States, to obtain new supplies
of men from Canada, and with the American sympathizers
then to invade Canada in force. The centre of the organi-
zation was in the State of Michigan. Gen. Handy was
appointed Commander in Chief, and to promote the objects
of the organization he signed blank commissions, and sent
agents through the Province of Upper Canada to form
revolutionary societies, and enroll all in whom he thought
he could confide.
Mr. Lindsey, in his "Life and Times of W. L. Mac-
kenzie," in referring to this organization, says : " In every
square mile of settled country a person was appointed to
grant commissions in the secret army of revolt. Handy's
commissions were given to captains, and the Associations
were left to elect their own colonels, couriers, and spies.
One hundred in number were constantly kept in motion
through the Provinces, taking intelligence daily to Handy.
Each of them had a beat of ten miles, at either end of
which he communicated with others, and this distance he
regularly made both ways every day. Two hundred com-
panies, of one hundred men each, were enrolled, making an
aggregate force of 20,000 men in the Canadas, ready to rise
whenever called upon, and through the system of couriers
in operation they could have been called into operation
with the least possible delay. The 4th of July, 1838, was
fixed upon for striking the first blow. The Patriot standard
was to be raised at Windsor opposite Detroit, and when this
was accomplished the couriers were to be prepared to
transmit the intelligence with all possible speed and a
HANDTS ATTEMPTED INVASION. 351
general rising was to take place. The first thing to be done
was to seize all available public arms, ammunition, and
provisions, and then the fortification of some prominent
point designated was to be commenced."
To carry out the plan of_ invasion it was necessary for
Gen. Handy to secure arms and ammunition in Michigan,
to begin with. He depended upon the arsenal of the State
to furnish him the supplies needed. He had gained the
confidence of the guard of the arsenal, and the door was .
open to him, but with his usual bad luck the State
authorities changed the guard the night before the day
Tixecl for the descent on Canada, and the whole scheme was
frustrated. There were many little intervening incidents
connected with the insurrection, which are not of sufficient
importance to be given a place in history. There is, how-
ever, one occurrence of local character which should be
chronicled. This was an affair at Short Hills, in the
County of Welland, that will bear recording. Here in June,
1838, some five or six hundred men, well armed and
equipped, were terrorizing the country thereabout, and it
became necessary to disperse them. " The Lancers," a
javelin corps, of Toronto, under the command of Major
McGrath, came across this body of men at Ooverholt's
tavern, fired upon them, killed several and dispersed the
rest, taking thirty-one of them prisoners. The band was
composed of Canadians, who had been concerned in the
insurrection under Dr. Duncombe in the London district,
and at Montgomery's, back of Toronto.
Col. Kingsmill, who was in command on the frontier at
352 REBELLION OF 1837.
this time, had the disposition of the prisoners taken in the
affair. Col. Kings mill was a half-pay officer of the regular
army, and did good service in protecting the Niagara
frontier from the invasion of American sympathizers and
otherwise.
Gen. Handy's failure to capture Fort Malder^and-by.,
this means gain a foothold in the western part of the
Province of Upper Canada, was disappointing to all who
were interested in the overthrow of British power in the
colony. The question was asked, could not this be better
accomplished in the eastern part of the Province, nearer
the rebellious French-Canadians of Lower Canada and with
their help ? There was a man named Hunter, who lived
near Whitbj, in the east riding of the old County of York,
now the County of Ontario, who had been active in pro-
moting the rebellion in the Home district. He had been
nearly taken as a rebel by the company of men from Port
Hope and Peterborough coming to the assistance of
Toronto, in December, 1837. Had it not been for an oven
at Gate's tavern, ten or twenty miles east of Toronto, on
the Kingston road, he would have fallen into the hands of
the Loyalists. The oven afforded him a place of conceal-
ment, and when he escaped he went to the United States.
Anxious to have his name handed down to posterity, he
proceeded to form Lodges in the land of the Stars and
Stripes, which were named Hunter's Lodges. There_was_
a general convention of these Lodges held at Cleveland^
Ohio, in September, 1838, which was attended by seventy
delegates. The members of Hunter's Lodges took an
PBESCQTT A ND THE \ WIND MIL L. 353
oath, which commenced by swearing allegiance ._to _Eepuh.-__
Tican institutions, and ended by declaring that the aforesaid
members woulcf, 7~ li until death, attack, combat, and help to
de'stroy, by all means that their superior officer should
think proper, every power, or authority of Eoyal origin,
upon this.. continent,, and. .especially never to rest till all
tyrants of Britain cease to have any dominion or footing
whatever in North America." This was a pretty strong
oath, but was greedily taken, not only^ by the exiled Cana-
dians, but by the other members of the convention, whom
Canadian refugees described as " Americans, men of poor
fortunes."
" The Hunters," as they called themselves, now pro-
ceeded to active invasion, and by November, 1838, had
"assembled for an attack on Prescott, a town in the County
"~<5f Grenville, on the frontier, opposite to the American town
of Ogdensburg. On Sunday morning, the llth of Nov.,
a large steamer, the United States, towing two schooners
loaded with armed men, left Sackett's Harbour for Prescott.
The number of armed men was about seven hundred, and
all were under the command of Col. Von Shultz, a brave
Pole, who had been appointed to the command of the
expedition. The expedition was to have been commanded
by a man of higher rank, General Bierge. If the advice
of Von Shultz had been followed the expedition would have
landed at Prescott and no doubt taken the town, but
General Bierge and other officers overruled Von Shultz
and demanded that the expedition should first land at
Ogdensburg and increase their force by further recruits.
354 REBELLION OF 1837.
Von Shultz was opposed to this, for the simple reason that,
in his belief, instead of getting recruits the expedition
would lose many of its valiant men by desertion. Whether
this actually happened or not is not known, but it is
known that General Bierge suddenly fell sick, which his
companions in arms imputed to cowardice.
In crossing the river one of the schooners, commanded
by one Bill Johnson, who had for some time been alarming
defenceless people on the Canadian shore, was in some
way run ashore on a bar in the river, and the unfortunate
Von Shultz was left with only one schooner and one hun-
dred and seventy men with which to make a conquest of
Canada.
Von Shultz howBver- was-jaot^a . man ID turn-baek, He-
landed his men on the 12th of November, on the Canadian
shore, and took possession of a windmill just below the
town of Prescott, and there fortified himself. This move
of Col. Von Shultz was not however effected without the
loss of some men. Even on the landing he found himself
opposed by the little British steamer Experiment of one
gun, which poured shot into the schooner carrying Von
Shultz's force, and into the steamer United States, which,
with damaged engines, retired disabled across the river
into American waters.
When Von Shultz and his men had secured a landing he
felt secure. But matters turned out differently from what
he expected. Capt. Sandom, commanding the Royal Navy
in Upper Canada, having heard of Von Shultz's expeditior
and his setting out from Sackett's Harbour, immediately
THE SIEGE OF THE WINDMILL. 355
left Kingston with a detachment of forty men and a party
of marines in the steamer Victoria, accompanied by the
"Cofiburg, for the purpose of intercepting him if possible.
TJapt. Sanclom and his men arrived at Prescott on the
morning of the 13th of November, and after effecting the
landing of his force, and being joined by a party of militia_
theTmarines and militia made an attack on Von Shultz's
fortified posts, and after an hour's firing drove them into
the windmill.
The mill itself was a solid stone building of great
strength, and Capt. Sandom feeling the risk of attempting
to take it by land, except by a regular siege, decided to
bombard it from the river, and accordingly brought his
boat down the river and began an attack with his guns.
By three in the afternoon, he found he could make no
impression on the fortress, and he accordingly withdrew,
posting pickets to prevent the escape of his prey, and
awaited the arrival of heavier artillery.
Von Shultz and his men remained cooped up in the
mill till the 16th, being all the time promised by those who
had remained in safety on the American shore, watching
the turn of events, that they would either reinforce or
rescue him. But although thousands gathered on the shore
to gaze, they did nothing. On the 16th, at noon, Col.
Dundas, with four companies of the 83rd Kegiment, two
eighteen pounders, and a howitzer brought down from
Kingston, appeared on the scene, planted his guns in good
position, and began firing upon the windmill, first placing
a company of the 83rd Regiment, supported by the militia
24
356 REBELLION OF 1837.
on either flank to prevent the escape of the occupants.
During the day the fire from Col. Dundas' battery was so
effective that the mill became untenantable, and when
darkness fell, under cover of the night, Von Shultz and a
division of his men took refuge in the brush wood on the
bank of the river, where he and his men were shortly taken
prisoners.
It has been computed that one hundred and fifty men,
killed and wounded on both sides, were lost in what is
known in the annals of the rebellion as the battle of " The
Windmill." One hundred and fifty-seven prisoners were
taken, of whom eleven were executed, including the un-
fortunate Von Shultz, who never forgave Bill Johnson and
the other leaders of the expedition for their desertion of
him when endeavouring to hold his post against great odds.
Von Shultz was a brave and generous man ; he was a victim
of more designing men who led him to the course which
brought him to the gallows.
CHAPTER XVI.
American Sympathizers Rebellion Carried On Without the Prov-
ince Foreign War Carried On by Irresponsible Americans
Determined to Avenge Prescott Assemble at Detroit Gen.
Bierce's Proclamation Lands at Windsor Destroys Property
Met by Loyalists and Repulsed Col. Prince Mackenzie Dis-
satisfied with the American Allies Will Rely on Himself and
Canadians Mackenzie Has no Faith in the United States
Regrets the Rebellion that he Had Stirred Up Admits his
Mistake Should he Be Forgiven? His Penitence Sincere
Trials, Imprisonments and Executions Lord Durham, Gov-
ernor His Report Constitution of 1841 Mackenzie, Papineau
and Rolph Members of the Union House Conclusion.
THE rebellion which had its beginning in 1837, within the
limits of Canada, was after that year carried on from the
United J}tates.__ The only two risings in Upper Canada of
local significance were those of Mackenzie and Dr. Dun-
combe respectively, the first in York and that of Duncombe
at Brantford and Scotland. The year 1838 was a year of
rebellion, historically speaking, but it was a rebellion carried
on without, not within the Province. The seat of war, as
it may be called, was on the American border, and in
American territory. It was there the "Hunter's Lodges,"
" Patriot Societies," " Piefugee Conventions," and all those
who wished to make Canada a republic had their head-
quarters, and from thence all the supplies of arms and
ammunition were obtained.
35S REBELLION OF 1837.
The American Government had great difficulty in
preventing itself being drawn into the vortex of civil strife.
Many men holding high positions in the state and munici-
pal governments of the United States, made common cause
with the Canadian insurrectionists, but the Federal Govern-
ment, by the exercise of wholesome restraint and diplo-
macy, escaped being drawn into the struggle.
The struggle for the possession of Canada was thus
more of a contest between sympathizing foreigners and
the Loyalists of Canada, than between opposite factions in
the Province. It was a foreign war carried on by irre-
sponsible American citizens, mostly of foreign extraction,
and Canadian refugees.
After the failure to capture the Province by way of
Prescott and the " Windmill," the " Hunter's Lodge "
determined to renew the attempt by way of Detroit. In
the evening of the 3rd of December, 1838, a body of men
numbering several hundred, well armed and provisioned,
under the command of General Bierce who had superseded
General Handy in the west, marched through the streets
of Detroit, band playing and colours flying, ready for a
fresh invasion of the Province of Upper Canada. This
body of men was allowed to pass within sight of the
sentinels stationed at the public arsenal without interrup-
tion. The warriors next morning crossed the Detroit
River in the steamer Champlain, and landed on Canadian
IjoiT No sooner had they landed than, following time-
honoured precedent, the General issued his proclamation.
THE ATTACK ON W1X1MO!; :'
" Soldiers ! the time has arrived that calls for action the blood
of our slaughtered countrymen cries aloud for revenge. The spirits
of Lount, and Matthews, and Moreau, are yet unavenged. The
murdered heroes of Prescott lie in an unhallowed grave in the land of
tyranny. The manes of the ill-fated Caroline's crew can only be
appeased by the blood of murderers.
" Arouse, then, soldiers of Canada I Let us avenge their wrongs !
Let us march to victory or death; and ever, as we meet the tyrant
foe, let our war cry be, ' Remember Prescott.' "
It was known in Detroit that this " Hunter's Lodge "
army^oT invasion was to attack the town of Windsor the
iext morning. Just as was done on the American frontier
opposite Prescott when Von Shultz made his abortive
attempt to subjugate Canadians, several thousands of
the citizens of Detroit lined the American shore to
encourage the invaders, and, when, after landing, the so-
called " Patriots " raised a tricolour ed flag, displaying twin
stars and the word "Liberty," the enthusiasm of the
onlookers, on the American side of the river, knew no
bounds. Their acclamations and hurrahs rent the air.
The invaders in pursuance of their enterprise, soon
after landing, set fire to a building used as a barracks for
the militia, and exchanged volleys with the occupants,
several men being killed on both sides. They then set lire
to the steamer TJuinu'*, which was frozen up in the river,
and burned it to the edge of the ice. They then marched
for the inhabited portion of the town, but being met by a
force of militia under Col. Prince and Capt. Spark, were
repulsed, driven out of the town and took refuge in the
surrounding woods.
The invaders soon after were unpleasantly surprised
25
360 REBELLION OF 1SJ7.
when they found that the British had marched their regular
troops to within a convenient distance. They had not
been long concealed in the woods, when Col. Broderick,
with a detachment of Eoyal Artillery and a nine pounder,
arrived on the ground from Amherstburgh.- The Regulars
and Militia made short work of the invaders and drove
them ingloriously back to Detroit from whence they came.
-
The United States steamer, The Eric, in the river, would
not afford them any assistance in their efforts to regain
American territory. They were obliged by begging, brib-
ing and stealing, to get canoes or small boats of any kind
to take them back to the land of the free.
In this raid^twejojiy^fiy^^the jnyadex&-4Qst thouMtvea
and forty-six were taken prisoners. Col. Prince, in his
report on the proceedings, briefly and succinctly said : " Of
the brigands and pirates twenty-one were killed, besides
four, who were brought in just at the close and immedi-
ately after the engagement all of whom I ordered to be
shot upon the spot ; and_ it was done accordingly." This
summary procedure was bitterly denounced by some par-
ticularly the friends of the Americans who were shot, but
on the other hand was warmly approved by those Canadians
who had no sympathy with these invaders, who had entered
their country with the design of laying waste their fair
fields, burning and destroying their property and taking
human lives in carrying out their nefarious purpose.__J2aL__
Prince's justice had a salutary and deterrent effect. There
were no more raids after Windsor.
MACKENZIE'S LIFE IX THE UXITEI) STATES. 361
Mr. Mackenzie took no part in the raids either on
Prescott or Windsor. He was busy with newspaper work,
his favourite occupation, in New York. The failure of
the " Hunter's T,rflm> " mnr> in hrir.|T nVtmif fhu
Canada, and the means adopted by these men, who
"evidently had no care for Canada or the Canadians, caused
Macken/ie to lose confidence in his American friends.
He did not, however, give up all hope of effecting the
independence of Canada by the efforts of the Canadians
themselves. In January, 1839, he wrote to a private ,
friend that the sympathizers, " organization and union,"
apart from that of the Associations who aid them, is
nothing. They have little influence, nor will it increase
until a better system is adopted. He thought Canada
could be redeemed if men went the right way about it.
" I shall try," he said, " to get up such an organization
here (in Eochester) and on the other side, and to make
such use of that already in operation, as will probably
somewhat change ' the aspect of Canadian affairs. The
material is before us if we choose to make use of it."
This letter is but another proof of what a sanguine,
visionary man Mackenzie was. It was this over-confidence
in his own strength, which never forsook him during his
stormy life, that led him into all the difficulties and
troubles that seemed ever to surround him.
On the 12th of March, 1839,, Mackenzie issued a
confidential circular, calling a special convention, "to be
composed of Canadians, or persons connected with Canada.
who are favourable to the attainment of its political
m-2 REBELLION OF 1837.
independence, and the entire separation of its government
from the political power of Great Britain," to be held at
Rochester. This convention duly met, and the outcome
of it was that a Canadian Association was formed, a
President, Secretary and Treasurer appointed, and the
principles of the Association promulgated. These com-
prised the discarding of the notion of attempting to reform
Canada by hostile invasion from the United States, and
pledged the Association to " obtaining for the people of
the North American Colonies the unrestricted power to
choose their form of government, by means of conven-
tions of delegates whose acts should afterwards obtain
their concurrence."
^wUw^
Mr. Mackenzie lived long enough to realize that he,
like many another man, in pursuing imagined " Liberty "
was only following her pseudo-sister " License." In pursuit
of this phantom he exiled himself for three years or more,
becoming a citizen of the United States. The fact that
he had been a rebel in Canada against the British Govern-
ment was sufficient to ensure his honourable reception in
the United States. His residence in that great country,
however, cured him of his love for republican institutions.
In the last number of the Gazette, -a paper published by
him in New York, the issue of December the 23rd, 1840,
he said, " Over three years residence in the United States,
and a closer observation of the condition of society here,
have lessened my regrets at the results of the opposition
raised to England in Canada, in 1837-1838. I have
beheld the American people give their deaiest and most
MACKENZIE RENOUNCES REPUBLICANISM. 3(iS
valued rights into the keeping of the worst enemies of free
institutions. I have seen monopoly and slavery triumph
at the popular elections, and witnessed with pain, the
bitter fruits of that speculative spirit of enterprise to which,
as President Van Bureu says in his late excellent message,
his countrymen are so liable, and upon whom the lessons
of experience are so unavailing. And, although the leaders
of parties here may not say so to their followers, yet the
conviction grows daily stronger in my mind that your
brethren of this Union are rapidly hastening toward a state
of society, in which President, Senate and House of
Representatives, will fulfil the duties of Kings, Lords and
Commons, and the power of the community pass from the
democracy of numbers into the hands of an aristocracy,
' not of noble ancestry and ancient lineage, but of monied
monopolists, land-jobbers and heartless politicians." '
" Distance lends enchantment to the view." Mr. Mac-
kenzie had only to leave Canada and cast his lot with
those living under Republican institutions, to become
thoroughly convinced that a limited monarchy gives more
true liberty to the subject than the much vaunted Demo-
cracy. Mr. Mackenzie was a Scotchman, he had resided
for a time in England before coming to Canada, he had
seen all the phases of Colonial life, and that life had been to
him a bitter one, yet experience proved to him that the
British system of government was to be preferred to pure
democracy. Nor was this all. Mackenzie as time went on
saw the folly of his past proceedings. He dc.-ply regretted
having stirred up strife in Canada and became a penitent.
364 REBELLION OF 1831
In 1842 he wrote from the United States to a friend in
Canada, " The more I see this country, the more do I
regret the attempt at revolution at Toronto- and St __
Charles." After having lived nine years in the United
States he wrote, " I frankly confess that had I passed nine
years in the United States before, instead of after the out-
break, I am sure I would have been the last man in
America to be engaged in it."
As if to emphasize his regret at having been the
fonienter of rebellion in Canada, and to place himself on
record in the most public manner, as being his own accuser,
in the early part of the year 1849, or about that time, he
wrote to Earl Grey, the Colonial Secretary, in London : " A
course of careful observation during the last eleven years
has fully satisfied me that had the violent movement in
which I and many others were engaged on both sides of the
Niagara proved successful, that success would have deeply
injured the people of Canada, whom 1 then believed I was
serving at great risks. ... I have long been sensible of
the errors committed at that period. Xo punishment that
power could inflict or nature sustain would have equalled
the regrets I have felt on account of much I did and wrote
and published. There is not a living man on this continent,
who more sincerely desires that the British Government in
Canada may long continue."
What stronger testimony than this is wanted to prove
that the better and happier condition for Canada is to hold
strongly to old Mother England ? Here we have a Prince
of Agitators, a man deeply dyed in revolution, acknow-
THE COST OF REVOLUTION. 365
ledging that he had been all wrong, and expressing his hope
for the stability of that Empire which he had so earnestly
sought to rob of her colony.
One is almost inclined to forgive Mr. Mackenzie for his
revolutionary propaganda after such expressions of con-
trition as have been quoted.
But, alas ! the consequences of the rebellion were so
serious so many lives were sacrificed, so many women
made widows, so many children fatherless, and so much
property destroyed in the civil war that the leaders in it
cannot be altogether forgiven, though all would wish to for-
get this unfortunate episode in Canadian history. It is safe
to say that as many as a thousand lives were sacrificed in
the rebellion. The greater proportion of fo e lives lost wag
among the insurrectionary class, American sympathizers and
Canadian refugees. The loss in the ranks of the Loyalists
was comparatively small. There were ^eyeraL executions
for treason inUpper Canada. The most prominent of
those executed for treason in that Province were Lount and
} I atthe wsat^OTo^o^ndJ^_Shiiltz_at Kingston, After
the rebellion had finally collapsed, the rebels taken prisoners
in Upper Canada were brought to trial before competent
tribunals. The result was that ten were executed and
fifty-eight transported. More than 800 persons were made
prisoners in Upper Canada and dealt with by Court Martial
and the Civil Courts. The prisons in Lower Canada were
filled with prisoners.
On the 31st of March, 1838, the Earl of Durham was
appointed High Commissioner for the investigation of
366 REBELLION OF 1837.
certain important questions pending in the Provinces of
Lower and Upper Canada, respecting the form of the future
government of the Provinces ; and by the same Com-
mission was appointed Governor- General and Commander?
in-Chief of the Provinces.
It was a misfortune that the Commission had not been
appointed at an earlier periqd._ Before the insurrection
broke out, in the preceding year, the Queen, in her speech
at the opening of the Imperial Legislature, called the
attention of the two houses of Parliament to the troubled
state of affairs in Canada.
The Constitutional Act of 1791 was well enough in its
day, but by the incoming of the year 1837 had outgrown
its usefulness. The fact was recognized by the Imperial
Government, and, in 1840, an Imperial Act was passed,
superseding the Act of 1791, and uniting the Provinces of
Upper and Lower Canada. The Union of the Provinces
was always opposed by the inhabitants of Lower Canada,
the politicians of that Province being apprehensive that
with the rapid growth of Upper Canada, the latter Province
would have a numerical majority so large as to be able to
control the legislation of the two Canadas, and thus destroy
the French-Canadian influence. Notwithstanding the
opposition of Lower Canada, and the not too ready willing-
ness of Upper Canada, the Union had to be brought about.
The Earl of Durham was appointed High Commissioner,
as stated, on the 31st of March, 1838, and made his report
to the British Government on the 31st of January, 1839.
The report was the foundation of the Act of Union of 1840.
LORD DURHAM'S REPORT. 367
It is too lengthy to give in full, but a synopsis of it will
aid in coming to. a conclusion as to the merits or demerits
of the Rebellion of 1837. The Report makes a large folio
volume, though containing but thirty-eight paragraphs.
The substance of the Report is as follows :
Paragraph 1. This paragraph is preliminary, and states that the
suspension of the Constitution gave him (Lord Durham) an essential
advantage over his predecessors. It not merely relieved him
from the burthen of constant discussions with the Legislative bodies,
but it enabled him to turn his attention to the real grievances of the
Province, etc., etc.
Paragraph 2. He himself, he found, as well as most people in
England, had had a very erroneous view of the parties at issue in
Lower Canada. The quarrel he had been sent to heal, had been
a quarrel between the "Executive Government and the popular branch,
of the Legislature. The latter body had apparently been contending
for popular rights, free government, etc. The Executive defending
prerogative of the Crown and the institutions which had been
established as checks on the unbridled exercise of popular power.
" I had in common with most of my countrymen imagined that
the original and constant source of the evil was to be found in the
defects of the political institutions of the Province, that a reform of
the Constitution, or perhaps merely the introduction of a sounder
practice into the administration of the Government would remove all
cause of contest and complaint." In this he refers to his despatch of
the Oth August, 1838, to the Principal Secretary of State, in which
he gave in detail, the impressions produced on his mind by the state
of things he found actually to exist in Lower Canada. That experi-
ence, derived from his residence in the Province, had completely
changed his views of the relative value of the causes which had been
assigned for the existing disorders. ' ' From the peculiar circum-
stance in which I was placed, I was enabled to make such effectual
observations as convinced me that there had existed in the Consti-
tution of the Province, in the balance of political power, in the spirit
and practice of the administration, in every department of the Govern-
ment defects that were quite sufficient to account fora great degree of
mismanagement and dissatisfaction. I found a deeper than political
368 REBELLION OF 1837.
cause, a cause that penetrated deep into its social fabric. . . ,
I expected to find a contest between a Government and a people, I
found two nations warring in the bosoin of a mighty state, I found ;i
struggle not of principle, but of races," etc.
Paragraph 3. Animosities between French and English. Every
contest is one of French and English in the outset, or becomes so
ere it has run its course. Exasperation of the races against each
other. Refers to the divisions in Quebec and Montreal, and that the
Eastern Townships remained comparatively quiet, not coming into
contact with the French. British population in some cases voted
French from local causes, and still Government influence as a general
rule could not influence the French, they stick together. A large part
of the Catholic Canadians, a few of the principal proprietors of the
seigniorial families and some of those who are influenced by com-
mercial connexion support the Government against revolutionary
violence, a middle party exercising influence, it is English or French.
Paragraph 4. Grounds of quarrel as put forward not 'the
real grounds. The grounds put forward only as a mask to conceal the
real grounds, which were national animosity. French politicians in
the majority have invoked the principle of popular control and
democracy. The English parade their loyalty. When we look to the
rights of each party the analogy to our own politics seems lost, if not
actually reversed ; the French appear to have used their democratic
aims for Conservative purposes, rather than those of liberal and
enlightened government, and the sympathies of the friends of reform
are naturally enlisted on the side of sound amelioration, which the
English minority in vain attempted to introduce into the antiquated
laws of the Province.
Paragraph 5. Papineau's influence on the legislative body. The
English complained of the Assembly, referred to the establishment of
the Registry Office, and desired to commute the feudal tenures; and yet
it was amongst the able and most influential leaders of the English
that I found some of the opponents of some of the proposed reforms.
The French anxious to disclaim any hostility to these reforms, but
Papineau restrained the Assembly from considering them. The mass
of the population opposed to the feudal tenure. There is every
reason to believe that a great number of the peasants who fought at
St. Denis and St. Charles imagined that the principal result of success
would be the overthrow of tithes and feudal burthens ; and in the
LORD DURHAM'S REPORT. 369
Declaration of Independence, which Nelson issued, two of the objects of
the insurrection were stated to be the abolition of feudal tenures and
the establishment of Registry Offices.
Paragraphs b' and 7. Independent spirit of the English popu-
lation. Dissimilarity of races. The ignorance of the French habitants,
etc. The two races inimical to each other, not like French and
English, but French-Canadian and English, the French clinging to
old laws and customs, not modern. "We must bear in mind," he
says, "what kind of French and English they are that are brought in
contact, and in what proportions they meet."
Paragraph 8. Enlarges on the ignorance of the French peasant.
His general character. How he was kept down by the old French
regime. He had no desire to raise more than for his immediate wants.
No general provision had been made for education. Not surprising
that they made little advance in improvements. Whatever energy dis-
played was in the fur trade. They (the French) remained an old
and stationary society in a new and progressive world. In all essentials
they are French, but French in every respect dissimilar to old France
in the present day.
Paragraph 9. Enlarges on social conditions. Notaries in villages
and priest and doctor. Seminaries and colleges. Although common
schools defective, seminaries and colleges effective. The most
instructed population is confined to a small body of educated persons.
To this singular state of things is attributable the extraordinary in-
fluence of the Canadian demagogues.
Paragraph 10. English population progressive, etc. In the early
history of the Province, under English rule, Canadians were excluded
from power, and all offices of trust and emolument mostly in hands of
English strangers.
Paragraph 11. The superiority of English farms and reclaiming
them, thus giving cause of jealousy to the French settlers.
Paragraphs 12 and 13. Working classes not divided by collision
of interest, but national prejudices.
Paragraphs 14, 15, 16 and 17. Effects of difference of language.
Paragraphs 19 and 20. No social intercourse between races.
Paragraph 21. Intermarriages rare.
Paragraph 22. Marked division of society.
370 REBELLION OF 1837.
Paragraph 23. No combination for public objects.
Paragraph 24. Political strife the result of such social feeling.
Superior intelligence of English, but greater refinement of French.
Paragraphs 25 and 26 Collisions. between Executive and
Assembly.
The Union Act of 1840, based on the report of Lord
Durham, had the effect of bringing the Upper and Lower
Canadians into more intimate relations. It was designed
to harmonize the two races, and did good work in bring-
ing that about. I will not enlarge on this topic, however,
which is more for the politician and the general historian
io discourse upon than for a writer of the Rebellion of
1837. Before concluding the narrative, however, it may
be proper to say something of the leaders of the rebellion,
after peace had been restored and the affairs of the
Provinces well under way under the new Constitutional
Act of 1840.
Messrs. Papineau, Mackenzie and Rolpb, after their
exile of many years, returned to Canada, to take part in
the government of the country they had affected to believe
was hopelessly sunk in the slough of despond, and was the
victim of British tyranny. In 1851, Mr. Mackenzie
presented himself to the electors of the County of Haldi-
mand, and was elected for that county against that
stalwart reformer, George Brown. Rolph regained the
confidence of his old constituency of Norfolk, and held
office as Commissioner of Crown Lands in the Govern-
ment of the United Province. Mr. Papineau yielded to
the temptation of again becoming a representative of the
people and secured a place in Parliament. None of these
EXILED REBELS RETU11X.
gentlemen ever attained the influence __they possessed in
their more happy ante-rebellion days. The political
atmosphere by which they were surrounded was entirely
different from what it was when Papineau had only but
to speak, and all Lower Canada answered to his call, and
when Mackenzie piped to his many dancers in Upper
Canada. As for Mr. Papineau he ever retained his Prench-
Canadian nationality, and never concealed his discontent
with the Union, which he had bitterly opposed in Lower
Canada. He had the respect of all his countrymen. Some
who had been his lieutenants in former days were now
in office, while he maintained that self-same haughty
independence, which was a prominent characteristic of his
nature. Those who were opposed to him could not help
admiring his conscientiousness and devotion to principle.
He accepted the Union as it was, but had no regard for
the Unionists.
Mr. Mackenzie on his return from the United States,
in the performance of his duties in Parliament, was the
same active representative that he had been when member
for York, but his critical mind had to submit to the altered
state of things, which afforded him little scope for his
ruing passion.
The remembrance of the rebellion did for some years
rankle in the breasts of those who were called upon to
defend the Provinces in a time of internal disorder and
foreign aggression. For those Americans, who, in despite
of neutrality laws, and in_defiance of the_pea_ceful..i:elatious
then existing, and which ought at all times to exist between
J
KEBSLLIOX OF 1837.
the two great nations, Great Britain and the
strrrgTrrto embroil these countries in war, there was _no_
excuse whatever.
"The Canadian insurgents, on the contrary, could claim
that they acted in the honest belief that the institutions
of their country required reforming, which could only be
brought about, by rebellion. This was an entirely
mistaken idea. It nevertheless influenced the minds of
ninny good men who would never have thought of rebelling
but for the overdrawn pictures of misgovernment in public
affairs, designed by disappointed politicians and profes-
sional agitators.
Most of the men who took part in the rebellion have
long since left the stage of life, but some are living who
took part in the struggles of that period. In writing this
narrative I have sought to avoid personalities or individu-
alising as far as possible, and at the same time to present
to the reader an intelligent account of the civil strife.
" If I unwittingly
ETave aught committed thai is hardly borne
By any in this presence, I desire
To reconcile me to his friendly peace."
9*62
I
