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#
THE
Commanttations of iHercatojTt
UPON THE
COMTMST
awrwMii
THE EARL OF SELKIRK,
AND THS
BUtiSON^S BAY COMPANY^
ON ONE SIOB,
AMD
THE NORTH WEST COMPANY
ON TH£ OTHBIU
HBPUBUliHED FROM THE MONTRBAt HERALD^
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MONTREA^t—LOWER^JANAOA.
1817.
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PREFACE.
.■K}:^:\
fm
v,t
IT having Been thought advhakle to rtm
print i in a Pamphlett the Communications made by me
to the Printer of THE MONTREAL HERALD, 1
have, in consequ^^ncCf to apologise to those who may now
read them in connexion, for the frei^uenty that occurs of
what may be termed repetitions.
1 t»! •«.» 1 V
fVhen I first took up the pen, it was for
the purpose of introducing certain law opinions, in oppo-
sition to those published by the Earl qf Selkirk, or bf
his order ; but being attacked, I was necessarily led in-
to a wider range, by the misrepresentations and violenci
of his Lordship's advocates and supporters.
m
'>- My Communications having been written
at different periods of time, and without the then intention
of re-publication together, it was material that the strong
points against Lord Selkirk, viz. the want of legal founda-
tion in his claims to colonial territory and commercial mo-
j: i A 2 nopoly
t
T
f
\\
voptlyi and his hting always thi aggrin§rin iupptrting
thtm, should be hpt in a prominent point e/view%
Such points were therefore repeatedly imm
pressed upon the public attention^ and, / trust, with
jome effect ; for it cannvt hut appear most extraordinary,
that he, whote pretended rights have been shewn to bt
unfounded ^ and his self-styled governors, who neither
had hgal appointment and confirmation , nor had been /r*
gaily qualified for office ^ should^ with so high a hand, and
in contempt of all the established princtples of procedure
upon contested claimSf attack the rights and interests of
ethers so long previously enjoyed, without other authority
for such attack, than his and their acts, whereby they
toustituted themselves judges in his and thtit tfwn cause.
't'.rrsVJi'i i^v-4 V^!iX\t^-' ^?iV
MERCATOR.
J-l.nvMf ^-v^^ ■- ■il'iii*: ■i-v-ifr'n-
.^A -.
^•••- •^'v*;,rsf?
■ ;-i't,>^
• '.*. h'>--\
COM.
L .
Commumcattons of JHercator.
TO THE PRINTER OF THE MONTREAL HERALD.
Mr. Gray,
THE public attention has of late been so much
called to what has been written and said about the
claims of Lord Sellcirk and the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany, to an exclusive right of trade and soil within
certain territories in the Ncirth West, that a plain
statement andexpusition of the merits of the question*
divested of sophistry, cannot but be acceptable to those
who are disposed to exercise their reason upon its ex>
amination, instead ot passion and prejudice.
I shall premise, by laying down two principles, 1st
that the crown cannot grant an exclusive right of
trade, without the concurrence or confirmation c'
Parliament ; and 2d, that the crown could not grant a
teriitory, which at the time of the grant belonged to
another sovereign, and more especially, )f then in the
undisturbed occupancy of the subjects of that sove-
reign.
i
Hudson's Bay was first approac' cd by land by two
French gentlemen, Monsr. Radisson and Monsr. De
Grohcliiersy who were condusted thither across the
country,
9
counlry, from the interior of Canada or New France,
by Savages. Succeeding in this, ilicy returned, and went
to Qiiebec, offering to the merchants there, to C( ndiict
ihips to Iludson'b Bay, but their proposal was reject-
ed. Tl)ey then applied in Paris with no better suc-
cess, when the English Ambassador persuaded them
to go <o London, where they met a favorable recep-
tion from some persons ci quality and merchants,
who intrusted Mr. Gillam, (a person, long uncd to the
Newfoundland trade) to prosecute the discovery. He
sailed in the Nonauch Ketch, in 1667, into BaOin's
Bay, to the height of 75 degrees, and from thence
southward to 55 degrees, where he entered a river, to
which lie gave the name of Prince Rupert's, and find-
ing llic savag-'G friendly to trade, he there erected a
small fort. The persons concerned in the outfit of
this vessel, u;jo!i trie return of Gillam, applied to
Charles, II. for a patent or charter, who granted them
one, dated 2d May, 1670.
V
In that year, the Company sent over Chas. Bailey,
Escjr. as their goveinor, who, with Mr. Radisson, set-
tled at Rupert's River, and established another factory
at fort Nelson. In 1683, Henry Sargeant was made
governor at Rupert's river, with oiders to be careful
of the French, who began to be jealous of the trade.
The French claiiiied the continent at the bottom of
ll.t: Bay, as a part of New France, and indeed to the
country across to Rupert's River, from a river which
runs into the St. Lawrence.
In iCZC, the Hudson's Bay Company had five forts
or
•rsctllements for trade, viz, Albany River, Hayes's
Island, Rupert's River, York, and New Severn. The
jealousy of the French increased, who attacked and
took by surprise, in a time of profound peace, Hayes's
Island, in Nelson River. This was done by the Che-
valier de Troycs, who went over land from Qiiebec
and in July, 1686, came before Albany fort, which
Governor Sargeant attempted to defend, but was com-
pelled to surrender in a week, upon articles which
were badly kept.
I
In 1693, the Hudson's Bay Company, assisted by
government, retook these forts, but soon after were
again driven out by the French. In 1696, they ap-
plied to King William, who aided the Company with
two men of war, when these forts were all retaken.
In the next general war, the French renewed their
attacks, and captured all but fort Albany . At the
treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, all were restored to the
English, as will appear by the subjoined loth article
of that treaty, whi:h provided for the appointment of
Commissioners to settle a line of boundary, but they
never sat, or made any report. , ^ . ,
A Beaver Company was erected in Canada in 1 630,
who traded to the interior for peltr!.:;, prior to the
date of the Charter of the Hudson's juay Company.
And Captain Dobbs who wrote befcre the war of
1755, says, that in 1742, the French had a settlement
for trade near the southern branch of York or Nel-
son river, 100 mi e& above the English factory, where
they sold their goods cheaper than the Hudson's Bay
^;.,....= Company,
i
I
8
Company, by which they got all rhe choice ikinf, and
none but rci use were left for the Company. The
French at that time had another settlement for trade
pretty high up on Rupert's River. The trade at
Churchi I, i>n tnc bay, war increasing, being at a
greater dl tance trom the French. •• The Company"
saysCupt. O )bbs, ** avoid all they can malcing dis*
** coverii-s to the northward of Churchill, foi fear
*' they ahoiil i di«>caver a passage to the Western O**
« ccai), and tempt by that mtans, the rest of the En-
** glish merchants to lay open thuir trade, which they
" know they have no legal right to.**
Mr. Joseph Robsnn, formerly in the employ of the
Hiid'^un's Buy Company, wht> also before the war of
ly^ij, wrote an account of six year's residence in
Hudson's Bay, viz. from 173310 1736, and 1744 to
1747, in assigniig reasons why the Hudson's Bay
Company had acted with such a want of enterprise,
says, ** but the irue reason is obvious : they had nole-
** gal right to their exclusive trade since the year
'* 1698, at which time the act of parliament expired,
*^ thatconfirmed their charter only for seven yeitrs."
This i a conclusive proof of the first principle above
laid down, that the crown cannot give an exclusive
right of trade, for if the Hudson's Bay Company's
charter requiredu parliamentary confirmation for seven
years, the momcnr that time expired, the confirmation
ceased, and the charter became void as to the future
trade. ■ '* »•' ' - ! fi;„fi;.,-i^ r 3; t.-^I; 3i;or, 7tt
Long after the treaty of 1763, and surrender of
Canada
vt^
'#
Canada to Great Britain, viz. in 17741 and not befora,
the Hudson's B^y Company extended their trading
posts fro.a the Bay into the interior, where t!>cy found
traders fiom Canadi, successors to the rights of the
fubjects of France so long before exercised in that
trade, and both parties were thenceforth aiilce entitled
to the pursuit of it freely. The French were the
first European discoveirers and occupiers of t^c ints*
rior territory in quedion, and the traders from Ca-
ilada have since extended those internal discoveries,
so that no charter to the H'idson's Bay Company, nor
grant from them to Lord Selkirk, could possibly con-
vey lands or trade never possessed by Groat Britaia,
until after the said Treaty of 176,). It surely requires
no argument to prove, that a Country to which the
right was to be decided by a joint act, under the so-
vereign powers of England and France, could nor be
granted away by the seperate act of one of them i and
consequently I c insider my second principle as above
laid down, fully established.
The following legal opinions were obtained ia
London, last'^anuary, in answer to questions respec-
ting the Hudson's Bay Company's charter, and other
matters, submitted to those, whose names are subscri-
bed.
" The Prerogative of the Crown to grant an ex-
clusive Trade was formerly very much agitated in the
gredt case of the East India Company, versus Sandys.
The Court of Kiug's Bench, in which • Lordjtffreyt
g then
1 11 I I I II ■ ■ ■ - - ■ I ^
• The character of Jud^ Jeflreys is too well known f» entitle his it*
i^. risions to any weight.
1 •■:
h
10
then pnsidid, h^\d that such a grant was legal, and
we are not aware that there has since been any deci*
sion expressly on this question in the Courts of law.
Most of the Charters tor exclusive trade and exclusive
privileges to companies or associations, have since
the revolution received such a degree of legislative
sanction, as perhaps to preclude the necessity of any ju-
dicial decision on //.
** Much more moderate opinions were entertained
concerning ihe extent of the prerogi ive since tne re-
volution, to which is to be attributed the frequent re-
course after that period t) Legislative authority in
such cases, and particularly in the very case of the
Hudson's Bay Conipanv ; f >r by the temporary act of
II of William and Mar;, "for confirming to the
** Governor and Company trading to Hudson's Bay
^ *' their privileges and trade/' the duration of that
confirmation, is expressly limited to seven years, and
to the end of the then next session of Parliament, and
no longer. Part of tne Preamble of that act, is in
effect a legislative declaration of the insufficiency of
the charter for the purposes professed in it, without
the authority of the Legislature: and which authority
entirely ceased, soon after the expiration of the seven
years after that passed* / ^
** Such rights, therefore, as the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany can derive from the Crown alone, under their
extraordinary charter as it is, mustgnow entirely rest
upon, and stand or fall by the common law preroga-
tive of the Crown.
The
'1
» '. .(
11
„ The right of the Crown merely to erect a company
for trading by charter, and to make a grant of terri-
tory in Charles the II's reign may not be disputable ;
but on the other hand, there are various clauses in the
Hudson's Bay Company's charter, particularly those
empowering the company to impose fines and penaU
ties— to seize or confiscate Goods and Ships— and
seize or arrest the persons of interlopers, and compel
them to give security in c£ 1000, &cc. &c. which are
altogether illegal, and were always so admitted ; and
we are clearly of opinion, that the company and their
officers, agents, or servants, could nut justify any sei-
zure of Goods, or arrest or imprisonment oi the per-
sons of any oi His Majesty's subjects*
** But we think that the Hudson's Bay Company
and their Grantee Lord Selkirk, have extended their
territorial .claims much further than the charter will
warrant, supposing it even free from all the objec-
tions to which we apprehend It is in other respects
liable ; the words of the grant pursuing the recital of
the petition of tne giantees with a very trifling varia-
tion, that c&nnot affect the construction of the instru>
mcnt, are, of the sole trade and commerce of all those
«• seas, streights, bays, rivers,S1akes, creeks, and sounds,
••in whatever latitude they shall be, within the en-
" trance of the streights commwly called Hudson's
** streights : together with all the lands and territories
upm the f gauntries \ J coasts and confines ef the seas ^
B 2 " baySf
+ The vford Countriei by accid>>nt^1 traninositioi in the Charter,
has become DonS4'n'e, ttnd ou^ht to iiave been inserted between the
words " Idtids " " (in.l " whicli would corrwpond with the petition for
'h»cbHTt«r, as tseieio recited."
«
• /
13
•« /><iyx, lahi^ riv*rs, treiks, and sounds af unsaid ;** x\aX
is> within the streights, and those limits are frequent-
ly referred to throughout the charter, as the limits a*
foresaid.
«< Within the streights must mean such a proximity to
the streights as would give the lands spoken of a sort
of affinity or relation to Hudson's streights, and not
to lands commencing at the distance of 900 miles, and
extending 2000 miles therefrom-- that is to say, of the
coasts andicot^fines/of the seas &c. within the streights,
such a boundary must be implied as is cmsistent with
that view, and with the professed objects of a trading
company, intending not to found kingdoms and establish
states, but to carry on fisheries in those waters, and to
traiBc for the acquisition of furs and peltries, and the
other articles mentioned in the Charter. The enormous
extension of land and territory now claimed, appears
therefore to us not to be warranted by any £oundcons<»
traction of the charter*. .^^ 1^ ?•;;.: ^*h
<< Indeed there is sufficient reason to suppose that
the territories in question or part of them, had been
then visited, traded in, and in a certain degree occu-
pied by French traders from Canada, and their beaver
company erected in 1630, whose trade in Peltries wese
considerably prior toilhe date of the charter of thr Hud-
son's Bay company. Thete territories, therefore, would
be excepted o .t of the grant \ and the right of British
subjects in getkeral to visit and trade in those regions
would follow the national rights acquired by the king,
hythe conquest and session of Canada, as enjoyed by the
Frencn
13
. f
French Canadi&. ^ previous to that Conquest and cc8<
lion.
>ng,
the
** No territorial right therefore can be claimed in the
districts in question ; and the exclusive trade there can*
not be set up by virtue oi the charter ; these dis-
tricts being remote from any geographical relation to
Hudson's.Bay and to the stteight^, and not being in a-
ay sense within the streights, nor approached by the
traders from Canada, through the interdicted regions,
of course no violence to, or interruption of trade from
Canada, could be justified under the territorial claims*
** If contrary to our opinion, the land and territory
in question, were within the grant, the grant of so
large a portion of territory as that to Lord Selkirk of
116,493 square miles, would be an abuse of the char-
ter, which might justify the interference of the crown;
because, though the company might have a right to
make grants of land, such grants must be for the pro*
motion of, or at least consistent with the object of the
institution ; but the grant to Lord Selkirk leads to an
establishment independent of the company, inconsist-
ent with the purposes of their institution, and in its
effects erecting a sub- monopoly in one person, to the
detriment both of the company and ot the public. The
company could confer no power to Lord Selkirk to
appoint governors, courts of justice, or to exercise a-
ny independent authority, nor could they directly or
indirectly transfer their authority to him*
'* There seems no reason to doubt, that offences ac-
tually
!
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*j ■
h '
I!
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u
14
tuallyr committed in the t'>rritories and districts in dif«
putCy where no court of judicature ever has been esta
blished, can in point of jiirisvlictiin legally be tJed by
the courts uf Canada, under the XLIII Geo. III. cap.
13^ ; and indeed unless this district was within the pro-
visions of that act we cannot discover what territory
was meant to be i.xtuded in it.
i3y><
« Supposing the charter of the Hudson's Bay com-
pany valid and the districts in dispnte to be within
their limits, we should doubt wjiether the Governor
and company, have lawful power, by the charter, to
establish courts for the trial, by the laws of England,
of offences committed therein. That power the
company have never yet attempted to exercise, though
nearly 150 years have elapsed since they procured their
charter \ but if even they should still possess this ex*
traordinary power without further authority, legisla-
tive cr regal, we should nevertheless think, that no
courts there established could have authority to try
and punish as an offence y the act of going there simply,
which if the grant were legal, could amount at the
most only toa misdemeanor, or. contempt of the king's
lawful authority, to be prosecuted at the suit of his
Maje.ty.
'•
.ij. ■*
It-:
f :
(Signed)
' i »;
A.PIGGOTT,
R. SPANKIE,
H. BROUGHAM.
London, January, l8i6»
IS
A separate opinion of another Lawyer in London*
of pre-eminent abilities, was also bid in January last,
which substantially coincides with the above : and
more pointed law opinions some years ago, were
given by Messrs. BbakCROFT and Gibbs, also emi-
nent in their profession, against iihe validity of the
Hudson's Bay Company's pretensions to an exclusive
lij^ht of trade* '",
•' Doctor Adam Smith also says, that the Hudson's
Bay Company h^ve no right in law to an exclusive
trade.
if
Thus, in which ever way Lord Selkirk's preten-
sions are considered^ their legality will fail to ap»
pear, and he can not be allowed to judge in his own
cause. To bring them, however, to the comprehen*
sion of the meanest capacity, I will ask, if his Lord-
ship were to say to a person in quiet possession by
himself and predecessors for above 50 year^, of a
house in Montreal, quit that house, it is. built upon
my ground— ^whether it w uld not be legal and pro-
per to answer. No \ Let'your Lord- hip's claim, if
you have one, be previously determined in his Majes-
ty's courts, and it is your business, not mine, to
institute the proceeding. But, if instead of this, you
attempt to dispossess me by force, I have resolved
upon, and feel myself justifiable in making the most
decided resistance. This io the real merit ot the case
in contest, when divested of misrepresentation*
., I
The North West Company have courted a legal
discussion
r
»
)!
:ii
16
ciiscossiou of the point of tight, yet none has bee«
brot»gbt on, although' traders from Canada have an*
Xiualiv, since theconquebt, gone into the interior, and
a number of years ago, a vessel belonging to that com*
pany entered Hudson's Bay.
♦
They also attempted an amicable accommodation^
by liberal propofals, in order to avoid future difficul-
ties, but the neguciation tailed, because his Lordbhip
required as a sint qua non^ the admission of his inor-
dinate claims, according to his interpretation of the
Charter of the Hudson's Bay Company ; which of
course was inadmiflible. To his Lordlhip's obftinacy
therefore, is to be attributed all the diftreifing circum-
ftances which have happened or may happen, from his
persisting in the application of phy&ical force, inllead
of legal proceedings to decide the contefted rights.
MERCATOR.
Montreal, 28th August, 1816.
lOth Artick of the Treaty of Utretcht, concluded
A -.
** The said most Christian King shall restore to the
•« kingdom and ^een of Great Britain^ to ic possessed
** in full right for evert the Ban and Streights of Hud-'
** Sony together with all lands ^ seas^ sea-eoasts^ ri*
«* vers and places t situate in the said Bay and Streights,
** and which belong thereunto^ no tracts there of land ,
** or of sea being excepted, which are at present possessed.
<* by the subjects of France* All which , as well as any
*♦ buildings there made^ in the condition they now are,
** and likewise all fortresses there erected^ either before
" or sinte the French seized the same, shall^ within six
** months from the ratification of the present treaty, or
** Sooner if possible f be well and truly delivered to the
** British subjects* having commission from the ^een of
** Great Britain^ to demand and receive the same entire
** and undemolishedf together wish all the cannon ^ ^c,
** It is, however^ providedt that it may be entirely free
**for the company of ^ebec, * and all other the subjects
" of the most Christian King whatsoever, to gi by land
*' or by seat whether^oever they please, out of the lands of
** the said bay, together with all their goods, merchant
** dizes, arms and effects, except such things as are a-
** bove reserved in this article. But it is agreed on
' ' both sides to determine within a year by Commissaries,
** to be forthwith named by each party, the limits which
** are to be fixed between the said Bay of Hudson, and
** the places appertaining to the French i which limits
" both tbe British and French subjects shall be wholly
^^ forbid to pass over^ or thereby to go to each other by
'^ sea ir by land.** < ' i
• Can there be a stronger proof of that company having had Traders
in the interior, an ag : liafore (he Hudson's Bay C uTipauy ventnred out of •
night of tlie B.iy ! s
i
,i!^\i-M „ i'.
,1 ii. I
19
Mi
For the Montreal Herald.
MR. GRAY,
In the last Herald, I observed a communication
in answer to mine, dated 2hth August, inserted in the
former number, in which I am stated to have asserted
a direct falsehood. I deny the charge, and re-a»sert
• that the Basis ot Lord Selkirk's ultimatum, oth^r-
^vise, sine qua non^ tor an accomm«>dati()n w.th the
North West Company, was substantially, as stated by
me, and was so understood by them at the time, as ap.
pears by their answer to his final or concluding propo-
sition, entitled, " sketch of an arrangement between
* the Hudson' s Bay and North fVest Companies^'* from ^
whicii the following are extracts, viz :
•* The North West Company have to observe, that thg
** basis of that arrangement ^ being an acinouledgement
** of the validity of the Charter of the Hudson's Bay Com»
** pany, it is inadmissible ^ and incapable of any modiji"
•* cation to which thty can assent. It would, therefore be
*• useless to take up his Lordship's timCf and their own,
** by entering upon the objectionable part of the de-
•• tails , when their principle is denied. It is true
** that Lord Selkirk stated to Mr such a basis,
** and equally true, that the latter declared an arran-
c 2 •* rangement
»
I •:
i I
1}
Hi
f I
:20
** gemtnt /* ii impracticabUf if it was persisted in *"
Jnd in another part ofitf they say :
• . I'
*' Lord Selkirk having rccurrcJ/o the offer of an arhi*
** tration^ the North IVest CQinlmny have to answer ^
** that it affords no reciprocity whatsoever \ for as the
'• Hudson's Bay Company claim exclusive rights, if those
" were to be arbitrated upon, and decided in their favor,
** they would turn the North Pf^est Company out of the
<♦ trade ; whereas, on the other handy if a decision
** should be given against the Hudson's Bay Company,
** they would stilly as British subjects, remain entitled to
** equal right f with the other company, 1 hus, under the
*^ specious exterior of an arbitration, the North fVest
** Company would he risking a substance in pursuit of a
<' shadow. > , . . V d/ J *
iir i\i:^' t\
■t >,
> . .
* i 'J
' ' ** // rests with the Hudson's Bay Ccmpany to take, or
*^ not to take, as they see ft, -measures for procuring a
" legal decision in the regular courts uf justice, upon their
** pretentions to exclusive trade, as the commencement of
" such measures cannot be expected from ihe North IVest
" Company, who have for so long a period exercisrd and
*• enjoyed those general rights of trade, to which they lay
** claim, and from which they ivill nJ depart, unless by
* * legal comp ulsion, u\
\tu\ I
y,
t n\-.n "
' ** Upon the whole, it is a piinful reflection for the
" North fVest Company to find themselves obliged to a-
** handon further negociation at present, as hopeless, and
** to see that a pecuniary contest is forced upon toem,
** which they cannot shrink from, and must continue,
■'■ '' «« until
^1
** twtil the l^ludsou's Bay Company thall enlertain a iif-
**firtnt view •/ their real interests,'*
of
■'est
in J
lay
by
'he
\nd
I///
His Loid.ship's proposed arbitration by lawyers^
was indeed rfa novel Icind, for what man in his sen-
ses would leave it to be decided by others, whether he
should lose all his trade within prescribed limits, but
agree that his opponent should remain, at all events,
in possession ot what he held. In other words, tori^k
ail, but to gain nothing even by possibility. I call
upon the author < f the communication, to publish thj
answer, as he asserts to have been given by the agents
of the North West Company, wfterein ••they ob-
•• served, that Lord Selkirk, or the Hudson's Bay
** Compary inight feel interested in having those
«* claims finally ftttlcd, but that the North West
•• Company were not so tnteresteu^ and therefore the
•< j/«('^u<i ffo» was inadnii.ssible." Now I maintaia
that no such answer exists in any part of thtir corres-
pondence, and it he cannot produce it, he must stand
convicted before the public, of publishing a deliberate
gross falsehood. 5 ^ • ' .r-
The meanness he accuses me of, wil' attacli only to
himself, for 1 have as erted nothing but truth, which
instead of misleading the public mind, tends opJy to
expose the misrepresentations of sncn supporters cf his
Lordship's cause, as the author of the ab.ve. A3 to
publishing my remarks during his Lordship's absence, '
it is of no moment, as he has a very active and able
confidential agent on the spot ; and in respect to deli-
cacy, as none is observable in his own proceedings, he
can be entitled to little from others. In
22
i
In my last, I omitted to remark, that the pr: tioii
for the Hudson's Bay Charter, and the Charter l:clf,
expressly except all countrieaor teiritoti s then pos-
lessedby any Britbh subjects, or by s'lbjrcts of any o-
ther Christian power or itatc, which exception clear-
ly excludes from the charter, the territory or country
claimed by liis Lordship, it being then, nn.i for near a
century afterwards, occupied by traders from Canada,
without interference t rum Hudson's Bay traders.
Montreal, lath Sept. 1816.
<|ijjt ^ ' ' f.-.
>'i.,(
. I
,/ .."■'J, ..-•
MERCATOR.
•f .
*i
^. •<)*'■.
■ I -J
•>
-':■'' ■■".' 1 .
J n
i-.i
For
23
OIL
)»-
O-
ar-
try
\r a
da,
3R.
.'■)
For
For the Montreal Herald.
r--
M^ GRAY,
I find that I am attacked in a most unmerciful
manner in your Herald^ by a writer under the signa
ture oi MunliuSy (alias author of the communication
i.. that ot 7th September, alias Philo Manllus, for
Proteus like, he assumes a variety of shapes] who
threatens nre with loss of character, if I persist.
AVithout waiting to know the result of this threat,
he uses it as a peg whereon to hang a most unjustifia-
ble attempt to prejudice the public mind in respect to
accusations made by his client, against persons, who
are to undergo a trial. Nothing said by nie could
possibly furnish a reasonable d^cuse for such a con*
duct, but having commenced the attack, he must ex-
pect ret.liation.
Manlius is a true disciple of the Selkirk school ; he
'Wishes to intinidate where he can; t deceive, and to
misrepresent uhtrc he cannot fairiy meet the truth.
The days of Robespierre hardly exhibited a more per-
fect system of espionage, terror and deception, than is
practising vy his Lordship and coadjutors. Manlius
has however mistaken his man on the present occasion,
and those threats, instead of stifling, will necessarily
call
%
i '
24
call forth in due time, some anecdotes of his Lordship,
which will render him better known to the public.
Ahho' I have to contend with an opponent, who to
judge of him by the length of his wilting^, is a hire-
ling paid by the yard, and habituated to make the worse
appear the btL can e, yei I feel confidtnt, ot being
uule to convince, where he can only confound.
He pays me unintentionally a very high compli-
ment, by acting upon the prir.ciple tl;at every sen-
tence I have written, requires scores of his to over-
turn ^ else why impose upon his readers a story enve-
loped in such a maze ci words.
In opposition to every fair principle of reasoning,
Maiilius begins by assuming what he ought first to
prove, ar.d then argues, as if his assumed data were
admitted. Now, I deny the whole data from whence
he draws his conclusions, and until thcbC be settled,
his arrogant and high sounding logomachy is worse
than useless.
I asserted, and I re-assert, that the claimed mono-
poly of Trade in the Hudson's Bay Company, is ille-
gal ; because the crown could not, w thont the sanc-
tion of Parliament, grant such exclusive right, and in
proof cf it, 1 (with other matter) adduced the
fact, that that Company was so sensible of this, that
thpy applied for and obtained a parliamentary confir-
mation of their charter for seven years, which being
ncvei renewed the monopoly fell to the ground. The
preamble
25
I
preamble to that temporary confirmation, declared the
insufficiency ofthe charter, without pailiamentary
sanction, and yet the Hudson's Bay Company have
acted withjut it ever Fince. Now as Manlius has
found it convenient to pass over this tact without no-
tice, 1 request bira to explain, why such a sarxiion
was considered by that company, above loo years ago,
ne-^dful to the legal" exerciic oi' their grant, when
Royal Power stood high, and not be equally necessa-
ry now, when that power is so much more clearly
defined.
Again, I asseited and re-asssrt, that the charter or
grant, whfiher t^ood or bad, never extended beyond
iii..e country adjacent to Hudson's Bay, and was espe-
cially, both in the petition for it, and the actual grant,
rectricted, so as to exclude from its operation, all
lands in the occupancy of the subjects of every other
christian Frincc or State. And, I satisfactorily es-
tablished, that the French were in the occupancy by
discovery, and commercially of the country in disnute
viz the red River &c. which consequently were, ipso
facto, excluded from the charter : also in additional
proof of that cxcl'.isionji Pquoted the clause of the trea-
ty of Utrecht, having reference to Hudson's Bay,
which establisl-.es ta a certainty, that a line of boun-
dary there., vms to have been draw^:;, but wrhich being
never done, each country retaini.d what was covered
by its commercial occupancy, viz. Great Britain, the
coasts of the Bay, and France the interior, until by
.he conquest of Canada, and the treaty of peace in
1763, the whole merged in Great Britain. In conso-
le qucnce
26
%
i
I
quence every British subject became entitled to prose-
cute through Canada, the Indian traile, which French
subject
previously enjoyed ; and the Hudson's Bay
Company could legally claim no privilege in the trade
through the Bay, but what they enjoyed before that
treaty, and which never extended 50 miles from the
coast, whereas the Red River country commences
at above 600 mi'es distance therefrom ; and there is
a notorious proof of prior French occupancy in the
fact that there were French Missionaries in that quar-
ter, which Manlius unguardedly admits, and thereby
furnisiies a weapon against his own doctrines. He
miist indeed feel himself hard driven for argument,
when he complains of me for deriving the present
rights of British subjects to trade in the Indian terii.o-
ry, through Frenchmen ; but the absurdity of this
complaint becomes inanifest, when it is known, that
the present title to every foot of hnd held in Canada,
upon grants made prior to 1763, must be derived
thrcuph the same source.
If i
li
He also pretenrls astonishment that I should de-
ny the Royal Prerogative in respect to charters, I a n
far from contesting the King's just rights, and I am
perruadcd, set as high a value upon them at; Manlius;
but I contend, that the C^own neither did, nor could
pvnm a Country which was not its own at the time.
Iviy ideas on constitutional rights are founded upon
there Eteshi-g bases cf ptinciple and practice that will
not bend to suit the conveniency of any adventuring
Projcctcr, whether he shall appear in the guise of a
land Jobucr, or a dealer in mu^krats, apd who may
think
,>'
27
think thai by his previous rank, he is !o brow beat his
Majesty's other subjects, and set tlieir rights at defi-
ance. ^
The North West Company, from the commence-
ment, having denied Lord Selkirk's usurped claim to
the Red River country, and having by themsel-
ves or predecessors in trade been in commer-
cial possession of it since the conquest, and the French
subjects for near a century before. What is the
course that a man of real humanity (not that spuri-
ous deceptive species of it, which consists in Jmere
professions contradicted by his practice) would have
adopted on the occasion. Assuredly to bring that
claim before the legal tribunals, and get a decision
thereon, before a life was risked in the support of pre-
tensions so unequivocally untenable and unjust. No»
this would not suit this canting pretended philanthro-
phist. Heaven and earth must, forsooth, bend ^o his
purpose, and those who do not chuse quietly to submit
to his dictates, at the risk of utter ruin to thnr long ,
established concerns, must be turned ofFby force, af-
ter being first pillaged.
a
lay,
nk
Having pointed out the futility of his claim to the
country in contest^, 1 go on to prove, that Miles
McDonnell, who styled himselt a governor, never
was ?uch j and further, that he was, and is legally in-
capacitated from becoming one. It is immaterial at
present to inquire who authorised this Miles, to dis-
grace the character of a governor, by affecting to as-
sume t.iat title to cover his depradations. Every body
D 7< knows
^
knows that he was not a King's Governcr^ bi:t all may
not know, that were he even a governor by legally
authorisefl proprietSb'y appointment, he could not law-
fully execute one act, without thi king's approval,
nor without first taking the oaths prescilueil by law,
for govcir:ors of plantations and colonies.
■• ■ , . ■ ■ , c
These prc-requisites to the legal exercise of power,
are expressly required by an acf i: 1 in the reiga of
King VViiiiam, and in the variety of oatl^j to be taken
by governors, ts that against transubstanilutioiiy which
the impostor Milts, being a staunch Roman Catho-
lic, Eurely did not take, as I have never heard of his
hav:ng tnaac a public recantation of that faith.
I ask the wise Mi^alius, who holds the opinions of
English Counsel in such conte.Tipt, whether he is ig-
norant of this part of colonial law, and it he is,
what a fonndati jn is this whereon to {"build his arro-
gant and self conceited dicta ; or if he be not ignorant
oi it, what reprobation does not his criminal conceal-
ment of facts so important, deserve; for upon Mr.
Miles' being a pretended 1. gaily at'thonzed governor,
is bottcmcd the rubberies by him, first committed, and
since follovved up by governor Semple and others of
his Lf rdsnip's Ap^ its, but whicn have been «o tar out
done by hlmselt lately at Fart Willsam, that the tealj
of Carrouchc are quite thrown into the back ground.
I can, alth')* no lawyer, intorm Mmlius, that the
king himcelt could n^'.t grant a dispensation to a gover-
nor, to omit the oath of transubstantiafioiiy ^ nor could
any
29
any authority do so, short of a special act of the impe-
rial pajlament.
To obviate all doubts, hcwevcr, upon this subject,
I take leave to mention, as a casein proof, that when
the government of this province is adminiiterfd by a
counsellor, ii is always by the senior protestant one,
%vhomust first takethe prescribed oaths, and never by
a Roman Catholic, altho* he may be senior to thu
other*
Such is the law, whicii could not be otherwise, whilst
the crown is v/orn by a Protestant only, and in con-
sequence his rcpresentiative must be of the same re-
ligion* . .- .
il-.
Yet in the teeth of all these legal impediments to
the pocsibility ot MUes being a governor, does he dare
to issue out proclamations in that allumed character ;
fiot so innscent as Sancho Pancho's ; but to prohibit in '
1814 the sending of provisions out of the Red River,
and then to seiz^* upon those of the North West
Company, by au armed force, thus comnier.cing a sys-
tem of pillag>." ; and let it b.i observed tiiat tne provi-
sions so taken, we*; the produce of trade with inde-
pendent natives, being the flesh of wild animals kilicJ
by them in hunting, and not a particle thereof acquired
by the labor or time of a colonist.
the
er-
uld
anv
The Red Rivnr colony originated in avarice, has
been prosecuted in deception and fraud, and mubt end
in disgracing the character of a Briti h nobleman. I
have
I(
30
have proved that the country where he p!r.ced his co-
lonistSy is not within the Hudson's Bay grant ; yet, ne-
vertheless, he set down his people there without leave
from the native Indians upon their lands, to which
their title had never been extinguished by purchase,
and for which he never gave them one farthing, whicii
is rather a strange sample of his philanthropic desire
to improve their condition, and copied from American,
not firitish practice,
[ !l
The king's proclamation of 1763, quoted by Man-
lius, is conclusively against him. Its express purpose
waste prohibit all purchas s of Indian lands by other
authority than that of government, and to interdict all
colonization within Indian territory, but had no re-
ference to any establishment for trade, it being well
known, that one of the prevailing motives which in-
duced Great Britain to insist upon the cession of Ca-
nada, was to get the fur trade ; consequently, it is a
complete absurdity to pretend, that a proclamation
could be issued, to prevent thut trade from being
afterwards prosecuted.
As to Manlius's observations about the injury in
point of morals, sustained by persons in that trade, if
they have any force^ they alike apply to the Hudson's
Bay as to the North Wet trade. It is, however,
puerile to enter into dlscufisions about the respective
merits of professions or pursuits in life. Individuals
in a free country, are left to make their own choice,
and it would be novel to argue that manufactures and
navigation should be put dowi: or disccuraged, be-
cause
I .
31
cause those who are employed in theoi) do not stand
the highest in the scale of morality.
The system of licenses for Indian trade was follow-
ed for a time, but being found to be grievously abused,
and made a handle of for favoritism, partiality, and op-
pression, in the distribution, they were abandoned, and
all hh Majesty's subjects put upon the san».e footing,
If
-»
^d
le-
Ise
As to his Lordship's tender regard for the health of
the Indians, in respect to the use of strong liquors, it
is on a par with his respect for their land lights, for
be it known, that about the time he and others were
canting in Londcn upon that subject, he was by way
of taking time by the forelock, proposing to the North
West Company, to furnish them v/ith high wines for
iheir trads, which he expected to get from his settle-
ment at Baldoon, on the river Sinclair, which has chief-
ly been s^ince abandoned, after disgusting his people
there, and quarrelling with his agent Mr, Alexander
McDonnell. v ^
Were his colony at Red River to take root, the dis-
tillation of surplus grain and potatoes (if they ever had
any) would be one of his first objects, and thus spirits
would be put within the Indian grasp by its direct
vicinity. Whereas it is well I:-, own, that the im-
mense distance of the North West from Montreal, is
a physical preservation of the Indians there against a-
ny inordinate supply or use of spirituous liquors.
I shall conclude for the present with maintaining,
ttiat
i
m-.
!
i i
i !
l\ \i
iiiat in every instance, his lordship and his people
have been the rgwi^'tsors i and it will astonish the
world Xi. learn, ;i.a! he who has been accusivig all thy
partners t'fth^ Noith West Comp ny, whom he
could lav fiis hatidiupon, ot hiijh tj" .jn, iel »ny, and
murder, should i^sonr.t time after he arrested and sent
them awav 'n cusfdyas prironi;rsfrom Fort Williim)
propose t' tli<; clerks ol ttiai company lett b:.'M;id
there, to leave all mav.-rs of complain- ' i both sides
to arbitration, chcrcby proving, that : '.tliet he d'vl v'At
believe a tittle ot his accr. nations, or that for the tur-
thcrance of hisown private purposes he was willing
to lay aside hib duty as a magistrate, and compound
these alledged crimes and olFcnces. Thi:i precious
proposal or document is in his own hand writing, and
signed by himselt, " ' ' ^'
There is not upon record, such an instance of the
prostitution of public authority to personal interest
and private vengeance, as in the proceedings of his
Lordship at Fort William, aided by a band of armed
desperadot-, the employment of whom >^ ill create ama>
zement, and a corre;pcnding sensation in England.
Montreal, 9th Oct. i8i6*
MERCATOR.
F»r
33
For the Montreal Herald*
MR. GRAY,
It was not my intention to have occupied any of the
columns of your Herald this v\reek» but the palpably
gross and infamous faUehoods of the hireling Manlius,
in thatof last we-'k, respecting the conflict at Red
River in June latt, demands immediate exposure.
Being retained by Lord Selkirk, he apparently con<
siders himself privileged to disregard the truth, if he
can thereby serve the cause of his client, by leading
astray the public mind. The public, however, should
be on their guard against the productions of a con-
cealed venal pen.
Truth will leak out, even under the most artful
and studied misrepresentations, as it is evident by
Manlius's own shewing, that Lord Selkirk's people
were the .aggressors. He admits, t'::at Colin Robert-
son, op his return with nevr colonists in September
1815, en ered and searched, in virtue of a warrant, the
North West po^t at the F^rks, upon the pretext of
looking for arms; bnt he omits to say by whose war-
rant this was done, and also to state that Duncan Ca-
E meron
34
meron wa^ then arrested, and some time kept pri«
soner.
He also admitSf that in March 1816, the said North
West Post was avain assailed and destroyed or pulled
down, and Cameron again made prisoner, and sent to
England, via Hudson's Biy ; but /'/ is inconvement for
him to add, that a quantity of merchandize^ iJc was
seized, andjift) packs of furs and skins of the North
West Company's, then taken the re ^ and at another post,
(for two were taken and pillaged in March) were also
sent to England by that route t doubtless out of pure re-
gard to the preservation of the North West Compa-
ny' property. Here, a second time, his Lordship's
people are the acknowledged aggressors.
I !
He farther fl<^w/Vj. that Mr. Pambrun was sent by
Mr Semple in A|.ril 181O, after the^e aggressions,
■with instructions to tlie Hudson's Bay trading Post at
Qu'Appelle, but omits to add^ tJiat these instructions
were to seize Alexander MtDonnelV s Post by surprise,
or to kidnap himy if possible. — But, fortunately, b'-ing
on his guard, in consequence of learning what passed
below, the Hud son's Bay people there, played the
hypocrite, aud remained quiet.
N-w is it wonderful, that Alexander McDonnell,
after all these warnings, and after the attempts made
by Semple to decoy him into his power, should endea-
vour to strength n his post, antl his means of defence,
by getting aid frrm the tther North West Posts, and
more especially as he was threatened ; and it was made
no
35
uo secret, that Mr. Semple's plan wis to block him
up, and prevent ull co.*?imun>cition with the N vrth
West CdnOcd passing and repassing LaKe Wiiii^teg,
which, it efF:;cted, would have starved their people in-
to submission, tram want ot the provisions necessarily
reckoned upon. . „
M:D.>nn**ll also knftw, that to enforce that plan,
Sempic \^ us planting cannon to command the passage
ot the R.d River, and thit Lieut. H^lt, a Swedish
renegado (*or hi5 LordsSip i.s partial, it seems, to rcne-
gadoes ot all nations; witness the desperadoes at Fort
William, forini^rly in Bonaparie'.^ service) wis prepa-
ring a small ar.jied vessel to scour Lake Winsprg in
summer, with wi'.i^h he declared he was to give the
damned Canadians, as he styled them t^McYi a dressing
as they little dreamt of. He also knew, from a decla-
ration of Mr. Sample, that it the North Wett Com-
pany did not give in, such a blow would be stru'.k, as
would resound from Athabasca to Montreal ; which
has literally been verified*
the
5ll,
ide
lea-
Ice,
ind
lade
no
Manlius also admits^ and Alexander McDonnell
knew, that in violation of all precedent, the North
West letter- and dispatches, brought as usual from the
interior, were seized and opened, and their contetits
unblushinglv n»adea pretext tor the seizure. This is
confounding cause and efFect with a witness. First,
rob a man, and then justify it by pretending that dis-
coveries were made by the robbery, which gave rea-
son to suspect that the person robbed intended some-
thing similar ! ! But Manlius , purposely leaves you
B a in
36
%
in the dark upon a iraterial point, viz. that the Ncrth
West Pv;st had been taken and pillaged before the
bearers of the letters arrived, who v'^-d into it
without knowing of its capture Mnntius attempts to
make It be bfUcved, that this Post was taken and pil-
laged because they got inforrnalibn that Duncan Ca-
men n and ethers were taking measures to obtain a
force lo attack the colonists \ whereas the fact is, that
Alexander McDonnell acted upon the principle of
preparation for self defence, the nectfsity fo- which
be saw and felt, and the best proof is, that he never
meddled with the Hudson's Bay Post , r people, until
after their apprehended measures, were confirmed by
overtacts, , *
The Packs hf took possession of were in number and
value far inferior to these previ ]usly seized, and car-
ried off by Colin Robertion. They were never con-
cealed, they were made up a.part, marked distinc-
tively, and put into a ftore at Fort William, separate
from the N'^rth West packs, with which they never
were mixed, and no secret made ot them.
- 1
Can there be a stronger proof of the effrontery of
Manlius, than to complain of a pretended offer to an
Indian Chief of a bribe, if he would intercept Lord
Selkirk's despatches, after Mr. Semple had given the
example. But what is worse, he basely and falsely
states, that the said Chief was asked to murder the
people who carried such dispatches, and further, that
h. was offered a large quantify of goods if he would
lead his nation to make war, and destroy the colony at'
Red
II.'
IJi
37
Red River. Toonnftito thit, it is only necessary to
state, that this CVuk has become in the Indian style of
spealcing, vo imhcrile, as to be considered an old
woman ; has no inBiicncc in his nation, and if he had,
why employ I diuns so nuny hundred miles oflF, in-
stead ut those at hand. The artful malignancy, ho\V-
ever, of this base and caliinuiious accusation, consists
in spying, that this Chief had been solicited 6y seme of
the North ff 'est Company. I call up<.n him tu name
those somtf and not basely insinuate, according to his
Lordship's practice, that J5/«^ mean- all. It would
not have answcied his purpose to give names, as it
would have afforded a readier ch:c to the detection
of his falsehoods.
Alike unfounded i^ Manlius' declamatory rant
about the unhappy conflict at Red River in June
last*
of
an
ord
the
sely
the
hat
luld
Alexander McDonnell knowing that Semple's pla»
was to starve the North West people, by exclusion
from tne provisions collected at Qu'Appelle, (for 500
canoe-men would have been at Lake Winipcgin June,
wholly dependant thereon for subsistence) he deter-
mined upon counteu:acting //, by making an experi-
ment to open a communication with Lake Winipeg,
by going clear of Fort Douglas and the colony. Ac-
ccrdingly, about 50 Indians and half breeds went with
this, intention, and under a positive injunction to keep
clear of the Fort and colony, which they did, by ma-
king a detour of four miles behind, along the edge of
a swamp, which prevented their keeping at a greater
distance.
38
i
distance, and then came into the usual path by land,
at about alike distance below. Whilst g( ing peacea-
bly on, a colonist or two by chance crossed their route,
whom they detained, and took along to prevent infor-
mation being conveyed to the fort. At the place they
were to encamp below, other colonists were found tish^
ing, who werealso detained upon the same principle,
all of whom, after the action, were released without
sustaining the smallest personal injury.
Mr. Semple, seeing from a look out, the detour so
ihade, and ihencefurth concluding, that if nor prevent-
ed, all bis plans of starvation into submission would
prove abortive, he, in an evii hour, marched out
with 28 men, armed in battle array, and with great
parade. He followed the Indians and half breeds,
who were much scattered, being unc;>nscious ol dan-
ger, supposing themselves undLycovered at the Fort ;
for of the original 50, twenty four had got two lea-
gues below, when they began to encamp, and the re-
maining 26, seeing themselves pursued by an armed
force, turned round, and retn'gaded to meet them.
Manlius by his sophistical mitrepre:entations of facts,
flays that Mr. Semple called on 20 men to follow him
to meet these people \ but the fact is, it was to follow
tke Indians and BruleSy who hzdgoi below his Fort
and Ctlony when discovered, and the meeting which
ensued, was from the said Iniians, &c. facing about,
when so pursued by a following party,
Manlius, by bis sophistry, also wishes it to be be-
lieved, th^t thete people ~''ere above his colony and
Fort,
89
Fort, and not below. The action, however, took
place four nnile^ be'ow, and this circutiibtancc of local
situation, combined with the certainty, that no per-
sonal injury was offered to any colonist or other per-
son, but those actually in the conflict, or in arms on
the way to join the assailants, are damning facts, in
proof of Scrapie's party bein^the aggressors, which
no perjury in his Lordship's people can overturn ;
forif the Indians and half breeds meant an attack,
why did they take such pains to avoid it. The as-
sertion that they were promised as an induceaient to
attack the colony, the violation of the women of it, is
basely false. This needs no other refutation, than
that it is not even alleged, that any such violation took
pidce, when all were completely at their mercy.
Exclusive of all these circumstances, there is the
actual fact sworn tq by some who were in t*.e action,
that it was brought on by Semple's violence, in atteirpt-
ing to seize Bouche, who was sent to enquire what
the armed party wanted ; and when he escaped from
Semple's grasp, ordering him (Bouche) to be fired at,
which was at first refused to be done, from fear of the
consequence, until Semple repeated the order to bit
party to fire, and abused ihem as cowards for hesita-
ting. One ball passed close by Bouche's ear, and z^
nother went through the blanket of an Indian, who
was advancing in an attitude, and with language ex-
pressive of friendship ; when finding himself thus
treacherously assailed, he threw off his blanket, took
his gun, and then only the action on the part of the
brules began. One of them was killed, and another
wounded ;
*
I
I
I '
40
wounded ; and it is a fact that Cuthbert Grant, whom
Manlius, at a distance, so brav; ly attacks, although
fired at by Mr. Semple, made every effort to save him
when wounded, and actually was personally endeavour-
ing to assist him, when the Indian above mentioned
came up, and in spite of Grant, unhappily shot Sem-
ple through the head, calling out, you dog, you have
been the cause of all this, and shall not live. The
numbers act tially engaged, were 2S of Mr. Semple's
people, and 26 Indians and Brulei>. The other 24
did not join until the conflict was decided.
It unquestionably is a subject of deep regret, and
none can deplore it more than I do, that such a dis-
tressing event should have happened at all; and fur-
ther, that those who were attacked, had not after the
victory was decided, made a moderate use of it, but
they acted under the impulse of the moment, when
their passions were warmed by that attack^which they
had not provoked. His Lordship, however, is to be
considered as the grand producing cause of all, for
which, and other outrages, he will have to answer
hereafter at a tribunal where none can deceive, and
where neither his arts, nor Manlius's misrepresent
tation, will avail,
'■*-■' *
There is this marked difference between his and
their conduct, that his acts proceed from cold blood-
ed deliberation in the closet. One woufd be tempted
from Manlius's writings, to suppose that he conside-
f'-d this Peer as a person privileged to commit, at
{pleasure, every enormity ; and that those he attacks,
are
41
are not entitled to resist or complain, but ought tame-
ly to submit, like sheep led to ihe slaughter. Wliat
new system of ethics has iVi mlius (iiias Philo) di>»co-
vered, that adinits of smoothing d.vvn the wholesale
robbery at Fort Wilii.inis into a mere tempoary de-
tention of property? ifthi be law, certainly the^^«-
thmen of the road^ who may be h-ereaftev tried at the
Old Bailey, for occasionally borrowing the purses of
travellers, again"^t their consent, should sub-.cribe u
piece of plate to Philo Manlius. ' ...
e
It
a
y
;r
id
The correspondence of Alexander McDonnell with
Mr. Semplc, may r.omc day be seen by the public,
■when he will be found to be a very different pcrsoi)
from what Manlius represents liime Ho is brother to
the gallant Colonel M«D nn II. Aid-de- Camp to Ge-
neral Brock, who fell at Q^icensioii.battle, along with
that renowned officer. ? ' "' ,
I call upon Manlius to say, tn whom .Al"xander
McDonnell's letter was add res ed, from which hi pre-
tends to give an extract, 'nd a! ) h.iw he (Man'ius)
came by it, because if he be rilent on thig subject, it
will prove that it ha!? been ga-bled and int rpolated
to suit a purpose Bu- even as it is, it is obvious that
it was bottomed in re-istance i f the evident intention
of his Lordjhip to destroy the !Tjrth West Compa«
joy's trade. .' ^
;d
Manlius writes for stage effect, and with this vievv
he introduces one Simon McGillivny, for the mean
and indecorous purpose of leaving a cut at the Honora-
42
fale William VJcGillivray, who has smarted under his
Lordship's vengeance, in a manner which I shall no-
tice hereafter. Now the fact is (and Manlius or his
informants knew it,) that there was no Simon McGiU
livrav, nor any ether half-breed ot the name of Mc-
GilHvray, at any time this year, within 3000 miles of
Red River. ,
i
I
■i
Yet after this, Manlius talks of his conscience. If
he be the perst-n, I suppose he is, I did think he pos-
sessed a pure one, and that no inducement could have
led him to pervert the truth ; but^if he be not deceiv-
ed into a belief of what he writes, by the misreprC"
sentations ot others (which I would fain hope is the
case,) I must add, that his once fair conscience, has
become seared by his Lordship's gold, and the win-
ning persuasions of his active, and, in other respects,
amiable Partner and representative here, who is now
acting a part out of the usual female sphere, for which
even the fullest extent of allowance for conjugal par-
tiality and attachment, can hardly furnish an adequate
apology. — Manlius appears to have warmed himself
into a red-hot enthusiast on the occasion ; instead of
acting as an advocate, and as is usual with enthusiasts
of all descriptions, reason is laid a&ide, and every
thing viewed through a false or distorted medium.
' 'i
i i
Apropos of Cuthbert Grant. There is an anecdote
of his Lordship connected with him, that evinces his
great purity and disinterestedness of conduct as a Ma-
gistrate. He sent up warrants cut and dry from Mon-
treal to Mr. Semple, against the said Cuthbert and
V , other
43
ciher half.breeds, with instructions to apprehend and
send them duwn prisoners, unless that they had be-
come friendly to the Colony ; thus the crime it seems
consists in the side taken, nut ia the quality of the fact
committed.
Ite
[is
fiefcre closing the present communication, I shall
give a sample of North West humanity, in con-
tradiction to his Lordship's calumnious accusations.
A number of Clerks and men engaged at Montreal
under his orders, in spring 1815, for the Hudson's
Bay Company, by Colin Robertson and John Clark,
in all above 100, were s^nt up in summer, of that
year in 14 loaded canuea (the merchandize having been
taken in at a depot on their roiite) and proceeded inio
the Athabasca country, where such an unfeeling want of
precaution had been used in re!^pect to their subsistence,
that before last winter was far advanced, the four dif-
ferent trading parties or posts, into which they had
distributed themselves, found it necessary (after a
clerk and 17 people had perished for want) to throw
themselves upon the humanity of the North West
Traders for food : who (forgiving at such a moment
of distress the previous conduct of Clark and his peo-
ple) hospitably received and fed them, whereby the
lives of above eighty survivor^ were preserved ; who
probably by his Lordship'-^ instructions, arc now en-
tering upon a second campaign of intended destruction
of the North West Company's trade.
yd
rr
This happened, too, at the time when his Lord-
ship's ngens at the Red Riverj as before mentioned,
F 2 and
ar
44
;incl as will be further seen hereafter, w ete maliirino:
plans for starving into submission the whole North
West people.
I should not be surprised if the North West Com-
pany were abused by his Lordship for this act of hu-
manity, as It affords them such a iiiumph in contra-
diction to his accusations.
I shall at this time conclude with another decisive
proof of the falseliooci of Manlius's stater.-ient of the
Red River battle, that long afterwards, his Lordship
as mentioned in my last, proposed to settle every thing
by arbitration, wi ich assured y he would not have
done, had he not been convinced, that his pccple were
the aggressor'-, and that they provoked their own hard
fate, on the unhappy occasion.
I, however, have not finally done with his Lordship
and his cause, but indulge a lively hope, that I shall
be enabled finally to pull off the mask from a wolf in
sheep's clothing.
Montrealj 17th Oct, 1816,
MERCATOR.
For
4^5
H I
^ jft 't
rirn-B'tm' IT' *" • —■ t^.~-»>t -i
For the Montreal HeralcL
, I
MR. GRAY,
The communication from me in your Herald of
the iq:h ins*, having been out of the course that I at
first prescribed to myself, I now resume the prose-
cution of my original intentions.
*, w \, ,
The subjects hitherto discussed by me, have in
substance related . ,
11
lin
'or
ist. To the Hudson's Bay Company's C' mrr.er-
(cialand Territorial rights, claimed iu virtJie of their
charter of 1670, whereby they pretended to convey
117,000 square miles of country, (wh ch included the
Red River) to Lord Selkirk. , "
' , . , - -' ■»; . 'x' ■ . \
2d. His Lordship's pretended right in virtue of
that conveyance, and
3d. The procedure of himself and agents, by him
called governors, consequent upon such conv»"yance.
The question of commercial monopoly has been
disposed of by the fact of ihe non- renewal of the act
of
46
of parliatrent which confirmed their charter only for
seven years, and thencefrom that monopoly legally
ceased,
Thequestion of territorial right, eitlicr intheHiid>
son's Bay Company or his Lcrdshi;), to the Red Ri-
ver country, is completely negaiived and set at rest,
by the authorities I have produced, and by those no-
ticed in the able remarks of a Commor.er and a Briton,
and of VindeXf to both of whom I am unknown, and
of each of whom I am in like manner ignorant j but
■when truth is the object of research, t'lcre will neces-
sarily be, without a communication of ideas, a great
coincidence of sentiment. * * »^ «.^.i ..v
-7il--.-S,-. .,.,•■..', ■ -' .-.. ..-5 •; i .'.i . fV '^..J).'- ' ' ' \y -t V ■■,,1,. £, ■^'. ,7
It evidently appears from what they and I have
-written, that the king cf Great Britain never had, or
pretended to have a right to the Red River, prior to
the treaty of peace of 1763. That therefore no title
thereto was, or could be conveyed to the Hudson's Bay
Ctmpany by their charter of 1670, nor by any pos-
sibility could a legal grant of it be by t^hem made to
Lord Selkirk, as the charter contained a positive ex-
ception of all countries possessed by the subjects of any
foreign Christian Prince or State ; that in conse-
quence their and his appointment of governors of the
Red River Country vf^kiWUgdX \ that iuch governors,
even if thty had had a legal territory to govern, ne-
ver had the legal requisites for such an appointment ;
and finally if they had possessed such requisites, they
never qualified themselvco fcr the discharge of the du-
ties of the office, by taking the necessary oaths.
Having
47
Having irrcfragably established the complete in.
competency of the mock governor, Miles McDonnell,
I have to add that the like at- ,jed to the mock Go-
nernor in chief Robert Scmple, in respect to his ha-
ving no legal territory to govern, and to his never
having been allovyed or approved of by his Majesty :
as also of Vis nevof takin||.the oaths of ofhce, to which
however, his religion was no impediment, as I be-
lieve he was a Protestant.
I have also to add, that any title pretended to be
derivable from the circumstance of the Hudson's Bay
Company being mentioned in acts of Parliament,
Proclamations, or Treati'is, is rendered nugatory from
thisconsideiation, that nothing is therein said, either
in confirmation or abolition of their Charter, nor is
there one word explanatory of its territorial limits ;
so that the whole remains unaltered upon its origin-
al foundati( n, the £^ame as if such acts, proclama-
tions, or treaties had never existed.
\
y
kcr
- %.:^
w^
Thus vanishes ima air. Lord Selkirk's high sound-
ing pretensions to the Red River sovereignty and rights
of soil ;--Whh these mu^t go his accusations of high
treason. Sec. founded upon his alledged title :-i-And
he now appears in his true charaaer of an usurper of
the lands of the Natives, not or'y without title or
purchase, but against the king's positive prohibition
by proilamation in 1763.— And also as a fell tyrant, '
presuming upon impunity, from his personal rank,
for the oppressions exercised against his inferiors.
And thus the acts of himself and the mock governors,
instead
48
in«i*ead of being as liis advocaterj would wish to have
theiTi believed, lucre venal trcspasjes, are real acts of
pillage and icbbcrv, in justification of which, he has
not one inch of lc(jal ground to stand upon. ; - ,>
I !,
i i
I defy Manliti?, and his colleagues, to overturn
what I have established, and in the mean time, I call
upon them to state, at what time ♦he appointments^s
gover^.or^)ot" Mr. S.-mple and Mr. Miles McDonnell
xvere COP H rased by hi- Majesiy. — And where, and by
•whom, the oaths, enjoined by common and statute
law, to t)c taken by governorG Qf coionies and planta-
tion«!, were ad^ninistercd to them, if they will against
evidence tiersist in Ci'JIinc' them eovernors. These are
hom";-q'ic?ti ;n?, an ! n' t to be gst rid of or answered
by wcll-roi'.ndcd periods, and common place forensic
asserlloriS und ncLr^.ti:>ns. - • , ,
My rea 'trs n ust forgive me for recurring to the
s«mep.i!':jec*., hfcause the most material part of the
rt'al merit'^: of I'le matters in dispute between Lord
Selkirl* a id t'le N ;rth West Company, rest upon
the validity cr invalidily of the territorial grant to his
Lordship, and of t^^e appointments of theaf;resaid
mock governors, with the legality or illegality of their
conduct zx the Red River in forcibly seizing and pil-
laging property there, belonging to the North West
Company. . > y
I -I
I now proceed to give a short history of his
Lord'ihip's caloirlzing and trafficking projects, which
have been the source of so much individual distress
and
49
mcl public (Hi
iscussiont first premising, how siiper-
lalivoly sordid must be the avarice ot that man,
who could descend from the high rank of a Peer, to
endeavour to take the bread out of the mouths of a
thousand, who hud no other dependancc but their in*
dusiry. And who ccuid deliberately throw into this
community, to serve his private views, the firebrand of
disunion, discord, and personal animosity, which may
oui-!ive his existence.
Many years ago, he came to Canada, through the
United State , which he probably visited as Anglican-
iissays, in order to find out an asylum, in ** precarious
*' times," to retire to, incase of need : for at that pe-
riod the democrats asserted that Great Britain was *
going to ruin. Or more probably he came through
those State to be initiated in the mysteries of land
jobbing, and making of land pitches.
Upon arrival at Montreal, he was more than well
received, and treated by all engaged in the Indian
trade, from whom he sought and obtained information
about it, and especially that of the North West.
Everyone readily supplied the whole extent of the
information he possessed, with that unbounded con-
fidence,which a request from a Peer of the realm, and
a Legislator; in respect to com;\>^*rcial subjects, natu-
rally inspired ; for none could hci'^c dreamt that all
would be carefully and treacherously treasured up, to
be applied^at a future day,tohis own advantage, and
the destruction of the mcano of livelihood of the in-
f«:-rmants. . .
Q He
I
t !.
f.
60
He then learnt, without reservation, the strong and
the weak points of the North West trade, In respect to
competition with the Hudson's ]§ay Company : and
on his return to Great Britain, set about making his
discoveries available to his private interest, which is
the polar star of all his projects. Accordingly, he and
his friends purchased Hudson's Bay sti^k to such an
extent, as to arquire the virtual, if not real manage*
ment of their conceins, as he flattered them with the
hope,.if not certainty, of his being able completely tn
put down their competitors of the North West. "
Having found that the Red River country furnished
the wild animals from which the subsistence of the
North West canoe-men, to and from the interior, was
chiefly derived, he consequently considered, that if he
could contrive a specious pretext for seizing that coun-
try, he could in due time exclude the North West
Company from it, and the loss of their general trade
must follow. Hence the origin of the system which
has since been so pertinaciously prosecuted.
Having in his youth, studied some law, he was fer-
tile in cxpedicnls, if not chicanery, and hit upon that
of getting the Hudson's Bay Company, to give him a
gratuitous grant of 117,000 square miles of couetry,
which however was no great eiFort of generosity in
those to whom it never belonged. Mightily pleased
with a project, that was to transfer to them the whole
oftht North West trade, they did not enquire rigidly
into their capacity to grant, as his Lordohip* doubtless
said, according to his present favorite maxim, when
• want
51
x^'ant of legal iiith.'jrity ii urged to him against any
measure, *' I ivili take iht rtsponsihility upstn >nyself."
His Majesty's minmtcrd had their hands too full of o-
ther more important concerns, to trouble themselves
with making enquiry intotlie merits of this bare faced
juggle; f( r such a knacle haa his Lordithip at deception,
that he actually persuaded them to furnish him witli
cannon, small arms, and ammunition, during the late
waff upon the pretext of defending the Hudson's Bay
people (for one part of his project was to furnish ser-
vants to the Hudson's Bay Company) against the A*
mericans, altho' his Lordship well knew, that gener-
ally speaking, there was not an American in arms
within two thousand miles of the Red River, or near-
er to it at any time during the war, than those who
afterwards under General Hull, made free with his
Lordship's sheep at Baldoon, many of which the
North West Company were instrumental in recover-
ing for him. Or those Americans who at Stc. Ma-
ly's destroyed the property of that company out of re-
venge for their active assistance to Governnrient on all
occasions whilst the war lasted*.
Miles McDonnell was appointed by his Lordship to
govern the first colonists who arrived at the Red River
in summer 1812, so ill provided, that had it not been
for assistance in provisions and otherwise, the en-
suing winter, afforded by the North West Company's
people, they would have starved. This nicknamed
Governor was so sensible of this that he wrote a letter
of thanks, wherein he stated that his people had ex-
perienced more kindness from the servants of the
• 2 North
i I
52
North West than of the Hudsow'b Bay Company.
He loudly pretended a strict neutrality between the
two concerns, and that there was no intention of med-
dling with the trade ot cither. . ';>*;>■ >•''''
This lulled the North West people into a fatal se-
curity. Little did they suspect wliom they had to
deal with, or the extent of his views ; for this wor-
thv disciple of his Lordly master, of course, in confor-
inity to instructions, acted exactly the pari of the
Snake and the Husbandn-jan .j for after being warmed
into I'fe, by the indiscreet humanity of the North
West partners, clerks, and people, he began to un-
fold himself in Spring, and by degrees as he felt more
independent of their ,ud, instead of the style of a sup-
ph'cant and /rhnfl, lisiumtd xhzt of a. haughty master^
taking the name uf governor, and requiring every
thing to be first brought to him for refusal, as the
representative of Lord Selkirk, who as the landlord of
the country, he said^had a right to the whole produce
ofti'e soil. This began to open the eyes oi all,
whether traders, Lndians, or half-breeds, still how-
ever they temporized, altho', a breath at that time, \n
the way ot advice, would have dissipated the treach-
erous intruders. (..'!*- - ^. ,( . ,
I say, forbearance after that became weaknesf, and
encouraged the insults and injustice afterwards expe-
rienced. ■ S. . .•-:■■. ■ •■■ ■ \.v ■ "--•■'; ■' -r^.r
'. h :■
i' ? ! I
I would have heM openly this language, which
could be jubtihtd in the sight of God and my country.
S3
~i\
r.'S
* Natives and proprietors oi this soil, — you see that
* a band of intraders have arrived (who but tor you
< and us would have starved) not to trade and aditii-
* nister to your wants by a fair exchange, but to de-
* prive you of that soil (without giving you even any
« consideration for it) whereon you drew your first
* breath, and wherein lye the bones cf your ancestors.
* Beware how you admit into your country, a land
* jobber, or a cultivator of tHe soil ; or you are un«
* done, as an independent people. Look at what has
* happened amongst other nations of Indians, by a si-
* milar proceeding of the '\mericans. They drive the
* nations from place to place, after seizing their lands
* in succession, until they become wanderers without a
* country of their own to hunt in, unless out of pity to
* their helpless state, some other Indians give them
* the use of a part of their hunting grounds, which in
'tinie,share alike fate. This practice, m/ friends,
* is far different from that of your Great Father, the
* King, who sancti(ms no injustice against his red
* children. He has expressly prohibited your coun-
* try from being encroached upon by colonization,
* and has never asked you to cede it to him, noi has a-
* ny other the right to purchase it. The man who
* sends these people to commence a system of sp(»lia-
* tion, is an impostor, who acts in direct oppojiv'on to
* your Great Father's injunctions, as expressed in his
* proclamation of 1763. Therefore send one and all
* who ate no» traders out <>f your country, but in so
* doing, show humanity to those people^who are the
* dupes of the great criminal, in this bu iness, who is
* not here. Do them no bodily injury, but war.t
54
* them against returning, else, they will instead of
* dupes, become principals in the attempt to deceive
' your Great Father, and to rob you of your hunting
* grounds and country.* .
itf i ^i'tt- »'■'
Instead of holding this language, however, they
still continued to suffer, until the measure of arrogant
outrage being full, (as will appear hereafter) Miles,
and his mock sheriff^ were apprehended, and sent
down in i8i 5, to answer for their crimes before the
legal tribunal, when the majority of the colonists dis-
contented and in despair from Miles's tyranny, and
the deceptions and hardships they had been subjected
to, determined to emancipate themselves from Red Ri-
ver slavery, and many came to Canada, no doubt aided
in point of conveyance by the North West Company.
MERCATOR.
Montreal, 30th Oct. 1816, , , ,- .^„,.5.
Fos
55
For the Montreal Herald, •
■n.
MR. GRAY,
■•; i- ,^
In my last I mentioned what I would have said to
the Red River Natives^ had I witnessed the lawless
proceedings of Lord Selkirk's agents and colonial in-
truders ; vhich I would have been justified, unless
the pre ^-»;i: I sovereign, but real tyrant of that River,
possesses (as his actions indicate) the right of setting a-
side natural as well as muncipal law ; for by the one
I should have appealed to their aboriginal rights, and
by the other to the law of the land, which gave birth
to those agents and intruders. .. . . ,
lOK
The law of nature gave those natives the right' to
defend their persons and territory against lawless ag-
gression. The law and practice of Great Britain en-
abled them also, of right, to say to that self degraded
Peer, produce to us the authority of your Sovereignznd
our Father^ foi* this claim you mike upon our lauds,
to which w^ have never given consent, fVith youwe
have nothing to do in respect to our soil. Go hence, or
abide the consequences. Our rivers boing navigable,
are to us, what highways ave in your country. No
man
^
k
I I
56
man has a right to shut them up by nis own authority
to serve his private interest. Nor have you or any
of your umhrlings, a right to prescribe to us with
whom ivet afre<' and independent people , shall trade or
how we ;hall hi . If any of us from an excess of
forbearance, and a desire to avoid extremities (finding
you have interdicted our intercourse with our old
friends, by the direct path, in planting great guns
upon the banks of our river and highway) should at a*
ny time make a circuit, do not suppose it will pro-
ceed from cowardice, or from any doubt of our rights ;
for be assured, that if your people attempt to coerce
us into submission to your lawless dictates, we shall
resist t and then not upon us^ but upon you^ as the aggres-
sort muiit rest the bloed which may be shed. The
conflict which ensued in consequence of the lawless
and arrogant conduct of Mr. Semple, in attacking a
number of people, making a circuit round his Forty
to avoid collision, I have already described.
I have called his Lordship's colonists dupes ; and
well I might ! but after the abie exposure by Dr.
Strachan of hfs deceptions regarding them, it would
be a work ot supererogation to recapitulate them
here. I must, however, observe that in point of pufF
and ccncea'ment of facts (for both are strong ingre-
di( nts) his Lordshi;)'s prospectus for the Red River
settlement (which may be in the moon, from what is
saM in t.'^e body of it) exceeds any thing ever publish-
ed by those Qjiacks of notorious memory. Doctors,
Erodum and Solomon, For insta.ice, his Lordship
says, • a tract of land of sonre millions of acres in point
«of
67
* of soil and climate inferior to none of equal extent in
* British America, is now to b-j dispostd cf, and will
* be sold extremely cheap, < n acccun* of its situation,
* which is remote * (so is tuc moon) * irom the pre-
* sent settlement. It a tract of t'le same extent and
* fertility were v It red tor sale iu LcAer Canada and
* Neva jc<itia, pincl' f^^rs' (if iunatic } ♦ would be ea-
* ger to obtuin it ut ..u hin (red ( r t'A'o hundred
* thtusand j^uir»cas, aii . t t ut rrice would make an
- ample profit in ihc (.our-'i .>i i, h\.\ years by retailing
it' (at his calculatio..) X'.. ' ligaiii,
i
" As the lands in qnesti;v» (stil not a w^>rd about;
<« the actual tituatiop) poisesi Impor'ani naturv.i ad-
*' vantages, over any .vtv.ci> now rv-'raii un ccupjed
** in Nova Scotia and ihc adj u erit colonies,' (v hat
colonies does le m. an —those adjacint to thf Red
River, or to NTova Scotia. Tl^iis tqisivoc is net the
result of accident, for this cakiilating Loid never
acts withon' previv/us design), •* it ca.riot he decired
** unreasonable if the s/iticrs in generil are charged
** for their lands at tne lo a est rates, which th. y would
" pay III these provinces " Also, ** th^ 'rvvp-t price
** of land in the maritime colonies, wh n sold to ac-
•* tual settlers, is tin shillings per acr., if s Id ; or if
** leased in perpetuity, one shilling per ac^e per an-
" num."
Now this is false, for In Lower Canada, which is ^
surely a maritime coiony, land can be had at at s 3d \
per acre, if sold by the Sheriff, or at ?,s ha by private i
bargain, if uncultivated. And it lea;)cd in perpetuity,
H it
58
I
i
i i^
it can be had at a fourth, or pethips a tenth of what
his Lordship exacts at the Rtd River, where his rent
tariff is in wheat. His goodness, and indulgence al-
so is such, that the arrearb which may faildtfe to him,
go on accumulating with interest — for his cardinal
maxim is, xo get h' "enants in debt ^ to make them in-
dustrious, and ^h« n to keep them so, as independence
would make them unsteady and saucy. Another fa-
vorite maxim of his if, to become the depositVy of
their spare cash, which in order to keep more surely
for their future benefit t his agents never had lei^iure to
render any account of. * ,
But the best of the joke for the Noble Projector is,
that the 100,000 or 200,000 guineas worth of lands
he speaks of in his prospectus, cost him nothing ; and
therefore, if he seriously believes, or wishes others to
believe them worth one or the other sum, (for a dif-
ferenceof ioo,oou guineas in his ideas, is as a drop in
the bucketj must have humbugged his grant s, the
Hudson's Bay Company, and concealed from them the
great secret that he now reveals to these dupes, viz,
that the amount of the profits which may arise, seems to
baffie imagination, for his Lordship having come
through the States, probably learnt what a Tankee quit
claim means, \\z. a trap laid by two land jobbers or
jugg ers, when they havr no title to give the appearance
of one y to cheat some ignorant third party.
As h*i Lord h'p's Paradise was to be sold " extreme-
ly cheap, on account of its situation, which is remote from
the present settlements, why did not he at once honestly
and
59
and candidly say, that the lands were at the Red River,
above 600 miles distant from Hudson's Bay, by which .
alone they could be approached from, or have an out-
let to the sea, through British territory. That such
600 tniles were through shallow and dangeroMs rapids,
vrith numerous dragging and carrying places. That
such bay is open barely six weeks in the )ear, for ex-
ternal navigation. That the lands are 1500 miles dis-
tant from any part of a British province, at pre?:ent
settled, or susceptible of settlement. That the
intermediate space is occupied by Indians. That the
soilof the Red River lands belongs to Indians, and
not to the noble Lord ; as also, that the king not only
did not recognize, but prohibited the settlement of
lands not ceded to him b^ the natives ^ j that the ex-
pence of transport from this Iand.of.^romise,to Great
Britain, or to Canada, would exceed the worth of the
agricultural produce ; and finally, that his Lordship s
Red River sovereignty, had no real agricultural out-
let, even in prospect, but by the river Mississipi,
through the United States, the government of which
claimed much, if not all, 0^ his Lordship's new Canaan,
and by possibiiity might obtain it ; consequently, the
colonists would in one shape or other become lost
to their country, for the purpose probably at enabling
tn'is nobh cosmopoVite to hedge and establish in future
" precarious times," a place of refuge, or an asylum/or
himself » , *.
Had such been fairly explained, his Lordship would
have been blameless as to his colonists, although "srill
unjust to the natives. As it is, his present conduct is
deserving of reprobation in every sense. By vi^hat
" " fatality
60
fatality U it, that thoie philanthropists, par *>roffssioa,
such as Mr. Wilherforce, have never opened their eyes
to, or v«>»cesagiinsi I Lilian oppre sion, whether of na-
tive or Americin gDvirih Why run to Africa only
in search ot adventures, when they had so lordly
an oppressor nearer home ? Very possibly his Lord-
ship is a speculative member of the society for emanci-
pation of the blacks, whilst he is a practical torment-
or and enslaver of whites and reds. Such incongrui-
ties however are not uncommon. "■■"' • V'»
i 'B
Manlius says, that one of his Lordship's objects in
cobnization, was to introluce the English laws into
the North W'cst, and in proof of his sincerity, we
find that at Red River, in the Indian territory, he be-
gan by violating the first law of nature, that of self-
preservation, for l>y the code of this King Tonif it seems
that no man, when attacked in person or property,
ought to defend either j and tnat his colonists, although
kiJnapped by the false representations of himself or
agent-*, had (like negroe slaves) no right to diange
their master^, as probably part of his code was borrow-
ed from Rusiia, where the boor goes with the soil.
For or.ce, at the Red River, his worthy deputies.
Miles and Archibald McDonnell, iaughed at them,
and in deriJon, szid, you may as zoe/I attempt to scale the
Moon^ as to escape from hence ; w'.ich translated into
plain E glish, means, /row his Lordship' s colonial bourne
no traveller y in the shape of u settler^ shall ever re-
turn. Look, say they, at the cannon we have planted
to stop your egress^ and tnen be wise, and suffer in si-
]ence.i • _ _. ^ ,, , . - ■ ■ ; , . ■ . . -^z
^ After
61
' After this, can it be woiJered at, thit men born
with British feelings, shouU revolt at such tyrannical
insult and injustice, and dcitrminc to emancipate
them&flves, by throwing the engines of their oppres-
sion into a river, or lake, for ^ight I know. Could a
free negro, kidnapped into a sitiutinn of slavery, be
blamed for dting the like with his pretend, d master's
thumb screws^ard neck yokes. And yet thi? ii the o-
vert act by which the driiops ot high trcasc n and fe-
lony (of which many are accused by King Tom^
are to be established, as having been committed wiih-
-in his sovereignty ; f )r I d not believe ii is even se-
riously alledged, that any of the accused meddled with
any thing, but the arms employed to enforce a conti-
nuation ot their subjugation, under hardships and pri-
vations extreme, no:}
The alleged crime of , murder is to be supported out
of the fact, that his Lordship's people fired upon a
number of persons, (whether whites, reds, or half-
breeds, is immaterial to the q>ic!:tt.)n if law or right)
who studiously endeavored to avoid theui, but when
pursued and attacked, returned the fire.
Another proof of Jus Lordship's wish to introduce En-
glish laws into theN rth West, is an iiisirnction ^iven
by himt or by his suggestion, to the mock G >veriior"<,
■when a number of Irishmen were sent out to Hud-
son's Bay y whi>.h in&tructians directed them to order
that a tree use of the shiiellai' .ih -u d bj .nade in all
their intercourse with the people of the N irih West
Company. This was attempted to be put in practice
at
62
at the English river, by seeking a cause of quarrel to
try the effect of his Lord hip's experiment. But the
people employed in making it having been foiled by a
sturdy Njrth West Clerk, and a handtiil of honest
Canadians, who wou d not quiet lyr submit to the in-
tended robbery, ihey went back tu Mr. Honse, the
Hudson's Bay Clerk, (I beg his parJun, perhaps Gov-
ernor House) to get fresh instructions. Being in con-
sequence reinforced with a good dose of whiskey, and
an Indian fuzil each, he sent them bai k to the charge,
when another ineffectual attempt ensued, and a Mr.
Johnson, the leader of the Hudson's Bay band, with
two or three others, one of whom, a Canadian in the
empley of the North West Company, lo t their lives,
supposed by the Hudson's Bay people, in the scuffle,
confusion, and intermixture of both parties ; for the
North West Clerk, Mr. Black, behaved with a cool-
ness almost unexampled, and preserved his life by
moving round with agility, and presenting his pistols
wherever he saw a fuzil pointed at him, but reserving
his fire ; and his people used the butt ends and barrels
of their pieces against their assailants' heads, without
discharging them. Next day Mr. House was so con-
scious of his people being the aggressors, that he
wrote to Mr. Black the North^WestjClerk, a whin-
ing apology for their conduct, and (poor Johnson be-
ing no more) pretending they had acted contrary to
order^. His Lordship has been quite silent about this
Shilellah experiment. t . ., -
'■•. - »
Another proof of his great respect for Engish law,
is, that he first lays hold of property not his own, and
- ' then
63
then searches for a pretex* to retain it, which he pro-
bably learnt at Jedburg, near the place of his nativity,
where the ancient practice was said to have prevailed
some centiiriea agn, of hanging a ma n first, for the
sake- of saviiigtime, and trying him afterwards at lei-
sure.
T^ i^ wa<! in the languat^'C of those lawless days, cal-
led Jeddart "Justice. I wonder th;»t ManliuSy instead
of attempting to justify the robbery at Fort William,
as a mete tenpoiary (detention of property^ did not hit
upon i's h< iriii a forced Loan^ iv the Bonaparte stiles as
his Lord&hip's finances pre bably get Lw.
Thus the precedents for his Lordship's Red River
Code, are from any where, and every where, bnt En-
gland. Indeed /(/f reg(frd for English Laws {as excm-
plified iv> his practice) resembles nothing so much as
Bonaparte's ci-devant iove for the Americans, It is
higli time to reveif to the proceedings ol his Lordship's
Sutellitcs at Ki^A River.
to
is
t
d
In
Miles, during winter i8i2 — 13 being there first,
was (as before mentioned) with hitrself and set-
tlers, kept from starving by North West humanity.
Jje was then as meek as a lamb -^of the breed of Kirke's^
in Jarres th ' 2d*s time) but next spring, he began to
to ihow the cloven f»ot, by asuming the title of • a
govirnoi;, and requiring the pre-emption of all produce
of his great Lord's lands, whether caught by the na-
tive Lorus of the boil, or raised by the intruders.
In
#
■.»
%'
64
In winter 1.S13.T4, the cclony had had an acccs'<iou
ofstrenj^th by families who landed at Churchill .Fort
the fcucrn before, t »<> late to ret on by water, evt n to
YorkJFort. They were in a state evtu more mise-
rable than those of the former year.
In that winter, intelligence reached Redjliver, that
t'rc Ainciic.ins had taUep our fleet upon Lake E,ie,as
alsf. Detr( it in Sept. 1813 ; consequently as the North
WtM Ccmpany's resrurtcs in provisions or supplies
from that q'rricr, woiiKl next spring probably be cut
cF, this was the time to strike the finishing blow against
thai Ct m}<any's tiaic, according to his Lordship's
plan and inst ructions. From this moment the veil
was laid aride. The North West Clerks wtre at-
tempted to be invcigLd from the inttre t of their e.n-
ployers, by representing them as ruined by the war,
■which succeeded with a wretch named Pritchard,
■vs hose life was saved by the exertions of a North
West engage, in the c( nflict of June i8t6 Miles'
held 01 1 ta t!ie Nonh West men, that resistance to
his power wns useless, as on account ( t the war in
Caratla, they need expect no aid or relief.
He laid iioldof piovisions sending to the North West
Posts. He threatened the po».r il^norant servants of that
Company, and made some of them swe«r to remain
inactive in any contest which might occur, a:id others
he swore to divulge, v.'l;ere their employers' property
had been secreted from his grasp. Atone time he de-
nied his dependence upon the government of Canada,
at anoiher he sunnmoned the North West Company's
people bclore him, as aMaJibtrate of the Imlian ter-
ritory
65
iitory,appointed in Canada, just as suited his caprice,
or his purpose. At other times, he woiil t threaten to
condemn and put to duath any oae who sshjuld resi»t
his authority.
fy
In January i8i4i he is'^ued his famous or infamous
Proclamation for an Embargo ot provisions. In May,
he notified all the North West people to abandon
their trading posts and his LorJsiiip's territory. In
spring I S 14, he erected batteries on tnc Red R./er,
and fired upon, and brought too b ats and canoes ot the
N(.rth West Company, and took out «>f them the pro-
perty they contained, which he secured in his LorJ-
fihip's stores. At length Miles, in the plenitude of his
power, and ** hour of his extreme insolence," appoint-
ed one Spencer, a Hudson's Bay Clerk, to be a mock.
Sheriff, and issued a warrant authorizing and com-
manding him to seize the North West Post at the ri-
ver La Sourie, where a large supply of provisions had
bsen collected. This he did by an armed force, first
cutting down the pickets, and then sei/^ng the whole
of the provisions so collected, which were carried • fF
for the use of the colonists. Part were afterwards
given back, when a superior force of N'^rt! West
people arrived at Lake Winipeg, vAhocJe|ienuc.'. upon
them for subsistence, and WDuld not h ivc submittcvi to
starvation, but this partial restoratioi docb not alter
ths c. mplexion "f thw Cise, or excnsr the original rob-
bery ; it is hovvever a manifest proof of the forbearance
of the Morth We<it Comiany, for nothing short of a
restitution of the whole shou'd have satisfied thcmi
The not firing upon the mock Sheriff's party when cut-
~ I - ting
6S'
■1 !■
l \
V
ting down the pickets, would be afjothcr proof of eX"
treme forbearance, were it not, that when the honest
Canadians inside, called for arms to defend the pro-
perty of their employers, the traitor Pritchard (pre-
viously gained over) handed them fusils without am-
munition. This fellow afterwards went off from
Montreal into Lord Selkirk's service, after many pre.
vious piotestations of fidelity and attachment to his
former employers. . ,_ ,
Miles McDonnell's conduct thus becoming so outra-
geously insupportable from repeated robberies, war-
rants were issued ior the arrest of his Sheriff and of
himself, who were both brought down to Montreal,
the year following, to stand tnal for their felonies ; but
his Lordship, with his accustomed contempt of the law
of the land, took them up to Fort William last spring,
and has kept them there, or sent them into the interior
in his service, altho' under recognizances to appear at
the criminal term here in September last.
MERCATOR.
Montreal, 7th November, i8a6.
'' '.V' ."'.i. ' «;: I I'll-' ij
FOR
67
» ■■■
■'.>;.» . ;.(iV'..<<:i.'r<n-^li n^- ,•>••(,/- ':•
r'
For the Montreal Herald.
MR. GRAY,
My last communication closed with the feats of the
impostor governor Miles and his sheriff, and their
consequent arrest, and conveyance to Lower Canada,
to answer fur their crimes, I asserted at the out:ety
that Lord Selkirk— >his pretended governors— agents,
and people, were un all occasions the aggressors against
the N. W. Company, besides his beingtotally devoid of
legal right tothe territory usurped by him; and the truth
ofthisassertion,and that want of legal right have been
established in a manner indisputable ; nor has any sc*
rious answer, or document been produced in support
of his Lordship's usurpation, or of his colonists being
meddled with, anterior to his own and their violent
aggressions. — For in v/intcr 1812-13, Miles and his
people were kept from starving by the North West
Company's people. In winter ibi3''i4, he basely at-
tacked his benefactors by proclamaiion, by capture of
their forts, other v.Jse trading posts, or factories, and
plundering them . i provisions ; and in Spring iSl-l,
by notifying all ;:;j North VV-.st traders to quit their
I a . posts,
68
posts, and depart from his Lordship's usurped ter-
ritory.
AH these facts let it be remembered, (and it is a
most decisive one in confutation of the p Ian alledged
to have been concerted against his Lordship's colony)
took place above two years before the pretended col-
ony was broken up by the act of the colonists them-
selves, impatient at the slavery and privations they
underwent, under his Lordship's gross deceptions ;
but I again contend, that it was no colony, and never
lud any legal attribute to constitute it one.
In 1815, Miles and his sneriff, (the latter some^
■what earlier in the year) were sent down for trial. In
October 1 8 1 5, Colin Robertson appeared on the stage,
and arresting Duncan Cameron at Red River, with or
without a warrant, soon set him at liberty ; but in
March 18 16, the same Robertson and Mr. Semple,
another new actor nicknamed governor in chief, sur-
prised Cameron's post a second time, arrested and
kept him prisoner, turned the North West people out
of the iort— 1 liil hold of all the merchandize, provi-
bions aiid furs, it contained, to a large amount ; ana
about same time, plajed the same game at another
North West post in that country. The principal
post after b/Jngso sui, riscd, taken and plundered, they
demolished, and cairied ofr the matevials to strength-
en Fort Dougbi'.
They, ubcut^samc tr.uc, (M.m'c.*, 1816) after'taking
the pGstf, ccized t?ic NcrtU Wcbt express, v/ith; all
the.
69
i
the letters from the interior, which they opened and
read, and kept such part as their caprice dictated,
pretending according to the jeddart Code^ that they
had thereby got proof to authorise the act, ^yhich they
had previously committed.
They then intimated without disguise, the deter-
mination to blockade Alexander McDonnell's post of
Qii'appelle, (after first endeavouring to surprise it and
kidnap him) and also to cut off his communication
with lake Winipeg in Spring t8i6, so as to starve
500 of the North West Company's people, who an-
nually pass there in June* An armed vessel prepared
by Holt, the Swedish renegado, was to co-operate, and
strike a blow to resound from Athabaska to Montreal,,
as before mentioned*
In May 1816, when the Red River opened, Robert-
son tuent offyi\i\i 50 plundered packs, and the other
booty to Hudson's Bay, to make sure of that spoil, be-
fore it could be retaken. The Brules seeing this^ and
not before, (although the robberies ot Robertson and
Semple were in March preceding) laid hold cf tne
packs, (which were worthless in comparison of value
to tho.-;e taken by Robertson) so ostentatiously spoken
of by Manlius, as being found at Fort William, under
a distinct mark, as if their original seizure had pre-
ceded the capture of the North West posts and packs.
all
After all these preparatory overt-acts of aggression
and robbery, which conveyed admonittons of the in-
tended sequel, not to be mistaken, was Alexander
Mi'Donnell
70
i
i
ll! !
Mc Donnel to sit with his arois across, and patiently
wait until the knife of the nobie bandit's myrn^idons,
sliiould be put to his own throat ? and also until 500
of the people of bis concerni should in systematic con-
formity to that sequel, under ^u a regular and absolute
starvation, and all the returns cf the year from the in-
terior be carried ofFtp Hudron'^ Bay as intended ? or
was he to use the means which the lawscf God and
his Country authorised him to resort to, for the pre-
servation of the lives an J property confided to his care,
or dependent upon his decision at such a crisis i In
my mind his only blame is too much delay and forbear-
ance, for as the aggression of Lord Selkirk's worthy
Lieutenants, began in October, and were afterwards
resumed in March with a hundred fold violence, not a
day should h-rve been lost to apply counteraction.
Yet instead of immediate retaliation, in the applica-
tion of which, he would have been completely justifi-
able, he contented himself with demanding by letter
the resloration of the forts, and property plundered.
Thi> produced a paper correspondence, which does
him credit, and lays open the whole so'il of Semple,
who (as if in ridicule by ariticipation of Manlius's char-
acter f ' him) acts the part of a bravo, and talks of his
power to iutiict signal chastisement, liaving a force,
whi m he found it very difficult to restrain, insteal of
requiring cr.citenicnt, or, in othtr words 5*/m// w<r^
they of fight, ^ ... v .. ... .. , ^u . ,u i^ys i*^^^.
This Ijad no other cfTcct (for McDonnell was not a
man to hz f lightened by gasconade) than to evince the
necessity of loc?ing no further time.in opening a communis
yi catiQK
71
catioti with the N. H^, men expected at Lake fVinipeg, Ac-
cordingly* to avoid collision, he resolved upon sending
an escort with some provisions by a circuitous route,
and he gave them positive orders (of which the proof
is ample) to avoid the fort and colony as far as pos-
sible, This was construed by Semple, and his valiant
men of war, into weakne;5, atid be and they in con-
sequence, felt bolder in the determination to prevent
all egress by water or land w' v^ provisions ; because
iie well knew that if this experiment succeeded, other
escorts would follow, a«d the starvation system be
rendered abortive, as also the surrender of the whole
of the North West packs from the interior, which
were to be exacted ; or if refused, to be delivered up,
were to be laid hold of by force ; for at al! events the
seizure of tbi, packs was to be effected, s'ich being King
Tom*s royal will and pleasure, and such being the
blow as above mentioned, which was to resound far
and near*
rce,
llof
)ere
)t a
[the
\thn
McDonnell erred i^n not going himself with all his
force by the usual water route, and if resisted, to op-
pose force, and open the way. Hib error, however,
'Was on the side of humanity, and is therefore praise-
worthy, but such was lost upon those he had to deal
with,, The party thus sent by the circuitous rou^e,
were as before n entioned, pursued n: J attacked. They
rightfully resisted, and being vict rious, are now
branded with the appella ion ot murderers by Man-
lius, the advocate of a lordly usurper, tyrant, and hirer
ot cut-throats, who in his closet, in cold blood, plan-
ned the starvation to death oi 500 persons in the em-
ploy
""'■■■ "^^ ■"'*'^'T7^^ ^
72
p!oy ot itert^couipf.iy, whose people were at that mo-
mrnt, from humanity, saving horn a similar death 80
of his brdship's wretched and starving Canadians,
whom he is now employing, in as far as He is able, to
destroy those who saved their lives. ,., '' s?^ •
The fact of aggression by Seniple and bis people,
consisting of 28, against 26 India^is and bru!%, (far
no ir.cre were in the action) is proved beyond duubty
by direct testimony, and by circumstantial evidence,
if possible stronger. In addition to this, there is the;
traitor Pri^chard':^ own testimony, who declared, in
the hearing of ar. .(Hcer '>f Metvon's regiment, that
he could not say wlu; firtd liist. This is conclusive in
it;>elf, for if he had h-i'i the most slender belief that the
Brules were the aggressors, no doubts upon the sub-
ject would have been expressed by such a character.-—
And yet the hireling Manlius i": so enraged at the fai-
lure of his noble client's exterminating plans, that he
commits hi& moral and leg d character to the winds,
and stakes them upon the truth ot a most audacious
and atrocious assertion made by him, as he says,
•' according to the relation of one of the persons con-
** cerned in the massacre, who is now in prison ia
** Montreal, McDonnell's plan was first to make
*< as many of the colonists prisoners as possible, and
** then to drive the rtst into the fort — to encompass
*' the fort after this should be done, and to shoot eve-
<* ry person whu should leave it, either to procure
*' water or obtain food." It would be too tedious to
go on with the quotation, but I assert that this and
the whole suhttante of Manlius'slast essay in the He-
rald
73
^
iild of the 9tii inst. are wicked, iralicious, and inten*
tional falsehoods, without ether foundation hmin ;he
fertile brain of the advocate who pronounced that sub-
itance in a speech at the time of the discussion of the
nrrit ot Habeas Corpus, in September last, upon the
question tor bailing his Lordship's prisoners [(which
speech the orator modestly considered to be equal to
Cicero's oration against Verres) and is now borrowed
by Manlius for fresh stu^e effect (for which probably
the orator will not thank him, as words and writing
differ most essentially, heczwst verba volenti sed scrip-
tamanent) to rise up in judgement against the correct-
ness of the law opinions therein supported by him,
with this marked difference, however, that Governor
Miles has disappeared from the dramatis persona; ;
his dignity having been broken in upon by my unlucky
proof of his gubernatorial incapacity, and consequent
imposture. This omission augnrs at least some symp-
toms of shame, for arrogant and insupportable impo-
sitions upon the public, as to Mr. Miles ypon all for-
mer occasions. Alas, how are the mighty fallen I ! !
The above assertion ma^e by me, of the daring
falsehoods published by Manlius, is founded upon the
fact that the *• person in prison" allu led to, never
•aid, or aut^iorised x^ be saiJ, what is so barefacedly
attempted to be palmed upon him ; an 1 thu being in«
formed of theintaiDus forgery, he has unequivocal-
ly disavowed ani expressed his astonishment at it.
What is to be thought of such men, and such a cau«!e,
when such mean and desperate artifices as these, and
such as follow, are resorted to, for their support.
K Surely
u
^irely good men« in a good cause, would abhor sucb
procetdiDgi.
The systematic arts and misrepresentations used,
and pains taken to deceive others by his Lordship,
and his advocates, his dupes and minions, are past all
precedent, in a British country, and resemble only
those practised during the French Revolution. The
clergy, the nuns, and almost every person supposed
to possess influence, and thereby likely (if they em-
barked in the cause) to be able to prejudice the minds
ot the ignorant multitude, have been assailed by art-
ful tales, told or written to them ; nay to such a
pitch has this been carried, that even tavern keepers,
grog sellers, and pedlars, male and female, have been
applied to, by one or^other high in his lordship's con-
fidence, or zealous in his cause, the names of some
of whom, would astonish the world.
« Notwithstanding all these intrigues, it is a triumph*
ant consolation to the North West Company, that so
little efl^ect have they had upon the Voyageurs, who
know them by experience, that at any time they can
hire ten to his Lordship's one ; and the reason is,
that what they promise they perform ; whereas when
his day of payment comes, there is always some chi-
cane. Even this year, people hired tor him to go to
Kaministiquia, urid return, were kept all sun. ner
prowling about the Lakes Huron and Superior, or at
Fort "William, at hard labour, and sent down in the
fall without a sous ailditional allowance for the time
they were kept beyond (hat implied by the spirit of
their
75
their agrtement» 'vith'this pretended pattern of hu'^
manity and fair dealing, but oi real selhshness and
cupidity.
n
:r
ir
The shooting story is so ridiculous .3 to carry witli
]t its own confutation. If Manlius was trom Irclat>d»
I should consider it a bull, but its intentional ncialig-
nacy proves it to be of diifvrent origin, for the natives
of that country being open and kind hearted, their
bulls are witty, but harmless absurdities. What man
in nis sen&cs would give, or expect others to believe
to be given, an order .0 drive people into a fort, for
the purpose of shooting them afterwards, when ihey
might happen to come out. Surely any man capable
ef so doing, would make sure work, and begin by
fihouting. -
t'
McDoneU's countryman Kirpatrick acted very dif-
ferently with the traitor Cummin^ who betrayed his
Swereign Robert Bruce^ for on plunging the dagger
into the traitor, he exclaimed, I mah sicker, I quote
this to shew the absurdity of supposing, that a man
intent on the death of his enemy, would postpone it,
when in his power, to an indefinite time.
But really, Manlius' mind has become so perverted,
since he stept out of the legitimate and manly path of
his profession , to become a Grub-street writer for
hire, that he seems incapable of distinguishing right
from wrong, cause from efRct ; whether an act done
now, may not be justified by something to be done or
found out hereafter j or whether all difficulties nmy
76
BOtbf^overcomo, by this simple decia^ation of hi&
lordly employer, ccompanied by a siirdonic grin u-
pon hiscountfcnance, *• / will take thg responsiiiii/y «•
pan my»df.'*
The shdoting story reminds mc of a quack doctor,
(not a quack land-jobber) who sold to his gaping au-
ditors ^0ti/</#fi to kili fltas. One fellow had the im-
pudence to ask bim, huw the powilcr was to be appli-
ed ; the doctor replied, you have only tu catch them, and
throw into their eyes rhe least particle of the powder,
and there is an end of them. The tellow rejoined, why
Doctor, we migbt as well in that case kill iht fleas
ourselves, without the aid of your powders. To this
the quack giaveiy answered, eithtr way tuill do ; so
will, doubtless, Manlius sav, it questioned about his
shooting story, whether the colonists had been ^.hot be-
fore they were firiven into the fort^ or after they came
accidentally out, it could be demonstrable t>y my plan
of fabricated orders, to have been really to them the same
thing. Who cou! I get over suth pithy reasoning
tx^ \\\\sfrom the pen of Manltus.
Happily, however, the fabricated orders as alleged
by him to have been give i by McDonnell, carry in-
trinsic evidence of fa! throd, for in no instance were
such complied with. Instead of the taking colonists
prisoners, and sending them to Portage des Prairies,
and driving the rest into the fort, to be shot as a pastime,
and violating the females, we find the escort with provi-
sions going quietly on, as far from the fort and colony
as possible, and when oix cr two colonists by accident
.. • crossed
77
Oiossed their path, carying them down with them t«
the intended place of encampment below, towards
Lake Wini )eg, (to prevent intelligence of their route
bcin? cotiYeyed to the fort,) instead of sending them up
to Portage dts Prairies. That in this harmicsi circuit,
not lltinliing of driving in the colonists, they were fu-
liously puriucdand attacked by Semple,as before men*
tioncd. And finally that they neitht^r shut, nor per-
sonally injured any but tiiohc who made the wanton
attack upon them As to the violarim oi the females,
even Manlius speaks ot it as a matter ct appichcnsionf
not of tact. He probably had in his rcicolleciion
when coning that paragraph about rape, the story of
the old woman who had a dismal tale mentioned to her
of the possible excesses iu that way, which might en-
sue, it the besieged town in which she was, should be
taken by storm* • •' .
Can any person seriously believe the fabricated
speech of Mr. McLeod. If there be snch a one, I
shall net attempt to convert him otherwise , than by a
direct negat^.ve. I» however, cannot pa-^s over the
base malignancy of the intention of '.he framers of it,
which ib to lead their hearers or read.^rs (it having
been both spoken and published by one or other of
them) into the belief th»t the clothing was sent as a re-
ward to the brules for what they had done in the bat-
tle.— Now the fact is, that McLeod arrived there
soate days after it happened, and therefore without
the gift of inspiration, could not have prepared clothing
upon the presumpt! m of an act, that arose out of Scra-
pie's previous unprovoked aggrecsion. Clothing had
78
been long annually sent forward for theiepeople, an4
the other part afterwards found at Fort VVilUnm, had
been also previously provided, and alike unconnectetL
with the unbap, y event.
Mr. McLeod certainly went with a party armed,
but as certainly did so, in consequence of the robbe-
riei perpetrated by Semple and Robertson in March,
and It being underbtood, that part of the plan was to
stop the provisions from Red River, and also to seize
the pacics from the interior, that were in such ca«e to
be sent to Hudson's Bay ; all which surely justified
every possible precjiution to prevent the accompliih-
ment of such nefarious purposes.
Really one would suppose from the arrogance of bis
Lordship, his advocates and satellites, that all his
opponents were to prostrate themselves before him,
anJ iicrnme like worms to be trod upon, without the
ri^^tit or power ot te&istance ; and be crushed to
death hie the people who, in India, fall down
bttcre the ifio'l of Jaggernaut.
Mitch is said about exultation, after the fate of
tl c battle at Red River was known. If signs of satis-
faction were exprrssffd at the defea* of the deep laid
, plan of his Lordship to starve to death 500 pecple, and
to 5-ciit ard to carry rff nco v-luable packs of furs,
would it be titter wonderful or leprehensible, especially
when that defeat arose from the wickedness and folly
ot his Lordship's people, in being the wanton aggres-
sors on the occasion. But little did they dream,
that
79
that the buccaneering Lord, had also planned to
pounce like a tyger upon 600 of the bcit ut thoM
packs, afterwards at Fort William.
Manlius, or his colleague, for I am uncertain
who is the author of the sentiment, s^ys, " could a
« character so extravagantly, and daringly base, as
** to make without foundation, a statement like that
'* which we have givettt' (thi» Is a proof of joint
manufacture) ** be supposed to exist ? the supposition
" would be tolly," After the •• relation" palmed
upon x\\e person in prison without foundation^ I shall
leave to all honest men to judge upon whom fails tho
baseness and folly c f !^o duing, when that person caa
so easily be resorted to, and contradict the base fabri-
cation*
Manlius also falsely asserts, that I first resorted to
the Press. His memory is probably conveniently
treacherous, else he would recollect the elaborate es-
says of his lordly client, pub'ished in the Herald, long
before I began, under the signature of his Cars- Paw
Archibald McDonald : for all do Archy the justice
to believe that be is incapable of writing three senten-
ces for the press \ as also that in those erudite essays,
sertain law opinions were introduced, by way oi knock'-
you-down arguments. Whereas the fact is, that I first
wrote pnerely to counteract those opinion: , by publish-
ing oZ/j^rr more correct and able ^ which I happened to
have accesf to , at d at tb time had no intention of
going further, had ir not been for your base tnisrepre*
mentations, which began with the assertion of a direct
falsehood.
80
faheHti^ in whtch you were; immediately detected, and
dared to the proof, but which you have sneakeJ from
producing ; and which have beea followed up by you
with increased audacity and disregard of truth. 6e
however assured of this, that ycurreoutation has thereby
suffered both in a moral and professional pcint ot view,
althj' at th'j outset you so arrogantly prognosticated a
loss of character to ire, if I penisted. •
Hard run must you be for argument, to produce as
a proof of the exister :e of his Lordship's colonial
rights, the act of the imperial parliament of 15th A-
pril 1813, which now lies before me, and in which the
words Colony, or Earl of' Selkirk, are not to be found ;
but I find these, * be it therefore enacted, that from
* and alter the passing of this act, nothing in the
* said recited act cont.tined (43 George 3. chap 36)
* sliall extend, or be deemed or construed to extend
* to any Fhip or vessel in the service of tf e Governor
« and company of cdventu*-ers of England, trading in-
' to Hudson's Bay, provided such ship or vessel shall
* not car-y more than twenty passengers, besides the
* crew.' It then gees en to prescribe regulations a-
bout licences ami o.htrvise ; and then the succeed-
ing Mid last C'ause oi the act concludes thus, * and up-
* on such licence being granted, It shall and may be
* lawful for the said governor and company, to put
* on board such shi;) or vessel, and ro convey therein
« such passengers to the settlements of the said gover»
* Hvor and company, adjoining .'o Hudson's Bay, vvith-
* out being subject to the regilations of the said reci-
' ted act.' '^ ,
• The
81
The allusion by you to this act is very maJ <l prtpgt
for your cause, as the wotda adjoining to Hudson's hay
completely cut up by the ro its his Lard^h.p's usurp-
ed claim of territory, which is clearly very remote
iherefroittt instead of « adjoining. Faus huve you
furnisned an a liition to the siiperabundar cc of proof
already brought forward, of the nullity of his Lord-
ship's title. ... , , ,;. .;; .. /^
As you, Manlius, have deigned to answer a Sm/.ll
part of o.»e o^ the queries put to yciu by me, viz. that
the letter of .Alexanler VfcDmell, w.iich you qtioted
in a former comra'inication was add re sed *' t > a Ero-
ther-in-law of the rionorabie VViiliaiTi McGillivrav."
I ask you, good Sir, to go on a little farther, w.d make
the answt'i cornplete, by intorniing tiie U^.xn whom
you obtained it ; as aUo whether it was the original
letter .ent to the said brother-in-law, or a copy or
roisgh draft of it, for I need haraly inform so profound
a lawyer as you, that it makes a most essential difter-
ence a^ to the weight ot evidence deducible in such a
case. As you doubtless read history, you will proba-
bly recollect, that Marv, Qjicen of bcots, was con-
demned to death, and suffered it, upon a conviction
made upon the testimony of pretended copies or .drafts
of letters of hers ; and that such a proceeding has been
branded by all sou ad historians as no proof whatviver,
hut a mere colour for judicial murdei.
When in thehnmour of perfect ng ^he above men*
tion«*d answer, I rcijuest you wtli h ve tf e goud.-esc
ral<?»to publish the unsw?r you aaserted tuhi.ebeeft
* give*
^ven by the agents 'of the North West Company,
wherein <* they observed, that Lord Selkirk, or the
** Hudson's Bay Company might feel interested in
** having those claims 6nally settled ; but thut the
** North West Company were not so interested, and
** therefore the Jing qua mn was inadmissible."
And further, you will be graciously pleased to in-
form the public, when Governors Semple and Mac-
Donell were confirmed by the King, and wben and
where they were sworn in as Governors ; as alfo when
the Indians ceded the Red River lands to His
Majesty, or when his Lordship obtained the Royal
licence for purchasing them ; and finally you will (if
you pleafe} give a good reason why the Noble Peer
himself, a law maker, did not even out of humanity,
resort to the arm of the law, through his Majesty's
aourts, in support of his pretended rights, instead of
trusting to his own lawless arm to overwhelm those
who haJ been in possession by themselves or predeces-
sors in business, of the country in contest, before he
had existence.
I hope you will excuse me for calling upon you a se*
condtime for such answers, because upon thes&essen*
ti^l points, being satisfactorily establisned, may depend
whether his Lordship be not a premeditated robber.
The feats of the noble buccaneer, and his band, I
lesenre for next week, which will close my commu-
nications*
Montreal, i5ti)Nov. i8ii.
MERCATOR.
For
8»
*«■
For the Montreal Herald*
MR. GRAY,
In my last, I brought the allegations of Lord Sel-
kirk, and his advocates /9 /^^ /^x/ of dates, which are
stubborn facts not to be overthrown, but which they
have studiously avoided noticing, well knowing they
wouldy if known, be destructive of their cause. Let
them deny those dates if they dare.— Such must, or
ought to convince all who honestly look after the truth
■—even Manlius, if he be of that descripdon^
It is high time to proceed to that climax of free*
booting exhibited by his Lordship and assistants,
upon the stage at Fort 'William in Upper Canada,
where the Dramatis Personae supported thei; respec*
tive parts to admiration, and much to their own Com*
fort and satisfaction ; being thereby enabled to live
and fatten in the true Bonaparte style, upon the spoils
of the enemy, their own supplies being nearly ex*
hausted.
The end, however, may prove more tragical to some
I' % «f
84
of the actor?, than they or their advocates are awar«
of, unless the Britiili constitution be now an empty
name, to be praciically set a^ nought by any Peer,
who iniiy have the harJihood to art a, if it wa- a piece
of useless tiumpcry ; and unlesr. an EngJ?:;hman*R
hoii'^e may be entcnd by an arnrreJ ruffian band a-
gai.^ t law, his property laid hold cf, and kept, and
hi'^ servants tnrned out fhitrselt being previonyly ar-
resttd, and serit oFbv the warrant ot an interested ac-
ac <iser) «n contempt and detiance of all the estabiish-
etl jiuttionties of his <jountry.
The 5«-eat and sovereign Lord of thr dominion, co-
lony, or territory of Assiniboia, alias Red River, yclrp'd
in con mon parlance, Thos. Douglas, Earl of Selkirk,
hired and paid a band of retainers to till land, or do
ariy derperate work that he might find occasion to di-
rect, as by their notarial engagvments, reference
thereunto being had, will more ftiUy appear ; for be
it known, that these disciples of Bonaparte so hired;
are made to stipulate to serve as a militia.
I know ct no EngHfh precedent for such a stipu»
lation, and it will be- difPcuit for an Englishnr.an tocon»
ceive how a militia can be co-Tiposed of foreigners en-
gaged 2000 miles out of the country whcr.fin they were
to serve ; but «till more diffunilt to divine, how such a
band can be legally nptjVedj not to defence, but to the
attack^ i>Ulage^ and i'etct7fhn cf the property of persons
situate 800 miles from the country wherein they were to
settle. Y<'t such is the fac?, that iv^&tead of waiting to
rc«w|i •^XiA\ country^ \)^c\j havu btuu employed to attack
the
«5
the persons and property of Hi? Majesty's subjects at
Fort William, tar without the bounds ji hi pretend-
ed territory ', for no other reason more legal> tiion
that their Lord has so ordered it ; just as his ances-
tors would have done on the borders, soma centJjries
ago, when the yeddart cod^ zvas acted upon, wiih tiiis
difference, thrt in those days ^the retainers were of
native, not of foreign growth.
His Lordship, strange to say, in the present day,
has acuially so engaged and employed a band of I20
to 130 or mv>re, chiefly foreign discharged soldiers,
many of them ci-devant deserters from Bonaparte's
army. The:ehc officered, armed, and provided le-
gularly, with great guns, fuzils, and bayonets, am-
munition of all kinds, a furnace to heat shot, drums,
and bugles, and the King's uniform, &c. &c.
Before, or after being so equipped, he considered
one thing material to his ptirpose wanting. It was
desirable to have a few really in the King's service,
and entitled to wear his uniform, to give the appear^
ance of governmental authority to his proceedings. — ■
Being an adept in the art of deception, of which I
have already given several instances ; he applied for a
military party to protect his precir.is person against
assassination by the Red River Inaians (whom he was
conscious of having treated with extreme itijustice, al-
though his minions would have it be believed, that
the Indian": know so little of their rights and interests,
as o • e r-ady to die w.h grief, at being deprived of
their land despoiier :,) winth wa; in an ungarded mo-
ment
WWJM
80
vent acceded to ; in the first Instance, to the extent Oi'
a suluitcrn with a Serjeant's party, but, at last re*
duced to a serjtant andfcix privates, who received or-
ders to restrict themselves entirely to the guard of
Lis Lordship's person against the Red River Indians,
as by himself requested ; and on no account to inter-
meddle in any difficulty between him and other tra-
ders. This guard he has, in disregard uf the condi-
lipfis wheieon it was expressly given, applied to the
impris^onment of his Majestys subjects, andspoludoo
©i iheir prcpeity,
«
The abovcsaid band being fully equipped, left Ltk
C 'ine in May last, by York in I'pper Canada j and
his Lordship followed in June bv the same route, in
the full determination of following up the plan of star*
vation, and plunder, before mentioned j which had
begun to be developed at the Red River, in March
preceding, according to his prt-concerted instructions.
1 hat his Lcrciship Itft Montreal with such deter-
mination, there cannot be a particle of doubt ; that is
to say, to lay hold of the Depfit at Fort William and
all its contents, which, however, he expected to find
would consist of the chief part of the outfit of the year
for the interior (cf this, however, fro « the great
length of the passage up vards of his band, he was \m
a considerable degree disappointed) besi i':'S any packs
which might escape the clutches of his buccaneering
lieutenants at the Red River.
This determination was taken, before the battle at
the Red River happened, and long before it was
known ^;
87
known to him ; (although afterwards lugged in as an ex-
cuse for the attack of furt William) and is su ccptibieuf
direct proof, if my information be correct j that he
wrote exultngly to a gentleman at Quebec, just before
he left Montreal, ** that when he arrived at Fort fViU
<« liamt the North p^'est Company would'.} probably see
** reason to discover^ that a boundary betueen the tu/»
** comprnies was not so inadmissible a proposition as t key
** had considered it " — I quote this as to substuiice^
not as to precise words ; and have to adJ, that the in-
admissibility on their part, resulted from his Lord-
3hip (besides utheir objectionable conditions) always
requiring the admisiion oi his, and the Hudson's Bay
Company's pretended rights*
The :ibove information being had at second hand, I
cannot (without permission) divulge the name oi thr
person to whom his Lordship is said to have so written.
The army of buccaneers equipped as above, pro-
ceeded on towards Fort William, and at St. Mary's
or before, they learnt the discomfiture of the Red
River part of the plan of operations ; his Lordship,
then became furious, and resolved to place all his fu-
ture proceedings (although long predetermiacd) to ac-
count of that unforeseen posterior misiortune to Mr
Sample and people, of his own creation* The whole
pack of yelpers were let loose, and instructed to pro-
claim that battle as a deliberate and horrid muider ;
and to keep secret the fact, that his peo,^le provoked
and began it, ThwV were farrh rinsrr ciid to endea-
vor to terrify or .uborn, where occas'on served ;
?ny one who had a l:noy/ledgc of facts leading to it,
• mt»
88
Into an accusation of the North West people ani tile
hrul68, as the assailants. This system of terror and su-
bornation, was acted upon, both at fort William and
Montreal.
On the arrival of his Lordship and retainers at fort
William, the 12th of August last, they encamped on
the opposite side of the river Kaministiquia, half a
mile above. Next day, c.ne MacNahb, was sent
across, and asking to see Mr, ^icGillivray, was
conducted to his apartment, where he arr^steti hnn
upon a warrant issued bv Lord Selkirk. Mr. Mc-
Gilhvray without m.iking any opptsitjon, or direcMng
others to do so, quietly submitted, and went with
M'Nabb, taking Dr. MfcLr-ughlin, and K.cnneth
^iacKenzie, with him to his Lordship, to offer
them as his bail.
Upon being admitted into the presen':" of that Peer,
whose aspect »s dignity penonifieay and rnust always
eommand involuntary respect^ tney too were arr^-sted.
After this, on the same day, a body of about 50 armed
men, under Captain D'Orsennons, and Lieutenant
Fauche, crossed over with their guns and bayonets,
and in uniform \ when at the sound of the bugle, and
with shouts, more tertiiic than savages, they rush-
«d on, and entered the fort without the exhibition of
any warrant, or any lawful pretext for so doing, as the
criminal warranc before produced, had been executed,
without a shadow of resistance. Upon the entrance
of this band of desperadoes, the other North West
partners, were all arrested in copartnership \ and one
of them, Mr. John MacDonald, brutally treated by
P'Orsennons. Indeed, the men aftctwards made na-
secret.
89
secret, that had there been any resistance, it wat in».
tended to put all in the fort to dfath ; military posisca-
slon was now taken of that Depot, and ail the proper-
ty therein, i probably zvorth in all^ the post inclusive^
^"^100,000 j which, wi.h his Lordship's usual dopti*
city and hypocrisy, was said io be not with a view to
interrupt the trade, or to mertdle with merchandize or
par'<s, giving out* that all these h^ despised^ being far
beneath hi^ consi deration. He acted thus at the corn*
mencement, toin,>)Ose upon the rlerks and people, but
soon began to unfold his ultimate views to st(>p ail
trade, and to detain every thing for his own use —A
system of terror was now embraced.— General war-
ra tsof search, most strange to say, were issued \ nat
for criminals, but for packs ailedged to have been car-
ried ( ff from some of the Hii'^son's Bay posts, not said
by whom, packs never concealed, and the history of
them before explained. Besides packs, they were by
the warrant ordered to search for arm^, ammunition,
and papers^ not even expressing the kind of papers.
Under this precious warrant, books, papers, and let-
ters were seized ; pryed into, read*, and endeavoured
to be applied to his Lordship's purposes — Outfits to
the interior were stopt, a^ also the descent of furs to
Montreal. The fuf its and powder, and several oth-
er articles, wluch are as much the lawful, and indis*
pensable implements of Indian tra !e, as ploughs and
harrows are of agriculture, were feloniously carrieil
off. And the w cle properry placed in a stats of re«
quisition, at the pleasure of his Lordship, upon" the
peril oft e citrks A the North West Company, who
Vrere uut in Icar of their lives, more decidedly, than
H persons
II'
90
f er8on9 robbed on Black Heath can be ; as inch ejc-f.
pect to meet in the robbc with the feelings of coun-
trymen i whereas in the present case, at any symptom
of reluctance, or re^iitance in a cleric to any of hit
Lordship's requisitions, D'Orscnons or Matthey,
two officers late of Meuron's regiment, interposed
and intimated, that if such clerk had any regard for his
own life, or the property ot his employers, he should
refuse nothings because many of the people under their
orders were deserters from Bonaparte's army in Spuin^
and had been familiarized with pillage and murder,,
These were, it must be admitted, arguments not easy
to be confuted or resisted. What will honest John Bull
say to such proceedings^ when directed b\ a Peer at the.
head of armed foreigners against Britons ? 1 hey must
meet with the indignation and execiation of everjr
man, who values Icfal right and detes.s violence.
Mr McGillJvr v% in d all th- North West partn
ncrs, nine m nuiiibcr, were sent cfFfrom Fort Wil-
liam, on the i8th August, by hi": Lordship's orders, in
three canoes, improperly manned and equipped under
a military escort, commanded by Lieutenant Fauche,
in the degrading capacity of a constable or bailiffs In
coming along lake Superior, a gale arose, and Fauche
although forewarned of the danger, hifisted upon pro-
ceeding. The consequence was, tHat Kenneth Mc-
Kenzie, a North West agent and partner, and eight
other personb were drowned. His Lordship was the
original, and Fauche the proximate cause of this,
which had the business been reversed, would by him
have been called i premeditated murder. It is not im-
probable
91
jprobablc, that his Lordship inw::rdly rejoiced at the ac-
cident. Ill proof ot his want of delicate feeling, and
ot his revengeful disposition, 1 have to slate, that he
refused to let Mr. McGiliivray's servant accompany
him clown, upon pretext that he must be kept to bo
examined, although five days had elapsed after the ar»
rest of his master, before his de- r. When
brought af'^erwards to be examine '-hip al-
lowed his doughty Captain D'orseni, »w beat
the servant, :nd threaten him with iii^ns, because hc^
refused to obey any orders but his masters.
After the partners were sent away as criminals, up-
4m trumped up accusittions of high treason, larceny,
and conspiracy, clerks an men were tampered with.
When any of the fornicr were stubborn, they weic
packed ofFunder a subpoena, to go down and give evi-
dence. The men were threatened, or enticed to quit
the service of their employers ; others sent to jail,
brought back, imprisoned again, and so on alternate-
ly, until they were frightened into some story ubout
their masters, or liberated as incorrigibly faithful.
Whilst bO bandied about, it was studiously inculcated
upon them, that his Lordship possebsed the power of
trying them as criminals, or releasing them as he saw
fit, accordingly as they concealed or spoke the truth ;
in other words as they would not, or would speak,
according to his wishes. Many men hired to brin^
down packs were kept back, and insinuations used to
winterers that his Lordship acted by secret authority,
and could annul their agreements with the North
West Company i that they must enter his service,
and
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92
and when tliey still refused, many were commanded in
the King's name to labor for him. The Spanish In«
quif ition furnishes nothing more tyrannical than thes0
acts, excepting that he Hid not venture the length
of deprivation of life or Htnb. Who, after these
facts, can duubt oi** his Lordship's fervent love of
English law."
- . ./■*'
It would be endless to enumerate the enormities
committed by him. or by his orders. The last sc-
counts left him in possession of Fort Wiliiani, and the
property there seized by him, which in whole or in
part he was meditating to convey next spring to JH4id.
son's Bay. He had also violated the American terri-
tory, by arresting a North West partner and a clerk,
on the American side of the Fund du Lac country.
Thus, alike regardless of involving his country in a
national quarrel, by his lawless acts., as of embroiling
this community.
*■ . . . ' I
The prtceedings afhis Lirdshipare to greatly outrage*
»us, that he derives, an advantage therefrom with
some persons, by his acts being disbelieved as incre*
dible \ and wiih others they are considered as a proof
of his possessing some secret authority so to act, as
otherwise, say such wi&e men, it would, be insanit)S
All this is extraordinary, but not half so much so
at that a professional lawyer should deliberately
publish a justification thereof, and gravely maintain
the doctrine, that cnteiing a house or houses, by an
armed force, and seizing the proptrty therein to an
enormous
93
enormous amount» withuut legal warrant, (for no le^
gal warrant could in such a case be given by any juSf
tice of peace, much less himself) and converting it to
the use of the persan ordering the seizure, is for>
sooth " only a mere temporary, and justifiable deten-
<« tion of property, to be hereafter satisfactorily ex*
** plained," doubtless by the JedJart code. Also,
that as " the Earl in the execution of his duty an a
** magistrate (what a barefaced falsehood) became
** possessed of a fort which had served as the last asy-
<* liim in the British dominion tor murderers, and
** the resceptacle of their plunder.— A fort which noc
** thing less than the special licence of government
** could authorise subjects to bold ; his Lordship
*• would not have acted with propriety, had he repla-
** ced a fort into the hands of criminal and unautho-
** rised subjects without acqu^nting the highest au-
<' thority with the causes of its occupation, and re»
" ceiving the sanction of his authority with regard
<' to its future disposal*" Now any man of ordinary
intellect, who had not made a study of the yeddart
Code^ would have thought it best to begin by obtaining
(he sanction of authority for the taking possession of the
fort. For supposing that Lord Selkirk Jnthe pleni*
tude of the sovereign authority claimed by him at Red
River, had there put into full operation that code, he
surely had no right to apply it to Fort William, 800
miles distant ; and within the jurisdiction of Upper
Canada, under his commission as a Justice of Peace
for the Western district of that province ; and further
suppobing that such a commission,, according to his
interpretation, authorised him to torture persons at
11 2 pleasure-t
irn-
ML
94
fliasuret it could not give him a particle of right t«
take, and retain property, especially after the causes
for which he pretendeJ to take it, had been by himself
removed ;— therefore, why did his Lordship not send
down I or allow to be sent down the 600 North West
packs found there ? Were those packs criminals ? and
if so, why were they not sent down for trial, along
wi»h those few worthless packs taken by the brul68,
(long after Semple's plunder of packs at the Red Ri-
ver) which were sent down with so much parade ? or
was it necessary to keep back the North West packs
to satisfy his band, that he had the means of paying
them, which probably some began to doubt. Upoo,
these points Manlius leaves us in the dark.
What would be thought of the nrieanest pettifogger
at iV«e Old Baifey, who would gravely broach such
principles in excuse tor his client, as the profound
Manilas, that emtemner of the •f>mhHS of Pigottf
Brougham, and Spanite, not onlv broaches, but con*
tends to be sufficient excuses for his Lordly client. ,
If l*e be in the right, then the criminal code of
England is a nullity. Robbery become, meritori*
ous, and a regard to the rights of person and proper*
ty in others, if not a crime, there must be a mere
foolish weakness. Each individual profiting hereafter
by his Lordship's practines, under Manlius's support^
will help himself to his neighbour's goods when he
sees fit, and become accuser, judge, and executioner*
in his own cause.
" J-
Man1it%
Q5
'Manliusy aUo introduces and labors to prove tlie le-
gality of another before unheard-of doctrine, that co«
partnerships are to be accused and tried as a body up«
on suppositions. As, if one or more of them shall be
suspected to have committed a criminal act, all the
others must by this new doctrine of suppositions have
participated, although distant perhaps thousands of
iqiles. It is well known, that many persons resident
in England, and in Lower Canada, are co-pro<*
prietors in the 600 packs taken, and held by his Lord-
ship, who could not even by possibility, have partici-
pated in the alledged criminal acts. Ail, however,
is fish that gets into his Lordship's net. .
To the above, I answer, that the North West
Company first occupied and still hold furt William b^
licence from the late General Hunter, then Lieuten-
ant Governor of Upper Canada, and commander of
his Majesty's forces in both Provinces, who sent up
the late lieut. col. Bruyers, then captain o^ Engineers,
to locate or lay out that establishment for the use of the
North West Company, until wanted for his Majesty's
service. That Lord Selkirk had no special licence
fr9M the hlghtUy nor from any authority but his own il*
ligal act, to take possession of it ; nor any right to *
retain it, and the property it contained, excepting
the right of a buccaneer exercised <* upon his own re-
fponsiUlity,** That the conversion to his own yse»
or carrying away any part of the property forcibly
taken possession of by him, as above, whether arms
pr other moveables. Is a felony. That the imprison-
^tnx and threats by his Lordslup's authority, with a
I
i
jj
,ii
m
view to induce perjury, are tyrannical and crlminaU
That coercing men into his service, and preiending to"
release them, from their obligation^ to others, are ille-
gal and immoral acts*
That issuing subpdeiias to witnesses,, can only be
done by the Court and Judges beftore whom they are
to appear, and consequently in a J ustice of Peace to
Issue aud to enforce such illegal subpoenas, by sending
off those upon whom they were served, is a tyranni«^
cal and illegal proceeding.
That no Justice of Peace possesses authority to grant
a warrant to seize papers, and break seals upon ony'pre"
tence, aud that mure especially, a general warrant of
search and seizure, is highly illegal and unjustifiable.
„f<'-' -■ ■ - ■ , • •, -■""*"' ^ •;.•■■ ' -^
That the breaking of seals of letters (hftherto helq .
sacred) practised by his Lordship at fort William^,
andthe Justiceb of Police at Montreal, upon t^e ad-
vice of. the advocate or advocati^sof a party, is most
Illegal, and destructive of ali confidence between man
:-'t
and man.r— Tha'k his Lord-hip's whole procedure at
fort William evinces svch a contempt of every ac-/
knowledge'd prirciple of justice and legal authority j,
to verify the old adage, that put power into tlic ^
hands of a violent liberty hy, and the tyrant will iintn.e^J
appear.
.?....»? :.,
y^4^'. ;■■ -^ .3* ^' X.
Xlie motives /or the arrest en masse of the North,
West partners are abominabie, and the act itself an
exercise of the most despotic power, being for the
. ^ • purpose
#
9r
y '
purpoieof effecting the ruin of rivals in tr^sde. The ac-
cuMtions of higjb treason are an insult to common sensey
being against pcrsMis who have given testimony of
their loyalty heyond the power of his Lordship or any
of his sycophants to shake.— That the Red River is no
colony 9 and his Lordship and mock governors ih re-
epect to their pfetensions there, are impostors.— That
the larcenies he alledged had no existence excepting
In the acts of his owh people, and that the pretended
niuiders were acts forced upon the perpetrators in their
oWn defence, against the attack of Mr. Semple an4
his party.
To every impartial mind it will appear most asto-
aishing that the North West partners and people, who
have on all occasions been so furiously assailed by his
Lordship and advocates, as so lawiets and outrageous,
should have evinced at fort WiUiam such a forbearance
and respect for even the mere appearance or sem-
blance of legal authority, as to succumb, without an
attempt at fesistance, whilst they possessed a physical
strength on their side of three to one* This is so no-
torious tthat they are reproached by many with unpisr-
dpnable wea^aess for so doing, which surely affords
frifftefafie prgo/ of the falsehood ot his Lordship V
accusations. Bujt there is a further proof, and a moet
conclusive OOP it is, being tjbe testimony of hit Lord-
ship himself (as before, produced by me) ^ivlio after all,
offered to leave fll cmpfaittfs and retaliations (nothing
excepted) /0 ar^itr^tfrs, who were to fix upon a piece
uf money to cancel the whole* Surely it cannot be
credible, that, his Lordship, iiad he believed his aocu-
N nations.
."ll
9S
,v-.
M.{,Mf
tiitfons, wouicf agree to' eitiihafetlie Wroiigfut iked*
(fMig of human blood, by the value of packs of beaver* .
, His Lordship has got upon the horns of a dHemma,
which all his cunning cannot extricate him from.-ii— t
had almost forgot to mention a remarkable act of sor-
did and illegal meanness practised by his Lordship, a*
mongst many others, viz. bis fitting out, manning;'^
provisioning, and sending down his prisoners, at the
expence of the North West Company— This is with-
out any English example, although probably a part
of the codt NapoUtn, that persons accused p^y the ex-
pence of their own trials*
Aft(;r all that has been truly stated at above, if
there b« yet in this society any persons so perverse ^o
intellect, or so vperateJ upon by envy, malice, ha<*
tredy or other uncharitableness towards their neigh-
boiirst who will still justify the acts of his Lordship,
although he be a stranger to them, I do entreat, nay,
conjure them, to substitute^n therir minds* the North
West store and prenniises in Montreal, instead of their
establishment at Fort William.— Then suppose that
More and premises to have be^n entered by his Lord*
^ip and hired armed band, upon bis own warrant, the
proprietors arrested, and their clerkt and servants
turned out, or kept merely to execute his Lordship's
pleasure, under the fear of deatn for refusal, and the
said store occupied as a garrison by him and his fo-
reigners, and the property therein still held by them—
I ask what they would in such a case say to it.— Thit
view of the subject, brings it near home, but there
99
ia no differeaee untei9 in locality, for the merits are
precisely alike in both instances. Fort William isin
Upper Canada, 800 miles from the Red River*
Montreal is in Lower Canada, and only a greater
distance out of liis UbUrped limits. Let such persons
consider how they would feel if his Lordship had act-
ed here as to tbeniselves, as he has done to the North
West Company above, and then they will open their
eyes,' if nut wilfully blind.
I feel as confident of his Lordship being in the
vrrong, and of its being legally so established as of my
existence, and it behoves every man of principle to
join in reprobating and putting down doctrines and
practices that destroy the security of persons, proper*
ty, and correspondence, as hitherto enjoyed, for if he
prevail*, confidence in either it an idle dependance.
^1
MERCATORtf
"Mmtrail, aotli Novembier 1816,