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Las diagrammas suivants iilustrant la mAthoda. 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 ( REMARKS ■^ ON THE DEPLORABLE EVENTS WHICH TOOK PLACE IN THE Haymarket Square, on tho 9th Junp^ 1S53, AND ON T II R IMMEDIATE AND REMOTE CAUSES THEREOF ; T fi E T II E R WITH A RECOMMENDATION FOR THE ADOPTION OF SUCH MEASURES AS WILL EFFECTUALLY PUT A STOP TO SUCH DREADFUL AND RKPULSIVE SCENES, AND RADICALLY CURE THOSE GIANT EVILS. * "Pence on Earth, and Good Will towards Ulen." '•V''^---"- "\-."\.'^i^'*'^_-\^ Hloutreal : PRINTED BY J. C. BECKET, AT HIS STEAM-PRESS PRINTING ESTABLISHMENT, 22 GREAT ST. JAMES STREET. ^^o 1853. BT^. . . .>Wif * '% . >^f/:3Y:i aa'H ^^ ! <• iO'Ul-iiiT !^;!*^'H,u:;^^(M;';i_ u-^'- ^i'VM*i:U?!.i y / ■•( • ■■ < \ ■ < % - • » '. • ••.*•« • • 1* • ♦ ■;■■ /pi' ^ • • .-4- i ''- !W mt mmm '!' r M . ( mi. I ]*'if^im 4';'^ «' OOD IS LOV£." "WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF ONE FATHEii." .v '%' €i;'-: ^- D IM RE< PI Li i HiMt 1. ^. m v . :.y. w -f .. w» REMARKS ON TNK DEPLORABLE EVENTS WHICH TOOK PLACE IN THE HaymarkeV Bqaare, on the 9th Jonef 1853, AMD ON TUN IMMIIliATP m> REMOTE CAUSES THEREOF ; TOUETUIR WITH ▲ RECOMMENDATION FOR THE ADOPTION OF SUCH MEASURES AS WILL EFFECTUALLY PUT A STOP TO SUCH DREADFUL AND REPULSIVE SCENES, AND RADICALLY CURB THOSE OUNT KVtLi. ^ tmrnf^f^^t u *^»it»^t0m0i»09 *^m 1 1 Hlontttol: PRINTED BY J. C. BECKET, AT HIS STEAM-PRESS PRINTING ESTABLISHMENT, 22 GREAT ST. JAMES STREET. 1863. • > 1 • • • I • • • • • •• • ■ • •• • t • • • • • • • • « f • • t • t • t • t • • I //i/^^ REMARKS ON THE DISTUitBANCfi WHICH TOOK PLACE ON THE EVENING OF THE 9tH JUNE, AND OTHEK MATTERS CONNECTED THEREWITH. K It is a subjepCof deep, deep regret, that a number of our innocent «nd unoffending fellow-citizens should be snatched asifwere in an instant out of this world, and launched into' an awful and never ending eternity, without a single ndoment's preparation for that dread- ful event, leavin|; the broken-hearted widow and the helpless orphan to deplore their loss ; adrift in a cold and unfeeling wlorld, without a father and a friend ; * and that so nian3r who slept the previous night in sweet repose, under th'e protection of Almighty munificence, perhaps dreaminff of prosperity and happiness in fu- ture years, that they should by the next setting of the sun have their mangled bodies, their shattered and bleeding limbs stretched in agony on the restless couch. As regards the question whether there is any blame to be attached to the civil and military authority, it is hard for me to say. There seems to be so much con- flicting evidence, that it is extremely difficult to decide. One thing I am fully persuaded of, and that is, that whatever has been done, has been done for the best, both by the civil and military power ; and ihat what- ever may have been done wrong, has arisen from an error of the judgment and not of the will — an error of the head but not of the heart. The actions of every man should be measured by the iiiotfvcs connected therewith ; and I firmly believe that the Mayor and the * This lentenee will admit of a modifieatiun, as in Ihe prraant inatanc« lh« •ympathir* of the public have done maeh to relieve the eufferine reUiiveaj but nothingr cm compentate fur the lofi uf our nearest and deareet relatives and friendi. officers commanding the troops, had no earthly motive, save that of restoring peace and order to the city. The Hon. Charles Wilson has raised himself to his present high position by honest industry, and by the dint of indefatigable perseverance, he has been the maker of his own fortune ; and his character as a man and a merchant, of some twenty years standing, will bear a favorable comparison with any other person of the same rank in this city. He is t* liberal Catholic ; and during my long acquaintance and business t^ ns- actions with him, I never heard hirti tdter a syllable that could be construed as disrespect^i) ito a Protestant or Protestantism. There can be no proof brought for- ward to show that he has been in tHe'^mallest degree actuated by malevolence or party feeling. It is said that Mr. Wilson is not a fit person tU.'be Mayor of this city, on account of his want of firmn^S^ftnd self-posses- sion in attempting to quell the riot.. Jt is true some might be found commanding more^'calm self-posses- sion ; perhaps some old military offioer vho had become fiamiliar with war and bloodshed — Wifh the battle and the breeze ; but I question whether one in ten of our peaceable, quiet citizens, who had never heard the angry cannon's warlike roar, nor seen the bristling bayonet in deadly contest pointed breast to breast, but what would have been as much excited as Mr. Wil- son, when he found life and limb were at stake ;— and that the police were overpowered —that two of his brother omcers were wounded and their features cov- ered with blood, callii\g for help and for the mihtary to be brought out ; and then when the military were on the spot, amid the wild and unearthly howling of the mob, not inferior to an Indian war-whoop, with the square filled with conflicting partisans, many of them armed ready for a fight, being primed with religious and political hate ; and when a rush was made upon the troo()S, accompanied by the discharge of fire arms ; and when the whole atmosphere was rife with party rage, and with the high responsibility resting on his shoul- ders of putting down the mob, of protecting the unof- fending citizen and restoring public peace ; — at such a time, and placed under such trying circumstances, where is the man who could stand unmoved in such a dreadful scene, when he i(new that another mo- ment might bring with it the messenger of death 1 There are but few men unpracticed in such scenes who could command |)erfect self-control, — few but would be moved by a high degree of excitement. That Mr. Wilson has been considered a fit and effi- cient person to bear the honors of Chief Magistracy of this city, his fellow-citizens have given direct posi- tive proof, by his triple election ; and his general con- duct as Mayor for three successive years has met with their approbation. As Chief Magistrate of this city, he has oeen unassuming in his station, not puffed up with the pride of oflicial importance — easy of access — of kind and gentlemanly demeanour towards all — strict and punctual in the performance of his public duties, both as Mayor and Legislative Councillor ; but in the late deplorable disturbance, and in the anxious endea- vour to suppress it, whether Mr. Wilson did under ex- treme excitement in the delirium of the moment, when he scarcely knew what he said or did, let the word fire drop from his lips or not, 1 cannot say ; but what I main- tain is, that there is no act in Mr. Wilson's past life and in his general conduct during his residence in this city, whether as Mayor or IVl erchant that can justify the enter- tainment of an idea, that in the late melancholy affair he has been actuated and influenced by any selnsh or un- worthy motive. Mr. Wilson has done good service to the city in his capacity as Mayor, in a pecuniary and financial point of view ; he has, with mach labor and attention, arranged matters in the municipal de- partment, and has brought much of the almost useless paper of the Corporation into negotiable form, and lent to the ciiy from his own private resources upwards of twenty thousand pounds ! I know that it was natural enough for the public in the excitement of the moment, under the impression that the Mayor had given the fatal word, to call him a murderer, because that word carried with it sudden death and loss of life and limb to our fellow-men ; it was natural enough that the rough appellation of murderer should be bandied about from lip to lip, because if he had done so he would have touched one of the finest fibres of the human heart, — nature's sweetest, tenderest chord, through which runs the purest streams of sympathetic love ; sympathetic love is one of the choicest gifts of God, and one of the richest ornaments of man ; but passion and feeling is one thing, and reason and judgment another ; and when the public mind is in a high state of excitement, reason- ing on any matter is altogether out of the question ; for instance, those who called the Mayor a murderer were too strongly excited to reason on the matter ; it was not possible for them to pause for a moment and consider whether it was right to apply to him so coarse, so repulsive, and so ungentlemanly an epithet ; it was impossible for them, under the strong feelings which prompted them to speak and act, to calmly ask the following questions:— Am I quite certain that I heard the Mayor cry fire, or was it from some one near him 1 if so, what is the legal definition of murder ? is it not killing with malice aforethought 1 is it possible that the Mayor could be influenced by malice and revenge against a part of a mixed population composed of every religious and political creed? if the Mayor did give the word to fire under the full impression that the peace of the city and the lives and property of his fellow-citizens were in imminent danger, and that it was his sacred duty as Chief Magistrate to protect them, should he be called a murderer for doing so ? should the Major be prompted to action by the dictates of his own reason, judgment, and conscience, or be guided by conflicting parties around him ? To these few plain questions, I think every candid man will have a ready answer. At the first meeting of the Relief Committee for the sufferers by the'fire of July last, Mr. Sheriff Boston moved that the Mayor do leave the chair, and that the Hon. L. H. Lafontaine do take it ; which being carried, he moved that the thanks of the meeting are due to the Mayor lor presiding over the meeting. Mr. Sheriff Boston said, he regretted that His Worship the Mayor should have been absent at the time the fire ut from d have leart, — ch runs >athetic } of the eling is d when reason- estion ; arderer tter; it ent and him so pithet ; eelings uly ask that I ne near r? is it blethat evenge f every five the eace of litizens sacred dhebe L}or be reason, dieting tions, I 'er. for the Boston lat the arried, due to Mr. brship he fire took place, as he had always found him active in the discharge of his duties in cases of emergency. (From the Montreal Oazette^ December 12 and 13, 1851.) " When Mr. Wilson was elected Mayor of the city, in March last, he declared repeatedly that if there came an election during his term of office, there should oe no mobs or rioting j and he has kept his word. For- tunately the Council were unanimous, and the great body of our citizens were ready to support them ; but all would have been of little avail, if there had not been energy in the Chief Magistrate, who acted his part resolutely and determinedly, without fear of, or favor to, any man or party. Wherever any danger or difficulty threatened, the Mayor was soon on the spot. It must be admitted that we owe the peace of the city during the past election to the wise precautions of the Mayor taken previously, and to his spirited and resolute conduct during the two days continuance of it. Such a Mayor, in such a city, at such a juncture, dee^rves to wear not only a gold chain, but he ought to have a chain presented to him from every Ward within the limits of the city. The city escaped violence only in consequence of the energy, prornptitude, and good sense of our Chief Magistrate, whose conduct has gained him the praise and esteem of all to whom the honor of the city is dear. We shall let Mr. Mayor Wilson wear his gold chain, how, when, and wherever he pleases in future, being assured that no civic ornament could possibly hang upon worthier shoulders. It is with much pleasure that we announce the election of Mr. Charles Wilson, now the Hon. Charles Wilson, as a member of the Legislative Council ; were the Upper House of our Legislature composed of men of like energy, peculiar spirit, and aj)titude for business as this gentleman has proved himself to be during his Mayoralty of this city, public mat- ters would most certainly have mended their proverbially sluggish pace, and would have received an impetus which would have told favorably as well as powerfully upon the community at large. The city of Mont- real owes Mr. Wilson a deep debt of gratitude for the care with which he has watched over its interests, for the spirit with which he has de- fended its privileges, and "for the generosity with which he has often supplied funds in its various emergencies. There are few, if any, of the citizens of Montreal who will not be ready spontaneously to acknowledge that the honor just conferred upon the Mayor is well deserved ; and should he desire to retain the Civic Chair for another year, it could not, we ar-3 sure, have a more deserving occupant : indeed, so many matters of importance have engaged the attention of His Worship of late, and which have not been completed, that it becomes little less than absolute necessity, that he should have an opportunity of seeing them efTectually carried out, which can only be done by presiding over the Council another year. The following testimony to the worth and high estimation in which the Hon. Charles Wilson, Mayor of this city, is held by the Corporation, was drawn up at a meeting of Council, held on Wednesday, the 3rd instant, and engrossed in the minutes of the Council, to remain in the archives of the city as a standing memorial of his high character and inestimable services as Chief Magistrate of Montreal. This address was presented to him, and inserted in the minutes, on occasion of his being advanced to the well deserved honor of a seat in the Legislative Council of the Colony. Meeting of Council of Wednesday, 3rd November, 1852. On motion of Alderman Whitney, seconded by Alderman Whitlaw : — Reiolved, — That this Council have learned with satisfaction, that it has pleased His JBxcellency the Governor General to elevate the Mayor, 8 i ' Charles Wilson, Esq., to a seat in the Legislative Council of this Pro- vince ; that this honor is a well merited acknowledgment of the services of His Worship as Mayor, and of his* successful exertions to establish the credit and advance the prosperity of the city ; that they beg leave to con- fratulate His Worship on his appointment, and to express their confident ope that ho will long live to exercise his Legislative functions with the same zeal and integrity which have always distinguished the perfor- mance of his duties as Mayor of the city of Montreal." Taking into consideration the whole matter, I cannot but think that after the excited state of feeUng through- out the city is thoroughly cooled down, and calm and sober reason has assumed her wonted seat, that every impartial man will readily admit that the Hon. Charles Wilson has been more sinned against than sinned ; and that " take him for all in all," as a Mayor of this city, we shall never look on a better. Notwithstand- ing the most deplorable results of the late riot, I am fully of opinion that it will have a very salutary effect as regards the Municipal Government of this city ; in- asmuch as those persons who may in future feel dis- posed to put down the freedom of speech, and make a direct breach in those laws which protect society in its nearest and dearest rights, particularly those rights which stand so high in the estimation of mankind, — civil and religious liberty ; those persons who may wi h to carry out with a high hand such objects as they may have in view, whether they' be right or wrong, lawful or unlawful, based on reasonable grounds or not ; those who may wish to obtain redress and satisfaction for some r*eal or imaginary insult or injury, by the establishment of lynch and mob law, instead of appeal- ing to the legal authorities of the land ; those who recklessly attempt to trample on the rights and liberties of their fellow men, and by the power of brute force set all law and all right at open defiance, carrying anarchy, bloodshed, and ruin in their train, — will find that they will have a dangerous game to play ; for they are now fully convinced that any future attempt at such unlawful, such outrageous pro- ceedings, will be met by a power, either civil or mili- tary, that must and will promptly put them down, even at the painful sacrifice of life, and that will be in proportion to the resistance to the laws. Sir James 9 Alexander stated before the Coroner's Court, that such was the determined spirit of resistance between con- flicting parties, that he believed if the soldiers had not been called out, many more lives would have been lost. I believe Sir Jar)'- .ras right ; and I further sincerely believe, that had ■ it; military not fired, ten times the number of our fellow-citizens would have lost their lives. I have been credibly informed by a gentleman who lives on the spot, that the report of fire-arms was heard all through the night, which seemed to be dis- charged in a sort of savage bravado, much to the annoyance of the peaceable portion of the inhabitants. Every man who reflects for a moment on this subject must see and acknowledge, that riots in all countries, where the people attempt to take the law in their own hands, must promptly be put down by mild measures if possible, if not, by those which are more severe ; pat down they must be, even at the expense and serious sacrifice of human life ; for what should we be without law? what without thatv^wise palladium of human rights ? Why, man would rapidly dwindle down t|^ the wildest savage of the forest ; the strong would ride rough-shod over even the weak ; and property, liberty, and life would be at the mercy of the powerful, the ' foot-ball of the reckless, the cruel, and depraved, and man would soon sink into the lowest depths of savage brutality. The imperative necessity of holding up the law paramount to every other consideration is, of course, evident to every one ; yes, my beloved fellow citizens of every grade and of every shade of religious and political opinion, we must rally round the standard of legal power ; we must unite, and with an unanimous combination of effort, support and protect the majesty and sublimity of the law, — that glorious ray of divine refulgency, and that monument of human wisdom by which every man holds the tenure of his property, his liberty, and his life, and by which we live, move, and have our being. It is a subject for melancholy reflection, that contro- versial theology and religious differences of opinion should form the great bulk of our evils and troubles 10 I J 1 i i in life ; for whatever ostensible cause may be assigned for the great convulsions which have taken place in society, at different periods of the world's history, most undoubtedly these have been at the foundation ; this has been the cause of the immense carnage and the wholesale butchery of the human race, and why ? Why, because there seems to be an instinctive prin- ciple in our weak and imperfect nature almost ungov- ernable when brought in contact with conflicting opinion, — a principle that cannot be kept under the control of reason and religion, which are at open war with the lower propensities of our nature: for reason says, God has bestowed on man the sacred gift of judg- ing, speaking, and acting for himself, irrespective of all sectional and party divisions, accountable to God * alone, save when he over-steps the boundary of human law: and religion says, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; do to all as you would wish to be done by ; if any man take from thee thy cloak, let him have thy coat also ; and if he strike thee on the left cheek, turn to him the right ; he that draweth the sword shall die by thft sword. But how do we come up to the standard of reason, and to the sublimity of Christianity ? Why, by taking the Bible in one hand, with its heavenly and refulgent doctrines shining with noon-day brightness on its surface, with the eye delighted and the heart warmed with the soul-saving principles therein con- tained ; but in the other, the sword glittering with the fiery sparks of revenge, of envy, hatred, malice, and all uncKaritableness ; and amid the contests of con- flicting opinions, with the mind inflated with the worst passions of our nature, we throw reason into the shade, trample under foot the heaven-born doctrines of reve- lation, and with a wicked, belligerent, and murderous propensity, set at open defiance the laws of God and man, and spread death and desolation around. And for what? why, simply because we do not, cannot, and never will in this world all think alike, for God has con- stituted the human mind with a diversity of physical and mental organization, — I mean the intellect and brain ; and this diversity is in perfect accordance with all if I' 11 rein coii- the other departments of naturo, with the animal, vegetable, and the mineral kingdoms ; and it is that diversity which gives to all their grandeur and their beauty. Then are we to suppose that the main spring of human action, that mighty power which measures the rolling planets in their spheres, which scans every object in the vast immensity of space, ascending to the very portals of heaven's gates, fathoming the depths of the ocean and the bowels of the earth, making the most powerful agencies of nature subser- vient to its will, binding the world with belts of iron, and conveying the human body around its surface by the power of steam with almost gun-shot speed, and the mind on the lightning's wing, literally annihilat- ing time and space, — a power which is second to God's alone ; then can we for a moment suppose that that power would be exempt from that diversity, that beauty and grandeur by which every o^her depart- ment of the Almighty's works are so conspicuously distinguished ? Then, again, the diversified influences which exist and are in constant operation at the time and place of every man's birth, must irresistibly stamp their shade and character upon the mind as soon as it becomes susceptible of an impression ; nay, the whole atmosphere by which he is surrounded, and from which he draws his first inspiration, is impregnated with the tenets and doctrines which he must of neces- sity imbibe, which will grow with his growth, and strengthen with his strength, and which he will in after life, in nine cases out of ten, respect and cherish from the cradle to the grave ; therefore, there can be no merit reasonably attached to a man on the score of opinions, nor any blame, they having been formed by a concatination of fortuitous circumstances and events utterly beyond his control. How preposterous then must it appear to every reflecting mind, for men to indulge in feelings of jealousy, hatred, and animosity, on account of difference of opinion, when they have been mere physical agents in their formation, giving only their tacit admission. ,God has made all men of one flesh, with capacities to obey and glorify 12 him, to promote their own present and future happi- ness, and the present and future happiness of their fel- low men ; and the very highest source of happiness in this life is in promoting the happiness of others ; and all who serve him according to their best abilities, from the wildest Indian of the forest to the most enlightened Christian, he will in nowise cast out. God has made man to differ in opinion on a variety of subjects, but never intended that that difference of opinion should give rise to an unkind or unfriendly feeling between man and man, but rather that it should be the source of calm and rational discussion, imparting a pleasing so- cial recreation, giving health, strength and vigor to the mind, cementing the ties of reciprocal friendship, and the bonds of present and future happiness. With respect to the immediate causes of those heartfelt catastrophies which have called up the warmest sympathies of our fellow-citizens, and the degree of btame (if any) to be attached to the civil and military authorities, I have not much to say, not having been upon the spot during the disturbance ; and for the space of thirty-six years residence in this city, I have always stood aloof from religious and political commotion ; but from what I hear and read upon the subject, it seems to be a difficult matter to fathom the depths of all the connecting circumstances and events, so as to come to a correct conclusion. The immediate cause of the present troubles is, we all know, that an Italian ex -Friar came here to lecture against Popery and the Pope, who has from motives best known to himself, broke out in open war against the dominion of the Pope, and other matters connected with the Ca- thplic religion. I have not heard him lecture, but have heard from good authority that he possesses ora- torical powers of a high order — that he is a man of strong impulsive feelings, and that he appeals more to the passions and prejudices of his hearers than to their reason and judgment — passions and prejudices which every man knows need not the aid of stimulus to bring them into baneful operation ; for beneath the mere surface of society in every country, lie th ? smoul- 13 dering embers of religious and political hate, so thinly covered that a single spark even from the lip of calm dispassionate reason, may touch^the fiery elements, and with a dreadful explosion set the whole country in a blaze. Amid such an heterogenous combustible ma- terial, how guarded a lecturer ought to be; and know- ing the diversity of opinion upon the subject he is go- ing to speak, his thoughts should be weighed in the scales of reason and judgment — his words uttered with firmness as having foundation in conviction and truth, but at the same time with Christian humility, feeling and knowing that all men are liable to trr. — But I am sorry to say, from what I have heard of Ga- vazzi, he is not a man of this cast. To convince men of their errors, it is necessary to do so by bland and gentlemanly deportment, and by a suitable choice of words — free from low scurrility and base personalities. All harsh expressions should be carefully avoided, as they operate diametrically against the object to be obtained ; but a combination of humility, gentleness, and love will find a ready passport to the reasoning powers of man ; and if they do not carry conviction to the mind, they will not destroy that Christian bond, which is so essentiaf to the peace and happiness of mankind. A i)ublic lecturer should have a just con- ception of the moral fitness of things, and should feel that he is part and parcel of that mass of weakness, fallibility and error, of which poor human nature is composed. We all are charged with sin against God, and not one of us are in that position which can en- title us to throw the first stone. The Priests and the Nuns are not exempt from the frailty of our nature, nor from the passions and temptations which are in the wise course of providence permitted to exist. They are intended to try our virtue, and without which man would not be a responsible being. If a few solitary cases of frail mortality have taken place with the Priests and Nuns, is it of such an astounding nature that it should be blazoned through the world, exciting the passions and prejudices of the unthinking mul- titude? 14 i These remarks are made, because Gavazzi, in his lectures, has been making very free with the charac- ter of the Priests and 4he Nuns ; but it seems to have escaped his memory altogether, that the black calen- dar of crime will go down to futurity, stained with the names of some of our own ministers, who have stood high in the church. How many in our day have we seen slide down the slippery path of intem- perance, and with scorn and contempt sink into the drunkard's grave, with their bodies sacrificed to the rottenness of the tomb, and their souls awaiting the verdict of a righteous tribunal ? Yes, man is a fallible being, and the psalmist may well exclaim, " Verily, verily, all is vanity." The Nuns and the Priests as a body, I firmly be- lieve, are sincere Christians, particularly the Nuns ; not merely nominally so, but are so in deed and in truth ; for what can entitle a man or woman to the character of Christian,but that of carrying out in their lives the fun- damental principles of Christ — the principle of univer- sal charity and love. In the year 1847, when Ireland was pouring out her poor unfortunate half-starved population on our shores, many of whom were on the confines of the grave be- fore they left their homes, and lived just long enough to lay their bodies in a foreign land, — when death and contagion stalked abroad in the land,— 'when two or three thousand shattered fellow mortals, young and old, lay writhing in every stage of a malignant dis- ease, the Priests and the Nuns, keenly alive to the dreadful sufferings of the poor in a foreign land, were quickly at their post. The Nuns, in particular, I have witnessed with n^y own eyes — their active and indefati- gable exertions to minister to the dying and the dead. Both day and night, incessantly, they used every ef- fort to alleviate the sufferings of the sick, (both Catho- lic and Protestant), and to smooth the pillow of the dy- ing ; and as they fell one by one, by being in constant contact with the vindence of the dreadful disease, another, and another, like a good soldier of Jesus Christ, fired by the heaven-born spirit of Christian love, m 15 filled her sister's place, — cheerfully sacrificing their lives in the cause ol'suflfering humanity I The Priests were also very attentive to the sick and the dying. There wc/'e between two and three thousand at one time, and in every third or fourth bed a dying person. In one ward there were about 250 children, some of them taken from the breast of a dead mother. I met Father Richards there ; he told me that the Nuns at- tended very closely to all their wants ; he was called away in haste to attend to a dying man ; I never saw him more ; in two days after he was himself a corpse ! Never in my life did I witness such a mass of human suffering, nor so rtiuch Christian sympathy as was shewn by the Priests and the Nuns ; and never from the bottom of my heart did I so much wish that the eternal bickerings between religious parties would for ever cease. About twenty of the Priests and Nuns lost their lives in doing all in their power to relieve the suffering poor ! O, how much is it to be wished that Christians of every denomination would set their shoulder to the wheel to break down the middle- wall partitions which separate man from man ; and instead of indulging in angry altercations and useless disputations about what they will never all agree, resolve to trample un- der foot every species of sectarian domination, bigotry, and superstition, and join hand in hand in carrying out the great, the good, the noble, the fundamental princi- ples of Christianity — universal benevolence and love,; join together in brotherly love to do good to all, irre- spective of sect or party — to visit the sick and the wi- dow in her affliction — to walk hand in hand through the streets and suburbs of our city, and snatch the rag- ged wretched urchin from the dens of infamy and vice, and clothe him with wisdom and virtue ; bring him to the rich mine of revelation, there to store his mind and heart with pure and undefiled religion ; teach him to dig deep for that precious gold, in comparison with which all other mines are utterly worthless ; in short, give him the bible without bigotry, and religion without sectarianism ;-— give him this, and you confer upon him 16 an inestimable blessing — a ulessing that will make him happy and respectable in this life, and happy through- out the countless ages of a never ending eternity. I have said that religious differences are the cause of a large portion of the evils of life ; if so, the natural question of every benevolent and right thinking man will be, what can be done to rid society of the baneful influences by whicli it is infested ? What can be done to induce a better order of things, and what conclusion can any rational man arrive at after ma- ture consideration ? Why, that tlie moral advance- ment in our social compact must be based upon an im- proved, enlightened, liberal, and christianized educa- tion. Schools must be established upon the broad basis of universal benevolence— the streams of sacred and secular education must flow in parallel channels to the fountains of the head and the heart — tlie lessons of pounds, shillings and pence, and the lessons of Christian love, must go hand in hand— the doctrine of universal brotherhood must be the leading tenet stamped upon the youthful mind — the vastness of the power and mercy of God, and the weakness and empty nothingness of man, must be indelibly impressed upon every mind. The example of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, must be constantly kept before the mind of youth as a model for human action, and a deep and lasting impress stamped thereon — that we are all chil- dren of one great family, and that God is our kind, good, merciful, and benevolent Father — that he is no respecter of persons, and that every man has a sacred right to worship Him according to the conviction of his own mind, — and that all who do so, in spirit and in truth, will be accepted of Him. That he is present every where, and knows all our thoughts, words, and actions — that he will reward and punish every man according to the deeds done in the body — that salva- tion must be obtained by repentance and reformation -^that faith* and works must go hand in hand — and that prayer to the Almighty for power to perform good works must be accompanied with an effort to do so — and that to show our reverence and love to God, 17 we must do good to our fellow-men ; we must carry out our Saviour's golden rule, and do to others as we would wish to be done by ; we must return good for evil, and when reviled, revile not again ; we must practice the Christian virtues of activity, industry, frugality, humility, temperance, patience under af- fliction, and resignation to the will of God, and have an abiding hope in his goodness and mercy, and a firm, steadfast reliance on his present and eternal protec- tion. These great principles and prominent features of Christianity must be the paramount teachings of the schools ; and the plastic minds of the young must re- ceive the stamp of wisdom and virtue as soon as it is susceptible of an impression. Christianity was intended by our benevolent Crea- tor to give present and future happiness to man ; and if it do not give that happiness, we may rest assured that there is something materially wrong ; we may also rest assured that the wrong does not exist in Christianity itself, but in the perverseness, the obsti- nacy, the wickedness of man. The principles of Chris- tianity are pure and refining ; but the soil upon which they were intended to operate becomes hardened by early contamination : and it is the bounden, the imper- ative, the sacred duty of every man to watch and pre- pare that soil by counteracting influences, by the rich manure of early instruction, and by watering the ten- der plants with the heavenly dew of Christian princi- ple ; so that they may grow up, bud and blossom in the fragrance and beauty of every Christian virtue — that they may become the honored recipients of those blessings which are promised by God to the righteous, present and future happiness. The State must tax the people for a sufficient amount of funds to enable it to carry out the noble purposes of education on the most generous and liberal footing, and be responsible to the people for the proper education of every human being within its dominions ; then would every poor, lost, forsaken, ragged orphan, and worse than orphan, the child of a drunken, worthless father, surrounded with all the 18 hellish influences of depraved humanity, tfnd a friend and a father in the State. In all schools supported by Government funds, — that is, with the people's money, through the medium ot the State, — the State should hecomo the school- master of the people, and be accountable to the people for the right direction of the educational funds, and see that all appropriations for school purposes should be principally directed to the proper education of the poo ' . ** The right education of the young is the most effectual instrument of a thorough and permanent reform in so- ciety ; but let no one take a limited view of what is meant by the phrase, a right education. By the ex- pression, we do not mean simply that instruction and discipline which children receive in school — we do not mean a knowledge merely of the arts and sciences, the instruction to be received from the study of books. To educate a child is to draw out, to develope, and to direct faculties ; — a right education is the right devel- opment, and the right direction of his powers. But the child's powers are various and manifold. He has appe- tites and passions pertaining to the body, and faculties and capacities which we call intellect : he has also moral and religious susceptibilities and powers. Thus complex is human nature — the body, the mind, the soul ; these constitute tie man. The body must be so trained as to secure its full growth, the vigorous and healthy action of all its parts and functions ; the power of the mind must be cultivated in a way to se- cure their fullest development, and their noblest ac- tion ; thft moral sentiments and the religious suscepti- ^'lities must have that culture which Christianity prescribes ; the inferior part of man's nature must be under the control ot his superior powers ; his reason and his conscience, and his whole nature, b'^'ly, soul, and heart, must be in subjection to tl e wi'i nf his Maker. This is, in general terms, wiiut we under- stam! by a risjht education." As it is from the ne- glected poor children in early life principally that vice and m^2^ ■ ry sprini^, the State must become the school- master of ih people^ and compulsory education, to a friend inds, — lediiim 'school- people and see lould be \iepon'. Effectual in so- what is the ex- ion and -we do ciences, r books. '; and to t devel- But the ^s appe- faculties as also • Thus ind, the must be igorous is; the y to se- iest ac- scepti- Jtianity lust be reason , soul, •f his inder- fie ne- Lt vice 5hool- f to a 19 certain extent, the legalized system of the Government, ere we can hope for th^ millennium of society to com- mence. The State miiht teach the young idea how to shoot ; not by encouraging party feeling, local, sec- tional, and national divisions, for this would be giving the ball a wrong direction — tliis would be encouraging a pli^ ^ical argument levelled at the destruction of the body, rather than at the conviciioii of the mind; it would defeat its own purpose, by widening the breach, and deepening the wounds between ( .ntending parties The object of the statesman, the pulpit, and the press should be to draw mankind together in the bomlfs of universal friendship and love, and to endeavour to re- mo^e every obstacle that is calculated to o})erate a.j'lii'^.t '^e peace, harmony, and happiness of society. Tlie fire of the young idea should be directed against all that is ungenerous and illiberal in sentiment ;i.*id feeling, and immoral and unchristian in principle and practice ; against all vaunting domination over a fel- low-being on the score of religious differences, know- ing that all men are liable to err, and that all stand on one common platform of human weakness and frlli- bility. These high and holy principles engrafted on the rising generation, in connection with secular edu- cation, would produce a new race of beings in our world, would soften down the rough, rugged and feru- cious feelings of humanity, and implant thereon uni- versal benevolence and love ; those principles which stand out on the Christian volume in bold relief, so plain that he who runs may read ; they need not, for their explanation, the aid of metaphysical research, nor need they the angry disputations too often in- dulged in about what are sometimes called the knotty points of divinity. This common sense religion, free from the blighting sting of sectarian domination, if carried out in the life of man, will make him happy here, and eternally so hereafter ; it will remodel the general framework of society ; it will give security to property and to life; it will kindle up a reciprocity of kindly feeling between man and man, and a confidential hope that they will 1^, n m continue to live in peace and harmony here, and meet again in another and a better world, to enjoy in a state of individual identity, that refined, spiritual ecstasy of being, which eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. Thus would the state by the vast improvement, brought about by a liberal, enlightened, and a chris- tianized education, in a few years refund to the people the money raised for this great and good purpose, with compound interest, by the security of property and life, — by the reduction, nay almost total annihilation of the vast amount annually expended to meet the ends of crimir ,^ justice, by comparatively shutting up the poor houses, the gaols, and the hospitals ; and what is infinitely above all, by the salvation of human souls, for the attainment of which, all pecuniary considera- tions should be thrown to the wind. Thus, the fire- brands of society would be cut off, and the poisonous seeds of ignorance, intolerance, bigotry, illiberality, pride, jealousy, revenge, animosity, thirst for blood, and savage brutality, would not be allowed to take root and strengthen in the soil— shedding its baneful influence through every fibre of the garden of life — converting this beautiful world into a dark and howling wilder- ness, having beings in the form of men, but sunk infi- nitely below the brute — beings blest by the Almighty, with the high intellectual powers of reason and judg- ment, but sunk into the lowest depths of human depra- vity. To protect the world from this mass of corrup- tion, must be the work of education. By the control- ling power of a wise legislation this motal curse must be removed from the earth ; by the wisdom, the Chris- tianity, the humanity, and the philanthropy of the powers that be. The State must take the ragged de- serted child out from the infernal influence of the de- praved and heartless parent, and clothe him in the robes of moral and religious principle. This may ap- pear by some to be a species of arbitrary power not to be submitted to in any civilized country ; but it will be readily admitted by every thinking man, that it is nothing more than a reasonable, a humane, a philanthropic 21 process, to save a large portion of the human race from evil and misery here, and retributive justice hereafter; nothing less than the object of securing the present and eternal welfare and happiness of a large portion of the human race, and to protect the mass of society from all the evils and misery which the connection and contamination of uneducated humanity will ever inflict. I need not back this assertion with evidence, because all know and see in the every day business of life this fact staring them in the face ; and the report of every gaol in every country will go with me. Why, three or four months ago, on looking over the books of a country gaol, kindly shown me by the Sheriff of the District, there appeared 71 committals in one year; out of this number, 62 were marked intemperate, and out of the whole number there were only 25 that had any pretensions to learning ; some of them could read and write a little, others could only read, but not one educated man could be found among them. But some may say this was only a country place ; but the same lack of education, and the evils arising therefrom, are the same in town and country, which the Newgate calendar can witness. It is a well ascertained fact that one-half of the population of England can neither read nor write ! What must be the amount then of vice and misery arising from this source, and the expense of criminal justice connected therewith 1 "A return of the number of persons taken into cus- tody by the Metropolitan Police, and their results in the year 1 852." From this document we learn that during the last year 73,257 have been taken into cus- tody for — first, offences against the person ; second, offences against property committed with violence ; third, offences against property without violence ; fourth, malicious offences against property ; fifth, for- gery and offences against the currency; and sixth, other offences not included in 'the above classes. Of these 73,257 persons, 38,272 were discharged by the magistrates; 30,558 were summarily convicted, or held to bail ; 4,527 were committed for trial ; 3,665 ' were convicted and sentenced ; 632 were acquitted ; 22 m\ W'^. V V'i and in 130 cases bills were not found or not prose- cuted. Twelve persons were taken into custody for murder; 38 for manslaughter ; 19 for shooting at, stabbing, and administering poison; 97 for cutting and wounding with intent ; 38 for rape ; 85 for assaults with intent to commit rape ; 24 for concealing the birth of their infants, and 1 for child-dropping ; 260 for attempting to commit suicide ; 2 for feloniously attempting to procure abortion ; 6,087 for common assaults; 3,381 for assaults on the police; 2 for feloniously throwing over the person a corrosive fluid ; 3 1 for bigamy ; 107 for burglary ; 38 for horse-steal- ing ; 7,280 for simple larceny ; 2,199 for larceny from the person ; 299 for embezzlement ; 399 for fraud ; 13 for conspiring with intent to defraud ; 51 for dog- stealing; 18 for arson; 2,379 for wilful damage; 1,313 for uttering counterfeit coin; 12 for coining; 38 for forgery ; 235 for cruelty to animals ; 268 for deserting their families; 3,750 disorderly prostitutes; 13,801 drunk and disorderly characters; 158 for in- decently exposing the person ; 10 for keeping common brothels ; 2,355 suspicious characters ; 330 reputed thieves ; and 3,708 vagrants. Of the 73,257 persons taken into custody, 6,938 males and 5,580 females could neither read nor write ; 36,905 males and 1 9,685 females could read only, or read and write imper- fectly; 3,043 males and 453 females could read and write well; and 722 males and 31 females possessed a superior education. If any one has applied the torch of incendiarism, and burnt down half a village, a town, or a city, in nine cases out of ten it is an uneducated man. If any man has stopped me on the highway and taken my purse, and in the scuffle wounded me and left me weltering in my blood, in nine cases out of ten the robber is an uneducated man. If any man has broken into my house to ^et pos- session of the almighty dollar, — which is the strong propelling power of almost every w icked deed, — and murdered myself and family to prevent detection, it is, in nine cases out of ten, the same unfortunate being •ap 23 who has been neglected in early life — one who, instead of being reared in the school of moral and religious principle, has been left to run wild through the lanes and alleys of the city with wicked companions and with passions under no control, with temptation meet- ing him at every turn, and with intemperance and every species of vice in every haunt. Under such unfortunate circumstances and pernicious influences, it is morally impossible that the wicked boy should grow up the virtuous man ; but he will become a moral pest in the society in which he moves. The fact is, that the infant mind is as a sheet of blank paper ; and it is for the present generation to say what shade of characters they intend to write thereon. The plastic, mind is there, susceptible of an impression ; and it is for us to say whether it is to be stamped with ignorance, vice, degradation, and misery ; or virtue, wisdom, respectability, and happiness. With the pre- sent, the poor of the rising generation will stand or fall. With the present generation depends the present and eternal welfare and happiness of the young, and the peace, harmony, and happiness of society at large. The present generation is in a great measure respon- sible to God for the actions of that which is to come ; and a weight of responsibility rests upon every man's shoulders, placed there by our heavenly Father for the wisest and best of purposes ; it is placed there to urge us to do good actions to our fellow beings, in order that a reciprocity of happiness may be conferred on the giver and receiver. God has not blest us with the cheering light of revelation, and commanded us to hide it under a bushel, but has given us positive injunctions to reflect its congenial and exhilarating rays on all around. " Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven ; " and this is the light and no other which is intended by the Almighty to clear with its vivifying rays the dense atmosphere of idolatry, igno* ranee, bigotry, superstition, and vice; this is the light which is to bring into one brotherhood, and bind in the Christian bonds of fraternal love, the great family of I ■I' 24 the human race, of every country, of every color, and of every creed ; this is the light sent down from heaven to dispel the clouds of envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness, and to establish peace on earth and good will towards men : and those who possess talent, power, position, and influence in life, and who exert that power and influence in the great and glorious cause of training our rising youth in principles of religion and virtue, will confer an inestimable bene- fit on society, both in an individual and social point of view, — they will stand approved by God and man, — they will live under the consoling and cheering ap- probation of conscience, and under the soul-cheering smiles of a wise and impartial Deity, — they will go down to distant posterity, crowned with the highest honors as benefactors of their race, and be blest with the grateful recollections and earnest benedictions of millions of their fellow beings. Having expressed my views relative to the late riot, and to the immediate and more remote causes of those dreadful and repulsive scenes, and to the re- medies which I humbly conceive should be applied ; I cannot close these remarks without offering my prayers to Almighty God, and my sincere appeal to my fellow men, that such disgraceful scenes may for ever cease, — scenes so dishonorable to man, and so displeasing to God, — scenes which carry with them more of the barbarism of the dark ages than the en- lightenment of the nineteenth century. Why, if it were possible* for an inhabitant of one of the numerous worlds that roll in the immensity of space to visit us in one of these scenes, the natural question would be, — is this a Christian country, and are the inhabitants Chris- tians *? The reply might be, why do you ask us such a question ; and the answer might be, why if this is Christianity and you are Christians, all that I can say in the matter is, that the wise and virtuous principles of Christianity are one thing, and the foolish and wicked practices of Christians another. Nominal Chris- tianity and spiritual Christianity are widely different ; profession and practice should go hand in hand, for the 25 pretensions to be or have a thing, when we are it not and have it not, is a barefaced mockery. The stran- ger might ask the cause of the tumult, and each man might give his version, according to the bias of his party and long settled prejudices and opinions ; and such would be the conflicting evidences brought forth, that no satisfactory conclusion could be drawn, nor any rational inference arrived at, as to the real merits of the case. The want of a proper training of the rising youth of every country is most undoubtedly the lead- ing cause of a large portion of the vice and misery by which humanity is afflicted ; and all coercive measures will have but little e^Tect upon the life and character when the habits are once permanently settled ; there- fore, if we want to cure the disease, we must probe to the bottom of the wound ere we can reasonably expect to make a perfect cure. As long as the gangrene is festering beneath, all external applications will prove utterly abortive ; we may imprison, hang, draw and quarter, shoot down by hundreds, but all this will avail us nothing ; we must give habits of piety and virtue instead of the goal and the gallows, and moral and religious principle instead of powder and shot. In conclusion, I cannot but express a fervent hope, that all our fellow citizens will, of every denomination, endeavour to put down in every suitable way religious altercations and religious distinctions, and respect every man according to his real worth, irrespective of differences of opinion ; that all will join hand in hand to do good in their day and generation — to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry, to instruct the ignorant, to be a father to the orphan, a husband to the widow, and a friend to those who have none to help them, and use their united efforts to put down, by precept and exam- ple, war, slavery, and the use of intoxicating drinks. And with a spirit of Christian humility, let us never forget our own weakness, and our own liability to err ; be always ready to put a fair and favorable construction upon the sayings and doings of others ; and that as every day adds fresh proofs, by disasters by sea and land, of the great uncertainty of life, and 26 shews us by what a brittle thread we hold our existence, let us, instead of indulging in an officious meddling with other people's principles and practice, set about putting our own house in order; and looking well into our own hearts and lives, see that all is right there ; and let us be up and doinu-, while it is called to day, for the night is fast approaching, when no man can work. Having given my opinion on the late fatal disasters, with the connecting causes and remedies to be applied, I have done so in full confidence that they will have a beneficial effect, — that they will lead some of my fel- low-men to reflect deeply on the highly important matters herein contained, in order that those who possess power and influence may see the propriety and necessity of lending a helping hand in the great work of human reformation, — in the noble work of in- stilling into the infant mind the high and holy princi- ples of Christian virtue, that the rich and fertilizing streams of moral and religious principle may irrigate the land and bring forth the blessed fruit of tem- perance, industry, virtue, and happiness. In giving this humble production to my fellow-men, I do not do so with my mind impressed with the idea that I possess the power of imparting to them anything which they do not already know, but to stir them up to immediate action ; and although I do so with some confidence, still I feel as one belonging to a mass of fallibility and error, and may be wrong. I have not had the advantages of a liberal education, and hope the few remarks I have made may be taken for just what they are worth. As clouds, and shadows, and dark forebodings hang around the political horizon in Europe, and as deep-laid animosities and long-stand- ing feuds of a religious character are rife in this and our own native country, it behooves us all as men and Christians to be up and doing ; and standing to our guns, not to the dogs of war that slay the body, but to the great guns of moral and Christian principle that save the soul, and with the ammunition of reason and right action, do all in our power to dispel the ed mi of ca fa wl 27 nee, Jling buut well right ed to man clouds and shadows of religious and political fore- bodings. In the foregoing remarks I have endeavored to show, first, that the Hon. Charles Wilson cannot be in any degree answerable for the late melancholy loss of life, so much to be deplored, as he was only per- forming, to the best of his conscience, an important, an imperative, and a sacred duty — that of restoring to the city its wonted tranquillity : and the question ot guilty or not guilty does not hang on the point whether he gave the word to fire or not ; but whether he was actuated through the whole scene of the disturbance by a desire to restore the public peace, or whether he was impelled by feelings of envy, hatred, and malice, and by party spleen ; and as there is not the shadow of an evidence through the long and tedious routine of the late examination to prove the latter, there cannot be a doubt existing on the mind of any reasonable and impartial man, that Mr. Wilson is fairly entitled to receive from the public a verdict of not guilty ; and there is not the smallest doubt but time and the calm reflection of men will do him justice. Mr. Wilson is descended by his father's side from a Scotch family of high standing : the late Mr. Wilson was for many years a Collector of Customs. By th^ mother's side Mr. Wilson is related to some of the first families in Canada, descendents of the French nobless, I have also pointed out the sad want in us all, of liberality of bearing towards our fellow-christians, — the want of that charity and love which the Gospel so strongly recommends and commands us to practice ; the want of which forms the leading troubles of life. And lastly, that the great bulk of evil and misery by which society is inflicted, arises from the *vant of right education, — the want of efficient training of the infant mind, — a governmental supervision over the children of the poor,— a direct positive law for compulsory edu- cation of the "right sort, — the engrafting upon the in- fant nimd those moral and religious principles, which will guarantee to society, that its rising members will be a blessing and an ornament, instead of a curse and a moral pest in every circle in which they move, spread- ing the seeds of vice and misery around them, and con- taminating with every species of evil the very atmos- phere in which they breathe. From the foregoing remarks, I think it will be readily admitted that all tampering with the subject of our social reformation will be perfectly useless; that it is absolutely necessary that we look the sub- ject boldly in the face, when the following process of reasoning will riaturally arise:— that as the burthen of the evils of life have their being in defective educa- tion, so a perfect universal education will do away with those evils as naturally as the succession of cause and eflfect ; and as the people in every country pay their money to support their respective governments and laws, they of course have a right to expect to receive an equivalent for the money so paid, by the security of property and lile, and that the funds so raised should be applied in promoting those objects which confer on society the greatest amount of public good ; and that as municipal and individual exertion is not sufficiently directed towards this great object, it be- hooves the government of every country to take into their own hands the noble work of crushing the mon- ster evils by which society is afflicted ; and that the only radical cure for those mighty evils which destroy the peace, happiness, and harmony of society, is to be found in an universal liberal and christianized educa- tion. And that Catholic and Protestant of every aenomination may form one great and glorious band of philanthropists, and set about the great work of human reformation, and put down all those contaminating influences which have a direct tendency to make our fellow beings err, to disobey the Almighty's com- mands, and to walk counter to his will, — influences which fill the earth with misery and crime, which destroy the peace and happiness of society here, and consign a large portion to misery hereafter, and to further, foster and support all those influences which have a tendency to bless the human race, to refine and elev con( and inti in t Mai in 1 ardc ■1 29 elevate society, and to confer upon man union and concord here, and everlasting happiness hereafter, — and that all may glide down the placid stream of time, in the bonds of Christian fellowship, until they ar-ive in the haven of eternal rest, each worshipping his Maker according to the dictates oi his conscience, in harmony, peace, and love, is the sincere and ardent desire of A PROTESTANT. iM i-.; M ,. !• PRINTED AT THE STKAM-PUESS PRtNTING ESTABLIShMKNT OF J. C. 6£CK£T, 22 GKEAT ST. JAMES STREET, MONTR£/.I.. -^A.^^ I. B£CKET,