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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE SUSAN A. E. MORSE
AND
WILLIAM INGLIS MORSE
FUND
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CANADA,
AS IT WAS, IS, AND MAY BE.

BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL
SIR RICHARD H. BONNYCASTLE,
ROYAL ENGINEERS.

WITH CONSIDERABLE ADDITIONS,
AND AN ACCOUNT OF RECENT TRANSACTIONS.
BY
SIR JAMES EDWARD ALEXANDER,
K.L.S., ETC.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.

LONDON:
COLBURN AND CO., PUBLISHERS,
13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH-STREET. 1852.

LONDON ;
PRINTED BY WILLIAM TYLER,
BOLT-COURT.

CANADA
AS IT WAS, IS, AND MAY BE.

CHAPTER I.

The- occupation of Navy Island by citizens of the United States
and Canadian outlaws.
Mackenzie having fled to the city of Buffalo, in the
United States, and Bidwell having voluntarily left the
province, in consequence of the proofs which the
Lieutenant-governor had received of his conduct, all
was, for a short time, peace and tranquillity.
The agitator, assisted by those of his friends who
had escaped from Buffalo, continued, by dint of con
stant pubhc speechifyings and meetings, to enlist a
large body of refugees and sympathisers at Buffalo and
its neighbourhood ; and, at length, a proclamation was
issued, constituting Upper Canada an independent
State, and, in an inflated style, promising land and
mighty guerdon to those who should join the " Army
of Liberation,'^ under General Van Eensselaer.
I have kept part of that person's Statement, referring
to the invasion of the temtory of Great Britain by
citizens of the United States, which he made when
VOL. II. B

2 CANADA.
placed at length in the State prison at Albany, where
he was caa&HQA., pro formd, for a short period; and, as
it gives some insight to Mackenzie's true character,
before I enter upon a short detail of the invasion, I
shaU insert it as a curious document in itself, and as
it forms a link in the chain of the history of the
times.* • {From the Albany Daily Advertiser.)
Sir, — You will confer a great favour by allowing me sufficient
space in your paper to redeem a pledge given through the Onandaga
Standard, a few weeks since, viz : — to produce facts enough to show
that the abandonment of the late intended Patriot Expedition against
Kingston- was chargeable to no one but William Lyoai Mackenzie.
It is to be hoped your brother Editors, particularly those in the west,
who have been so prodigal of their severe criticisms on my conduct,
immediately after the affair, will -also give it an insertion. The
publication, under my present peenliax situation, is deemed highly
impolitic by many, but as I am constitutionaHy better able to sustain
myself under any quantity of merited rebuke — let it come in what
shape it may — than to endure the slightest lash of undeserved cen
sure, I fain must run the risk. It should have been forthcoming
sooner, but for the delay in waiting replies to my correspondence ;
and it should have been more explicit, in some cases, but my obliga
tions to others, forbid it at present. Hereafter more proof may be
given, if necessary to sustain my position.
Your obedient Servant,
Renss. Van Rensselaer.
Albany Jail, March 29th, 1838.
Narration of Facts connected with the Frontier movements of the Patriot
Army of Upper Canada.
About 10th December last, while in Buffalo, on private business,
I was urged by Thomas J. Southerland, who brought me a general
letter of introduction from Hon. John W. Taylor, late Speaker, &c.
— to take command of the Patriot forces, destined to act in libe
rating the oppressed of Upper Canada, and to establish a Re
publican form of Government in the province.   ,
of the Council, organised before the rising, near Toronto, and
William Lyon Mackenzie, member of the sarae, were the persons

CANADA. 3
Navy Island is situated at that part of the great
river Niagara, where, after leaving Lake Erie, it forms a
from whom my authority was to be derived. Full and sole powers
were to be invested in me to conduct all military operations in my
own way and no one allowed to interfere. I required a stated time
for reflection before my answer could be given. Pending this, the
result of my more particular inquiries was a full coniirmation of
the opinions imbibed from previous notice of passing events in the
Canadas, viz. : that the Canadas were only prevented by the strong
arm of power from throwing off the yoke of foreign despots, and,
notwithstanding the unfortunate issue of the ill-concerted battle of
Toronto, that a vast majority of the people were in favour of a
political reformation, that there was every encouragement for the
belief, that if one successful battle was fought, and » good stand
maintained for a short time, they would concentrate their forces and
do their own fighting afterwards. With the hope of being instru
mental in hastening a crisis so desirable to all the republican world —
my wish as a Northerner to see the chivalrous example of the South,
in the case of Texas, emulated here — my innate detestation of tyranny
and oppression wherever manifested— finally, relying upon number
less promises of being sustained, and trusting in the smiles of heaven
itself, I agreed to accept the offer. At that dark period, when the
Patriots were flying in dismay from the dangers which beset them at
their own firesides, and when few indeed were disposed to jeopardise
their lives and prospects in their behalf — youth was not to be cavilled
at. Thirty-seven years then was considered age suiiicient to mature
the judgment of any one who could resuscitate their drooping pros
pects, and the want of experience in actual service was deemed of no
material consequence. Industry, zeal, management, prudence and
determination were admitted to be every qualification expected, and'
all I asked was freely granted. Dr. Rolph even went so far as to
propose himself, and to insist that I should have power to arrest any
inember of the Executive Council, provided it became necessary
to do so, in order to prevent his interference in my department ;
Mr. Mackenzie, after a slight show of opposition, was obliged to
acquiesce. Shortly after this, word was brought me that a requisition had been
made upon the American authorities by Governor Sir Francis B.
Head, for the person of William Lyon Mackenzie, as a fugitive,
murderer, robber, &c., from Canada. It .was supposed at the time
that it would have to be complied with, and onr friends were solici
tous that he should be placed entirely beyond its reach. I therefore
b2

4 CANADA.
strait, in which are several islands and islets, dividing
the strait into two channels on the British and Ame-
took him under escort from his hiding-place, at ten o'clock at night,
to White Haven, on Grand Island, ten miles below the city, where the
Canadian refugees and volunteers had assembled the day before for a
descent upon Navy Island. These troops, represented to be 250
strong, with two pieces of artillery, 400 or 500 stand of arms, pro
visions, munitions, &c., in abundance, had not yet left their ren
dezvous when we reached it. When mustered to embark, only
twenty-four appeared, excluding Mr. Mackenzie and myself. I had
previously been informed, in consequence of the unavoidable delay,
while making preparations for a movement connected with the diffi
culties which grew out of the seizure of the public arms at Buffalo,
that many of the men had returned to their homes ; but I was
not prepared for such an appalling falling off. Mr. Mackenzie, on
, noticing it, sunk inert and spirit-broken upon the frame of a cannon,
where he passively reclined until aroused by a false alarm. The idea
of encamping on British territory, with such a paltry force, seemed
hazardous enough to me, but considering this as the forlorn hope of
the hunted Canadian — when I thought of his pitiable condition — of
the immense interests at stake, of the unprepared state of the enemy,
of speedy reinforcements promised me, and of the mortification inci
dent to a retrogade movement — trusting in the good faith of our
friends, and in Providence, the word was given — " push off."
The landing was effected unnoticed. The enemy did not reconnoitre
the island until two days subsequently, when our first shot was fired
ahead of their boat. It drove them back, we then were sixty strong.
During the period we remained on the island, of the thousands who
visited us, for business or curiosity, all are witnesses of the extent of
the duties, fatigues, and perils which devolved upon me. None can
say I shrunk from any, or neglected any. But among all the per
plexities incident to the organization of a republican army for inva
sion — to a strict attention to its defences and protections against a
powerful foe — to tbe reception of innumerable visitors, &c., &c.,
nothing was more perplexing than the conduct of William Lyon
Mackenzie. I had known him long to have the reputation of a firm
and consistent opposer of monarchical abuses ; as such, I respected
him so much that many little disagreements occurred between us
before my confidence in him could be shaken. A breach, however,
eventually did occur, which grew wider as my knowledge of his dis
position and character increased, I found him governed by the
impulses of the moment, fickle> arbitrary, and impatient. He would

CANADA. 5
rican shores. Navy Island is the last of these, and was
reserved by the British Government for the sake of its
suggest fifty plans for effecting the object in view in as many minutes,
and abandon them as often, but he could fix upon no single one and
follow it out. If I presumed to differ or remind him of his stipu
lation not to interfere, his potent ire would immediately arise and
a quarrel ensue.
On one occasion we differed as to the policy of appointing a time
and place for two friends to meet us with 100 armed Canadians each.
I wished them to remain at home until they knew we had landed on
the main shore of the enemy, particularly so as their march would not
be a long one to join us, and circumstances might oblige us to foil
them another time, about crossing over to the enemy's camp, when
they were strong and we less than 200. ' He offered there to be one
of fifty to do so ; but I heard nothing more of the project after giving
him permission to get up a. party for the purpose. The fears he
openly expressed, iu hearing of the troops, at the probable effect upon
the island of the enemy's firing their mortars and heavy batteries, was
very discouraging, and we quarrelled about that ; — again, because he
chose to consider himself in the light of a nonentity, for the reason
that I did not deem it proper to call him in as a military counsellor.
I should have done this most willingly if I had not, by this time, lost
all faith in his qualifications or discretion. I was well aware, that
with so little actual experience as I possessed, a trusty counsellor
would be a great acquisition. To keep bis restless spirit quiet, how
ever, while our reinforcements were coming in, as well as to relieve
myself of a most burthensome duty, the general correspondence was
entrusted to his charge. How well, or how badly he performed the
duty I am not able to judge, for he scarcely ever thought it necessary
to make any reports, and his course in this respect has assuredly been
detrimental to the service.
It is not my purpose to go into a detail of occurrences connected
with Navy Island now, or to explain the cause which compelled me
to evacuate it for American territory. The proper moment for doing
that will arrive within a few months ; when it shall be done, whatever
the consequence may be. Then the faithful, hardy band, who stood
their ground so long, notwithstanding the mighty efforts of Her
Britannic Majesty's troops to dislodge us, and of ihe powerful
American influences to dissuade us from the undertaking, shall have
justice done them. Suffice it to say, that at the earliest day, when
we found ourselves strong enough to act on the offensive, an immense
array of teams were collected at Sohlosser, Niagara falls, anil '^ '

O CANADA.
timber for naval purposes, and thus was never granted,
and remained covered with forest trees of large size.
vicinity, to create a belief that we intended landing there for the
purpo.se of being carried down to the mouth of the river, so as to cross
over ttf the enemy's shore at that point. A show of chartering boats
at Buffalo and Black Rock was simultaneously made to create a belief
that that was our intended point of embarkation. The ruse took
admirably well. Both friend and foe were deceived. The regular and
militia force stationed at both points on the American shore were
hastily called out, and kept under arms for hours to intercept us.
Her Majesty's troops were marched to the neighbourhood of Fort
George and Fort Erie, to prevent our landing there ; and then my
real point of intended attack — Chippewa — was uncovered, except by
pferhaps 150 or 200 men left behind to keep up their harmless roar of
artillery. The intention was— and every man on the island was ready
and eager for the fray — to have been towed by a steamer in our flats
and yawl-boats across the river above that artillery — to have forced
a march over it down to St. George — to have beaten the detachment
of the enemy's, army there, and to have taken passage in the British
government steamer lying there that night for Toronto, and, &c. But
the men w.ould not hazard the passage of the Niagara without the
tow of the steamboat ; and although we had the promise of one, —
although we stood under arms from sunset to midnight waiting for
one ; — and although I had dispatched three different messages in due
season to the proper sources, begging it to be sent that night"" for
God's sake ! or all is lost," — it did not come. Why I have yet to
learn. It is an act of equity, however, to say, I have the assurance
of General Scott, that it was not owing to him.
At this trying crisis, where was William Lyon Mackenzie! He
left the island when the bombardment and cannonading was com
menced against us in real earnestness, and in spite of my remon
strances and entreaties to the contrary, he pushed .off for Buffaloi
where he remained safely ensconced in the house of a friend. On my
arrival at that city, after the evacuation, I understood he had been
extremely abusive towards everything American on the occasion of
his arrest by the United States marshal, and that he had disgusted all
his benefactors in that quarter by his violent language. My know
ledge of his disposition induced me to believe this most readily. I
knew he had pleviously made some of the most efficient, active, and
infiuential Canadian reformers lukewarm, if not opposed to the cause,
by a similar course ; and my contempt for the impolitic ingrate knew
no bounds when he again showed himself among the members of the

CANADA. 7
It is,, however, a small spot, of about a mile and a half
in length and half a mile in breadth, and is easily
accessible in boats, either from the Canadian or the
American shores, the channel being very wide on the
latter, and not more than five or six hundred yards on
the former, where is the village of Chippewa, celebrated
as the scene of several warlike operations, during the
war of 1813, 1813, and 1814. At this village is the
mouth of the Welland River, one of the great arteries
of the internal navigation by canal.
The scene at this spot is singular and grand. The
St. Lawrence, or Niagara as it is here called, after
leaving Navy Island, spreads itself out into an
enormous sheet of water, near a mjle and a half in
width, just above the great leap which it is swiftly, but
almost imperceptibly, preparing to take, in order to
throw its huge volume of waters into the seething gulf
of the Falls.
From Chippewa there is a ferry across to a place
called Fort Schlosser, which, however, is merely a
tavern-stand and ferry-house in the United States,
about the same distance above the Falls as Chippewa ;
and steamers ascend and descend the river as far as the
mouth of the "Welland, about one mile and a half above
Executive Committee, whom I had called together to consult upon
further measures, — and attempted to direct my military operations.
The most of my men, at the time, were quartered some two or three
miles west of Buffalo, imder orders to march westward, until boats
could be procured for their conveyance ; but he, in the plenitude of
his wisdom, insisted that the order should be countermanded, — that
the men should return in battle array, charge upon the State and the
State forces, seize the boats required to carry them, the materiel, &c.,
to the Canadian shore, and to embark from the city."

8 CANADA.
the caldron of Niagara, and within three quarters of a
mile of the swiftest waters of the rapids.
The mouth of the Welland is canaUzed and em
banked, so that once in it, a boat or a vessel is perfectly
safe; nor do accidents happen often from their being
caught by the descending current, which is moderate,
until the slope of the substrata or bed of the mighty
river becomes so inclined as to cause a succession of
heavy rapids.
The fall of the water from Lake Erie, just beyond
the British village of Waterloo, in twenty-three miles
to the first rapid, has been calculated at only fifteen
feet, so that the velocity of the water in the strait of
the Niagara may easily be inferred. After reaching the
inclined plane which forms the rapids, the water falls,
in half a mile, fifty-one feet, and then avalanches over,
if I may use the term, into the cauldron below, 162
feet at one pitch; and, after forming a scene which
words and painting have ever failed to describe, it
rushes, frets, foams, whirls, and plunges in a series of
mysterious stragglings and throes, through an inap
proachable, gloomy, rifted, and precipitous channel,
until, after seven miles of incessant battlings, it joins
another strait of the Niagara river at Queenstown,
having descended 104 feet more, and then silently
wends its way, in a magnificent stream, through a fairy
scene of cultivation and woodland banks, reminding
every Englishman of home, to Lake Ontario, having
fallen two feet more in six miles.
Thus the total fall of the Niagara from Lake Erie, at
Waterloo, or Fort Erie, to Fort Mississagua, in the

CANADA. y
town of Niagara, on the borders of Lake Ontario,
may be said, in round numbers, to be three hundred
and thirty-four feet in thirty-six and a half miles.*
Situated at the head of this fearful navigation,
Mackenzie chose Navy Island as the depot from which
he was to centre the conquest of Canada. He thought
himself secure on this dangerously isolated spot,
because he well knew that there were no British steam
boats to waft troops over, and because he also knew he
could avail himself of two American steamers, which
had been only just pr.:paring to lay up for the vrinter ;
and that season proving, as we before observed, unu
sually mild, enabled these piratical vessels to earn a few
dollars in the attempt to carry fire and sword into a
country at peace with their owners.
There must have been a better military calculator
than either Mackenzie or Van Rensselaer in the camp;
for at least there was a good show, and the semblance
of a central blockhouse, and several batteries on Navy
Island, deceived even the best telescopic judges.
An extract from a Buffalo paper of the 22nd Janu
ary, 1838, will afford a true character of the celebrated
Rensselaer van Rensselaer, Generalissimo of the patriot
forces under William Lyon Mackenzie, written of
course after all the sympathising schemes had failed.f
* The Welland canal between Erie and Ontario, according to the
recent Report of Lieutenant-colonel Pliillpotts, of the Royal En
gineers, has 328 J feet lockage in 28 miles : according to the American
Commissioners the difference of level between Lake Erie and Lake
Ontario is 333 feet. + THE HEROES OF N.4VT ISLAND.
Buffalo, Ilnd January, 1838.
My dear Sir, — Since my last communication I have had the honour
b3

10 CANADA.
The island was, however, very formidable in appear
ance ; for covered as it was with wood, it was impossible
for Colonel M'Nab to ascertain its strength. In the
highest part of the centre trees had been cut down,
and boughs put up, in the semblance of a strong block
house, and on various parts of the banks pseudo bat
teries were erected, in which altogether thirteen pieces
of ordnance, mounted upon all sorts of temporary car
riages, had been erected, whilst the main camp of huts
was on the safe side, next to the United States frontier ;
and Grand Island, a large island ten miles long, belong
ing to the States, which was only separated from Navy
Island by a very narrow channel, contained an army of
sympathisers, and the general hospital and place of
refuge. From this Island, the reconnoitring parties sent by
of an interview with two of the greatest men of their day, or, indeed, of
any day since the era of "Tom Thumb" and " Jack the Giant-killer;"
you will at once perceive that the distinguished personages in question
are no less than the Honourable William L. Mackenzie, Chair
man pro tern, of the State of Upper Canada, and the redoubtable hero
and general, Rensselaer Van Rensselaer, or, as he" is now more
generally styled, Rip Van Winkle the Second.
Of the first you already know enough to render it unnecessary for
me to say more than that he is now the most unpopular man in
Buffalo, and he knows it j and as there is nothing too remarkable for
occurrence in this wonderful world, I should not be surprised to learn
that in this revulsion of popular feeling, some of our calculating (we
have more calculating than patriotic) citizens have taken the oppor
tunity to spirit the little mischief-maker back to your shores.
Van Rensselaer is a gin- sling, sottish-looking genius of twenty-
seven, but apparently much older from disease and dissipation. He
is in a very destitute condition, and complains loudly of the conduct
•of his worthy colleague, the Chairman, who told him when he first
took command, that in ten days they would have 3,000 brave Cana
dians on Navy Island, when it turned out, after a month's residence
on that dreary spot, that only nine Canadians joined them, and they

CANADA. 11
M'Nab, in such boats as he could get, were always
fired upon, notvrithstanding that it was asserted that
strong parties of the United States Militia were upon
duty there to maintain neutrality. Two thousand
Canadian militia rushed to Chippewa, and placed them
selves upon its celebrated battle-ground, and M'Nab
then threw up entrenchments to protect his troops
from the desultory cannonade to which they were
exposed on a level and continuous frontier.
The Commander-in-chief, Sir John Colborne, after
this fuss of battle and siege had lasted several days,
thought it high time to interfere, and detached a
Major of Artilleiy from Kingston with a Captain of
Engineers, and an adequate supply of guns, mortars,
Congreve-rockets, and stores.
The best narrative of this event which I have seen
is that of Sir Francis Head, which, as it is not pub
lished in his book (and he, ci-devant officer of engi
neers, has viewed the whole transaction calmly and
with a military eye), I shall here give; for I think
nothing can afford a better development of such
' extraordinary occurrences than to let the actors speak
for themselves, particularly when a state question, like
that of the burning of the Caroline, which ended this
strange eventful history, is concerned.*
were worthless wretches, that had fled from justice or their creditors.
He gave me their names, such as Tim Parsons, Mantach, Baxter,
Gorham, Doyle, Defield, &c., &o. The others, about 600 in all, were
the worst population of our frontier, ready to cut any man's throat for
a dollar. Such were the men our citizens dubbed patriots, and sent
to disseminate the principles of true liberty amongst you Canadians !
0 tempora — O mores !
• Copy of a Despatch, from His Excellency Sir Francis B. Head,

12

CANADA.

With respect to the Caroline, I have just to observe
that an ofiicer of the Army, who was present and is

Bart., Lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, to His Excellency
Henry S. Fox, Her Majesty's Minister at Washington.
Toronto, Upper Canada, 8th January, 1838.
Sir, — I have the honour to inclose you the copy of a special mes
sage, sent by His Excellency Governor Marcy to the Legislature of
the State of New York, in relation to a matter on which your Excel
lency will desire the earliest and most authentic information. The
message only reached this place yesterday, and I lose no time in
communicating with your Excellency on the subject.
The Governor of the State of New York complains of the cutting ¦
out and burning of the steam-boat Caroline, by order of Colonel
M'Nab, commanding Her Majesty's Forces at Chippewa, in the
Province of Upper Canada, and of the destruction of the lives of some
American citizens, who were on board of the boat at the time she
was attacked. The act complained of was done under the following
circumstances : —
In Upper Canada, which contains a population of about 450,000
souls, the most perfect tranquillity prevailed up to the 4th day of..
December last, although in the adjoining Province of Lower Canada,c''
many of the French Canadian inhabitants had been in open rebillJM '
against the Government for about a month preceding. ~~*-^
At no time since the treaty of peace with the United Stli
1815, had Upper Canada been more undisturbed. The reaM.^,.™,
of the insurrection in Lower Canada, namely, the nationat^tipatL
ofthe French inhabitants, did not in any degree appljTra the Upper
Province, whose population, like the British and American inhabi
tants of Lower Canada, were wholly opposed to the revolt, and anxious
to render every service in their power in support of the Queen's
authority. It had been reported to the Government, some time
before the 4th of December, that in a remote portion of the Home
mide" lead "T "'''?""' occasionally met and drilled, with arms,
under leaders known to be disaffected, but it was not believed by th
Government that anything more could be intended tban to make a
show of threatened revolt, in order to create ^- I
the rebels in Lower Canada. The fleZ of 1 TT " ''™"' "'
Province was known to be so ptat t U Se'd ' St "" ''''
thought unsafe to forbear, for the time at least laL "" "
the proceedings of this party. ' '"^' ^"^ ""'"'^ "^

ses

CANADA. 13
now by my side, has told me that the orders were to
meet her on the river as she was plying between
On -the night of the 4th December, the inhabitants of the city of
Toronto were alarmed by the intelligence that about five hundred
persons, armed with rifies, were approaching the city — that they had
murdered in the highway a gentleman of great respectability, and
had made several persons prisoners. The inhabitants rushed imme
diately to arms — there were no soldiers in the Province, and no
militia had been called out. The home district, from which this
party of armed men came, contains 60,000 inhabitants— the city of
Toronto 10,000. In a- few hours a respect.able force, although undis
ciplined, was collected and armed in self-defence, and awaited the
threatened attack. It seems now to admit of no doubt, that if they
had at once advanced against the insurgents, they would have met
with no formidable resistance, but it was thought more prudent to
wait until a sufficient force should be collected, to put the success of
an attack beyond question. In the meantime, people poured in from
all quarters to oppose the insurgents, who obtained no increase of
numbers, but on the contrary, were deserted by many of their body,
in consequence of the acts of devastation and plunder into which their
leader had forced them.
On the 7th of December, an overwhelming force of militia went
against them, and dispersed them without losing a man — taking many
prisoners, who were instantly released by my order, and suffered to
depart to their homes. The rest, with their leaders, fled — some have
since surrendered themselves to justice — many have been taken, and
some have escaped from the province.
It was' reported about this time, that in the district of London a
sunilar disposition to rise had been observed, and in consequence, a
militia force of about 400 men was sent into that district, where it was
speedily joined by three times as many of the inhabitants of the'
district, who assembled voluntarily and camQ to their aid with the
greatest alacrity. It was discovered that about three hundred
persons, under Doctor Duncombe, an American by birth, were
assembled with arms ; but before the militia could reach them, they
dispersed themselves and fled — of these, by far the greater number
came in immediately and submitted themselves to the Government,
declaring that they had been misled and deceived, and praying for
forgiveness. In about a week perfect tranquillity was restored, and from that
moment not a man has been seen in arms against the Government in
any part of the province, with the exception of the hostile aggression

14 CANADA.
Schlosser and Navy Island, board her whilst under
weigh, and capture and destroy her. After rowing
upon Navy Island, which I shall presently notice ; nor has there been
the slightest resistance offered to the execution of a legal process, in
a single instance.
After the dispersion of the armed insurgents, near Toronto, Mr.
Mackenzie, their leader, escaped in disguise to the Niagara river, and
crossed over to Buffalo. Reports had been spread there, and else
where along the American frontier, that Toronto had been burnt, and
that the rebels were completely successful : but the falsehood of these
absurd rumours was well-known before Mackenzie arrived on the
American side. It was known also that the ridiculous attempt of four
hundred men to revolutionize a country containing .nearly half a
million of inhabitants, had been put down by the people instantly and
decidedly, without the loss of a man.
Nevertheless, a number of American citizens in Buffalo, and other
towns on the frontier of the State of New York, enlisted as soldiers,
with the avowed object of invading Canada, and establishing a Pro
visional Government. Public meetings were held to forward this
design of invading a country with which the United States were at
peace. Volunteers were called for ; and arms, ammunition, and pro
visions, were supplied by contributions openly made. All this was
in direct and flagrant violation to the express laws of the United
States, as well as of the Law of Nations.
The civil authority of Buffalo offered some slight show of resistance
to the movement, being urged to interpose by many of the most
respectable citizens, but no real impediment was offered ; and on the
13th of December, some hundred of the citizens ofthe State of New
York, as an armed body, under the command of a Mr. Van Rens
selaer, an American citizen, openly invaded and took possession of"
Navy Island, a part of Upper Canada, situate in the River Niagara.
Not believing that such an outrage would really be committed, no
force whatever was assembled at the time to counteract this hostile
movement. In a very short time this lawless baud obtained from some of the
arsenals of the State of New York, clandestinely as it is said, several
pieces of artillery and other arms, which in broad daylight were
openly transported to Navy Island, without resistance from the Ame
rican authorities. The people of Buffalo and the adjacent country
continued to supply them with stores of various kinds, and additional
men enlisted in their ranks. In a few days their force was variously
stated from five to fifteen hundred, of whom a small proportion were

CANADA. 15
about a long while in the dark, they saw her fires from
the chimney near the American shore, and gallantly
rebels, who had fled from Upper Canada. They began to entrench
themselves, and th'reatened that they would, in a short time', make a
landing on the Canadian side of the Niagara River.
To prevent this and keep them in check, a body of Militia was
hastily collected and stationed on the frontier, under the command of
Colonel Cameron, Assistant-adjutant-general of Militia, who was
succeeded in this command by Colonel M'Nab, the Speaker of the
House of Assembly, an officer whose humanity and discretion, as well
as his activity, have been proved by his conduct in putting down the
insurrection in the London district ; and have been acknowledged in
warm terms of gratitude by the misguided persons who have sur
rendered themselves into his hands. He received orders to act on
the defensive only, and to be careful not to do any act which the
American Government could justly complain of as a breach of
neutrality. An official statement of the unfriendly proceedings at Buffalo
was without delay (on the 13th of December) made by me to
His Excellency the Governor of the State of New York, and after
this open invasion of our territory, and when it became evident
that nothing was effected at Buffalo for preventing the violation of
neutrality, a special Messenger was sent to your Excellency at
Washington, to urge your interposition in the matter. Sufficient
time has not yet elapsed to admit of his return. Soon after his depar
ture, this band of outlaws on Navy Island — acting in defiance of the
laws and govemment of both countries — opened a fire from several
pieces of ordnance upon the Canadian shore, which in this part is
thickly settled : the distance from the Island being about 600 yards,
and within sight of the populous village of- Chippewa. They put
several balls (six pound shot) through a house, in which a party of
Militia-men were quartered, and which is the dwelling-house of Cap
tain Ussher, a respectarble inhabitant. They killed a horse on which
a man at the time was riding, but happily did no further mischief,
though they fired also repeatedly with cannon and musketry upon our
boats. They continued daily to render their position more formidable ;
receiving constant supplies of men and warlike stores from the State
of New York, which were chiefly embarked at a landing-place on the
American mainshore, called Fort Schlosser, nearly opposite to Navy
Island. This place was once, I believe, a military position before
the conquest of Canada from the French ; but there is now neither
fort nor village there, but merely a single house, occupied as a tavern,

16 CANADA.
made up to her. It was fortunate for them she was
not actually under weigh ; for if they had boarded her
and a wha'rf in front of it, to which boats and vessels are moored.
The tavern had been, during these lawless proceedings, a rendezvous
for the band, who cannot be called by any name more appropriate
than pirates ; and was, in fact, openly and notoriously resorted to as
their head-quarters on the mainland, and is to this time. On the
28th December, positive information was given to Colonel M'Nab,
by persons from Buffalo, that a small steamboat, called the Caroline,
of about fifty tons burthen, had been hired by the "Patriots," and
was to be employed in carrying down cannon and other stores, and in
transporting men and anything else that might be required between
Fort Schlosser and Navy Island.
He resolved, if she came down and engaged in this service, to take
or destroy her. She did come down, agreeably to the information he
received. She transported a piece of artillery and other stores to the
Island, and made repeated passages during the day between the Island
and the main shore. In the niglit he sent a party of Militia in boats
with orders to take or destroy her. They proceeded to execute the
order. They found the -Caroline moored to the wharf, opposite to the
inn, at Fort Schlosser. In the inn there was a body of armed men to
protect her, part of the pirate force, or acting in their support. On
her deck there was an armed party, and a sentinel who- demanded the
countersign. Thus identified as she was with the force, which, in
deflance of the law of nations and every principle of natural justice,
had invaded Upper Canada, and made war upon its mioffeudiiig inha
bitants, she was boarded, and after a resistance, in which some
desperate wounds were inflicted upon the assailants, she was carried.
If any peaceable citizens of the United States perished in the con
flict, it was and is unknown to the captors ; and itwas and is unknown
to them whether any such were there. Before this vessel was thus
taken, not a gun had been fired by .the force under the orders of
Colonel M'Nab, even upon tliis gang of pirates, much less upon any
peaceable inhabitants of the United States, it must, therefore, have
been a consciousness of the guilty service she was engaged in that led
those who were employing her to think an armed force necessary for
her defence. Peaceable citizens of the United States were not likely
to be found in a vessel so employed at such a place and in such a
juncture : and if they were there, their presence, especially unknown
to the captors, cauld not prevent, in law or reason, this necessary act
of self-defence. Fifteen days had elapsed since the invasion of Upper
Canada by a force eulisled, armed, and equipped openly in the state

CANADA. 1 7
whilst moving so near the Falls, in the hurry of the
action the engines would have been neglected or
of New York. The country where this outrage upon the law of
nations was committed, is populous. Buffalo alone contains 15,000
inhabitants. The publio authorities, it is true, gave no countenance
to these flagrant acts, but they did not prevent them, or in the slightest
degree obstruct them, farther than by issuing proclamations, which
were disregarded. Perhaps they could not; but in either case the
insult and injury to the inhabitants of Canada were the same, and
their right to defend themselves equally unquestionable.
No wanton injury was committed by the party who gallantly effected
this service. They loosed the vessel from the wharf, and finding they
could not tow her against the rapid current of the Niagara, they
abandoned the effort to secure her, set her on fire, and let her drift
down the stream.
The prisoners taken were a man who, it will be seen by the docu
ments accompanying this dispatch, avowed himself to be a.subject of
Her Majesty, inhabiting Upper Canada, who had lately been traitor
ously in arms in that province, and having fled to the United States,
was then on board for the purpose of going to the camp at Navy
Island, and a boy, who being bom in Lower Canada, was probably
residing in the United States, and who, being aftaid to land from the
boat in consequence of the firing kept up by the guard on the shore,
was placed in one of the boats under Captain Drew, and taken over to
our side, from whence he was sent home the next day by the Falls
Ferry, with money given him to bear his expenses.
I send with this letter, — 1st. A copy of- my first communication to
His Excellency Governor Marcy, to, which no reply has reached me.
2nd. The official reports, correspondence, and Militia general order
respecting the destruction of the Caroline, with other documents.
3rd. The correspondence between Commissary-general Arcularins,
of the State of New York, respecting the Artillery belonging to the
Government of the State of New York, which has been, and is still
used in making war upon this province.
4th. Other correspondence arising out of the state of things on the
Niagara frontier.
Sth. The special message of Governor Marcy.
It will be seen from these documents, that a high officer of the
Government of the State of New York has been sent by His Excel
lency the Governor, for the express purpose of regaining possession
ofthe Artillery of that State, which is now employed in hostile aggres
sions upon this portion of Her Majesty's dominions, and that being

18 CANADA.
injured, and all would have gone down the cataract
together. As the strongest proof that can be brought as to the
fallacy which has been urged in the House of Commons
aided and favoured as he acknowledges by the most friendly co-opera
tion which the Commanding-officer of Her Majesty's forces could give
hira, he has been successfully defied by this army of American citi
zens, and has abandoned the object of his mission in despair.
It can hardly fail to be also observed by Your Excellency, that in
the course of this negotiation between Mr. Van Rensselaer and the
Commissary-general of the State of New York, this individual, Mr.
Van Rensselaer, has not hesitated to place himself within the imme
diate jurisdiction of the Government whose laws he had violated, and
in direct personal communication with the officer of that Govemment,
and has, nevertheless, been allowed to return unmolested, to continue
in command of American citizens engaged in open hostilities against
Great Britain.
The exact position then of affairs on our frontier may be thus
described :
An army of American citizens joined to a very few traitors from
Upper Canada, and uuder the command of a subject of the United
States, has been raised and equipped in the State of New York,
against the laws of the United States and' the treaties now subsisting,
and are using artillery plundered from the arsenals of the State of
New York, in carrying on this piratical warfare against a friendly
country. The officers and Government of the United States, and of the State
of New York, have attempted to arrest these proceedings, and to con
trol their citizens, but they have failed. Although this piratical
assemblage are thus defying the civil authorities of both countries.
Upper Canada alone is the object of their hostilities. The Govern
ment of the United States has failed to enforce its authority by any
means, civil or military, and the single question— if it be a question —
is, whether Upper Canada was bound to refrain from necessary acts of
self-defence against a people whom their own Government either
could not or would not control.
In perusing the message of His Excellency Governor Marcy to the
Legislature of the State of New York, your Excellency will probably
feel some degree of surprise, that after three weeks' continued hosti
lity carried on by the citizens of New York against the. people of
Upper Canada, His Excellency seems to have considered himself not

CANADA. 19
and elsewhere, that it was only the disaffected Cana
dians who composed the invading force on Navy Island,
and that the people of the United States were at least
neutral, we may quote from pubhc records the follow
ing despatch of the United States' Marshal to the
President : " Buffalo, December 28th, 1837.
" TO HIS EXCELLENCY M. VAN BUEEN.
" Sir, — This frontier is in a state of commotion.
I came to this city on the 22nd instant, by direction of
the United States Attorney for the Northern district of
this State, for the purpose of serving process upon indi
viduals suspected of violating the laws of the United
States, enacted vrith a view to maintain our neutraUty.
I leamed on my arrival that some 200 or 300 men,
mostly from the district of country adjoining this
frontier and from this side of the Niagara, had con
gregated upon Navy Island, Upper Canada, and were
then in arms, vrith Eensselaer Van Rensselaer, of
Albany, as their Commander-in-chief. From that time
to the present they have received constant accessions of
men, mimitions, provisions, &c., from persons residing
within the States. Their whole force is now about
1,000 strong, and, as is said, are well supplied vrith
arms, &c. Warrants have been issued, iji-some cases,
called upon to make this aggression the subject of remark for any
other purpose than to complain of a solitary act of self-defence on the
part of Her Majesty's Province of Upper Canada, to which such
unprovoked hostilities have unavoidably led. I have, &c.,
(Signed) F. B. Head.
His Excellency Henby S. Fox,
Her Majesty's Minister, Washington.
(A true Copy.) J. Joseph.  ,

20 CANADA.
but no arrests have as yet been made. This expedition
was got up in this city, soon after Mackenzie's arrival
upon this side of the river ; and the first company that
landed upon the island was organized, partially at
least, before they crossed from this side to the island.
" From all that I can see and leam, I am satisfied,
that if the Govemment deems it their duty to prevent
supplies being furnished from this side to the Army on
the island, and also the augmentation of their forces
from among the citizens of the States, an armed force,
stationed along the line of the Niagara, vrill be abso
lutely necessary to its accomplishment.
" I have just received a communication from Colonel
M'Nab, commanding Her Majesty's forces now at
Chippeway, in which he strongly urges the public
authorities here to prevent supplies being furnished to
the army on the island; at the same time stating that,
' if this can be effected, the whole affair could be closed
without effusion of blood.'
" M'Nab is about 2,500 strong, and constantly
increasing. I replied to him that I should communi
cate with you immediately, as also^ vrith the Governor
of this State, and that everything which could would
be uone to maintain a strict neutrality.
" I leam that persons here are engaged in dislodg
ing one or more steamboats from the ice, and, as is
supposed, with a riew. to aid in the Patriot expedition.
" I am, with great consideration,
" Your obedient Servant,
" N. Gaerow,
" United States' Marshal, Northern District
of New York."

CANADA. 21
Colonel M'Nab confined himself, after he took
the command from Lieutenant-colonel Cameron — an
able and retired officer of the 79th Regiment, who
had at first been appointed to it — to mere precau
tionary measures, without firing upon the island.
This state of things lasted until the 28th of Decem
ber, when Captain Drew, of the Royal Navy, was
ordered by him to destroy the pirate steamboat
Caroline, which he gallantly effected as she lay moored
to the wharf at Schlosser, and sent her blazing down
the Falls ; a fitting fate for a vessel eagerly employed
in the invasion of a territory at peace with the nation
it belonged to. Van Rensselaer and his vagabond
crew might, with impunity, invade Canada, might kill
the peaceable inhabitants, and commit any sort of
horrors under the Medusan shield of patriotism; but
Great Britain must be silent. Not so the United
States ; a pirate vessel is cut out from a ferry wharf,
which is magnified into a fort, and destroyed, after she
had landed guns and men and ammunition and pro
visions for a self-constituted army of real invaders,
and the whole nation is up in the extremity of sensi
tiveness at this outrage on national rights. It
remained a question on which peace or war between
the most mighty empire in the world, and a new. one
just started into immense importance, hung upon a
mere thread for five years.
A person named M'Leod, who had been Deputy-
sheriff of the Niagara district, and who had no
more to do with the burning of the Caroline than
the reader who was in England at the time, was
forcibly arrested, tried for his life by a Court which

22 CANADA.
had no jurisdiction in his case, and very narrowly
escaped hanging.
The affair of the Caroline, magnified ten millions of
times, and distorted in every possible way, was at length
settled in 1842, by Lord Ashburton, having been
cleverly included amongst other grievances; but if
Colonel M'Nab (who ordered the vessel to be destroyed).
Captain Drew of the Royal Navy, Lieutenant Elmsley,
and Mr. M'Connack, or any of the brave men who
so distinguished themselves in the gallant action, by
cutting her out during a dark night, vrith a swift cur
rent which must, if any accident had occurred to their
small tow-boats, have hurled them to the guK of the
caldron, were, at any period of excitement, to show
themselves upon the territory of the Lake border of
New York, it was until very lately questionable whether
a new M'Leod case might not arise, or whether that
Lynch law would not settle the outstanding account.
The most melancholy result on the part of the
Canadian Militia of this winter siege of Navy Island,
was in the death of a fine young man, Mr. Smith of
Hamilton, who was lying in a bam on some hay when
a red-hot shot from the island struck him, carrying
away the upper part of his thigh and some of his ribs.
A man serring our guns, under the direction of Cap
tain Luard, also lost his leg by a cannon ball.* In
short, the brigands kept up a desultory cannonade,
chiefly against the houses near Chippewa, until the
Royal Artillery, under Major Cameron, made its
• This fine fellow, whose name was Millar, died after he had his leg
cut off. He desired to see it, gave three cheers for the Queen, and
after a few hours expired. He had been in the Navy.

CANADA. 23
appearance, when a 24-pounder was mounted on a
scow and taken up the river, and battered the point
•where the guns of Van Rensselaer had been most active.
Two day& before the evacuation, on the 12th of
January, after the 24th Regiment had made their
appearance. Captain Glasgow, of the Royal Artillery,
kept up a brisk cannonade of 283 rounds from heavy
guns and mortars, and on the 13th he fired 130 more.
Three schooners were also armed and fitted out, which
effectually kept the brigands within their breastworks.
A gentleman, with the euphonious name of Colonel
Ironayre,* who had a charge of foot in the Regular
Militia of the New York State, figures in the corre
spondence of this time. He displayed the American
flag on Grand Island, just opposite, and close to Mac
kenzie's camp. One Seth Conklin, whose name is
equally remarkable, deposed that this Curnel's party
of the military of the State of New York made him
prisoner when he quitted the patriots on Navy Island.
His deposition is so curious, and so completely like many
others of the same nature which I noticed in those
eventful days, that I have extracted it from a mass of
papers. It is of interest, as it corroborates the state
ment of Lieutenant Elmsley, of the Royal Navy, who
had been repeatedly fired upon by people on Grand
Island, where this colonel held command, whilst in the
execution of his duty in boat actions, or in reconnoitring
Navy Island.
I prefer, at the risk of beiug attacked for using the
• Shakspeare's far-fetched Latin in "Cymbeline," about Mollis
Aer, comes into one's mind as the reverse of this cognomen and
prenomen.

24 CANADA.
scissors and paste system, to place this highly inter
esting document in the -body of the Narrative, instead
of in an Appendix; for, excepting very literary or very
political readers, few people trouble appendices in a
book read pour passer le temps. Besides, in so
national an affair as that of the Caroline, the British
readers who have not seen, generally, the State Papers
in which these depositions and correspondence are
contained, cannot be too well informed.
District op Niagara, to wit :
" Seth Conklin, late of Syracuse, in the state of New York, but
now of Chippewa, in the Province of Upper Canada, miller, deposeth
upon oath, and saith, that he went to Navy Island on Sunday, the
7th of January, instant ; that he left the island on the following
moming ; that he was taken up by a party of the military of the
State of New York, stationed on Grand Island ; that he was accused
by said militia of being a spy on Navy Island, when a sergeant of
said Militia held a pistol to deponent's breast and threatened to shoot
him, and at the same time five or six of his men seized deponent and '
dragged him to a boat, in which they attempted to put him, for the
purpose of taking him over to the patriots upon Navy Island ; that at
the earnest entreaty of deponent, he was taken back to the Com
manding Officer on Grand Island, Colonel Ayer, by whom he was
questioned as to where he had been, and why he had been at the
island ; that Colonel Ayer then ordered him to be searched, upon
which he claimed protection of Colonel Ayer, as an American
citizen ; and Colonel Ayer said he should be protected, and gave him
in charge of a sergeant, who kept him a prisoner till after dark ; that
Major Chase, of the Navy Island Patriots, then came from the island,
to sup with the United States Militia ; a tall man, with a dark com
plexion, told deponent that he must return to the island ; that
deponent again claimed from this officer protection, as an American
citizen, but that he replied, " You shall go immediately ; and if you
hesitate we will force you." He said further, that if deponent
remained on Grand Island, he would be shot, and that if any disturb
ance occurred concerning him, he, the Colonel, would shoot him with
his o%n hand. That when Major Chase, of the Navy Island Patriots,
demanded deponent, the last-mentioned Colonel said that he raight
take him ; that deponent again claimed protection as an American

CANADA. :
citizen, when Major Chase said, if deponent was allowed to remain
Grand Island, he would escape and inform the British of the sl
of Navy Island ; that upon this, fifteen or twenty of the United Sti
Militia declared that deponent should go, but that the sergeant \
had him in charge wished, ]to satisfy General Van Rensselaer, he mi
be sent to Buffalo gaol, to which deponent consented ; that the i
I of the Militia' insisted upon his going to Navy Island, and that
entreated of them not to send him there, alleging that he would c
tainly be shot before he got there ; that the sergeant then propo
for him to choose three men of the guard to accompany him. Depon
fearing that he should be murdered before he got there, did chc
three men to accompany him ; and he was taken by five Militia-ir
— namely, a sergeant and four men of the United States Militia,
company with Major Chase, — and delivered by them at General "^
Rensselaer's quarters, in charge of Major Chase. Major Chase (
the sentries at the head of the Island, to allow the boat which brou
over deponent to pass, as it was a friendly boat. That depoii
remained a prisoner upon Navy Island, until the Patriots evacus
it, during which time he was kept in close confinement, in a house
the south front of the Island, which was open to the flre of the Bri
guns; and that three of their shots passed through the house wl:
he was confined there. Seth CoNKLif
Sworn before me at Chippewa, this 18th day of January, IS
Samuel Street, J. P.
Another American citizen, of the name of Jan
Wood, of the city of Buffalo, in the State of New Yoi
deposed also that he saw the Caroline cut out of t
ice, and that it was no secret that she was destin
to supply Mackenzie on Navy Island; and whilst r
less than a thousand volunteers assisted in freeing 1
from her frozen dock, and in loading her vrith muske
swords, and flour; that he asked her master, o
Appleby, where she was going, who told him westwa
to Dunkirk, which is forty-five miles above Buffalo,
Lake Erie, but that Wood said, "You mean eastwa
to Navy Island?" The skipper smiled, but made
reply; but Wood had heard it repeatedly said,
VOL. II. C

26 CANADA.
many rich men in the city, that if the Patriots would
fight, they would find (American expression for pro-
riding food, &c.,) them.
As soon as the schooners and gun-boats, under
Captain Drew, were manned and armed, they began
cruizitag about the -river, to intercept these supplies :
and as one-half of that river, in its deepest channel, is
by treaty the property of the United States, — although
that treaty recognizes the right of both nations to its
free navigation, — ^the Americans began to think that the
air and the water might both be outraged by British
shot and shells flying through the one or sinking into
the other ; and a most singular forgetfulness appears to
have come over them respecting €he shot of the Patriots
haring actually passed only through British atmosphere
and into British water from Navy Island and from the
United States territory and military posts on Grand
Island. In short, the patriots and American Militia
were free to fire upon the subjects of a power at
peace with the United States, and which power had
just most magnanimously preserved the Republic from
a fierce and bloody war with France.
General Winfield Scott, who commanded on the
United States frontier, is one of the most accomplished
and the best known of the American military com
manders; and there can^ be little doubt that when
it became seriously necessary for the Cabinet of Wash
ington to act, and that his hands were unfettered, he
did indeed act, as he afterwards acted respecting the
Boundaiy question ; that is to say, he fully exerted his^
energies and talent to prevent his nation being em
broiled vrith Great Britain.

CANADA. 27
He is much respected by every British officer who
has made his acquaintance, or who knew him when he
first displayed his military talents on the Niagara
frontier in the last American war.
His correspondence with Colonel M'Nab and Cap
tain Drew, on the occasion about which we are
engaging the attention of the reader, is singular
enough and worth presemng. He was in fact, placed
as the Americans say, in a very " awkward fix,"
for the supreme majesty of the border people kept
him in check on the one hand and his own real
masters, the Cabinet, had not declared peace or war
on the other.
General Scott is a highly educated gentleman, and
a soldier who has seen much of foreigners, and yet
the language of his diplomacy is shrouded in words
purely Americanisms, which disfigure the Enghsh
acceptation of those words in a strange manner, and
evince a national desire to adapt the most correct
language of modern times to a new and by no means
an improved standard, as we also observe ia some of
the best American novelists, who introduce such out
rageously un-English words, as sparse, quite a quantity,
our waters, day before yesterday iastead of the day, &c.
into their best writings ; an affectation of nationalism
which scratches poor Priscian's head sadly, and dis
figures the noble stock which satisfied the master
minds of Milton and of Shakspere, whose dictionaries
will afford a living and flourishing tree, when Webster
and his grafts shall be remembered only to be again
forgotten. Our readers will at once perceive the singular situ-
c 2

28 CANADA.
ation in which General Scott was placed, and the
uncertainty whether the vrill of the people would not
have hurried his Govemment into an unnecessary
renewal of the attempt to conquer Canada :
To the Commanding-officer of the Armed British Vessels in the
Niagara.
Head-quarters, United States Army,
Eastern Division, 2 miles below Black Rock,
, January 15, 1838.
Sir, — With His Excellency the Governor of New York, who has
troops at hand, we are here to enforce the neutrality of the United
States, and to protect our own soil and waters from violation.
The proper civil officers are also present, to arrest, if practicable,
the leaders of the expedition on foot against Upper Canada.
Under these circumstances, it gives me pain to see the armed
vessels mentioned anchored in our waters, with the probable intention
to fire upon that expedition moving within the same waters. Unless
that expedition shall first attack, in which case we shall interfere, we
shall be obliged to consider a discharge of shot or shells from or into
our waters, from the armed schooners pf Her Majesty, as an act
seriously compromitting the neutrality of the two nations. I hope,
therefore, that no such unpleasant incident may occur.
I am. Sir, respectfully, your most obedient,
Winfield Scott.
The manly, concise, energetic, and officer-like reply
of Captain Drew, will be read with admiration :
Head-quarters, Chippewa, January 16, 1838.
Sir, — I have had the honour to receive j'our letter of the 15th
instant, in which you state " it gives you pain to perceive the armed
vessels of Her Majesty anchored in your waters, with the probable
intention to fire upon that expedition moving within the same waters."
The object I have in view is to prevent the rebels who have lately
Tieen in arms against Her Britannic Majesty upon Navy Island, and
who have now taken shelter upon Grand Island, a territory of the
United States, from effecting a landing in any part of the province of
Upper Canada ; and for this purpose I have made such a disposition
of the force under my command as will most effectually perform
that service.
With reference to the vessels of Her Majesty being anchored in

CANADA. 29
your waters, I have always understood, that so long as Great Britain
and the United States were at peace and amity, that the right of the
full navigation of the River Niagara belonged to each power ; and if
I have suffered an infringement upon any Intemational law, I beg you
will do me the favour to refer me to it,
I have the honour to be. Sir, your most obedient humble Servant,
Andrew Drew,
Commander in the Royal Navy, Commanding
Naval Brigade.
To General Scott, &c. Commanding the Forces of the United States, &c.
Then follows Colonel M'Nab's notice of the above,
which is somewhat lengthy, to use another Ameri
canism, but highly to the purpose.
Head-quarters, Chippewa, January 18, 1838.
Sir, — The correspondence which has taken place between you and
Captain Drew of the Royal Navy, during my short absence from this
frontier, where I have the honour of commanding Her Majesty's
Naval and Militia Forces, having been laid before me by that officer,
I beg to offer a few observations upon it.
You state that you, with His Excellency the Governor of New York,
are near Black Rock, with troops at hand, to enforce the neutrality of
the United States, and to protect your own soil and waters from
violation — that the proper civil authorities are also present to arrest,
" if practicable," the leaders of " the expedition " on foot against
Upper Canada — that, under these circumstances, it gives you " pain"
to perceive the armed vessels of Her Britaimic Majesty anchored in
your waters, with the probable intention to fire upon that "expedition"
moving within the same waters — that unless that expedition shall first
attack, in which case you will interfere, you will be obliged to con
sider a discharge of shot or shell "from or into" your waters, from
the armed schooners of Her Majesty, as an act seriously compromit
ting the neutrality of the two nations — that you hope, therefore, that
no such unpleasant incident may occur.
With regard to your views of the right of the expedition referred to,
to pass up the Niagara River, near your shore, unmolested by the
forces under my command, I beg to enter my most decided protest.
The waters of the Niagara River, for the purposes of navigation, are,
as Captain Drew has very properly said, common to the inhabitants
of Great Britain and the United States, so long as these powers are at
peace with each other ; and that being the case, I cannot understand
why the schooners under my command, and .anchored in the river.

30 CANADA.
have not the right to capture and destroy any expedition on foot
against Upper Canada, and moving upon the waters of that river,
whether on the one side or the other, or exactly in the centre of the
stream. My own opinion is that they have that right, and had it not
been for an unfortunate misappirehension of the orders given by
Captain Drew, to the officer in command of the schooners, that right
would most assuredly have been exercised.
The second paragraph of your letter appears to me so much at
variance with that neutrality which, in my humble opinion, should be
observed upon the present occasion by officers of the United States,
that I cannot refrain from making a remark or two upon it.
I cannot understand why it should give an officer of a neutral
power " pain " to observe an intention on our part to punish the
actors in an " expedition on foot " against this Province. It appears
to me, that such an intention should rather give pleasure than pain to
an officer situated as you are, who really desired to see the rebellion
against the constituted authorities of Upper Canada put down ; more
particularly as the majority of the persons concerned iu the hostile
expedition were citizens of your own country, and were in fact in the
situation of mere banditti.
I regret to observe an evident intention on the part of the United
States officers stationed on tbe Niagara Frontier, to screen the guilty
actors in this disgraceful outrage against the laws, as well of Great
Britain as of the United States, otherwise we should not hear those
authorities speak of the "practicability " of arresting the leaders of
that expedition, when so completely in their power as those men
are who lately occupied Navy Island.
I had; on the llth instant, the honour to address Commissary-
general Arcularius, or the officer in command of the United States
Militia Forces, on the Niagara Frontier, upon the subject of an out
rage committed by the Militia force of the United States, stationed
upon Grand Island, on Lieutenant Elmsley, of the Royal Navy, and
the boat's crew under his command, but I have not as yet received
any answer to my communication upon this matter. I may now
briefly state, that the outrage complained of was the firing upon
Lieutenant Elmsley, by the Militia force alluded to, and directly
under the American flag.
I trust that you will cause an investigation of this serious charge
to be made — and I hive the honour to request that the result of your
inquiries into this matter may be communicated to me with as little
delay as possible.
I beg also to refer you to the correspondence that took place on
the 13th instant, between Colonel Iron Ayre, of 48th Regiment,

CANADA. 31
47th Brigade, New York Militia, in relation to certain complaints
made by that officer to me ; in order that the same may be laid before
the proper authorities in the United States for investigation — as ]
have no desire to conceal from the world any part of my conduct, whilst
in command of Her Majesty's Forces upon this frontier.
I have the honour to be. Sir,
Your most obedient humble Servant,
Allan N. M'Nae.
Colonel Commanding Militia and Naval Forces, Niagara Frontier.
To Major-general Scott, United States, Army, &c.
An officer was sent to Buffalo with this letter, and
his account of his reception is here given; Lieu
tenant-colonel Donald Bethune appears to have fully
understood that General Scott found himself in a
predicament which required both policy- and foresight
to manage cleverly :
Head-quarters, Chippewa, Friday Night, January 19.
Sir, — I have the honour to report to you, that I proceeded to
Buffalo with your despatch to General Scott, of the United States
Army, where I had the honour of an interview with that officer this
morning. After General Scott had perused the despatch, he desired me to
inform Colonel M'Nab, that at a convenient time he would answer
his despatch in writing — that at present he could qnly do so verbally.
General Scott then remarked, that it was evident that Colonel M'Nab
was desirous of drawing him into a correspondence, for which he had
no leisure at present, as his time was wholly occupied in endeavouring
to preserve the neutrality of the United States during the existing dis
turbances on our frontier ; — that Colonel M'Nab might have leisure
for maintaining such correspondence, but he (General Scott) had
not J — and that he had been so employed in maintaining the neutrality
of the United States, two officers of the British Army then in the
house (American Hotel) could testify.
I beg leave to remark, that General Scott appeared very much
agitated on perusing your despatch, and while he made the above
verbal communication. I have the honour to be. Sir,
Your obedient humble Servant, D. Bethune.
To Colonel the Hon. Allan N. M'Nab, Commanding Militia and Naval
Forces, Niagara Frontier.

32 CANADA.
Captain Drew having settled the business in a more
summary manner than in violating the American
waters, by sending the pirate ship to perdition amidst
the roar of Niagara's rapids, this patriotic storm in a
washhand basin soon subsided, as far as Navy Island
was concerned, and some Companies of the 24th Regi
ment having appeared on the theatre, it was thought
high time to shift the scenery.
President Mackenzie, Generalissimo RenseUaer Van
Rensellaer, et hoc genus omne, beat a retreat under
cover of border sympathy, and retired iuto the United
States, if not with " bag and baggage," at least, as
Touchstone says, with " scrip and scrippage."
The island was immediately taken possession of by
the 24th, and found in the state I shall now describe,
from official military, and private mihtary reports,
letters, and conversations.
The Lieutenant-governor, Sir Francis Head, visited
it on the 17th of January, and an officer of
Engineers made a special representation of its con
dition. One person describes the sohtariness and
vreetchedness of this forest-wildemess as truly oppres
sive, and the appearance of the trees in the situations
exposed to the fire of the cannon, mortars, and rockets
of the Canadian army,* as evincing the great destruc
tion of life which must have occurred.
The vaunted blockhouse citadel, the barracks, and
the formidable batteries, dwindled into huts made of
branches of trees and sods, and to hasty and ill-
constructed embankments. Two women were found
" Ably directed by an old Artillery-officer, Captain T. Luard. —
Editor.

CANADA. 33
on this Barataria, and they informed the British that
Mackenzie's hospital, to which the wounded were
always removed, was on the American tei-ritory, at
Grand Island. Quantities of boots and shoes, and
some stores, with plenty of fragments of American
newspapers, were found in the hovels, and every
appearance indicated the terrible risitation of the
bursting shells, those most awful messengers of
death. The body of one man was exhumed by order of the
Lieutenant-governor, in order to ascertain if it could
be recognized. This unfortunate indiridual had fallen,
however, under the merciless Lynch law of the Patriot
mob, for his arms were pinioned and he had been
shot by a rifie, probably suspected as a spy.
The border newspapers had invested Navy Island
with the character of a second Gibraltar, as perfectly
impregnable, and so much industry had actually been
employed in cutting down trees and brushwood round
the edge of the water, to form an abbatis to prevent
boat invasion, and the batteries and hovels were so
masked with wood, that it really looked formidable
from Chippewa.
But, as one gentleman observed,, " Such a bugbear
never before existed in military parlance ; and such a
spectacle of ' looped and windowed' wretchedness and
unutterable filth surely never existed before, as must
have been displayed by the mob of sympathisers in
their winter bivouacs, for the scene of dirt was abso
lutely sickening." The hovels termed "barracks, were
the most miserable beyond conception, that ever afforded
shelter to even the most abandoned and degraded of the
c3

34 CANADA.
human race ; and even so bad, that where these pseudo-
patriots herded like sheep in a pen, no humane person
would have constrained his swine to occupy, so open
were they to the inclement air, and so filled with all the
abominations that can be conceived.
Their clothing, which was of that of the lowest of
the people, was found so insufficient, that the charity of
the Buffalonians was drawn on for a supply, which
proved inadequate ; and every bush was found eloquent
as to the excess of miseiy they had endured, by the
filthy rags with which they were encumbered.
Nor was their food better prorided ; without money,
credit, or means, the leaders had, by a promise of
dollars and land, induced the lazzaroni of Buffalo to
venture on Navy Island, with the assurance, that a few
hours would find them masters of the fertility and
riches of the opposite shores, where they might revel in
the fat of the land.
A whole month these deluded wretches, who were not
permitted to retreat, and who could not retire across
the broad river at vrill, continued to suffer the biting of
the pitiless rain-storms of December and January. And
what was their principal food? Why, that which the
carrier complains of at the inn in Rochester, — " Peas
and beans as dank as a dog." They had, however,
occasional feasts, as there were large piles of bones
found, and pieces of bread and meat were scattered in
some of the hovels.
And here female affection found its way. Mrs.
Mackenzie, the mother of a large and helpless family,
who, it is generally believed in Canada, disapproved of
the senseless ambition of her husband, although she

CANADA. 35
was, as all her family are, or were, attached to the
Refoi-m side of the Canadian pohtics, dauntlessly visited
and remained by that husband in this abode of
wretchedness and guilt. Her sleeping-place, in a
rough log-built shanty (as hovels built of rudely-hewn
timber are called in Canada) was shown, as an evidence
of what woman is capable of enduring. It was a mere
recess, like a berth on board of ship. In this cabin, —
vrith a shelf covered vrith straw, and exposed to wet and
elemental warfare not less than it was to the wretched
ness, unholy clamour, the filth, and the coarseness of
the crew within, from whom she could not even be
separated by a partition, lived this faithful wife, such
was the crowded state of every place affording the
slightest shelter from the cold.
Thus ended the farce of Navy Island, which was
evacuated on the 14th January, 1838; and this was
first known by a man with a white flag appearing on
the shore next to Chippewa. He had concealed himself
in 'the woods.
The American sympathy, however, did not rest here ;
for as soon as the Patriots had landed their thirteen
pieces of cannon at Schlosser, and placed them under
the guardianship of the State officer, they were
conveyed to Buffalo, and there disbanded ; and, imme
diately afterwards, the cannon were taken from the
officer in charge of them by a fresh band of sym
pathizers. Samuel Hayes, — who figured as High-constable
of Toronto, in Mackenzie or Morrison's mayoralty,
and who had been a sergeant in the 15th Regi
ment, — surrendered himself as a prisoner just before

36 CANADA.
the evacuation. This unworthy soldier, who had been
most conspicuously employed, after his discharge from
his regiment, in disseminating, his venom among the
soldiers and citizens of Toronto, had been employed in
drilling the Patriot forces on the island, and deserted
from them when the place became too hot to be held.
What became, of him afterwards, excepting that he was
tried, I forget ; nor is it of much consequence ; and I
only mention him to show the tools which Mackenzie
had adapted to his use.
Nearly at the same time, Samuel Lount, the black
smith, and late M.P.P., a great leader in the rebel
lion, was taken at a hiding-place near Dunham, on
the Grand River, by Mr. Goldie, and with Dr. Mor
rison, the ex-mayor and M.P.P., was safely lodged in
Toronto gaol; also several others. Bidwell was per
mitted to leave Toronto, and went to Albany.
The Upper Canadian Republic, haring thus lost its
chiefs, stood in abeyance; and all further annoyance
from Navy Island was afterwards put a stop to by
the orders of Sir John Colbome to clear it, as far as
was necessary, of its timber.

CANADA. 37

CHAPTER II.
The actual Invasion of Upper Canada by the Sympathizers and
Brigands, and a simultaneous attempt on both Provinces
contemplated.
Mackenzie and Van RensseUaer were arrested by
order of the State-government of New York, and the
former held to bail in 5,000 dollars ; but this show of a
desire to put down sympathy was indeed a "passiag
show," for they were immediately released upon bail,
although charged vrith levying war and stealing cannon
and arms from the Arsenals of the Republic.
The word Arsenal in the American Military Diction
ary, is of very various meaning, and the reader must
not suppose that Mackenzie took a second Woolwich
by storm when he ransacked an arsenal, or when it
was so frequently done afterwards by his followers.
Au coniraire, this sounding designation on the frontier
of the United States, generally means a wooden-house ,
of two or more rooms, built hke any other wooden-
house, with perhaps a shed for the state-caimon adjoin
ing, all as convenient and as patent to the plunder, or
use of any mob, as the soverign people could possibly
desire, the keys being usually kept by some ciril officer
'of the rillage or town in which it is situated.

38 CANADA.
Whilst upon this subject we may just allude to the
extreme anomahes in the American mode of conducting
military affairs, which the want of a sufficient army in
duced. A gentleman of the name of Arcularius flourishes as
a very military character, in the correspondence of the
day, respectiag the use made of the cannon and arms
of the State of New York, and in the border papers he
was always called General. So he was, but it was a
Commissary-general's situation that he held. In short
everybody you meet in a httle. "poking" viUage, on the
borders, holds some title or official employ. Generals
keep stores ; Colonels shoe horses ; Majors serve the
bar of a tavern ; and Captains and Subs hold any and
every situation whereby money can be turned.
General Arcularius particularly distinguished himself
by writing a Despatch to Colonel M'Nab, respectfully
soliciting a suspension of an attack on Navy Island
until he, Arcularius, could persuade the invaders to
deliver up the United States' cannon and arms they
had stolen, and which of course ended in smoke.
Never such despatch was before or since read or
thought of, as to matter, manner, and object. But it is
not worth extracting, and it is only equalled by another
from Mr. Garrow, who declares to the President he
cannot enforce neutrality, and by the President's
declaration that the laws of the United States were
unequal to it also.
I am fond of telling anecdotes, because, as I said
before, they relieve the tedium of narrative.
An officer, employed on the Canadian frontier, bought
a horse of a Captain of Militia from the Empire State,*

CANADA. 39
which proved, after some time, not to be exactly the
charger he required. The horse-dealer, who also dealt
in everything smuggleahle, came over the river, on his
usual avocations, a few months subsequent to the
purchase, and the subaltern, seeing his friend; asked
him to take the horse back, as it did not suit him.
" Guess I will," says Harmonious Tuke, " when I
feel shck in cash."
" The mare is just as good and as sound as the day
I bought her of you, and you may have her for five
poimds less."
" You're a considerable smart man, I predicate.
It's a trade."
Harmonious pulled out a bundle of notes of the
thousand-and-one banks of the State of New York,
but he had not enough even of these rags.
The subaltern preferred Canada money, and shook
his head.
" Don't be stumped , I'll get 'em changed ; I a'nt
difficult, the mare is as tall a critter as ever had
hair on."
The subaltern looked impatient.
" Don't get riled ; I'll fix the shin-plasters,* and as
for the balance, here's a silver watch, just the tot.
Guess the Captain keeps a store, and can trade it."
But setting aside jest, let us pursue the thread of
narrative. Sympathizing had now spread itself along
the whole frontier of the United States, from Michigan to
Vermont, and General Sutherland, a person of Scottish
extraction, had departed from Buffalo for Cleveland, in
Ohio, on Lake Erie, to organize an attack simultane-
* Anglice — Bank-notes of doubtful value.

40 CANADA.
ously with that on Navy Island, upon the small island
of Bois Blanc, which occupies a part of the Strait or
Detroit, near the commencement of Lake Erie at
Maiden or Amherstburgh, being exactly opposite to
that Canadian town and fort, and one of the weak
points on the frontier, which the reader wiU recollect
had always been selected by American officers in the
war, to invade Canada from.
The position of Bois Blanc is much the same as that
of Navy Island, namely, a small isle covered vrith forest,
and holding command of the channels of the river.
It was moved upon by bodies of American sympa
thizers from Lake Erie and from Detroit at the same
time. The men from Cleveland in Ohio, under the
command of a self-styled Colonel, named Dodge, left
Monroe, on the 7th of January, in a schooner, and
were joined at Gibraltar, on the Sth, by General
Sutherland, with several boats and scows (a large kind
of flat-bottomed boat, like the coal-barges on the
Thames) with 3 field-pieces, 250 stand of anns, and
a very large stock of prorisions.
The object of this movement was to surprise the
Militia at Amherstburgh and then to invade Canada,
in the same manner as was done during the war, by
marching upon Maiden and Sandvrich, and ^o the in
terior as far as London, where they expected to be
received with open arms by the settlers of American
origin. Duriag their progress the schooner, on board of
which all the valuable military materiel and stores were,
was separated from the fleet, and ran close in shore ;
whereupon she was hailed by a Militia sentry, who told

CANADA. 41
them that if they persisted in closing with the land
they would be fired into. An answer, couched in the
most gross terms, was made, out of contempt for the
Militia, and a tiraillade immediately opened on both
sides, which obliged the Patriots to haul off, but not
until their cannon had done some injury to the un
offending inhabitants.
This schooner, the Anne, was a fine vessel, and had
been openly loaded with her cargo of men, arms, and
provision by the Detroit, a steamer belonging to the
American city of that name, opposite to Sandwich, in
Upper Canada, the cannon, the powder and ball, haring
preriously been stolen, or rather taken, from the
United States' Arsenal at Dearborn, about ten miles
from the city, and five or six hundred muskets were
also as deliberately stolen from the gaol depot at the
same time, without an effort on the part of the autho
rities to prevent such wholesale levying of war in a
coimtry at peace vrith England, and then recently
under a deep moral obligation to that nation from her
desire to avoid a war with France.
No effort was made to seize either the Erie steam
boat, which was actually taken from a pretended civic
guard during the night, or the Anne, although the
latter remained quietly at anchor, receiring her men
and stores from the former for a whole day, within
two miles of the seat of government of the State of
Michigan. Two steamboats, in fact, were constantly engaged in
conveying troops and stores to Bois Blanc. The Dis
trict-attorney refused to interfere ; and a Deputy United
States Marshal, who wished to prevent bloodshed, was

42 CANADA.
denied the requisite power to anest the patriotic
enthusiasm. At length, however, a show of inter
ference was made ; and a ferry-boat, called the United,
sent to capture the field-pieces and arms from the
schooner. The United, however, soon sheered off, for
the brigands threatened to treat her with a broadside ;
and the high-constables and legal posse, judging that
the better part of valour was discretion, and "con
siderably" inclined towards the cause, as they reported
to their superiors, " turned about face and went hum
again," no doubt, as a Canadian observed, "tarnation
scared." However, after the reconnoitring attempt,
Boisblaric was evacuated; and Colonel Prince, of the
Canadian Militia, a member of the Parliament, and a
lawyer of eminence, judged it was quite time to give
Mr. Sutherland and his heroes a useftil lesson; and
accordingly he, with 250 gallant Volmiteers, embarked
at twelve o'clock at night and quietly took possession of
the island in the same United ferry-boat which had
run away from the Anne.
The proceedings at Amherstburgh were now rife
with interest, and the Militia began to collect rapidly
from the neighbouring country. What followed is
best explained in the statement of an eye-witness, and
in the despatch of Colonel Radcliffe, who commanded
the Militia on the Western District frontier.
The result of this affair, one of the most glorious in
which the Militia were engaged, was that 1 schooner,
3 pieces of cannon, 200 stand of arms, and a vast
quantity of ammunition were taken ; 1 brigand was
killed, 8 wounded, and 12 made prisoners. The name
of the man killed was Darid Anderson, whilst the

CANADA. 43
notorious leaders. Dr. Theller, Robert Davis, Walter
Chase, and Colonel Dodge, who lost an eye, Thayer,
Smith, and Colonel Brophey, were amongst the captured
Patriots. The Militia fought in the icy water with
pitchforks, and whatever else they could muster, old
and young, able and weak, the strong in health and
the sickly, all vied in courage and loyalty, notwith
standing that the schooner was supported by a large
steam-boat, the Erie, full of sympathizers, who however
sheered off, and left Theller to his fate.*
* At three o'clock in the afternoon of Monday the 8th instant, just
as the Militia had been dismissed from their parade in the Garrison at
Maiden, an alarm was given by the sentries ,posted at Bois Blanc,
that the brigands and pirates, about 400 in number, were leaving
Sugar Island in the schooner, scows, and boats, with the view of
invading Bois Blanc instanter, and that they would reach the shore
in half an hour. It is perhaps well to observe that Sugar Island
belongs to Michigan, and that it had for some days past been the
rendezvous of the brigands. Bois Blanc is the British Island, and at
the lower or southern end of it stands the lighthouse. As soon as the
alarm was given, the Militia and their officers, aided by Captain
Woodward's gallant troop of cavalry from the London district (dis
mounted), hurried to the boats, and to a schooner then lying at the
wharfs in Amherstburgh, and the island was invested as expeditiously
as possible by about 300 well-armed men. Tbey were stationed at
three several points of the island, so as to command and watch
the brigands' movements, and to annihilate or take them if they
attempted to effect a landing. The brigand forces were arrayed as
follows :
The schooner, with a sloop, — which has since turned out to be the
George Strong, apparently her tender,— hovered about the lower end
of the Island, at the distance of a mile below the Lighthouse, some
times lying- to, and sometimes apparently hugging our shore at
Elliot's Point (about two miles below Amherstburgh), as if inclined
to land her men there. Their main body was seen being towed in
scows, by two boats up the river towards Grosse Isle, taking care not
to_ come within musket-shot of Bois Blanc. They fired two cannon
shots. of canister and grape at us, which did no injury. This was the
first hostile shot fired on tlus frontier, and after that there was "no

44 CANADA.
General Sutherland, the leader of this exploit,
escaped to Detroit, where, notwithstanding the piracy
mistake" in their intentions. After waiting for the pirates about
two hours, and perceiving that so far from attempting to attack us,
they pulled in their scows above Bois Blanc, and that the schooner
and the tender, apparently made sail for our shore at Elliot's Point,
the officers held a consultation together, and as it was deemed not
improbable that the brigands' object was to effect a landing on the
main shore, and to take the town of Amherstburgh (which had not
100 effective men left to defend it), orders were instantly given to quit
Bois Blanc, and to return in the boats to Amherstbm'gh, with the least
possible delay. The men were all landed in about an hour, leaving the
island undefended (because a force could not be spared to remain there),
and everything was removed from the house of the Lighthouse-keeper,
Captain Hackett, except some trunks containing his and Mrs.
Hackett' s clothes. In ^ji hour after the men had landed in the town, the
pirate schooner sailed up the channel (a good breeze favouring her),
between Bois Blanc and the town. Her consort lay to under Bois Blanc
Island. The Militia kept up a constant firing at her with their rifles,
but as the distance was not less than 400 yards, it had but little
effect. It was, however, afterwards ascertained that upon this occa
sion one man was killed, and several slightly wounded ; she fired an
occasional cannon shot, and she was fairly beaten off, and sailed, as was
supposed, for the scows and boats which had disappeared, and were
conjectured to have returned to Sugar Island.
On the following morning, Tuesday the 9th, the sloop was made to
come in without a shot being flred, and she was secured. The
pirate schooner was seen at anchor near the upper end of Bois
Blanc, and almost opposite the King's Store. She cruised about for
some hours, nevertheless taking care to keep out of the range of
musketry or rifle shots, and occasionally flring grape and can
ister into the town. A large number of the banditti were seen
scampering about Bois Blanc, as if from curiosity. They quitted it
in a few hours ; and it is fair to admit that they did no injury what^
ever to the Lighthouse, or the residence of Captain Hackett, or to a
schooner which lay ashore upon the island. They, however, carried
off the whole of Captain and Mrs. Hackett's wearing- apparel, and
also a valuable gold ring ; — and that was all the injury they did.
Our people, of course, resumed possession of the island on the
following day, and brought the schooner just mentioned to the wharf
at Amherstburgh j and we have had possession of the island ever
since.

CANADA. 45
committed by him, and the taking of the anus of the
State, he was permitted to go at large, and issue his
But to proceed. The pirate schooner had, of course, been narrowlv
watched through the day, but at sundown she sailed slowly and
steadily from the head of Bois Blanc, between that island and the
town, hugging the island as closely as she could for fear of our
musketry and rifles, and flring about a dozen shots of ball, grape,
and canister, into the very heart of Amherstburgh. The houses
sustained but little damage, and the inhabitants none. Our men
followed her (first leaving a force of about 150 men to defend the
upper part of the town near the King's Store, upon which a descent
from the brigand scows and boats was expected every mihute), and
as she neared Elliot' s Point, a rifle ball killed the helmsman, and the
wind blowing very strong, the schooner came ashore. They were
called on to surrender, and to take their colours down ; but they
declined, or neglected to do so, and several shots were exchanged, and
two of the pirates were killed after she had stranded : she was about
eight or ten rods from the shore. Our men then plunged into the
water and boarded her ; and a jolly little man of the name of
Lighten, climbed up the mast and hauled down her colours.
The prisoners were brought on shore, and the wounded treated with
every kindness, humanity, and consideration. Indeed, we need only
refer to the spontaneous declaration of W. W. Dodge, who is by far
the most lespectable among them, as evidence of their treatment.
The capture consisted of a schooner, called the Ann of Detroit —
21 prisoners (most of them American citizens), 3 pieces of cannon,
and upwards of 200 stand of arms, and a large quantity of ammu
nition, besides some stores and provisions. The Militia engaged in
this capture were all volunteers, and behaved most gallantiy.
Thus ended an expedition which was to have terminated in the
plunder of our property, the massacre of our families, and the total
subversion of our Constitution and Government. We can tell Mr.
Sutherland and his crew (who by this time are hungrily seeking
what they can devour), that if he wants to have another set-to, we
are prepared with 1,200 "gallant souls," as Mr. Bates called the
pirates, — who are eager for something to do to keep them warm this
cold weather.
Letter of Colonel Radcliffe, Commanding Western District Frontier,
to Lieutenant-colonel Strachan, Military Secretary.
Amherstburgh, January 10, 1838.
Sir, — I beg to state, for the information of His Excellency the

46 CANADA.
proclamations for another invasion; and to cap the
climax, the Editor of a Detroit Newspaper, the Post,
Lieutenant-governor, that on the 9th of January, 1838, the schooner
Anne of Detroit, in the service of the rebels occupying Bois Blanc
Island, was lying in the channel between the Island and Fort Maiden ;
at ^ dark it was perceived that she neared the shore. On receiving
this information I reinforced the guard and pickets, and called the
garrison to arms ; the vessel then got under way and passed the town,
into which she , threw some round shot and grape ; I immediately
expected she would land men at a place called the Point, and exactly
opposite the Lighthouse at Bois Blanc, and ordered the men to pro
ceed to that point, where I had a guard of twenty placed, and rein
forced by an out-lying picket of forty men. The vessel came close
up to the shore and commenced firing grape and round shot, and
musketry ; the Militia opened a brisk fire, and the schooner ceased
firing, when it was thought by some that she was willing to sur
render ; however, as she would not pull down the flag our men
boarded her, although up to their arms in water.
The General (Dr. Theller) was at that moment in the act of re
loading the six pounder they had on board— Captain Lang, of the
Lake Merchant Navy, took the cartridge out of the mouth of the
gun — Mr. Ironside, acting Captain of Militia, took the flag. We
found on board 2]< persons, 1 killed, 12 wounded, 3 pieces of cannon,
in good order, about 200 stand of arms, buff cross-belts, and ammu
nition (of this but a small supply). When I receive a return, you
shall be informed more at length.
I have given directions to set fire to the schooner, as soon as all
the stores are taken out of her. I have just been informed that the
enemy have got a steamer from Detroit, called the J^ie. The rebels
seized her ; and the Mayor or Governor ordered her to be retaken,
but the rebels refused. The city guards did not give them any further
trouble, in fact everything is done in this way ; the rebels have taken
six pieces of cannon at Detroit in the same way, and they are now on
board the Macomb steamer at Detroit, and of course will be employed
against us to-morrow.
One of our scouts has just come in to say, that he supped in com
pany with some rebels at Gibraltar Point last night, and they there
said that it was their intention to attack Sandwich this night ; that
they would divert us by a show of passing about the channel, but the
object was Sandwich.
I am now informed that the Erie steamboat has passed between
Bois Blanc and Sugar Island, and has discharged some cannon. I

CANADA. 47
very gravely and formally demanded of the General on
his arrival, in writing, whether the Banks of Upper
have ordered reinforcements to this point, and if I hear they are
coming nearer I shall beat to arms. This seems to be our weakest
point, and I wish His Excellency would send a company or two of
the line to assist. I have just had a letter from Colonel Hamilton,
at Windsor, that he had been well informed that the rebels intended
to attack Chatham this night j and if the water was not sufficient to
take them up, that they would try Windsor or Sandwich.
This end of the country is very much exposed, and should be
attended to in time. I have issued orders to send 100 men to Sand
wich, to assist there in case of attack.
I should be glad to know if His Excellency wishes to employ the
Indians. I have sent the prisoners to London Gaol.
Your obedient Servant,
Thomas Radcliffe.
Colonel Commanding Western District Frontier.
N.B. — The Anne of Detroit is aground, but have not yet burned
her. Lieutenant-colonel Strachan, Military Secretary.

Government-house, Toronto, January 25, 1838.
Sir, — I am commanded by His Excellency the Lieutenant-governor
to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 10th instant, and
to express his high sense of your conduct and that of the gallant men
under your command, in capturing the schooner Anne, in the service
of the pirates with their guns, and a large quantity of the munitions
of war.
This gallant exploit reflects the highest credit upon those employed
,on the occasion, and proves that the Militia of the Western District
required only an opportunity to show the same readiness to defend
the Queen's Government, and protect their homes from the depreda
tions of lawless invaders, which has been exhibited by the Militia in
other parts of the Province.
I have the honour to be, Sir
Your most obedient humble Servant,
(Signed) J. M. Strachan,
Military Secretary.

48 CANADA.
Canada were solvent, and what were the intentions of
the Patriots relative to those banks, should they succeed
in their plan of " redeeming" the Prorince ; to which
the General replied by transmitting the Editor of the
Post copies of his despatches to Generalissimo Van
Rensselaer, and enclosed his Proclamation to the
citizens of the new republic of Canada ; on which
subject, the Commercial Advertiser of New York,
one of the leading papers of the United States, in an
article upon the Michigan outbreak, dated January
26th, 1838, and headed " Captain Bobadil outdone,"
says, " the whole forms about as magnificent a piece of
vagabond impudence as ever fell ivithin our observation."
A great deal of talk about riolating the neutrality
of the United States; and a farcical exhibition of anger
against the robbers of the public military stores took
place in the capital of Michigan ; and thus ended
Major-general Sutherland's attempt to carry flame,
famine, and destruction into Canada simultaneously
with Mackenzie, whose Canadian land-office and presi-
dentiary establishments were thus knocked on the head
by a handful of raw volunteers, unprovided with arms,
undisciplined, and possessing no knowledge whatever
of the withering designs of their abandoned invaders.
And these brave men were not only Canadian gentle
men, farmers, and farm-labourers, but they were also
the poor despised Negroes, who had made Amherst
burgh their asylum from slavery and persecution ;' and
last, but not least, the ranks of the defenders of the
soil showed those honourable descendants of the original
French settlers, who are found now in Upper Canada
only along the margin of the Detroit. Several of these

CANADA. 49
excellent loyahsts, of all classes, suffered severely after
wards, and some lost their lives from the exposure they
underwent in the depth of winter, in carrying on their
duties of watching so open a frontier, and in fighting
amidst ice and freezing water to capture the Anne.
Peace be to their manes !
Immediately this event became known, the Militia
were organized, and such arms as could be sent from
so great a distance as Kingston were forwarded to them,
whilst the Commander-in-chief put the 24th and 32nd
Regiments in motion to garrison the frontier posts, and
continual reinforcements of troops from the Lower
Province, as fast as they could be spared, on the anival
of others from the neighbouring provinces, were sent to
Upper Canada.
The British reader can form very little idea of a mid-
vrinter march from Halifax, in Nova Scotia, on the
borders of the Atlantic, to Lake Erie, a distance of
nearly two thousand miles by the ordinary water-routes
in summer, but shortened a good deal in overland
journeys. After learing the settled parts of New Brunswick,
beyond its capital, Fredericton, the route proceeded
across an unbroken line of forest and frozen lake, in a
climate little inferior in severity to Siberia.
Log-huts were constructed, by order of Sir John
Colbome, at intervals along this line, and these were
generally large buildings of rude logs, with a wide
opening in the roof to let. out the smoke of a huge
central fire. Everywhere, except upon the beaten
track, the snow lay many feet deep ; and any one
wandering from the prescribed line, would entail
VOL. II. D

50 CANADA.
inevitable destruction on himseltj as nothing is so
easy as to lose your way, even in summer, in the
endless American forest. Near Penetangueshene, our
most northern post on Lake Huron, I have lost my
way, even with an experienced Bois Brule guide, who
really became alarmed, until he recovered the trail, — a
track inrisible to European eyes, consisting often only
of marks, designated by small shces cut out of the bole
of a tree, or of leaves pressed by the light foot of an
Indian, or of the dehcate ends of the minute branches
of shrubs broken off during the rapid and svringing
trot at which the secure walk of the Indian usually
is peformed. Many fine stories have been told of the unerring
accuracy vrith which the Indians thread hundreds of
miles of the dark and trackless forest. There can be
no doubt, that the Indians, and all other savage men,
possess the faculties of sight, hearing, and smell in a
much more acute and developed manner than cirilized
people, simply because they have them in constant
exercise; just the same as an Irish labouring-woman
can carry a tremendous weight on her head vrithout the
use of her hands ; or as a blacksmith's arms become
muscular and more powerful than ordinary mens' arms,
from his usiag the sledge-hammer constantly ; but that
any Indian could go straight to his object, hundreds of
miles off, through a forest never before trodden,
abounding vrith quagmires and lakes, is as unlikely as
that he would find his way in any part of London, the
first time he set his foot in that human labyrinth.
The fact is, that the Indians do not take very long
land journeys ; their hunting-grounds are circumscribed.

CANADA. 51
and have been so long used by the tribes they belong
to, that every landmark is familiar; and, in passing
through "the bush," as the stately forests of America are
absurdly called, the Indian follows a track more or less
known and beaten ; otherwise, he follows the direction
of the planetary bodies and the stars ; and, in a coimtry
so full of great rivers and lakes, the landmarks about
their shores and borders have become familiar sights to
the sons of the forest.
The moss on the northern sides of the trunks of
trees, — the inclination of many of the trees from the
prevaihng vrind, vrith the comparative absence of
branches on that side from which the strongest and most
constant gales blow, are all points of the forest com
pass, and the migration of animals, north and south,
is conducted upon a system which affords numerous
lessons to the wood-ranger.
Fancy yourself, gentle British reader, starting,
instead of in a comfortable mail-coach, or the swift
railway-carriage, on a road smooth as a bowling-green,
and through a country smiling even ia winter, — fancy
yourself seated ia a long open box, placed upon
runners, shod or unshod, as the. case may be, with
iron, and drawn by a horse, large or small, as can
be procured, vrith a fur cap on your head, if you
can get one, with a pair of mittens, or fingerless
worsted gloves, on your hands, a great coat over your
ordinary dress, and a pair of mocassins; or undressed
deer-leather shoes on, and the thermometer at twenty
or thirty degrees below Zero, with a dense, dark, lofty,
intenninable, and noble forest before you, uninhabited
by man and knee-deep in snow. Your box holds two,
D 2

52 CANADA.
four, six, or eight, as the case may be, and a hundred
of you set off in a long string together, plunging
into waves of snow, called cahots, every five seconds or
minutes, and expecting every mow and then to be
pitched over into some river far below your precipice
road, and so rapid that even the frost has not bound
it. Fancy an eternal, black, gloomy pine forest,
whose giant tops woo the clouds, and in which the
silence of its dark glades and glens remains unbroken
by any sound save that of your rushing sleighs, for
even the animals, its usual denizens in summer, have
forsaken its horrible depths. Fancy all this, and that
the only hope of succour left to you for hundreds
of miles is to be found in rude hovels built of logs,
which you can only reach at long intervals, and that
such is the nature of the road, that you must often
get out to relieve your horse, and then, I think, you
will have a pretty good idea of what the 43rd and
85th, the Royal Artillery, and many other regiments
and corps, had to encounter in their journey from
Halifax and Fredericton in the winter of 1837, 1838,
and afterwards. An officer of the 85th, describing
the " portage," says : " Never in my life did I see such
a road; it was a succession of precipices, flanked by
a dark, gloomy, and boundless forest." In another
place, in crossing a river, he observes : " The driver
of my sleigh certainly tempted fate to the utmost
verge, driving over alone at a furious rate, whilst the
whole sheet of ice undulated like the representa,tion
of the sea on a stage."
Amongst the cahots of Temiscouata Portage he is
equally descriptive : "These are a succession of deep

CANADA. S3
holes, which are formed, when the snow is on the
ground, by the bad construction of the carioles, the
shafts of which are fastened on to the very runners,
and haring a broad board to connect them, sloping at
an angle of forty-five degrees, the snow is thereby
scraped up into mounds, between three and four feet
high; so that, really, the motion of our sleigh was
precisely that of a boat in a heavy sea, only its
effects were ten times more riolent ; and this idea
suggested to me the name which I gave to the portage,
viz., passage des ondes glacees. It was dark when we
got to the camp, a number of large log-huts, erected
on purpose for the troops. We passed a very uncom
fortable night, owing to the smoke of our fitre, which
also, at times, was large enough to roast an ox by,
and obliged us to rouse out and put snow upon the
fiames, when, shortly after, it would get so low,
that we were in danger of freezing. The thermometer
was four degrees below zero."
They then crossed the Temiscouata Lake where the
ice was fidl of holes and very dangerous,, and soon
afterwards, near the Grand Portage, his, horse, un
accustomed to the jerking and strain of the cahots,
gave way and he was obliged to leave him, and going
on vrith the Commissary * in another sleigh, the horses
also broke down, from the riolent concussions they
received from the sleigh pitching into holes ; when they
floundered and fell into the deep snow, broke the
• This commissariat-officer was Mr. Wilson, to whose exertions the
troops owed so much, and who lost the use of his arm for a time from
absolute fatigue and exposure. Captain Ingall, of the Quartermaster-
general's Department, was also most active and useful.— Editor.

54 CANADA.
shafts, and left the travellers to cool their vexations in
the middle of the forest. However, a reinforcement
came up, and the writer describes the incessant pain
he suffered from the iinevenness of the roads, which
actually were so full of these cahots as to baffle all his
exertions to keep his seat. Any one who has ridden
in a French cariole, over a French Canadian winter
road, can sympathise with him : and yet, rather than
put the shafts of their carioles eighteen inches higher
than the ground, the French Canadian endures this
torture, because his father and grandfather did, or from
some vague notion of antiquated customs being always
preferable to new-fangled ones. I am persuaded that
one of Jean Baptiste's master grievances, which would
lead him to do strange freaks, will be the attempt,' on
the part of the Upper Canadian British, to force him
tb put his shafts on the line of draught of his horse.
It was tried in Sir Charles Bagot's first Parhament;
and, like any attempt at innovation upon seignorial
rights, the old feudal laws, the coutume de Paris,
or the thorough introduction of the English laws and
language in a British Colony, it was found to be im
practicable. It has been attempted by many Governors
without a shadow of success ; and I can only 'say, that
when I see the bonnet rouge, the capote, the red worsted
sash, the queue, and the short pipe, disappear in Lower
Canada, then perhaps there vrill be an end of pitching
and tossing in Lower Canadian berhns and carioles.
It makes ones bones " ache to think on't." It is as
bad as an Upper Canada wooden-spring wagon on a
corduroy road. And yet, notvrithstanding all these
difficulties and dangers from frost and flood, — from

CANADA. 55
tempest and forest,' — very few casualties occurred
amongst the many regiments which crossed from
Nova Scotia or New Brunswick to Quebec ; whilst few
cases of fi'ost-bite, or, as the Newfoundlanders more
feehngly call it, " frost-burnt," occurred in these
winter marches, which are wonderfully improved as to
means since the last American war; as the road is
a mail-route, ^ — if it can be so termed, — now, and the
troops have no longer to bivouac or hut themselves
" under the shade of melancholy boughs." Formerly,
too, they had to march actually on snow-shoes,
and to draw their prorisions themselves, in httle
light sleighs, called taubaugins; for road there was
none. Major-general Sir John Harvey, on the breaking out
of the last war, having landed at Halifax from England,
was one of the first that ever crossed this vrilderness,
which he aceomphshed in safety ; Lord Edward Fitz
gerald had attempted it in 1789, in the month of
March, by a more southerly and western route.
Sir John has twice distinguished himself by the same
spirited adventure. In India, as before-mentioned, he
passed on horseback over an immense tract of country
in possession of the enemy, who had got between two
dirisions of the army; and by thus communicating
vrith both, he performed a serrice of the most hazard
ous nature, requiring presence of mind, resolution, and
hard and skilful riding; whilst, in traversing the
boundless expanse of forest in the dead of vrinter in
Canada, he had to encounter the extremity of bad
weather and cold, and to trust to his snow-shoes and
his own feet.

56 CANADA.
The march of the 85th from St. John's, New Bruns
wick, after crossing Nova Scotia to Windsor and the
Bay of Fundy, lasted from the 16th of December, 1837,
to January 5th, 1838; and they had to pass the St. -
Lawrence in canoes.
The winter of 1837 was a most singular one, and,
contrary to all former precedent, the lakes of Upper
Canada and the St. Lawrence, at Quebec, remained un
frozen till February, and thus permitted water commu
nication for heavy guns, and stores, and troops, in
Upper Canada; whilst, on the hne of road by which
the reinforcements came from New Brunsvrick and
Nova Scotia, the rivers and lakes were frozen long
before the usual season ; thus rendering the march of
troops secure by land. At the same time, the St. Law
rence was so free from ice, that the 83rd Regiment
actually moved from Quebec to Montreal (180 miles),
on the llth of December.
But we must again break away, from anecdote, and re
turn to General Sutherland and his myrmidons, Haring
taken shelter, after their defeat at Amherstburgh, on
Sugar Island, a small isle in Lake Erie, or rather in the
Strait, belonging to the United States, they were risited
by, the Governor of Michigan, Mr. Mason, who per
suaded them to retire to the main shore, where Suther
land, as we have already observed, was nominally
arrested. The exertions of the inhabitants of the Niagara,
London, and Western Districts of Upper Canada, or
of those districts bordering on Lakes Erie, Huron,
St. Clair, the rivers Detroit and Niagara, were beyond
all praise.

CANADA. 57
As soon as the excitement on the American side at
Buffalo, Cleveland, and Detroit became known, a
public meeting was held at Sandwich, opposite to
Detroit, on the 26th of December, 1837, when it was
resolved to organise companies of volunteers, and place
them along the exposed frontier, to send expresses to
Chatham, and all along the shores of Lake Erie, to put
the people on the alert, and then to organize a local
commissariat for the supply of provisions, as a great
portion of the land bordering on the lakes had been
overflowed, and the inhabitants unable consequently to
supply the Militia with food. William Anderson,
Esq., of Sandwich, was appointed Commissary, and
William Paxton, Esq., of Amherstburgh, and James
Reid, Esq., of Chatham, Assistants, by whose exertions,
before the navigation closed, an adequate supply was
derived from the Americans themselves in Detroit,
through the distinguished conduct of Mr. Dougall, a
merchant of the little town of Windsor, nearly opposite
to the American capital of Michigan. This gentleman,
finding that nothing but hard dollars would be taken,
came forward and placed twelve thousand in the hands
of the Commissary; Colonel Prince, M.P.P., and Colonel
Hamilton, the Sheriff of the London district, also came
nobly forward and offered to endorse drafts, which gave
so much satisfaction to the American merchants that
fire-arms, ammunition, pork, fiour, and other necessary
supplies soon came over, although the mob threatened
the suppliers with popular vengeance, and stigmatised
them as traitors to the cause of Republicanism. Inde-
pendant, however, of the usual mercantile feeling which
pervades all classes of society in the United States, and
D 3

58 CANADA.
which renders such transactions comparatively easy to
mens' minds, there were many of the ancient and
respectable inhabitants of Detroit who had no sympathy
with the sympathizers ; in fact, the feeling was not
general beyond the mere borders of the lakes, whose
population, living upon summer labour on their vast
expanse, is always thrown into comparative idleness in
winter; and however glad the mass of the American
nation would no doubt be to see the Canadas an addi
tional star upon their banner, yet I firmly belive the
people of large property, the people of cultivated
intellect, the great merchants of New York and Boston,
and the Atlantic ports, cursed the hour when Papineau
and Mackenzie unfurled the foolish flag of rebellion in
Canada, for they knew well that the power of England
was too great to trifle with ; they knew also that their
own institutions were not such as the French Canadians,
all Roman Cathohcs, could possibly desire, and they
well knew that British feeling had not by any means
ceased in Upper Canada.
The Canadas will never be an integral portion of the
North American Union. They compose, with New
Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the
islands of the St. Lawrence, an empire of themselves;
and if ever it should be so unfortunate as to cease to
be an appanage of the British Crown, it will be by
and with the consent of England only, as soon as it is
able to vrithstand the system of tenitorial aggrandize
ment which pervades the American mind, and which,
if pushed much further, vrill dissolve the Union itself,
and scatter the bundle of rods. It is not vrithin the
compass of human reason to fancy that if the United

CANADA. 59
States pursues vrith insatiable aridity the conquest of
the Pacific shores, and colonizes the vast regions of
California and the Columbia, that a race, living 2,000
miles from Washington, and practising democracy in
its most absolute form, will long remain subject to a
nominal President. If Canada then, with her mixed
French and British population, the latter increasing every
year by some forty or fifty thousand, ever becomes rich
and ripe enough to manage her household, it will not
be as a second Texas, a mere football to play vrith, but
as a great North American power, in strict alliance
with England, and, in fact, another British empire in
the New World.
I do not go altogether so far as Sir Francis Head,
who, like most Colonial governors, could not see all or
hear all of the real people of the country ; yet I am
persuaded that that energetic man, who knew more of
the Canadian character in the two years that he ruled
than has fallen to the lot of most people, justly remarked
that the Upper Canadians are sound, loyal, and far from
beiag blinded by or attached to the republican ideas or
the republican institutions of their neighbours; whilst
the French Canadians, urged as the peasantry were by
designing politicians, whose chief hope was to advance
themselves into a premature rebellion, would to-mor
row, if there was a war between the United States and
Great Britain, come forward as freely and as fearlessly
in defence of their soil and of the monarchy as they
did before. One must not judge of Jean Baptiste by
the acts of a parcel of madmen who set the young
French lawyers and shopkeepers of Montreal in a
blaze of revolutionary fury, and brought all the natural

60 CANADA.
high-spirited blood of the young Canadian into play
to suit their own sordid purposes, which the very
publication of Dr. Nelson's proclamation soon after
cooled most wonderfully, as the people saw that they
were to be governed by parvenus upon the American
model, and their religion, laws, customs, education and
manners were all to be swept away in one flood of
democracy. Believe me, English reader, the French
Canadian yeoman and the French Canadian peasant
are not bad fellows after all; and that if properly
governed they are as reasonable people to deal with,
(setting apart some ancient prejudices, derived from
their ancestors,) as you could wish; but more of this
by-and-by. It has been suggested to my mind now,
because the scene of the 'narrative is at present the
Western District of Canada, the only part of Western
Canada in which the French Canadian is found. There
gentleman, yeoman, peasant, all were devotedly loyal,
and all aided to crush the invasion of the Republicans.
Applications were made to the Lieutenantrgovemor
for a Commissariat officer to be sent, but this could not
be immediately complied vrith ; and thus the frontier
was indebted for its sole preservation to the loyalty of
its inhabitants, and particularly to those gentlemen
already named.
Three hundred militiamen were enrolled to do duty
at Windsor, Sandwich, and Amherstburgh, and that
duty was constant and unremitting, day and night ;
and as at other places on the Canadian frontier, many
of them never took a whole night's rest for a fortnight
at a time, for the preparations in Detroit were risible
both to their eyes and to their understanding.

CANADA. 61
The invasion was delayed by the uncommon occur
rence of the river Detroit remaining narigable ; for the
usual season of ice would have made the commencement
of January a better period.
The Magistrates and Militia officers, relieved bythe
delay of the pirates, collected all the powder and lead
they could obtain, and the Militia were reinforced by
the men of Kent, under Captain Bell, and Lieutenant
Baby, a gentleman of French Canadian birth, and by
Lieutenant M'Crae, who nobly sent 120 fine fellows
to their brethren in amis; whilst the St. Thomas
Cavalry, sixty strong, came in also just as the Patriots
were robbing the American Arsenals and preparing for
the attack. The command of the Militia of the
Westem District devolved on Colonel Radcliffe, of
Adelaide, who brought an increased force vrith him;
and the coloured population enrolled themselves in the
true cause of British freedom to a man, and were at
once officered by Upper Canadian gentlemen.
The first rendezvous of the brigands was at Gibraltar
Point, on Lake Erie; and the Governor of Michigan,
Mr. Mason, haring received intelligence that they
numbered 700 men, vrith five pieces of cannon and
1,200 stand of arms, gave due notice that he should
proceed against them, disperse them, and take the
United States' material of war from them. He sent a
steam-boat, with a body of Militia, pompously styled
" The Brady Guards" after the schooner, as we have
already related, and then went himself vrith the same
steam-boat, the lErie, and another called the Brady,
with a force of 250 men against the brigands, but on
arriring at Gibraltar Point they had sailed for Canada,

62 CANADA.
and several of his men, with their arms and ammuni-
tion, left him. He returned to the seat of his govem
ment ; and such waS the animus against the Canadians,
that even his presence could not restrain the men on
board his steamer from fixing upon the small steam
ferry-boat which was proceeding with Colonel Radcliffe
and a party of the Essex, Kent, and Windsor Militia
to strengthen the post of Amherstburgh, then threat
ened with an attack.
We have shown the attempt to occupy Bois Blanc,
and then the firing tvrice upon the town of Amherst
burgh and the projected landing, so well defeated by
the Militia and Volunteers, who it is said, upon good
authority, amounted only to 400, scarcely armed ; for
since the war of 1814 the arms of the Militia had been
stored in Kingston, with only a few rounds of powder
and ball for a few muskets and fowling-pieces, and the
grand total of three bayonets to sweU. the list, which
was indeed the whole that the Lake Shore District of
Amherstburgh coidd then afford, so completely had
the ploughshare and the reaping-hook occupied the
place of the sword and the lance.
The attack of the schooner Anne, on her first passage
in front of the town, was on the Sth of January, and
merely a scattered cannonade; but on the 9th she kept
out of rifleshot, and poured for two hours a heavy fire
of round, grape and canister (belonging to the mihtary
stores of the United States) upon the devoted town,
vrithout however, owing to the want of knowledge of
the gunners, doing much harm. In the interval
between the two attacks upon the town. Colonel Prince
withdrew his 300 men from Bois Blanc, to reinforce

CANADA. 63
Colonel Radcliffe. General Sutherland then took
possession of the island, with all the pomp of brigand
war, marchiag round its borders, opposite to Am-
herstbm-gh, with drums, trumpets, and flags, in order
to show the Canadians that the first step had been
taken upon their soil.
The final attack on Amherstburgh was made after
sunset on the same day as the two hour's cannonading,
when the Anne again bore down and opened her guns
on the town. The cavalry from St. Thomas followed
her motions, and fired into her, can-ying all the volim-
teers, excepting 150, who remained at the landing-
place expecting General Sutherland and the pirates in
the brig, scows, and boats from Bois Blanc. The Anne
came abreast, at length, of a place called Elliott's
Pointy and here her fortunes failed her; for the wind
was dead on shore and blowing hard, and several bullets
had pierced her sails and rigging from the muskets and
rifles and fowling-pieces of the Kent and Windsor
Volunteers, under Lieutenants Baby and Hall, who
kept guard at the Point, whilst a lucky shot disabled
the steersman, upon which the patriot vessel broke
away and grounded. Here the Essex Mihtia and the
coloured people rushed towards her and kept up a
galling discharge of fire-arms, which was returned for
a time with energy, until the . Mihtia, no longer
able to restrain their ardour, jumped into the water
and boarded her, wading up to their necks. One of
these brave young men, Mr. Ogilvy, of Montrose in
Scotland, died a few days afterwards from this exposure
to the icy element, and several others sunk under their
exertions subsequently, whose names I do not recollect.

64 CANADA.
The vessel thus boarded yielded at discretion, and
General Theller, with Colonel Dodge and Captain Daris,
of the Brigand Infantry, and Colonel Brophey, of the
Pirate Engineers, sm-rendered, vrith sixteen others, in
cluding Anderson, an Upper Canadian traitor, from the
London District, who died next day of his wounds;
and two or three others were drowned or kiUed.
The Militia, in addition to the rietory, found what
they most needed, — muskets, bayonets, and cannon, one
nine and two six-pounder guns, 350 stand of arms, and
accoutrements complete, a very large quantity of am
munition, and 630 dollars in the chest. Thus the
Volunteers assumed a warlike attitude from the mih
tary arsenals of the United States, — a just retribution ;
and two of the cannon being mounted on the old Fort
Maiden, then in ruins, the other was placed on board
a schooner, fitted up by Captain Vidal, of the Royal
Navy, who resides on Lake St. Clair, at Sarnia, and
who is well known in Canada as a most active, enter
prising officer, and a most useful and energetic settler.
Thus terminated an invasion of Upper Canada, which,
if it had been ~ successful, would have created immense
outlay and difficulty, as arms and prorision on that
exposed frontier could then only be had from the
United States, and would have been freely supplied to
the adventurers.
We have already said that Governor Mason suc
ceeded in dispersing the brigands ; but not before they
had become obnoxious to the Americans themselves;
for the Bank at Gibraltar Point actually petitioned the
Michigan Legislature for permission to remove to the
capital, as "their concern" was rendered rather unsafe

CANADA. 65
by the "presence of the Patriot Army." But the
judgment of Judge Wilkins deserves a more than pass
ing notice. When Sutherland was brought before this
Judge on the serious charge of " violating the laws of
the United States, in setting on foot a mihtary expe
dition against the dominions of Great Britain," the
learned Judge refused to hear any evidence respecting
the transactions upon the Island of Bois Blanc, as that
island was not vrithin the territories of the United
States ; and then actually dismissed the case altogether,
stating that there was no eridence before him connect
ing the mihtary expeditions set on foot by Sutherland
vrith the invasion of the British dominions !
Such, indeed, were the usual results of all arrests of
the pseudo-patriots along the whole frontier, from
Maine to Michigan ; and the stolen cannon and arms
of the Republic were no sooner delivered up every
where, than they were again taken out of the public
stores by new sets of adventurers, eager for the lands
of Canada, and the com, vrine, and oil of British plun
der. But they reckoned without their host. One
spirit of British honour arose throughout the Empire,
and in the far corners of the London and Westem
Districts, the shores of Huron, St. Clair, and Erie,
which had forgotten the echo of a warrior's tread,
again became covered vrith armed men, animated with
the one resolve, to drive the robbers into their Medi
terranean. Opposite to Detroit, the focus of the plundering
hordes, the Canadian shores were guarded by about
3,500 brave settlers, under Colonel Radcliffe, who be
came well prorided vrith the implements of war and

66 CANADA.
with prorisions; and of this force the Six Nations
sent from Delaware 200 Indian warriors, under Colonel
Clench, who had long been connected with the Indian
Department, and who knew perfectly how to manage
and direct these cirihzed children of the soil. *
Colonel Dunlop, a name perhaps as well known as
any in Canada, commanded 650 fine fellows on the St.
Clair frontier, and Colonels Askin and Hamilton kept
up a continual line of cavalry expresses, so that every
movement of the enemy was known and prepared for.
But the horrors of invasion were not to risit this beau
tiful portion of Westem Canada at this time; and
Sutherland haring absconded with what remained of
the mihtary chest, and his foUowers from Cleveland in
Ohio, haring placarded him as a cheat, after " raising the
wind " themselves to reheve them from positive starva
tion, the camp broke up, and all returned to their
homes, or to the employments they had left to realize
a rision of conquest and plunder. And this was the
more speedily effected when the Govemment of the
United States found it was time to interfere; and as
the Brady Guards and Mihtia of Michigan could not
effect a palpable duty, on the 27th of Januaiy General
Scott landed from the steam-boat Fulton, 300 men of
the regular army, to preserve the neutrality of the
frontier. General Scott, learing Colonel Worth in command
in this district, returned to Albany, to take further
measures with respect to the extended line of opera
tions. And thus the month of January, 1838, passed
off, in the west, vrithout anything more occurring than
much talk and many threatenings from Van Rensselaer,

CANADA. 67
Mackenzie, Sutherland, M'Leod, and other leading
"Patriots," who were nursing the Borderers into a
combined system of offence against British supremacy,
by simultaneously attacking the whole frontier, of
nearly a thousand miles in length, from Vermont to
Lake Huron.

68

CANADA.

CHAPTER III.
The projected capture of the key of Upper Canada, Kingston,
lately the capital of the Canadas, and the behaviour of the
Militia.
The reader has now arrived at a veiy curious portion
of the history of the rebellion, when affiliated societies
were forming in every section of the United States
within a hundred miles of the Canadian frontier, and
throughout Upper Canada, for the purpose of making
a grand attempt, by the power of sympathy, to uproot
British institutions, and supply their place vrith others
founded on the bloody code of laws which the French
Revolution had taught mankind ; and it was astonish
ing, to a person residing within the sphere of action,
to observe the rapidity with which these secret societies
were proceeding to carry out their riews.
Even in the most loyal towns and neighbourhoods
in Upper Canada, men who had never been suspected
of wavering in their allegiance began to discuss the
probabilities of a dissolution of the bond between Great
Britain and Canada ; and such was the universal opinion
in the States bordering on the Lakes of the certainty
of such an event, that farms in Canada were played
for as stakes, as securely as if they were represented

CANADA. 69
by money in hand. Diagrams, or outhne plans, were
made of the townships which were to be invaded, and
the Patriots were to choose amongst themselves the
farm-lots which suited them best; whilst Lynch-law
would set aside, for ever, troublesome claims on the
part of their real owners.
No pains were spared by that most indefatigable of
all agitators, Mackenzie, to represent the certainty of
success, and of the co-operation of his friends in
Canada, who were represented as eager for the appear
ance of the Patriot hosts, and as well prepared to
receive them vrith open arms and vrith cordial assist
ance. In order to carry this game on successfully, it was
necessary to employ numerous well-paid agents ; who,
under pretence of mercantile, or other business, traversed
Canada from end to end; whilst Mackenzie himself,
and other leaders, occasionally ventured to expose
themselves to the gibbet by crossing the frontier.
The reader vrill recollect that Kingston was alone the
depot of warlike stores in Upper Canada ; and accord
ingly, Kingston, one of the most loyal towns in the
province, and possessing the only fortress to which
the rebel and brigand prisoners were always sent as
soon after their capture as possible, was selected as
the main theatre upon which the success of the in
vasion and occupation of Upper Canada was to be
played off.
If I speak of myself more than is usual for a modest.
author to do so, in pursuing the subject of this chapter,
the reader must forgive me ; for I cannot go a-head,
as the Americans say, without so doing in a sufficiently
explanatory manner; and the conduct of the Militia

70 CANADA.
deserves, from one who knew them well, all that I
can say as connected them.
Kingston is situated just opposite to that part of
the State of New York where Lake Ontario, beginning
to narrow its immense boundaries, divides itself into
two channels, before these unite to form the Cataraqui,
as the St. Lawrence was here called by the ancient
Indian inhabitants.
The island which principally causes these two chan
nels is called Long Island, and is crossed at its broadest
or westem end by a road nearly six miles long, to gain
which from Kingston is a ferry of about three miles
across the open roadstead called Kingston Harbour;
and from Long Island to Gravelly Point, Jefferson's
County, in the State of New York, is another ferry
of about a mile in length.
These channels, feny, and road are the ordinary
mail routes from New York to Kingston ; and in mid-
vrinter the fen-ies are usually frozen over so sohdly,
that all the traffic for provisions and the mails are
carried on and over the ice. Thus Kingston, being
fronted by a sohdly-frozen barrier, is more assailable
at that period of the year than at any other; fo?,
although the expanse of Lake Ontario never entirely
freezes, yet, for many miles at its narrow end near
Kingston, it has a solid coating in vrinter, so that an
enemy can land far away from the guns and defences,
both above and below the town.
Below the town the river commences ; and, although
very broad, is much broken by a continuation of large
and of small islands and islets, known to travellers as
the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence, the most
picturesque and the most beautiful portion of its scenerv.

CANADA. 71
After leaving Long Island, opposite to which, on
the Canada shore, is another large one called Howe
Island, the river graduaUy decreases, in breadth, but
maintains an expanse of open water, at the foot of these
two large islands, of upwards of six miles. And here we
reach the mouth of a small Canadian stream, called the
Gananoqui, about sixteen miles from Kingston, where
the frontier of the United States is not further distant
than about two and a half miles ; then another
large island, called Grindstone or Gore Island, begins,
and occupies the centre of the St. Lawrence, leaving
an equal expanse of water on each side towards Canada
and the United States.
West of Grindstone Island, and vrithin a very short
distance of its shore, which is divided from it by the
deep water channel (the boundary of the two countries),
is a httle islet called Hickory Island, belonging to
Great Britain, but uninhabited, save by one poor vridow.
Hickory Island is therefore nearly half-way on the St.
Lawi'ence between the British village of Gananoqui and
the United States village of French Creek in Jefferson's
Country. Gananoqui is celebrated for one of the finest and
largest flour-mUls in Canada, driven by the rapids of
its pretty river ; and which supphes flour in great quan
tity for exportation and home use.
French Creek is celebrated as the abode and rendez
vous of British deserters, as the scene of Buccaneer
BiU Johnson's exploits, and as a centre whence aU the
idle river and lake men find a home whenever war or
rebelhon needs their serrices in Canada, and whence
the shelter of the intricate labyrinths of the Thousand
Islands is always ready to afford harbour and security

72 CANADA.
to mail robbers aod pirates. It was this delectable
abode that was chosen as the head-quarters of General
Van Rensselaer upon the second attempt of Mackenzie
to invade and revolutionize Upper Canada.*
I was then in command of the Militia, and a respec
tive officer of the Ordnance, as well as Commanding
Officer of Engineers. Mihtary men can fancy how one's
time was employed. Night and day were the same;
neither a season of rest, relaxation, nor of social enjoy
ment. The whole of Upper Canada, a thousand miles
of frontier, had to be supplied with arms, ammunition,
camp-equipage, blankets, and the numberless et ceteras
incidental to a state of actual war.
The day was passed in revievring, organizing, drilling
and disciplining the Militia; in ordering great guns
and little guns, bedding, cartridges, powder, flints, and
firelocks ; in strengthening the batteries and Fort Henry,
bringing 'old sand-bags into use, which had rotted in
obhvion of war. In mounting traversing platforms,
and drying damp casemates, building ovens, and pre
paring safe places for the specie of the Commissariat
and the Public Banks; in meeting the wishes of the
rich inhabitants by proriding bomb proof vaults to put
their plate and deeds in, and in arranging secure places
in the event of the worst; in palisading, picketting,
drawbridging, and, in short, in all the pomp and circum
stance of war, with an infinity of its httlenesses.
Dming the night, in risiting the sentries, forwarding
dispatches by the express dragoons, listening to the
fears of those who would not be quieted, expecting
? The Editor visited French Creek, in pursuit of deserters in 184'3,
found it as is here described, and made the acquaintance of the cele
brated Bill Johnstone.

CANADA. 73
conflagration and murder and attack ; and in attending
the meetings and conclaves of the energetic and excel
lent Magistrates (a quorum I, at least, shaU never for
get), who spared neither time, nor rest, nor health, nor
comfort, to uphold the glorious cause of Britain, — thus
for six winter months knomng not rest, either of mind
or body. There we sat, truly by the midnight lamp,
receiring the information of spies and informers, paid
on both sides ; examiniag vritnesses, receiring eridence,
searching the suspected, granting passports, and often
eliciting from people of the greatest respectability from
the United States, almost an avowal that they were
treasonable travellers. I shall long remember some of
the magnates of Watertown, in Jefferson county, and
I dare say the recollection vrill be reciprocal.
One of these gentlemen, — a man of consideration, and
withal of property too, " Justice of the Peace, and coram,
and custalorum, ay, and ratulorum too ;" but who could
not say, "Master Parson, that he was a gentleman
bom, and could write himself in any bill, warrant, quit
tance or obhgation, Armigero, any time these three
himdred years, as all his successors before him had
done," — was brought before us, and had been boasting
in the streets of Kingston, to an admiring multitude,
that we ought to be dreadfully frightened at tbe pre
paration of our friendly adversaries.
Now this fellow — for I cannot in sober judgment,
after several years of dehberate thinking, caU him any
thing else — was a Peace-officer of the United States, in
charge of an arsenal, which had been plundered under
his nose, came over to Kingston upon the plea of
mercantUe business, and proceeded to BelleriUe, where,
VOL 11. E

74

CATSTADA.

or rather in the vicinity of which town, he had plenty
of abettors. I saw through him at once; for I had
been carefuUy informed of his designs, and I knew that
he had brought another person of some mUitary know-
le^e with him.
Before he left the town on his secret mission, which
had been in the meantime well counteracted, I marched
a body of the MUitia, who had been clothed ia uniform
and excellently driUed, under the windows of the inn
where this sympathizer and his mihtary friend lodged ;
and, as if upon an Ordinary drUl, I made them practise
street-firing. A friend of mine, who was casually look
ing out of the window vrith this military spy, engaged
him in conversation.
" Are these the British Infantry ? " says his col-
loquist. " Oh no, not at all," observed my friend, "ihey are
only the Frontenac Militia." . ~
" Then if they are Mihtia," retorts the American
officer, " all I can say is, they must be the Regular
MUitia." -"¦'
Our sympathizing friends never made their appear
ance afterwards. The hint was sufficient — ^the Regular
Militia was quite enough for them.
But Mackenzie had poisoned the minds of almost
evei-y man in the United States frontier ; and such was
the national border enthusiasm, that to resist the opi
nion of the free and enlightened citizens was a serriee
deserving Lynch law.
It was fortunate for the poor loyal Kingstonians that
they had sujch an enemy as Mackenzie. Had he been
a man of resources, I have no doubt that harassing

CANADA. 75
would not have been his main weapon ; but he always
puts me in mind of the quack doctor on the Boulevards
at Paris, who says, —
" J'ai guerie le Roi de Terre Neuve,
J'ai guerie le Roi de Maroc,
J'ai guerie le Roi de Nineve,
J'ai guerie dix Rois en Bloc,
Domain, je pars pour Constantinople."
The power of the Queen of England was nothing to
the agitator Mackenzie, and he too fataUy succeeded by
his .displays on his platform, in drawuig into his toUs
many of the aged and more of the youth of the Ame
rican Republic.
To give the British reader some idea of the indefa
tigable activity of Mackenzie and his myrmidons, I
shaU mention two or three facts. The spies and
infoi-mers, paid on both sides, kept up a very constant
stream of intelhgence. The Magistrates knew aU the
movements he was making, and thus were enabled to
counteract them. At one time I was told, upon infor
mation which had never faded before, that Mackenzie
was about to visit his relatives, who lived about two
miles from Kingston, and I was in possession of the
exact hour at which he would be found. I accordiagly
¦dispatched my two adjutants and a small weU-armed
party of MUitia in two sleighs to apprehend him.
These were all young men, and, with the natural rivacity
of youth, they were too careless. They arrived at the
tarm-house, situated in a lonely place, as the night set
in, and had gained the door unobserved and unheard ;
but as they were entering, they ordered arms, and the
clang of the butts of their muskets alarmed the inmates.
E 2

76 CANADA.
The door was opened after the MUitia had duly sur
rounded the house, and they found two men from
French Creek sitting by a blazing fire in the kitchen,
whom they apprehended and brought to me ; but their
most vigilant examination was ineffectual after the
object of their search, who had, after all, not ventured
to risit the place.
After due searching and sifting, we discharged these
men, who declared they had come over the hues to find
work at wood-chopping. One of them, — a notorious
villain, who had been confined in a prison of the United
States -for a supposed murder, or some equally heinous
crime, and who was recognized by the authorities, — I
told, that if ever I caught him again on this side of the
lines I shoidd hang him. He coolly thanked me, and lost
no time in getting back to French Creek. It so hap
pened that a few weeks afterwards he was taken prisoner
on Hickory Island, in an attempt at invasion, and
brought again to me. I suffered his fears to prevaU,
although Martial Law had not been declared in Upper
Canada, and he confessed that Mackenzie did intend to'
visit his relations, and that he had brought a letter
from him, for which he had been largely paid ia dollar
notes, but that the moment he heard the clang of the
arms, he threw the pocket-book containing all evidence
of his mission into the blazing wood fire ; but that
Mackenzie might have been easily concealed, as there
was a large drain under part of the house which the
Mihtia could not dream of. ' This man, a thorough
rascal, afterwards was pardoned, and his vrife and large
family coming over to seek him, were taken care of.
Mackenzie made another attempt to risit his aUies

CANADA. 77
in the tbwnships in thev rear of Kingston, and was very
nearly caught. The ice had formed suddenly sis weeks
later than the ordinary season, and as he had numerous
friends in theback parts ofthe townships adjoining Kings
ton, he proposed to pay them a visit, in order to concert
measures together. With this view he got a sleigh and
a span of horses from some of his sympathizing friends
near Watertown, a town of the United States' frontier.
A span of horses ia America is what we usually call a
pair. I soon heard of his intention, and had accurate
information as to the time of his departure, and there
fore immediately detached a smaU party of sailors under
an officer of the Queen's Marine ArtUlery, who had
commanded one of the lake steamboats and knew the
localities weU, to take up a position, after traversing
several mUes of ice, at the Lighthouse Point, where
Mackenzie must pass either in goiag to or in returning
from the shore of Canada, near Bath, where, under
cover of some bold woody banks, he intended his drive
across nearly twenty mUes of the frozen waters of
Ontario, to terminate.
Bath is a pretty Canadian viUage at the entrance of
the Bay of Quinte, on the mainland, opposite to a fine
island of Lake Ontario, belonging to Lord Mountcashel,
caUed " Isle of Tanti," or " Amherst Island," and at
Bath various roads lead to the interior of the Midland
District. The Bay of Quinte is a strip of Lake Ontario, con
torted into all sorts of windings by the numerous deep
bays and inlets of the Presqu'ile of Prince Edward, the
most picturesque and fertile spot in Westem Canada,
and inhabited by a race of loyal farmers, who have been

78 CANADA.
domicUed there from the times of the earliest settle
ments. On it Mackenzie knew he could not travel, as
he was knovm, and would have been immediately appre
hended. He therefore chose the mainland near Bath,
because in that neighbourhood he had well-known
allies, whose motions were, however, strictly watched.
The entrance of the Bay of Quinte is close to Bath,
where the Isle of Tanti and other smaUer isles form two
rather dangerous narrow channels, called the Gaps,
through which, in stormy weather, the whole force of
Lake Ontario is thrown in tremendous seas, which
frequently oblige the steam-boats to pause. In winter
many accidents happen ia this riciaage from the lake
ice not being sufficiently strong, owing to the great
ground-swell and agitation of the water, and it was by
the Lower Gap that Mackenzie and his span of horses,
nearly reached the Canada frontier, after passiag wide
of the Lighthouse, in a snow-storm,— and thus escaping
certain doom from man, to run into a nearly equal
danger from Nature. ¦
Close to the completion of his hopes, achieved during
a painful and alarming night, when the thermometer was
unusuaUy low and the ice promised at least a safe footing
to his horses, — in a moment they were engulfed in
the raging waters underneath; and how the man
escaped with his driver is known only to themselves.
They however managed to retrace their steps; and
passed my look-out party, in a continuation of the
snow-storm, which alone saved them.
At other times, spies from Lower Canada would
arrive at Kingston ; and either Van Rensselaer, or one of
his reconnoitring party escaped, by almost a hairbreadth.

CANADA. 79
from a hut close to the Artillery Barracks, where he
had ensconced himself. But after aU, such was the
loyalty of the inhabitants of Kingston that very few
domicUiary visits were ever necessary ; and these were
made only to those on whom certainty and not sus
picion rested.
But the accuracy and extent of the information
obtained of all the hostUe movements, within and
without, was surprising, and such was the secrecy
observed that even on some occasions the very Magi
strates could not be informed by the Military officers of
the cu'cumstances, as the informers were men well-
known as traders on the other side, or as people
mixing freely and unsuspiciously in society, and were
sometimes of such standing that the development of
their information would have been fatal to their future
fortunes. At length the pent-up storm broke forth, and we
were placed in clear possession of the views of the
insurgents and of the brigands. These riews were well
arranged, and large quantities of arms and ammuni
tion sent over, for the use of the rebels, from the State
of New York. The plan, finaUy adopted in a General"
CouncU, was to attack Kingston, at three distinct
points; to let the prisoners out of the Penitentiary;
and to have a sufficient number of armed men within
the town in order to distract our attention.
BeUevUle, at the upper end of the Bay of Quinte
and its vicinity, the township of Sidney, afforded many
specimens of furious revolutionists ; and a road- leading
along the Bay through the townships of Thurlow, the
Mohawk Settlement, Richmond, and near Camden and
Portland in the counties of Hastings, Lenox, and

80 CANADA.
Addington and Frontenac, crossing at Napanee, the
river of that name, had long been celebrated as leading
through the heart of the country to which BidweU,
Perry, and other Reformers always looked as their
chief stronghold in Upper Canada. Miscalculating
upon this data, — which circumstances had somewhat
changed, and yet in the main right, as far as some
degenerate sons of the soU were concerned, whose
fathers had owed all they possessed to the generosity
of the British Govemment, on whose freely given land
they had, as loyalists, settled originally, it was deter
mined that the strength of the internal coalition of
the rebels should be drafted from this quarter, for a
night attack on the land or Toronto road- side of the
town of Kingston, by assembling at a given point in
sleighs, and then running pn rapidly to connect the
assaults from two other quarters.
One of these dirisions of the Patriot army was from
Watertown,* in the State of New York, which was to
cross the ice above Kingston and attack it on its
weakest side, near the Penitentiary, about a mile and
a half west of the town, where some remains of the
former forest stUl existed and afforded cover.
The third attack was to have been effected by the
way of French Creek, whence a force was to be thrown
on Hickory Island from Grindstone Island, and,
after a feint upon the little rillage of Gananoqui,
in order to draw as large a force as possible fiom
Kingston for the defence of the mUls there, to march
along the borders of the lake, and attack the town
on its eastern side.
* ^here, in 1843, I found about fifty British deserters variously-
employed, and partly paid in liquor.— Editor.

CANADA. 81
Bodies of sympathizers, under pretence of market,
or other business, were sent into the town, and took
lodgings at different public and other houses, whUst
one or two had enhsted in the Mihtia ; and one,
who was accustomed to blacksmith's work, was to
spike the cannon in Fort Henry, and the outer
magazine, full of Congxeve rockets, was to be
blown up. The town, also, in the melee, was to have
been set on fire in various marked places.
Accurate notice of aU these deep-laid schemes were,
however, given from time to time, so that we barricaded
the town (the picket fence of which had fallen into
decay), and completely fitted up three block-houses,
which commanded the different entrances, and placed
the Militia in banacks, between these block-houses.
The day before the intended simultaneous attack,
which was fixed for the 22nd of February, 1838,
I despatched expresses to Prince Edwajd county, and
directed several companies of Mihtia to put themselves
in motion, so as to get in the rear of the rebels,
who were to assemble near the rillage of Napanee,
and also sent proper persons to BelleriUe, to watch the
disaffected there, keeping all our own motions as
reserved as possible.
One of my adjutants. Captain Cameron, was also
sent to cut a series of irregular holes in the ice,
on that side of the roadstead near Long Island,
over which the brigands must drive their sleighs,
and was directed to put the Long Islanders on the
qui vive, to cover the frontier, and to destroy the
mail-road, by cutting down large trees at intervals.
The Mohawk warriors had joined me the instant
e3

82 CANADA.
they heard of the insurrectionary movements in their
neighbourhood ; and, as I weU knew the terror of their
name would operate very forcibly, I had taken care
to form them into patrols, under the guise of deer-
hunting parties, in those situations where I was aware
their presence would be alone sufficient to deter the
rebels from appearing ; and, haring approved of a
dozen men being armed at Napanee, I stationed
outposts, videttes of cavalry, and pickets, of both
arms, everywhere round the town, vrithin some
miles. Thus assured, we waited in perfect hope that the
attempt would be made, as it must have ended
disastrously to the invaders, and would have been
the means of removing several very wicked and very
troublesome persons from amongst us, who would
have fied to the States, or have been arrested.
Just before the day, big vrith the fate of this
rising city, we organised a regular system of signals
from Fort Henry, by rockets and blue lights, so
that the whole of the defending force knew exa^gtUf^
what to do ; and, having heard from the usual spurcqs
that a man, who was formerly a skipper, or mastet
of one of the American bargeSjS-plying ^wjtK wood!
on the River St. Lawrence, had enhsted as a , private
in the MUitia, and was then doing duty in .Fort Henry,
and that he was a creature of BUI Johnson, the
pirate, and was appointed to spike the cannon the
night of the attack, to open the gates, and to blow
up the outer magazine, in which the dreaded Congreve-
rockets were stored, I took up my night's abode
in one of the casemates, and, without letting any

CANADA. 83
one into the secret but an officer, I sent quietly
for my friend.
Upon questioning him as to whether he had given
his real name when he enhsted, he appeared confused,
but when I told him he was Captain so-and-so, — for
all boatmasters are called captains in America, — he
found he was discovered, and at once acknowledged
the fact; but would proceed no further. This man
had been long a resident in Canada, and unsuspected,
I then sent for his box, in which some blacksmith's
implements and nails for the spiking operation were
found, and upon examination, we discovered the
copper lock of the outer magazine forced, but not
quite destroyed. Unvrilling to damp the ardour of
the brave Militia who garrisoned the fort, or to
frighten the townspeople by stories of blowing up
magazines, I quietly ordered the fellow's. Militia-coat
to be stripped off, and that he should be turned
out of the gate, with a notice, that if he was seen
in Canada again, no mercy should be shown to him.
This is the true version of a story which went
the round of the American papers on the Border,
that a Captain of the Militia had engaged to deliver
Fort Henry, and its deposits of money and plate,
into Mackenzie's hands !
In addition to all these constant sources of anxiety,
the' State prisoners who had arrived from the west
afforded the Mihtia in Fort Henry constant employ
ment, and many were the secret plottings and treasons
which these misguided men carried on. I cannot pass
over the excellent conduct of the mechanics and
labourers, chiefiy Irish, who had been employed on

84 CANADA.
the Queen's works, in finishing Fort Henry, and who,
upon the first alarm, enrolled themselves as a guard
for the fortress they had erected, and actuaUy kept
it, open and exposed as it was in its unfinished state,
until the MUitia could be embodied. These brave men
also volunteered in the depth of winter, to be employed
as a company of sappers for any purposes required at
Navy Island, or anywhere in Canada. In short, every
person in the Royal Engineer Department, and in the
Ciril Branches of the Ordnance armed themselves, and
kept nightly guard over the immense depot of ord
nance stores, and the magazines of powder outside of
Fort Henry, and labom'ed all day long in removing
the most essential into the New Fort, or day and
night in shipping on board the steam-boats, cannon,
mortars, rockets, muskets, accoutrements, ammunition,
blankets, &c., and in attending upon the constant
arrivals of troops of the line for the westward ; amongst
these devoted loyalists none was more conspicuous, or
exerted himself more than the acting Ordnance Store
keeper, Thomas Gurley, Esq.
The Traveller steam-boat took up to Toronto on the
14th of January five companies of the 32nd,>and was
followed by the St. George vrith more, whUst the
Transit was constantly plying between Toronto and
Niagara. Such was this extraordiaary season, this
merciful aberration from the usual laws of Nature,
that it enabled troops and stores to be sent to every
threatened point, — thus preventiag bloodshed and
plunder and misery along a frontier of such extent.
The ice, and it is worth recording, only formed in
Kingston Bay or roadstead on the 21st of January,

CANADA. 85
1838, six weeks after its usual period, nor did any
person pass over it across the ferry Ime to Wolf or
Long Island untU the 22nd. The Traveller was then
waiting for the troops from Lower Canada; but her
commander, fearing that she woiUd be frozen in,
started on the 21st for Toronto, with a cargo of
ordnance and ordnance stores, and got as far as the
Gap, when she was obliged to retum to port with great
difficulty. Captain Markham, of the 32nd, who was so severely
wounded at St. Denis, came up the river St. Lawrence
fi-om Prescott, to within twenty mUes of Kingston, in
the Dolphin steamer with one company of the 32nd
and staff, and two of the 83rd, and had some difficulty
in landing his men, five miles below Gananoque ; so
sudden was the frost, and so intense; for although
the boats' sides were protected by extra planking of
thick oak, yet the ice cut through them Hke sharp
saws. Two sergeants and a horse broke in, whilst
gaining the platform constructed for the men to reach
the banks, and were recovered with difficulty ; another
company of the 83rd joined him at Kingston next day,
and the whole departed in ninety sleighs for Toronto,
and the westward on the 22nd. Militia and regulars,
regulars and mUitia were then constantly pouring into
Fort Henry and Kingston ; on the 19th, thirty
volunteers from the 3rd Leeds Militia, under Captain
Bell, arrived also on their way to Toronto, to offer for
general serrice, and the same day, the Perth ArtUlery,
commanded by Captain Graham, fifty strong, marched
into Fort Henry in full artillery uniform, and took
the duty of that, arm. I cannot too highly praise the

86 CANADA.
loyalty and zeal of this officer, who clothed this corps
himself, and by the assistance of Lieutenant Hogg,
a relation of the Ettrick Shepherd, seon brought it to
such a state, that it could serve the garrison guns,
manoeuvre the field-pieces, and act as infantry ; a more
excellent, steady, or respectable company of young men,
all farmers' sons, and many of them wealthy, I never
saw. They submitted to the common fare and accom
modation of soldiers in bombproof barracks, as if they
had been enlisted for that life and no other; on the
20th, also, 110 Volunteers from Perth and Lanark,
an-ived on their way to Toronto, under Captain Frazer,
and the Prince Edward Volunteers actuaUy flowed in,
in human waves, whilst another company of the 83rd
arrived on the 23rd, and were followed by four more,
bound for the westward.
I mention this to show the incessant activity of the
Commander-in-chief, who was also Governor-general,
upon the departure of Lord Gosford for New York;
and the zeal, loyalty, and devotion of the Militia, who
marched himdreds of mUes unprorided vrith blankets,
or the proper conveyances, or clothing, to support the
Queen's authority. It would extend the narrative too
much to detaU the names of the commanding-officers,
or the designation of the Mihtia regiments, who passed
through Kingston, to fly to the seat of war in the
west ; but that the ordnance, and commissariat depart
ments were kept in constant and laborious actirity,
may be inferred from the fact, that even the usual day
of rest could not be obtained, and night was then the
same as day. The acting ordnance-storekeeper of the
time, as was before stated, was Mr. Thomas Gurley,

CANADA. 87
whose name and exertions will not be forgotten in that
part of Upper Canada. But the demands upon the
commissariat were equally onerous, and the mode in
which they were met by the Assistant Commissary-
general, C. A. Clarke, proved that twenty-two years
of peace had not impaired one spring of the movement
of that exceUent branch of the service.
Day and night was the Commissariat-office open,
and conveyance, rations, money, and advice supplied
vrithout intermission. The kindness with which that
gentleman acted, the uniform support I met from him,
his aUowing me at the busiest times to make use of
his own office, as a central place for the despatch of
expresses, and the transaction of all the varied military
duties I had to perform, are very inadequately thus
recognized. He had to clothe, and prorision, and pay
immense leries in an extended district .at a moment's
notice, to settle the difficult claims of innkeepers,
and persons providing transport ; besides the constant
fatigue arising from the multiplied official business
connected with the sudden transition of the army,
from a state of profound repose to one of actual service
in the fleld.
But the time drew on when the machinations of the
enemy were to be perfected. It was iafinitely more
formidable than has been beheved. Four simultaneous
movements were to be effected ; one from Detroit, in
Michigan; one from Sandusky, in Ohio; one from
Watertown, in New York, upon Kingston; and the
other from Plattsburgh and Vermont, upon Lower
Canada.

88 CANADA.
That from Detroit was commanded by the traitor,
soi-disant Adjutant-general M'Leod, and took pos
session of a small island in the Detroit River, on the
Canada side, but was soon dislodged by the British
cannon, on the 24th of February, 1838, and escaping
to the United States, were disarmed and dispersed
there by the authorities, under General Brady ; General
Scott haring arrived at Monroe to effect this on the
same day.
Of the Sandusky expedition, under Sutherland, we
shall speak more at large when describing the action
at Point Pelee Island. But the 3rd and 4th were
more serious ; and of the third we shall speak last.
The fourth expedition was headed by Drs. Nelson and
Cote, and actually penetrated into Lower Canada, from
a small island and other places near Alburgh on the
Vermont frontier, crossing from Alburgh to Caldwell's
Manor, after encamping for the night about two miles
within the boundary.
Finding, however, that Sir John Colborne had
directed a strong Regular and Militia force against
them, and that General Wool, ofthe United States' army,
had also proceeded to intercept them, they dispersed,
after surrendering to that officer six hundred men, on
the 1st of March, at one mile north of the Alburgh
Springs in Vermont, with all their cannon, small arms,
powder and ball, — General Wool haring previously
captured one field-piece and nine sleigh-loads of gun
and musket ammunition. At this time the British
troops, consisting of the Royals, under Major Warde,
the 43rd, under Colonel Booth, and Militia, with the

CANADA. 89
Mississiquoi Volunteers,* had arrived within sis or
eight miles of the camp of the invaders.
General Wool detained Nelson and Cote, to deliver
them over to the civil authorities ; and thus ended three
of the simultaneous invasions of Canada.
The fourth was equally disastrous to the Republican
Patriots, and was directed against Kingston, and com
manded by Van Rensselaer and Mackenzie.
I have already described the iatentions of these
heroes and their plan of attack. They had the fool-
hardiness, however, to make the move, but differently
from their original intention.
I was endeavouring on the night of the 21st of
February, 1838, to take a little rest upon an iron
barrack bed, in the Tete de Pont, when a Militia
officer from BelleriUe roused me in the middle-watch,
by saying that he had ridden posthaste to announce that
the rebels had commenced their march on Kingston,
and that he had left the Militia in arms, in BelleriUe,
and the tocsin still ringing. I had, however, better
information than that given by this ardent young man,
and therefore very much disgusted him by telling him
that it was very likely, and requesting him to let me
get a little rest.
The Prince Edward Militia were actually then,
which he did not know, on their march in rear of this
very movement, and so p^iralyzed the rebels that but
few prisoners were taken near Napanee, as the body of
insurgents dispersed and hid their arms and ammuni-
* A highly-flattering letter was written to Colonel Jones, of the
Frontier Militia, by Major Warde of tbe Royals, who gives the
Militia and Volunteers high praise on this occasion.

90 CANADA.
tion in the wood. Some of the latter was discovered ;
and they intended to kUl us by wholesale, for, not
contented vrith mere cartridges with a ball and powder,
each cartridge had a ball with three deer or buck-shot
over it, so that the wound made would be very
dangerous. Amongst the prisoners taken was an American
armourer, or manufactui-er of rifles, who had earned
on a snug trade at Belleville, and this aspiring gen
tleman had a complete kit, compass for the woods,
bowie-knife for close action, rifle, &c. &c.
I reserved a sharp steel axe from the military stores
captured, because it was so well-tempered that it was
eridently intended to hew the way through our picket-
tiag and barricades. The rest of the extraordinary
missiles and arms are, I dare say, to this day in the
Ordnance store at Kingston, and were of the most
destructive kind.
It was melancholy to find amongst these prisoners
not only American citizens, but subjects of the Crown,
whose fathers had always been loyal and who owed
everything they possessed to the Govemment. But
Bidwell and Perry had been the oracles of these poor
deluded people, and they had been fully persuaded
that a country wherein they lived on the fat of the land,
flovring with milk and honey, Uterally without tax
ation and enshrined in peace, was very hardly dealt
with, because it could not have heavy local taxes,
continued political excitement, eternal elections for
the most tririal even of public employments, and the
name, without the essentials, of equality and freedom.
It was vain -to argue viith these men ; each little district

CANADA. 91
had had its repubhcan oracle, generally an American,
or of American descent ; and although the Government
and every British officer dealt kindly and leniently by
them, they left the State-prisons of Kingston as
thorough Radicals as when they entered them, but, I
am happy to say, have since seen their folly, and freely
confess it, with few exceptions. Such is the perversity
of human nature, — for of all the districts of Upper
Canada, that from which they came is the best, the
most fertile, and scarcely knows the existence of
poverty. The internal advance haring been thus easUy quashed,
it was not much more difficult to settle the others.
The town of Kingston, before the 22nd of February, —
the day appointed for the attack, — was filled vrith
strangers; and such was the excitement caused, that
everybody remained awake that night. I was snatch
ing a slight refreshment at dinner, just as the dark of
evening set in, when a sergeant of the Marine Artillery
rushed in, and in haste informed me that the Eastern
attack had commenced, and that the rebels were in
sight. My house, being separated from the town, was
guarded by a party of sailors ; and, after confiding
everything dear to me to their charge, and desiring
them, in the event of the worst, to retire through the
garden to the block-house near us, I put on my sword
and ran down to the Artillery Barracks, between my
house and the town, giving directions to a picket of
Marine Artillery by the way, and then hastily visited
the Commandant, who directed me to shut the ArtUlery
gates, and desire his little guard of a dozeii men to
defend them until the Mihtia could reinforce it.

92 CANADA.
On my way through the town, all Was alarm and
anxiety ; and, after reaching the Tete de Pont Barrack,
and calling out the excellent First Frontenac Regiment,
we prepared for the worst. The alarm was, however,
premature, and I had time to issue the necessary orders ;
to strengthen the cavalry pickets ; to send out parties ;
to place all the steam-boats at the wharfs in security ;
and to march to the threatened points. Never was
such a night known in Kingston. Not a soul slept ;
fire and sword were momentarily looked for.
We had received, through the Magistrates and secret
som-ces, accurate intelligence of the foe. Within and
without, every avenue was guarded; and the Com
mandant, the excellent and lamented Lieutenant-colonel
Cubitt, of the Royal ArtiUery, suffering under a dis
tressing internal complaint, which soon afterwards
destroyed him, shut himself vrith the picked men of the
Mihtia in Fort Henry, and took such means, even if
we were defeated, as to ensure that rital point.
To paralyze the sympathizers in the inns and lodg
ing-houses, who, I feared, would set fire to the town,
and distract our attention, I took a strong guard of
Militia, risited every suspected house before midnight,
and, upon pain of death, forbade the inmates to leave
their abodes. In one house alone, I knew there were
from forty to fifty Americans, well armed. Constant
alarms prevailed throughout the night, which was one
of the most severely and intensely cold of the whole
winter (27 degrees below zero) ; but, from the precau
tions adopted, and our well-disciplined force, the bri- -
gands were afraid to venture farther than Hickory
Island, where they ensconced themselves; whUst, on

CANADA. 93
Grindstone Island, and at French Creek, they were
strongly supported.
We had dispatched the BelleriUe Riflemen (a corps
of young gentlemen), and a strong force of Indian
warriors, to reinforce Gananoque, under Major Fitz
gerald, Town-major of Kingston, an old and expe
rienced officer; and such were his efficient measures,
that on the first token of advance towards Hickory
Island, the Patriots fied, learing behind them some
stores and ammunition. Van Rensselaer, BiU John
son, and Mr. Wells, a Member of the Upper Canada
Parhament, narrowly escaped. The arms were rifles,
muskets, and fowhng-pieces, and the cannon were to be
served with a murderous selection of broken pieces of
iron, double-headed shot, &c. ; many of which imple
ments came into my possession.
An occurrence or two happened that night which
will serve to show the zeal of the Militia. I had
ordered that no person whatever was to pass the out
posts for several miles round without a passport, the
parole, and countersign. The mail with four horses,
from Montreal, dashed on to the bridge at Kingston
Mills, over the Rideau Canal, and was ordered to halt
by a Militia sentinel. The driver paid no heed to the
repeated order. The sentry plunged his bayonet into
the breast of one of the leaders, and soon brought the
covered sleigh, wh jch contained several people, to a
stand-still. Complaint was made to the Deputy Post
master-general ; but the man was promoted, and the
Govemment would afford no redress.
An alai-m occurred during the night, which rendered
it necessary for me to order the men who had remained

94 "CANADA.
clothed and armed in their barracks upon parade. I
ordered them, by lantern-light, to load, "and made a
short speech, telhng them the time was come. One
man in the front rank, as I was speaking, discharged
his musket in my face, and was immediately taken to
tbe guard-room by his indignant comrades. After
everything was settled, I went to him, and having
asked him what were his motives, — " By jakers ! " says
the honest Hibernian, " Colonel, I was fuU of fight,
and could not help it." And so it was ; for I knew
him weU, and am certain that nothing but his over
flowing honest enthusiasm caused the accident.
Amongst the prisoners taken at Hickory Island was
my friend, whom I had captured on his mission from
Mackenzie at the farm in Pittsburgh, and who had
been threatened vrith the gibbet if he returned. "When
he was marched across the ice to the State-prison, I
observed him falter ; and having directed the prisoners
to halt until I could get rid of an overcurious crowd,
he and the others prepared themselves for being shot
by the escort. He told me afterwards, that so fully
was he persuaded that I was about to settle accounts
with them, that they never were more happy than when
the order to march on again was given. Such was the
American sympathizer's notion of a British officer's
justice. What should we have had to encounter if
such men had gained the day? Witness the shades
of poor Weir, Chartrand, Johnston, Hume, Ussher, and
those worthy officers and private soldiers, sailors, and
militiamen, who fell either in battle vrith the brigands,
or died under the hands of the secret assassin. Cruel
death in cold blood was often a^ravated.

CANADA. 95
" Upon whose dead corpse there was such misuse.
Such beastly, shameless transformation
By those " Patriots " done, as may not be.
Without much shame, re-told or spoken of."
It may be asked with respect to the projected attack
upon so strong a place as Kingston, what the means of
the Patriots were. Persons who eould be depended
upon informed me that the whole frontier opposite, for
many miles, exhibited a nightly scene of assemblages
of men in arms, and we knew that the United States'
Arsenal at Watertown had been broken open on the
night of the 19th of February, and from sis to eight
hundred stand of arms taken from it, whilst five pieces
of field-artUleiy were at French Creek. These arms
were first deposited on Saint John's Island, a few miles
below Kingston, and I sent a party of Riflemen under
Captain Saunders to search for them ; but after using
every exertion, they could not be found, and I believe
the mistake arose from an error in the name of place
of deposit.
The introduction of arms and ammunition into
Canada for the use of the rebels was 'so weU devised and
executed, that but httle of either was ever discovered.
I obtained, after the dispersion of the rebels on the
Napanee-road, near Shannon Ville, a sleigh-load of
baU-cartridge for rifles and muskets, with buUet-moulds
and bullets, a keg of fine powder, three boxes of per
cussion-caps and greased pellets, one United States
army musket, and various other warlike stores. There
was brought in, hid in the woods, an immense number
of cartridge havresacks made of cotton, filled vrith
rifle and buck-shot cartridges to a very great extent:

96 CANADA.
They were discovered by a boy. The powder was
introduced in kegs resembling oyster-kegs, and real
oyster-kegs were placed so as to deceive the searchers ;
but in such an open frontier it was impossible to be
everywhere. It is time, however, to turn to the MUitia and their
conduct again ; and I am persuaded that but for their
loyalty and perseverance, we should have had difficult
work cut out for us. Sir John Colborne, Governor-
general and Commander-in-chief, was pleased to evince
his confidence in the bravery and loyalty of the Kings-
tonians and the adjacent districts, by directing the
march of the regular troops upon Toronto, Niagara,
the London and Westem districts, and learing the key
of Upper Canada entirely in possession of the MUitia,
one company of the Royal Regiment, under Captain
Goiag, haring only been sent to our assistance after
the projected attack. It ar^ved at Gananoque just
after the dispersion of the sympathizers.
The troops present at Gananoque of the Mihtia were
commanded by Major Fitzgerald, Tovm-major of Kings
ton, and consisted at first of not more than 150 men,
and were composed of a company of Perth Volunteers,
under Captain Fraser, and one of Leeds, under Captain
Webster. But assistance having been loudly called for
on the. advance of the Patriots from French Creek, a
number of Volunteers from Langdowne, under Mr.
George M'Kelvy, with Colonel Hartwell, of the 6th
Leeds regiment, and Major Arnold, of the 5th Leeds,
soon arrived, and from Kingston we sent the BelleriUe
Rifles, under Captain Mumey. One company of the
Frontenac, Captain Cowan ; Lieutenant Jackson, vrith

CANADA. 97
a party of Indian warriors, and some Cavaliy, under
Lieutenant Raynes; and a six-pounder of the Perth
Artillery, Lieutenant Robinson ; whUst from BrockvUle
a company of the Queen's Own Rifles, under Captain
Kidd, and Captains Chambers, Gilbert, Stewart, Earl,
Armstrong, Robinson, and Neil, of the 6th Leeds, with
as many men of their respective companies as could
be hastily collected, poured in. Captain Charles
M'Ewan, from Charleston, with P. Anderson, Esq.,
and ten fine young lads, also arrived after a tedious
march; and in the evening of the 22nd, Lieutenant
J. Elmsley, of the Royal Navy, who had so much dis
tinguished himself at Navy Island, came in with a
party of sailors from BrockvUle.
Lieutenant Elmsley went immediately in advance,
and took post opposite the Patriots on Howe Island;
and Lieutenant Raynes, of the Frontenac Dragoons,
with Mr. WUliam S. M'Donald, of Gananoque, and a
small party of eavahy, soon followed the gallant naval-
officer towards Hickory Island, which, at about four in
the moming, was found nearly evacuated ; but several
prisoners were taken, as well as persons coming from
the American shore to join the pirates. Mr. Charles
Hepp, a Volunteer, and Mr. GUmor, distinguished
themselves by .capturing tw^o of these people in
arms. The Royals under Captain Going, on their march to
Kingston, arrived during the day, as weU as 0. R.
Gowan, Esq., M.P.P., and a number of Volunteers
from BrockviUe.
Many intelligent people were afterwards examined ;
and it is but justice to add, that at French Creek there
VOL. II. p

98 CANADA.
were respectable men who whoUy disapproved the
measures of Mackenzie.
On the 22nd, the day of the projected attack on
Kingston, there were no fewer than 3,000 sympathizers
in arms at French Creek, and it was weU ascertained
that there were muskets and rifles for this number, as
well as sis pieces of artillery, and plenty of ammuni
tion and prorisions, whilst every person was arrested
who was suspected of going over to Canada to give
inteUigence. The move on Hickory Island was made in order
to date and sign the officers' commissions from the
Canadian territory, and the number of claimants was
ludicrous. One British prisoner was escorted there by
a colonel, two captains, and a lieutenant. When they
arrived on this islet, their numbers were about 500,
the rest remaining in reserve on Griudstone Island or
the American shore, with -which a constant commu
nication was kept up, as weU as with the Canadian
side ; and as it was soon known that Kingston was well
prepared, that it could even spare guns and men to
defend Gananoque ; that the Militia were pouring into
that rillage, and that the Regulars were on their mai-ch
from Montreal, their courage cooled, and they de
serted by scores. When the muster-roU was caUed for an
advance on Kingston by the ice, — which march being
contrary to his instructions. Van Rensselaer was the
only dissentient to, — only eighty men answered, and
of these at last only forty-one would march. !rhe
General swore at, kicked and cuffed them, and there
was a regular set-to. W. B. Wells, who resided in
Upper Canada, not far from this scene, and was an

CANADA. 99
ex-member of Assembly, was a principal leader, but the
prisoners saw him lying drunk on a bed and incapable
of 'action. He had always been one of Mackenzie's
partizans. The Patriots then thought it best to depart before
daylight appeared, and the prisoners counted 110 men
go off the island in their sleighs, taking three field-
pieces and most of their stores. It appeared also that
they expected an attack from General Seott, or Colonel
Worth, and therefore Van Rensselaer had urged his
men on before they were ready to proceed into Canada.
Van Rensselaer and Bill Johnson joined Mackenzie at
Watertown ; and thus was broke up the fourth simulta
neous attack upon Canada,
I shall merely add a notice or so from the pubhc
.papers, to show the zeal and efficiency of the Militia at
this epoch, after only little more than two months and
a half of practice.
From the Kingston Herald (Whig paper) of Febra-
ary 27th, 1838:
" The Marine Artillery have been exercised for several
days in field practice with their guns. The whole
party, formed into companies under their respective
Captains, were drawn out with four pieces of artilleiy
as if to repel an advancing enemy, throwing out skir
mishing-parties in then- progress, taking up a position,
and forming and firing tb cover the guns in action.
Tlie discharges of musketry were rapid, and the guns
were well served, giring ample proof that they eould
lio good execution on an enemy. Nearly three months
of such training as they have had, and under such
good command too, have made them a real defence,
r2

100 CANADA,
instead of a nominal; a tnUy efficient force for any
puipose of peace or war.
" Yesterday afternoon the Militia force in this gar
rison, including the Cavalry, the Indians, the Artillery,
and Infantry, was again reriewed by lieutenant-
colonel Bonnycastle, and a noble appearance they
made. The glittering hne of bayonets, three deep,
extended the entire length of Store-street on theii-
march ; and there, was not only the materiel but skill
and power to use it. If Brother Jonathan wants a
battle we are ' ready, ay ready.' "
This extract has been made for two purposes; first,
because the Kingston or Upper Canada Herald is
a Whig paper, under the guidance of Wesleyan
Methodists, and has figured and still figures in the
ranks of reform. Second, because it does justice to
the Mihtia, and shows that Colonial pohtics, violent as
they are, do not always either make traitors or patronize
those sorry birds who defile then- own nests, and wiU
elucidate a good deal of what I have to say about
Canadian pohtics hereafter. But in order that the
reader shall have both sides, see what the Kingston
Chronicle, a Conservative paper of that day, in the
interest of the Scotch chureh, says :
" We were on Thursday last highly gratified at the
gi-and spectacle presented in the assemblage of the
whole MUitia force on duty in this ganison, on parade,
on the commons in the neighbourhood of the town.
This MUitia force was inspected by their Com^-
mander. They made a good appearance, and seemed
in excellent condition to receive any sudden visit from
our sympathizing friends on the other side of the line.

CANADA. 101
**The uniform appearance of the men, and the
respectable improvement they have made under those
able drill-officers, Cameron and Bate, was highly cre-
•ditable; for it was indeed at once gratifying and sur
prising to witness the precision with which they went
through the several field manceuvres which they ex
ecuted, and the firing could not be surpassed,
" The brigade took up a commanding position on the
height west of No. 3 Blockhouse, overlooking a natural
inclined plane, leading to the Lake shore. The move
ments commenced by a company of skirmishers,
who covered the hne some two hundred yards in
front, on the declivity overlooked by the line. They
were sufficiently retired from the brow of the hill to
prevent their being seen, until the supposed enemy
should be at close quarters. The skirmishers fired,
retiring until they ascended the hill, when they closed
to each flank, and formed rallying squares, apparently
a defensive attitude. Then the field-pieces opened the
ball effectually. The infantry retired, followed by the
artillery, covered again by the skirmishers. The line
re-formed in rear. The light-infantry filed off by the
flanks, when a very rapid and incessant fire was kept
up along the whole line from both infantry and artillery;
the cavalry in rear. The litie advanced at the charge,
artillery posted on the right and left, cavaliy on the
flanks. The infantry halted, and the cavalry made a
dash, that even without pistol or sword in hand must
have overwhelmed an ordinary enemy; after which
squares, close columns, and lines were formed, much to
the admiration of nearly all the inhabitants of Kingston,
who were viewing the interesting spectacle, in which

102 CANADA.
not one single officer of the line was engaged, excepting
the gallant and worthy inspecting officer.
"We may mention further, that the officers of the
Royal ArtiUery, of the Royals, and of tbe 83rd Regi
ments, who were observed to take great interest in the
reriew, were heard repeatedly to express their admira
tion of the steadiness and excellent state of discipline
of the men."
Perhaps these extracts may savour of ^otism or
vanity, but I do not feel the former, and have seen too
much of life to have more than man's lot of the latter ;
but I am proud of the Canadian Militia, and shaU not
easily forget that the last time I commanded them
when reviewed by his Excellency Sir George Arthur,
the noble 83rd Regiment, one of the finest bodies of
young men in the service, marched vrith their gaUant
Lieutenant-colonel, the Honourable H. Dundas, upon
the field, with colours flying, and preceded by their
fine band, to take voluntaiily their place upon our
left. The Colonel, who was Commandant of the Garrison,
had never in the slightest degree interfered with my
Militia ai-rangements or command, and on riding up to
me, — his junior officer, then only, too, a Brevet-Major in
the army, — he said, " Colonel, although the Governor
has ordered this merely as a MUitia reriew, vrill yon
allow the 83rd to follow your manceuvres ? " Such a
a compliment sank deep into my heart and into that of
every MUitiaman present, and although a series of
difficult manoeuvres for us were rapidly gone through,
such was the enthusiasm inspired by this compliment,
that every Militiaman prided himself upon his accuracy

CANADA. 103
and steadiness, and not a mistake was made, even of
the most tririal kind.
Farewell, gallant men, — I have given elsewhere as
correct a list as I retain of the names of your regi
ments, corps, and leaders. England need not fear for
the safety of her Canadian possessions, whilst 80,000
equally loyal, equally ready, and equally steady
soldiers, are the children of the Upper Canadian soil.
Nor are the Magistrates, those untiring men who so
mainly saved Kingston from the horrors of midnight
conflagrations, of secret, and of open war, to be for
gotten. Day after day, night after night were they
occupied vrith examining the sympathizers, who hourly
crossed; with taking effectual measures against external
and internal foes, and in receiring information and
eridence ; in providing for State-prisoners ; in arming
and disciplining a Police and Town Guard, and in the
thousand ways in which active and zealous Magistrates
are called upon to work in troubled times.
Of these gentlemen, I was most intimately employed
with Mr. NickaUs, the Clerk of the Peace of the. Mid
land District, with Mr. A. Pringle, J.P., and vrith Dr.
Sampson, who was Mayor of Kingston, and who com
manded the Town Guard and displayed an example
which was speedUy followed by all the young gentlemen
of the Bar, the Medical Profession, and indeed in every
degree and class ia life at Kingston.
Many, many were the midnight consultatioils, the
sudden dispatch of cavalry, the deep conclave over the
lamp for the public good, which these gentlemen held;
to their unceasing care and rigilance the fact of the
escape of the town from conflagration may solely be

104 CANADA,
attributed. Musket in hand, incessant patrols were
kept up, and no incendiary could well have carried on
his diabolical practice. It was often threatened, but
never performed. The unanimity vrith which all the
Magistrates, and many others I could have mentioned,
•(but they chiefly did their duties as Mihtia officers) met
the Military authorities, wiU not be forgotten by any of
us, — and although the wear and tear was great, the
'excitement and the certainty of meeting support were
such that I never hesitated to seek their support and
advice, let the time or the hour be what it might.
Colonel J. Fraser, and Colonel Mackenzie, the Ma*
gistrates from the Bath side, must not be forgotten,
neither must the present Mayor of Kingston, Mr.
Counter, nor Dr, Baker, nor Mr. Mowat; but it is
useless to go on, lest I enumerate the whole bench of
ninety names.
And let me turn to the brave warriors of the Indian
woods, — those Mohawks, who, when the United States
was a British Colony, hved in the happy valley of the
Mohawk River, to which the fictitious Wyoming was
as the snows of Nova Zembla are to the Hesperides.
They left their happy valley, because Republicanism
superseded the Government of their great father.
They followed Captain John, their war-leader, and
received from the King a grant of a large township
in the Midland District . of Upper Canada ; in which
they have ever since dwelt. They were members of
the Church of England, and brought vrith them the
altar-cloth and communion-plate of their beloved
church,, which they still retain in the sacred edifice
built for their worship in the Indian woods.

CANADA. ] 05
These unsophisticated forest-rangers, as soon as they
teard that their enemies threatened once more the
British dominion, harnessed their little wagons, and
leaving only the women and chUdren, the feeble and
the aged of their tribe, drove into Kingston, ninety in
number, with the old Union Jack proudly floating over
them, to offer their serrices to me.
I was dehghted, but not surprised ; Indian gratitude
was no stranger to my feelings, and as soon as I saw
the venerable chiefs and the young athletic warriors halt
opposite to my house, I summoned them to councU.
The scene was an interesting one. My parlour was
occupied by a circle of these red men squatted on
their hams, passing the pipe of peace and fellowship,
and in the quiet sententious manner of the Indian
they, after the usual and indispensable ceremonies
which filled the room with tobacco-smoke, but not
with noise or clamour, declared one and aU that they
were ready to die for their great mother the Queen,
We put them into barracks and supplied them daily
with food, and apportioned their duties. No violence,
nothing that unaccustomed Europeans might anticipate
from the untutored savage, ever occurred ; the serrices
they rendered were important, and they were amply
repaid when all was over, by a few yards of cotton, a
few sUk handkerchiefs and ribbon of gaudy colours for
their wives and daughters, with a good rifle or two for
the chiefs, some tobacco and powder for the hunters
and warriors, and a few pipes.
They were urged to accept the usual pay of Militia ;
but chief and warrior alike rejected the proffered boon.
" We came to fight for our mother across the Great
p3

106 CANADA.
Lake : we want not to be paid. If she thinks well
of us, good ! " And so they returned to theu- simple
forest homes.
But before they departed a great ceremony was
to be dope : the war drama was to be completed by
making their friend a chief of that Mohawk nation
which had never known disloyalty. I selected the
Court-house as the scene, and a curious scene it was —
one of the shiftiag scenes of the great drama of life.
The ladies and gentlemen of that rising city, lately
the capital of Canada, assembled ; and after many acts
had been played commemorative of the events which
the nation had shared in, I was led forth in full regi
mentals by the Indian master of the ceremonies, and
with the utmost gravity had to dance the war-dance of
the tribe, to smoke the calumet of peace and feUowship,
and to declare my wUlingness to become a chief; then
to go round the circle of grim warriors squatted on the
ground, and to shake hands with every indiridual, to
take a whiff of the pipe vrith each, to distribute a few
glittering presents, and to be saluted as Anadesc, " the
chief who summons the tovm."
This chapter shall be concluded, I am determined,
by a poetic effusion,* which, as it is the work of Lieut.
* " Cold blew the blast, and hard froze the night
Of the tlireat'ned attack, we all may remember ;
But the sons of Old England stood firm in their might,
For bent was each breast to make no surrender.
Our gallant commander * the mischief foreboded,
In our fortress that nigJit was determin'd to stand ;
The slow-match was burning, the guns were all loaded
With grape-shot and canister by his command.
• Lieutenant-colonel Cubitt, Royal Artillery.

CANADA. 107
Hogg, of the Perth ArtUlery, formerly a sergeant in
the Royal ArtiUery, mow a barrack-master in Canada,
and a near relative of the Ettrick Shepherd, shows that
Our bold Commandant,* both fearless and daring,
A son of the brave old ' Ninety-and-twa,'
His eye like the eagle's, his soldier-like bearing,
Bespoke him the veteran of time that's awa.
The banner of Albion was then proudly waving
O'er her sons who all rallied in gallant array,
Fort Henry's proof. ramparts her bull-dogs displaying,
Well mann'd with stout hearts from Perth-upon-Tay. f
The brave Second Lennox, forsaking their farms.
Came down under Fraser, — a blade firm and true ;
His orders that night were to rest on their arms,
Which show'd a bright spark of the true British blue.
M'Gregor and Beach, they each had their stations,
Determin'd to stand or to fall in the fray;
The Frontenac thus to be led by their chieftains,
Rob Roy was the watchword, and Britain the sway !
The last, though not least, the Marines J of Britannia,
Whose bomb-ships in battle have never beeu slow ;
Their thundering metal has given many a
Lesson to the proud spirit of Albion's foe.
And now that the Rebels have all been defeated.
And each gallant heart to his home may repair.
We will never forget how well we've been treated, —
With hospitality, kindness, and fostering care.
Bonnycastle, thy name shall be dear to us ever,
'Till life's warm streams shall cease here to flow.
May Providence grant thee a long life, and never
May the clouds of adversity over thee blow.

; • Major Logie, fonnerly of the 92nd.
+ The Perth Artillery.
J The Queen's Marine Artillery (Canadian Lake Seamen) officered
chiefly by officers of the Royal Navy, a most efficient, formidable,
and excellent body of men.

108 CANADA.
the old thistle stUl points her spines at the foes of
Britain when transplanted into another soil, if it shows
nothing else. It was sung, extempore, by him at a
public dinner at Kingston, at which Mr. Vail, of the
United States, was present, who had been sent to the
Government in an official character.
The conduct of that excellent and venerated Roman
Catholic Bishop of Kingston (Regiopolis), McDonell,
then in very advanced age, and very infirm, should
not be forgotten. He inculcated daUy amongst his
flock that devoted loyalty which had marked his whole
life ; and weU that flock responded to his caU. But his
life was in danger from pursuing so manly and upright
a course ; and the sympathizers having threatened to
burn his house, and to pursue him vrith their utmost
vengeance, the 1st Frontenac Regiment took him
into their barracks, and vigUantly guarded his person
whilst that danger lasted. And to show how much
he was esteemed by persons in every rank of life in
Upper Canada, and of every creed, the last act of his
ministiy, before he went to Scotland to die, was to lay
the foundation-stone of a Roman Catholic Missionary
College in the park of Selma, his personal estate at
Kingston, in the autumn of 1839. I vritnessed this
interesting scene ; the venerable man was supported
by two Protestants,— -on.e the heir to an Earldom, the
other a Lieutenant-colonel in the Army; and Dr.
Rolph, the Emigrant Agent, pronounced an oration
Now my brethren in arms, you've all done your duty.
True and firm to your faith in our young Virgin Queen,
The bright gem of Britain will smile in her beauty.
When she thinks of this country, still love4, tho' unseen. "

CANADA. 109
upon this the evident closing labour of a life devoted
to Upper Canada and its interests.
I mention this, both out of respect to the Bishop's
memory, and to show that, unlike the state of another
colony, Newfoundland, the creeds are not in such
violent collision in Upper Canada, — that the peace of
the colony and the well-being of society have never been
endangered by the professors of either belief being
politically hostUe, — and I trust that a better state of
things is now rapidly occurring in the last-named
place. This poetry, the effusion of an honest and well-mean
ing heart, is one of the many instances of kindly
feeling that I have experienced from those who, al
though exposed to every privation, very many being
the sons of wealthy landholders or the landholders
themselves, merchants, and gentlemen, never gave me
the slightest trouble, and, what is more, never gave
me reason to hold a Court-martial. Such were the
Mihtia of the Midland, Hastings, Johnstown, and
Eastern Districts of Upper Canada ; and after several
•months of active duty, I took my leave of them in more
serious mood than the vrinding-up of another song
by a Canadian officer, which ended thus :
" Now to wind up my ditty, too long.
Let's hurrah for the Province and Queen, sir.
And whenever the ' Patriots ' next come.
May we be with our Colonel again, sir.
Right fol de rol, &c."»
* From an extempore song at a public dinner, by Lieutenant Hill,
a highly-respected barrister of Kingston.

110 CANADA.

CHAPTER IV.
The subsequent Invasions and disturbances in both Provinces,
in 1838 and 1839.
Parliament, which had been summoned at an
earlier period than usual to meet the exigences of
Canada, decreed the abolition of the Lower Canadian
Legislature, and substituted the rule of a Governor
and CouncU ; and Her Majesty entrusted this import
ant Government to His Excellency Lieutenant-general
Sir John Colbome (Lord Seaton), until a civil officer
should be appointed to succeed Lord Gosford. Troops
were despatched in all haste from home, and .the
neighbouring provinces spared all they could send.
Military vigour was now at once apparent, and barracks
and fortifications began to rise at every point which
required observation and control. Martial law having
been declared in the rebellious districts in Lower
Canada. But one of those expeditions to which we have
aUuded, for a simultaneous plan of attack on Canada
with that on Kingston, having been by some unfore
seen circumstances delayed, was undertaken towards
the latter end of February, but not before the Regular

CANADA. Ill
troops had reached the Westem District. The "Pa
triot" force from Sandusky Bay and the neighbom-hood
of Detroit, moving across the ice, took possession of
Fighting Island and Point Pele Island ; the former a
small strip of land in the Detroit River, the latter
opposite Point Pele in Lake Erie, above and below Fort
Maiden, or Amherstburgh, the true object of attack.
The leaders of this daring exploit were Sutherland,
a person named Mackenzie, and, as some averred. Dr.
Duncombe, who had fled from London, and had stolen
the arms sent from Dearborn for the American Militia
at Detroit, which had been left all night without a
guard at a railway station.
The Canadian Militia, hearing that these despera
does were assembling at various points, and that they
boasted of being able to raise 1,500 or 2,000 "Pa
triots," assembled for the third time for the defence
of their frontier, which was also now guarded by six
companies of Regulars, seven pieces of artillery, and
about 600 Militia, at Sandwich, Windsor, and Moy,
all points of the coast much exposed. The flrst descent
was made on Fighting Island, nearly at the same time
as that on Hickory Island ; and it was taken possession
of probably vrith the same view of dating the proclama
tions and officers' commissions from British territory.
On the night of the 24th of February, Major Towns-
end, of the 24th, who had the local rank of Colonel,
reconnoitred the position from Petit Cote with the St.
Thomas Volunteer Cavaliy, and examined the ice. He
found that Colonel Elliot, of the Militia, who com
manded at Sandwich, had returned from a simUar
demonstration with the Militia and Volunteers to pre-

112 CANADA.
pare for an attack upon that place, and then he detei'
mined to recall that officer, and to attack the brigands
at once with his men and with Captaia Browne's com
pany of the 32nd, Lieutenant KelsaU's of the 83rd,
and Captain Glasgow's nine-pounder and detachment
of Royal Artillery, which joined him at half-past six
on the moming of the 25th; and at seven. Colonels
Elliott and Askin, with about 350 Volunteers and
Militia, arrived.
Captain Glasgow immediately opened a fire on the
brigands, who were observed in great numbers on the
ice and on the island, with great effect ; the precision
with which the gun was served forming a subject of
laudatory notice in the official dispatch. The ice was
so uncertain, that it was supposed impracticable to
advance; but a place was found below the island at
which Major Townsend, by marching in single files,
achieved a landing.
Captain Brown kept on the outskirts of the island,
facing the American shore, to intercept the retreat of
the pirates; and Lieutenant KelsaU, with the 83rd,
moved on in extended order, flanked and supported by
the Militia, through the low woods. The Patriots, how
ever, contrived to decamp, and forming on the American
shore, bravely fired by platoons upon their conquerors,
who could not follow them without "violatiug" the
ice and soil of the United States. They left behind
one field-piece, muskets, rifles, pistols, swords, powder,
shot, and prorisions of every kind. The muskets were
perfectly new, and belonged to the Ordnance stores
of the United States army.
Major Townsend gave just praise to Colonels Elliott

CANADA. 113
and Askm, of the 2nd Essex Militia; to Captam Erma-
tinger, of the St. Thomas Volunteer Cavalry; and to
Lieutenant-colonel Prince, who, though not in com
mand, was conspicuous as a Volunteer. He also men-
^;ioned with great praise Captain Glasgow, of the Royal
Artillery, and the alacrity and zeal evinced by the
Mihtia and Volunteers, and stated, that such was the
steadiaess and order evinced by them, that he only
regretted that the enemy did not give them an oppor
tunity of disproving to the American nation and the
rebels that the libel so actively disseminated was utterly
false, that " the Militia of the Upper Province would
not fight against them;" "as I can safely say," ob
served that gallant officer, "I never vritnessed more
alacrity and zeal displayed than was shown by that
body, or greater anxiety to encounter their foul
aspersers." Two melancholy events happened about this
period in the deaths of two young men, Mr. Askin, at
Amherstburgh, and Mr. Church, at BeUevUle, both
Militiamen and sons of Magistrates. The former was
a Lieutenant in Captain Angus M'Donald's company
of Coloured Volunteers, who, returning at a late hour
at night from a tour of duty, was stopped by a coloured
sentry, who demanded the countersign; upon which,
the unfortunate gentleman delaying to answer, and
offering some resistance, the sentinel, not knowing him,
shot him dead in the execution of his duty. Mr.
Church was killed by the bayonet of a brother soldier,
whilst turning out of a house to obey a sudden call to
arms in the night, — a pure accident. • Such was the
ardour and zeal of every MUitiaman, white, black.

114 CANADA.
coloured, Protestant, Catholic, Presbyterian, Dissenter;
Upper Canadian, English, Irish, Scotch, Westem
French, — all kinds, all religions, all sorts; the rich
man, the poor man, the judge, the councUlor, the
negro, whose feet, placed on British soil, had emanci
pated him, — to fiing back fi-om their beloved countiy
the stupid and brutal invader.
The force gathered at Sandusky Bay, at the same
period, took possession of Point Pele Island, in Lake
Erie, a large and fertile island near the Canadian shore,
where the brigands committed all sorts of atrocities
upon the property of the honest farmers, and stole the
refiectors of the Lighthouse, plundering and robbing
wherever they went.
I cannot better describe the result of this expedition
than by giring the Honourable Colonel J. Maitland's
dispatch at length, in which there appears to be an
oversight, in the want of mentioning two officers who
were present at the heads of their respective depart
ments; and who, as this was the first severe action
vrith the brigands in Upper Canada, were actively and
zealously employed, — Captain Glasgow, of the Royal
ArtUlery, and Captain Baddely, of the Royal Engineers.
The result to the brigands was fatal ; but her Majesty's
troops, owing to the woody nature of the country, suf
fered more than in any action during the rebelhon;
whilst the Militia covered themselves vrith honour, and
ably supported the^ Regulai-s.* * Amherstburgh, ZT.C. ith March, 1838.
Sir, — When I wrote to you on Sunday last, announcing the defeat
of the pirates at Fighting Island, I did not think I should have to
report to you another instance of a British Island being taken posses
sion of in this quarter.

CANADA. 115
Immediately after this event, Su- Francis Head, on
the 6th of March, 'prorogued the Upper Canada Par-
Early in the week, X received information from difi'erent quarters
that Point Pel€ Island had been taken possession of by the pirates
from Sandusky Bay. This island is of considerable magnitude, being
from seven to nine miles in length, and from four to five in breadth ;
it is situated in Lake Erie, about forty miles from Amherstburgh, and
twenty miles from the shore. I sent three or four local officers to
ascertain the fact of their being there j they went close to the shore,
and were fired upou ; this, together with the circumstance of several
people who had gone over to the island to look after their property,
and who were detained by the pirates, confirmed me that the report
was true. I therefore, on Thursday afternoon, despatched Captain
Glasgow, of the Royal Artillery, to inspect the strength of the ice,
and report his opinion to me, as to the practicability of moving 'guns
and troops to that place. He returned the following day, at twelve
o'clock, and reported that the ice was practicable, and strong enough
to pass. I therefore determined, without loss of time, to attack them
by daybreak the following moming; accordingly, with two guns
(6-pounders), the four companies of the 32nd Regiment, one company
of the 83rd Regiment, a small detachment of thirty belonging to a
Sandwich troop of Cavalry, and St. Thomas troop of Cavalry, one
company of the Essex Volunteer Militia, and a small party of Indians,
moved that evening under my own immediate command, eighteen
miles along the lake shore ; where I halted for some time, to rest the
horses, and at two o'clock in the morning commenced my march on
the lake ice, arriving at the island just at break of day.
I had previously arranged my plan of attack, which was as follows :
I directed Captain Brown, with the first and second companies of the
32nd Regiment to proceed round to the south-end of the island, and
take up a position on the ice to intercept any attempting at escape by
that direction ; he was accompanied by a detachment of about twentyr
&ye men of the Sandwich and St. Thomas Cavalry ; having made this
arrangement, I landed myself with the remainder of the force and the
two guns at the north-end ; the rebels fied at my approach, and
escaped into the woods. I was here informed by some of the loyalists,
who had been made prisoners by' the pirates on the island, that they
were in force to the amount of about five hundred j the troops moved
on in exteaded order, and pursued them through the island, but as
the wood was thick, and the snow extremely deep and heavy, the men
were much retarded in their progress.
The rebels finding themselves hemmed in on every side, moved out

116 Canada.
liament, which had been in session for a short period of
unexampled actirity, and, in a lumiaous speech, bade
at the south-end of the island, the only place by Which they could
escape to the American shore, and advanced in line upwards of three
hundred men, well armed and organised, upoa Captain Brovni's
detachment, where they met with the greatest resistance ; a brisk flre
being kept up on both sides for some time, and several of Captain
Brown's detachment ha'fing fallen, he determined to charge them,
which he did, and forced them back (to the wood where they retreated
in great confusion) at the point of the bayonet. I particularly beg to
recommend this circumstance to the notice of His Excellency the
Lieutenant-General Commanding.
On the road, inside of the wood, the rebels had a number of sleighs,
by which means they succeeded in carrj-ing away about forty of their
wounded men, the others succeeded in escaping at the southernmost
point of the island, and got over to the American coast, leaving killed
on the spot their Commanding-ofiicer — a Colonel Bradley i a Major
Howdley, and Captains Van Rensselaer and M'Keon, and several
others ; some prisoners were taken, several of whom were severely
wounded. I regret to say that the taking of this island has not been gained
without considerable loss on our part, and I have to request that you
will report for his Excellency's information, that thirty soldiers of the
32nd Regiment fell in this afi-air, two of whom were killed, the others
wounded, some dangerously, some severely. I sincerely regret the
loss of so many brave soldiers, and feel it the more when I refiect they
did not fall before an honourable enemy, but under the fire of a des
perate gang of murderers and marauders. A list of the killed and
wounded I have the honour herewith to enclose. Having scoured the
woods, and satisfied myself that the island was cleared, I re-formed
the troops, and about five o'clock in the evening proceeded back ;' and
•the soldiers returned to their quarters at Amherstburgh that night.
When you take a view of the circumstances of this aff'air, I need
hardly detail to you the arduous duties the soldiers have had to per
form, from the time they left until their return — travelling as they
did forty miles in an excessively cold night, twenty of which were
across the lake, accomplishing the object I had in view, namely, the
liberating the loyal people detained on the island, gainmg possession
of the place, restoring it to the proprietors, defeating, with consider
able loss, the enemy, and returning again to their barracks within
forty hours.
My warmest thanks are due to the whole of the officers, who sup-

CANADA. 117
farewell, whUst awaiting the arrival of his successor.
Colonel Su- George Arthur, to return to England. Sir
ported me in this undertaking ; audit is impossible for me in words to
do justice to the gallant soldiers of Her Majesty's Royal Artillery,
32nd Regiment, 83rd Regiment, and the Loyal Volunteers of Cavalry,
Infantry, and the few Indians, who constituted the force under my
command. I have to regret that Mr. Thomas Parish, a private in the
St. Thomas Troop of Volunteer Cavalry, was killed in rear of the
32nd Regiment by a musket shot.
Colonel Prince, of Sandwich, Mr. Sheriff- Lachian, Captain Girty,
and several other gentlemen, asked permission to accompany me,
which they did, and gallantly acted with their rifles with our soldiers
against the rebels in the wood ; I found them very useful from their
knowledge of the locality of the place.
I trust this second repulse on this frontier, of the American ban
ditti (let it be understood that I have it from satisfactory authority
that the whole of this gang driven from Pele Island, are American
citizens), will be a lesson to them that they are not with impunity to
hold British territory.
A large tri-coloured fiag, with two stars and the word " Liberty !"
worked upon it, and eleven prisoners, were also taken, some of whom
state they were formerly on Navy Island ; about forty stand of American
muskets, some ammunition, swords, &c., were also taken.
I am informed by the prisoners, that it was the decided intention of
these people to land on the Canadian shore last night, and march
upon Amherstburgh, destroying by fire on their way all the houses,
&c., they had to pass, and for which six sleigh-loads of American
citizens from Sandusky Bay had joined them the night previous to
my attack, and made their escape back again, immediately on my
appearance in front of the Island.
I have the honour to request that you will lay the substance of this
letter before his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, and forward it
to Montreal, for the information of his Excellency the Lieutenant-
General Commanding. I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient, humble Servant,
(Signed) JOHN MAITLAND,
Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding 32nd Regiment, and
Colonel Commanding the Western Frontier.
Amherstburgh, U.C. Sth March, 1838.
Dear Colonel, — I have to report to you that Sutherland, and a

118 CANADA.
George Arthur was sworn in on the 23rd of March,
1838. MUitia Courts-martial upon the numerous traitors
and brigands, taken prisoners from time to time, were
assembled at Toronto ; and General Sutherland, dread
ing his fate, attempted suicide by opening veins in his
young man of the name of Spencer, whom they say is his Aide-de-
Camp, were captured yesterday by Colonel Prince, of Sandwich, about
two miles on the ice. He brought them in here, and lodged them in
the guard-house ; but I think it is not safe that they should remain
here long. I shall forward them to-day, under a strong escort, to
Toronto, in charge of Captain Rudyer, of the loyal Essex Volunteers.
I have had no conversation with this man, except merely to state to
him that it was my duty to send him to Toronto.
Captain Rudyer has been acting here as Brigade-major, since the
calling out of the Militia force in this part of the country. I and
Colonel Townshend have found him very useful in this situation ; he
was with his company with me at the capture of Point-au-PelS Isljnd,
and will be able to give you any information you may require upon
this subject.
I was very lucky in having nearly the last of the frosty weather to
drive these fellows off' the Island, for last night and this morning the
weather has become soft, and the ice is beginning to get rotten.
Somehow or other, I think Sutherland must have been making his
way to the Island when he was taken, but he pretends to know nothing
of the action that took place.
I have nothing new to report to you. Our wounded men are doing
pretty well, but some of the wounds are most severe bone wounds.
I have been obliged to send to London express, for the other Assistant-
surgeon of the regiment ; indeed I think if he could be spared, another
Army MedicaVofficer is required here for the moment.
Enclosed is a deposition made before a Magistrate, by Colonel
Prince, relative to the capture of Sutherland and Spencer,
I am, dear Colonel,
Yours faithfully,
(Signed) JOHN MAITLAND,
Colonel Commanding Westem District.
To Colonel Foster,
Commanding the forces in Upper Canada, &c., &c., &c.,
ToroHto.

CfANADA. 119
arms, but was prevented just in time from completing
his design.
Sir Francis Head took the bold resolution of passing
through the United States, and arrived safely, after a
rapid journey across the country, from Kingston, at
New York, on the 28th of March, 1838, accom
panied by Mr. Justice Jones. The perils of this
journey consisted in the difficulty of crossing the ice,
which was breaking-up at Kingston ; in the dreadful
state of the roads at that season, and in mnning the
gauntlet of myriads of sympathizers, to whom Lynch
law was familiar, and who (in consequence particularly
of the destruction of the Caroline) thirsted for his
life. Sir Francis, it is well known, is capable of enduring
great fatigue, and is an excellent horseman ; to these
quahties he probably owes his life on this occasion, for
he was recognized by a fellow of the name of Scanlan,
who had fled from justice at Kingston some time before
the Rebellion, and who, it is said, petitioned him to
intercede for his restoration to that place.
To show what a curious opinion the Americans
formed of him, I extract the follow morceau from the
Watertown Jeffersonian, of the 29th of March, 1838 :
Sir Francis Bond Head, late Lieutenant- Govemor of Upper
Canada, passed through this village on Monday morning last, on his
way to England. Sir Francis was accompanied by Judge Jones, and
was introduced tb several of our citizens. He appears to be a very
mild but active man, unfitted by inclination, as we should think, for
revolutionary times. He has proved true to the aristocracy of England,
and on all fitting occasions has expressed his disapprobation of repub
lican institutions. Governor Head intended to have passed through
this section of the State incog., but was recognised by some resident
exiles. To carry out, the deception he at first seated himself on »

120 CANADA.
wheelbarrow in the street ; but when recognised, he at once was open,.
free, and unreserved with our citizens.
Some of " our citizens," however, took the Uberty
to follow him en route, but by dint of hard riding
he distanced them through the woods and gained com
parative safety afterwards, in every mile he receded
from the sympathizing borderers, and was very weU
received at New York.*
Great precautions were taken on the night of his
arrival at Kingston, as he was to depart at daylight,
and a cordon of the Mariae ArtiUery was drawn across
the ice by me, and all communication vrith the Ame
rican frontier completely closed.f
Fortunately the ice was bad and required a skilful
pilot, so that the danger from the piquets and patrols
was increased by the difficulty of a night march across
it ; for so rapidly was it going, that a week afterwards
the steam-boats again plied. Had the sympathizers
been prepared for his transit, I fear the result of so
bold an experiment would have been different, but it
had been given out that he intended to proceed by
Montreal. I confess I did all in my endeavour to
dissuade him, knowing the virulence of the Frontier
Borderers, and when I saw him, for the last time in
Canada, step upon the ice, I watched him till he had
crossed it, hazardously in the extreme, for without a
light boat it would have been almost impracticable.
• In the "Emigrant," a work I wish he had given any other
name to, he has told this story himself more at large.
f Sir Francis, in the " Emigrant," makes a little mistake about
this precaution, and ascribes it to a subordinate officer then under
my command. ^

e

CANADA. 121
I never expected again to see him in this world. II
^passed the Rubicon, and has left at least, a deathless
name in Canada for the manliness and openness with
which his policy was can-ied out, and for the unre
served magnanimity with which he took upon himself
the onus of the whole transaction of the burning of the
Caroline. CavUlers, in Canada and in England, blame Sir
Francis Head for di-awing the rebellion to so fine a
thread that it snapped at last. But even he, as well
as his detractors, seem to have lost sight, in hi.s
defence, of the facts embodied in one or two unanswer
able arguments. I differ materially with him in some
of his last acts, as . a Lieutenant-governor, but can
vindicate him here.
First, If Papineau had not stirred the French Cana
dians up to, and gradually for years, prepared them
for, the outbreak in 1837 of the " FUs de la Liberie,"
long before a man in Upper Canada dreamt of rebel
lion, would Bidwell (with whom Papineau con-es-
ponded), and Mackenzie, Morrison, et hoc genus
omne, in their wildest aspirations for power, have
thought of a resort to arms. I am certain they never
contemplated it, and that when Mackenzie did en
counter the awful risk, they all disapproved of it as
premature. So strong was the sense of loyalty to Britain in
Upper Canada, when I left it for England, in May,
1837, and so strong did it continue on my return in
September, that I, who knew the country and people
intimately for very many years, should have acted, if
placed in Sir Francis Head's position, precisely as he did.
VOL. 11. G

122 CANADA.
Secondly, Sir Francis Head, with .whom, upon some
shght subjects, respecting Canada, I differ, as I have
already said, knew, as every well-informed person
knew, that the farmers, the yeomen of Upper Canada,
could not wish to pass over to the Govemment of the
United States, of which their country must have
fomied a very second Texas, when taxation would
immediately commence, and eternal bitter conflicts
upon political rights from the quaternary election
of a President, to the yearly appointment of Post
masters and Town-criers, would have been their lot.
The Upper Canadian small landholder knows his
govemment only through the Newspapers; it never
harasses him, and he has no taxes to pay but those of
which he has the control himself, and which are merely
to keep his roads in order. He enjoys plenty, literally
without a master, for as long as he keeps the laws he
has no other ruler than his own will.
Then, again, would the presence of two regiments
and two companies of artillery in Upper Canada (for
since 1815 that had usually been the protective force
for a thousand miles of frontier), would such a handful
of men have deterred Majikenzie and his rebels ? who
could always, if weU sp.pported by American sympar
thisers, have chosen his ground for annoyance and
plunder far away from the regular troops.
Would coercion have paralyzed a determination to
rebel, had Rolph, Bidwell, Morrison, Lount, Matthews,
Mackenzie, and the other known Republican leaders
been incarcerated ? On the contrary, it would have
hastened a crisis ; and Sir Francis, by simply trusting
to the good sense ofthe people, nipped it in the bud,

CANADA. 123
and gained a greater moral victoiy than bayohet and
cannon and all the terrors of the law could have
effected ; whUs* the American nation had a salutary and
excellent lesson as to the chances of popular sympathy
vrith respect to an amalgation into their Union,
However desirous the people of the United States
may have been, and still are, of extending their empire
over the Continent of North America, it appears to a
calm observer, from the advanced state of knowledge
and the actual literary era of the nineteenth century,
that large republics and extended empires over a con
tinuous tract of the globe, whether in the Old or in the
New World, are moral impossibilities as to duration.
Already the overgrown dominion of the Czar trembles.
The Empire of China is broken in upon by the outer
barbarians, and the Cabinet of Washington, vrith inade
quate means and a population which cannot prevent
the forest from asserting its ancient dominion, has quite
enough to do to prevent internal disorder without
risking external collision.
The real freedom of Britain, under a guarded and
constitutional monarchy, has hitherto withstood the wear
and tear of ages, and instead of diminishing its fame
and lustre^ appears to advance more and more towards
perfection, unlike the enervated and besotted luxury of
the heathen emperors, and the feeble spirit of refigious
dogmatism which eclipsed their lustre. Rome sank the
moment the empire was transferred to Constantinople,
and the power of the Popes exhibits only a melancholy
example of continual decline.
There is a national as well as a private virtue, and
that misused word, which anciently was synonymoua
g2

124 CANADA.
with brute force, is now better understood. It neither
exists in the bosom of a despot, nor in the fickle mind
of a mob.
The United States of America, if well is let alone,
occupy a proud and very eminent station. They have
recently risen from obscurity to take a commanding
position in the political and moral world ; but it is not
by extending their dominion to the shores of the Pacific,
nor by embracing Canada and Mexico, that that pre
eminence can be sustained. Europe is still in the prime
of life, and the moment the United States attempt
extended conquest, whatever may be the jealousy of
the European states towards England, Europe vrill be
in arms. The Austrian dreads innovation, the Russian
trembles lest the boors become too enlightened and
her American territories too closely looked into. France
remembers Louisiana and has sundry other causes of
discontent ; whilst England is perfectly vrilling that the
bald-headed eagle shall grasp its bundle of arrows, and
hold a steady wing to check the growth of ambition,
but will not calmly contemplate the brooding of that
wing over a greater space than is~absolutely necessary
to cover its own n^st; "^
The United States, if they follow their real interest,
will cultivate the arts of peace, and content themselves
with being the reflection of Transatlantic Albion, ruling
by the just power of moderation, equanimity, and
Christian justice. Once swerve from this straight
course, endeavour to annex 'Canada, tiy to conquer
Bermuda, and to cripple the British power in the
Cari'obean Seas, and the cry will then be "Ichabod!"
and the glory will at once and for ever depart.

CANADA. 125
If the United States instituted a stronger form of
Repubhcan Government, and rendered the administra
tion of the laws firm and secure, her eminence would
indeed be that of a high mountain amidst the hills of
the political globe. Had she been capable of exerting
a reasonable share of power, would the disgraceful
scenes we have been describing on the Canadian fron
tier, and still worse which are to be described, have
happened ? It needs no casuistry to argue the point.
General Scott and Colonel Worth did then- duty nobly,
and to the utmost of their power ; but their power was
that of the people, that universal people who still up
hold Slavery and Lynch law ; and so it must ever be,
whilst neither talents nor wealth can be permitted a
fau- field of exertion, in consequence of a system of
eternal ballotings and struggles for place. Cromwell's
boasted Republic was of a far different aspect ; the will
of the Protector was backed by his Ironsides, and how
ever disgusting this military dragooning would now
seem, it prevented every rude citizen from making his
own reckless will the arbiter of his country's destiny.
Where the judge can neither pronounce his unbiassed
judgment without fear of losing his office, and indeed
sometimes his life, and the minister cannot carry out
his most sagacious and conscientious riews without
referring to the opinion of the mere populace, there
cannot real liberty reside; but religion, government,
morality, and law, must continually abide their share
of chances and changes. The Republican Jevrish Patri
archs would no more have consented to rule under
such circumstances than Cromwell. Happy then, happy
is Canada, to have that transcript of a Constitutioii to

126 CANADA.
work upon, which, whilst it permits freedom of judg
ment and action in all our mundane and heavenly
affairs, checks by a wholesome rein^ the exuberance of
the fancies ahke of the Govemment and of the governed,,
and under whose segis the manacles of the slave fall
from his toil-worn limbs.
A wise man has said that a despotic monarchy is the
best safeguard of the poorer classes.* They are too
insignificant for the bowstriag or the axe; but how
much better for the poor is a hmited monarchy, where
his labour is rewarded, and his existence of the utmost
consequence to the welfare of the community. If,
after half a century of experience and deep thought
upon the various systems which have been introduced
since Adam tasted the fatal apple, I was to be bom again
with free vrill to choose my lot, the happy valley would
be that portion of the globe where the Monarch, the
Peers, and the People were alike responsible to each
other ; where the people could not run riot, and where
the Sovereign reigned in their hearts, — a free Queen,
ruling over a free nation, and the avenues to the throne
were open to talent as vvell as to wealth and to~ renown.
Such is England, that dear country, which we leam to
reverence the more the farther we are from it.
The sympathisers, having been thus completely
* As I was writing this h person of my acquaintance, who thinka
that all Colonies should be governed by stringent rule, told me that
he once happened to quote this opinion in Canada, and that he really
thought that a governor and council was the only thing to settle that
country. A very intelligent man, who had been mainly instrumental
in forming the Literary Society of Quebec, looked at him with perfect
astonishment and asked if those were his real sentiments; "Yes I"
" Then, Sir, I pity your intellects," said the other.

CANADA. 127
foiled in their grand plan of attacking Canada simul
taneously, — a plan copied from that of the war of
1814, which had met with the like fate, — all was, for
a time, again quiet. The British Government, aware
that upon decision hung the probabilities of a contest
with the United States, chose a nobleman of large pro
perty and diplomatic talents as Canadian Viceroy, leav
ing Sir John Colborne Commander-in-chief, with full
powers to crush the rebelhon, and to take effective
measures to meet the emergency of a war. Upper
Canada, always the seat of such a war, was familiarly
known to Sir John, and soon wore a very different
appearance from that which had preceded the outbreak.
The Engineer officers were now sent to every point
where fortifications or troops were required ; Amherst
burgh saw its ancient Fort Maiden rise from its ruins ;
London became, from a hamlet, a flourishing town,
with extensive barracks ; Fort Mississagua, at the out
let of the Niagara, covered that part of the frontier;
Kingston was strengthened; additional barracks built
at Toronto, Fort Wellington at Prescott rendered
impregnable to sudden attack ; and, in short, a frontier
of a thousand miles placed, in a few months, in an
infinitely better position to receive an enemy than it
had ever been, manned with the choicest troops of
England, supported by 40,000 Militia, eager to vinch-
cate the honour of their countiy.
On the 29th of May, 1838, Lord Durham arrived at
Quebec; and one of the first acts of his administra
tion was the difficult one of deciding upon a measure
of -Sir John Colbome's temporary Govemment, which
that brave officer had judged fit to reserve.

128 C.iNADA.
The gaol of Montreal and the Fort of Kingston were
full of prisoners, taken in the act of committing the
most serious offence known to our criminal law. Dr.
Wolfred Nelson, Mr. Bouchette, Viger, Girouard, and
many other persons of distinction and note in society,
were amongst those waiting their sentence in the Lower
Prorince ; and there it was impossible to convene such
a jury of then- countrymen as could give, or would
give, impartial judgment.
Lord Durham's mission to the French Canadians was
one of peace; for the Queen, the Ministry, and the
whole British people could not forget the noble de
votion which this race had shown in support of the
Crown against the attacks of the United States in the
last and former wars. His Lordship saw clearly, as
every person conversant with Canadian affairs must see,
that the people of Prench extraction in Canada are
most excellent subjects for the designs of factious de
magogues to work upon ; that they are a simple, honest,
lively, and trustworthy people. He, therefore, very
properly overlooking the minor offenders, punished the
great movers of the rebellion, whose sole aim had been
personal aggrandizement; and directed that Papineau,
who had fied, and those who fied with him, should
become outlaws, liable to the penalty of death if they
returned; and that Nelson, &c., should be sent under
sm-veillance to Bermuda, subject also, if they returned
without due authority, to the hke fate. But this
assumption of dictatorial power was strongly opposed
in the British Parliament, and finaUy set aside, after a
Bill of Indemnity to exonerate Lord Durham had been
passed ; thus displaying one of those beautiful features

CANADA. 129
of the constitution of a hmited monarchy, which is the
admiration of the world. Had some of the persons
who appeared in arms, been executed by sentence of
a duly constituted court during the existence of the
rebellion, as their confederates, Lount and Matthews,
^were in Upper Canada, not a whisper of disapprobation
would have been heard in Great Britain ; but the in
stant that it was known that a Viceroy took upon himself
the sole admiaistration of justice, and that he assumed
the feudal power of awarding the sentence of death,
the nation rose against him, and, unable to brook the
disappointment and the dictation which he thus in tm-n
had to bow before, he threw up his mimic sceptre, and
returned to England in disgust ; not, however, before he
had hastily visited the chief towns on the river St.
Lawrence and Lake Ontario, and proceeded as far as
the Falls of Niagara.
His Lordship, in his capacity of High Commis
sioner, collected from all quarters a great mass of
information, which was very diligently put together;
and, although very unpalatable to those in place in
Canada at that period, has, since time has hallowed
its truths, been found to contain some sound political
views, which have proved of great serrice to states
men. It requires very careful consideration, however,
for it is tinged with much of the bilious hue of the
Canadian politics of 1838 and 1839, when the revo
lutionary party were trying to persuade rulers tliat
their object was only to obtain responsible Government
and a redress of grievances ; and the Americans,
whose opinions were the very last that should have
g3

130 CANADA,
been taken, coloured the eridence in a most remark
able degree.*
His Lordship' s intentions were, no doubt, good,
but he saw little either of t^e people or of the
country, as he travelled entirely by steam in his
progress to the Falls of Niagara, attended always
en Prince, and thus had not much opportunity of
mixing with the people, some of whom took offence
at his distance of manner, but which he doubtless
considered was fitting his high office. In short,
with great abilities, great wealth, and immense in
fluence, and certainly having paved the way for
much good to Canada, Lord Durham was too short
a time in the Colony to become acquainted vrith the
people or to render himself popular. His reign lasted
only until the 1st of November, 1838, on which day
he resigned his powers to Sir John Colbome, and
embarked for England.
The only subject of any consequence during the
summer and autumn of 1838 ia Canada, now fiUing
with regular troops,t and guarded by thousands of

* It is contained in an immensely thick folio, printed by order of
the House of Commons, which few people would now have the
resolution to wade through.
f The Grenadier Guards (2nd Battalion) the Coldstreams (2nd
Battalion), and the 71st, arrived at Quebec by sea on the Sth and 14th
of May, earlier than ever troops had previously done in such large
vessels as the Malabar, 74, and the Edinburgh, 74. The Guards came
in the Edinburgh, 74, the Inconstant frigate, the Apollo and Athol
troop ships; the 7lst in the Malabar, 74. Such a scene, at such a
season, had never before, been witnessed at Quebec. On the 15th of
May, the harbour presented the brilliant spectacle of two seventy-

CANADA. 1,31
Mihtia, was the acquittal of the murderers of
Chartrand, at Montreal, by a French Canadian jury,
notvrithstanding the clearest and most conclusive
eridence. Samuel Lount and Stephen Matthews, the
two leaders of Mackenzie's attack upon Toronto,
were executed at that city upon the 12th of April ;
and at Hamilton, William Webb and John Hammil,
Horatio Niles, Stephen Smith, Charles Walworth,
Ephraim Cook, John Tufford, Nathan Town, and
Peter Malcolm, were sentenced also to death; as
were Anderson, Theller, Montgomery, and Morden ;
but Sir George Arthur, blending mercy vrith justice,
transferred most of these traitors to the State
prison in Fort Henry, at Kingston. Drs. Nelson
and Cote were imprisoned in the State of Vermont,
and, after a mock trial, acquitted, and a public
dinner given them.
Sir John Colborne also abolished martial law in
Lower Canada at the same time ; and everything
bore the face of returning tranquillity, when an event
occurred as brutal and barbarous as ever fell to the lot
of an historian of civUised people to record.
On the 19th of May, 1838, the beautiful steam
boat Sir Robert Peel, one ot the fastest, largest,
and finest of those plying on the St. Lawrence and

fours, a crack frigate, two immense troop-ships, and 150 sail of
merchantmen. Here was a specimen of the power of England.
Treason and sympathy hid their diminished heads, and for the first
time the large city of Quebec was so crowded with troops that the
71st were, for want of accommodation, immediately despatched
westward.

132 CANADA.
Lake Ontario, was in the act of taking in fuel at
a place caUed WeUs' Island, amongst the thousand
islands belonging to the United States, and about
seven miles from French Creek, her usual custom,
when, in the middle of the night, or rather early
in the moming, she was boarded by a crew of fifty
ruffians, masked, disguised, and armed.
The passengers, amongst whom were several females,
were ordered to rise from their beds, and, hastily
putting on such attire as they could find in the
darkness and confusion, the females were put out
of the vessel, and left to their fate on the shore,
on a most inclement night, whilst the men were
confined in the cabin, through the skyhght windows
of which muskets were poiated, to keep them from
interfering. At length, a panel having been broken
out of the cabin-door, one by one at a time were
permitted to go out and depart as they could, half-
clothed, and, the vessel having been rifled, was set
fire to. The mate narrowly escaped being burned
to death, as he was sleeping in his berth, and only
saved himself after she was on fire by jumping
overboard. All the passengers and crew lost their
baggage and property, and the Sir Robert Peel, a
new boat, which had cost a very large sum of
money, was totaUy consumed.
Several people from French Creek had been missing-
previous to this act, and it was the intention of the
miscreants to burn all the British steamers, in order
that their whaleboats might jji-oceed in the work of
invasion and piracy undisturbed.

CANADA. 133
Governor Marcy, of New York State, immediately
he received information of this piratical act, left
Albany for the frontier, and took active measures
to discover the perpetrators, as also to guard his
frontier from the dreaded retahation of the Canadians,
but nothing to this day has transpired as to who
were the real perpetrators of the deed, further
than the universal belief, that the notorious mail-
robber and pirate. Bill Johnson, was actively engaged,
and a reward was offered by the American Governor
for his apprehension. Several men were taken and
confined in the State prison, but it all ended in
smoke. I knew several of the persons who were thus
treated on board the Sir Robert Peel, but they
were so suddenly attacked, and had so little appre
hension of such an atrocity being attempted, that
they could add but httle to the stock of information.
But BiU Johnson laughed at the efforts of the
Govemor and aU the authorities. The Thousand
Islands afforded him a secure retreat, and amongst
their intricacies he hid his boats and his men. In
vain parties of saUors from Kingston examined them ;
they were occasionally fired at by an unseen and vanish
ing enemy. The American Militia and Civil officers
were equaUy unsuccessful, capturing about 250 pikes,
but no pikemen.
I sent one of my adjutants, an active and enterpris
ing old soldier of the 79th, on a secret expedition to
discover where the boats were concealed. The foe
was off, but he found their bivouac on an almost inac
cessible islet near the most narrow part of the channels

134 CANADA.
of the Thousand Isles at Fidler's Elbow, and cleverly
constructed inclined planes upon which., these fast-
rowing boats had been drawn up. The result of his
expedition, hazardous in the extreme, gave me a know
ledge of their whereabouts, and added to the geology
of Canada ; for without knowing anything about the
subject, he brought away from this isolated and seldom
visited spot some of the finest specimens of tourmahne
I ever saw, which he conceived to be indicative of coal.
Without saying a word to anybody, I applied for
the use of a small steam-boat ; and puttiag some of
my staff and band on board, as a ruse to make the
folks imagine I was going to visit the MUitia garrisons
of Gananoque, Brockville, and Prescott, I embarked a
company of the Frontenac, and after visiting all these
posts for about seventy mUes, returned in the night
by the islands where Johnson was hidden, hoping he
would attack the boat, whereon the men were not
aUowed to be seen. In vain, in vain, was this expe
dition like all others ; and the only results of it were
that two barrels were observed moored in the channel
at its narrowest part, no doubt containing, as was the
case in the Niagara River, the means for the destruc
tion of our naval equipment there. With excellent
steerage we escaped the danger ; and as these infernal
machines were never seen afterwards, they were either
e.vploded or removed.
At the Fidler's Elbow, a sharp turn in the navigable
channel, I saw the remains of the pirates' recent
bivouac in their expiring fires ; and here, where they
might have injured us, it appears that their knowledge
of our movements was accurate ia the extreme, for they

CANADA. 135
not only never attempted to fire, but shortly afterwards
deserted their strongholds entu-ely. I knew perfectly
the source from which BiU Johnson derived his know
ledge of our movements; but as the development of
that knowledge would involve a person, respecting
whose loyalty I still have doubts but not certainties
to rely upon, it would neither conduce to any benefit
to detail an extraordinary scene in a real-life drama,
nor would propriety permit the names of other actors
to be placed before the public. Suffice it to~ observe,
that the most interested party never stuTed without
my being acquainted with his motives ; and that when
ever we prepared to take the field, a false movement
on his part would have instantly cost him his life,
so well was he watched and guarded.
Some of the Mihtia officers on the Canadian fron
tier, and an officer charged with despatches,' were about
the same time grievously Ul-treated by the mob at
Detroit; and the American steamer. Telegraph, was
fired at by two of the Militia sentries at Prescott.
For the former no reparation was offered ; but for the
latter, as it arose in a mistake of their orders, every
proper explanation was afforded, and the men were
duly punished. These acts concluded the summer
excitements on the borders.
But the spirit of invasion was only hushed, and new
combinations, under the names of Hunter's Lodges,
&c., arose, which gave rise to more important events.
It only required the season of short days and long
nights to ripen those nefarious schemes which, in
summer, were paralysed by the constant arrival of
fresh troops, and the rapicl organization, under Cap-

136 CANADA.
tain Sandom of the Royal Navy, of a sufficient naval
force on the lakes.
Bill Johnson, well known as a pirate during the last
American war, and for his exploits in maU-robbing,
had collected a numerous gang of Canadian refugees
and American sympathisers, with whom, in long boats,
built after the fashion of those used in the whale-
fisheiy, and veiy swift, he kept the frontier in a state
of constant agitation, as his object was, as in the case
of the Sir Robert Peel, plunder and burning. On the
7th of June this robber, or some of his friends, made
a descent during the night upon the fertUe island of
Tanti, Amherst Island, mentioned before as the property
of Lord Mountcashel, vrithin a few miles of Kingston on
Lake Ontario, and lying immediately opposite to the
pleasant village of Bath. Three isolated farm-houses
were plundered, and many valuables and some money
obtaiaed ; whilst one farmer, in the defence of his pro
perty, was inhumanly shot at, and lost three fingers
and a part of his hand. The pirates were dressed as
sailors, and weU armed ; and it is said had one sixteen-
oared boat, mounting two three-pounders.
BiU Johnson and Daniel M'Leod were supposed to
be the principal leaders ; but, as in the case of the
Sir Robert Peel, several Canadian refugees from BeUe
vUle, &c., were with them, and the Governor of New
York offered rewards for their apprehension, naming
these two as well as Samuel C. Frey and Robert Smith,
Upper Canadians; WiUiam Nickles, a deserter, and
the only one, from the MUitia; M. W. Foiward, An
derson, JameS Potts, Seth Warner, and his brother,
all Upper Canadians ; Nathan Lee and Henry Hunter,

CANADA. 137
Americans ; Hugh Scanlan, an absconding debtor from
Kingston ; WiUiam Smith, John Tarr, Thayer, Robin
son, William Leister, Upper Canadians ; and WiUiam
Coppemell, James Hunter, and William Robins, of
French Creek, Americans. Lord Durham also issued
a proclamation, offering a reward of j61,000 for the
apprehension and conviction of any person concerned
in the burning of the Sir Robert Peel; and stated
therein his firm determination to uphold the honour
of the Crown and the integrity of the empire.
Captain Sandom, with such small lake steam-boats
as he could obtain, did everything in his power to
destroy this nest of water-thieves, and they at last
were so hunted as to become daily of less and less
importance; but excitement was kept up along the
whole frontier, and the British steam-boats, even at
Niagara, were at one time in much danger, and all
were obhged to arm and carry armed crews, whilst no
Loyalist on the river or lake- shore dwelt or slept in
security. Bill Johnson issued a proclamation, as follows : —
"to all whom it may concern.
" I, William Johnson, a native-boi-n citizen of Upper
Canada, certify that I hold a commission in the Patriot
service of Upper Canada ¦ as Commander-in-chief of
the naval forces and flotilla. I commanded the expe
dition that captm-ed and destroyed the steamer. Sir
Bobert Peel. The men under my command in that
expedition were nearly all natural bom English sub
jects ; the exceptions were volunteers for the expedition.
My head-quarters was on an island in the St. Law-

138 caiJada.
renee, without the jurisdiction of the United States,
at a place named by me Fort Wallace. I am well
acquainted with the boundary-line, and know which
of the islands do, and which do not, belong to the
United States; and in the selection of the island I
wished to be positive, and not locate within the juris
diction of the United States, and had reference to the
decision of the Commissioners under the sixth article
of the Treaty of Ghent, done at Utica, in the State of
New York, I Sth June, 1822. I know the number
of the island, and by that decision it was British
territory. I yet hold possession of that station, and
we also occupy a station some twenty or more miles
from the boundary-line of the United States, in what
was Her Majesty's dominions until it was occupied
by us. I act under orders. The object of my move
ments is the independence of the Canadas. I am not
at war vrith the commerce or property of the people
of the United States.
" Signed, this tenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-
eight. " William Johnson."
His Excellency Sir John Colbome made an extended
tour during the summer, risited Navy Island, and
ordering additional defences throughout Upper Canada,
returned to Quebec to meet Lord Durham, and to cause
a large body of sailors and marines to be forwarded to
Captain Sandon, to scour the Thousand Islands.
The American Government also sent General Macomb
to supersede General Wool, and troops were forwarded

CANADA. 139
in all haste to Fort Niagara, Sackett's Harbom-, and
other points.
Cavalry, the Kmg's Dragoon Guards and 7th Hussars,
arri'ved from England, vrith reinforcements for the artil
lery, engineers, and line; and Admiral Sir Charles
Paget's flag in the Cornwallis floated over the harbour
of Quebec, amidst a mass of men-of-war, steamboats,
and merchantmen, unexampled in the history of Canada.
To prevent the further incursions of the pirates at
the Isle of Tanti, a company of the 1st Frontenac
Militia, driUed and well disciplined, was estabhshed at
the village of Bath ; whilst Gananoque, and the inter
mediate viUages of the St. Lawrence frontier of the
Thousand Islands, vrith BrockvUle, Prescott, and Com
waU, were strongly reinforced with picked MUitia.
On the 21st of June, Osterhout's, a tavern in which
some Volunteer Lancers were quartered, at the Short
Hills, in the township of Pelham, in the Niagara dis
trict, was attacked by a body of armed men, who
plundered the house of a large sum of money and
valuable property, and overpowered some Lancers, upon
whom they fired. Thirty of these ruffians, hidden in
a swamp, were afterwards taken, as well as Morrow,
their leader. This body of sympathisers, it was known,
had chiefly crossed from the United States; and in
consequence. Sir George Arthur issued a proclamation,
forbidding all persons from travelling in the British
territory vrithout proper passports; and at the same
time it was decided that the prisoners taken in arms,
or persons taken aiding and abetting in acts of treason,
should be considered as prisoners of war, and treated
accordingly.

140 - CANADA.
Lord Dm-ham at the same time discharged from the
prisons of Montreal all the young French Canadians
who had been engaged in the rebellion, who were
minors; whilst, as I have befpre stated, he sentenced
Wolfred Nelson, Robert S. M. Bouchette, Bonaventure
Viger, Simon MarchessaiUt, H. A. Gauvin, Toussaint
Goddu, Rodolphe Des Ririeres, and Luc. H. Masson,
to deportation, on an acknowledgment of their guilt.
Louis Joseph Papineau (late Speaker of the House jDf
Assembly), Cyrile H. 0. Cote (member of the House
of Assembly), Julien Gagnon, Robert Nelson, M.H.A.,
Edmund Burke O'CaUaghan, M.H.A., Edward E. Rodier,
M.H.A., Thomas Storrow Brown, Ludger Duvemay,
Etienne Chartier, a priest (a solitary example), George
E. Cartier, John Regan the elder and John Regan the
younger, Louis Perrault, Pien-e P. Demaray, Joseph F.
Davignon, and Louis Gautier, who had aU absconded,
^^ere doomed to death, if found again within Canada;
but vrith a proriso, that if permitted thereafter to retum
and reside therein, by competent authority, none of
these persons should be subject to any penalty or pro
secution for any treasonable or seditious practises by
them at any heretofore time committed.*
But the mm-derers of, or persons charged with the
murders of Lieutenant Weir of the 32nd Regiment, and
of Joseph Chartrand, were in nowise to be permitted to
* It is perfectly obvious, therefore, that all these persons upon
being allowed by Government to retirrii to Canada, are as fully par
doned and free from all molestation, as if the rebellion had never
occuired ; for the British Government cannot undo Lord Durham's
aot of grace, for which he was as fully indemnified as for his act of
punishment in dooming and deporting, and accordingly many have
returned, and now hold prominent situations.

CANADA. 141
come within any future pardon. Their names were —
Fi-an§ois Jalbert, Jean Baptiste L'Huissier,LouisL'Huis-
sier, Franyois Mignault, Fi-an5ois Talbot, Amable
Dunais, Fran§ois Nicolas, Etienne Langlois, Gideon
Pinsonault, and Joseph Pinsonault.* All other persons
concerned in the rebellion were pardoned.
This extended act of mercy had very little effect;
a body of sympathisers, at the latter end of June, plan
ned an attack upon Canada from the United States,
at two places on the Western frontier — Bear Creek,
near the entrance of the Thames, and Sarnia, on the
river St. Clair; and a number of state prisoners were
rescued from their durance in the London district, so
that on the 1st of July it was necessary to send forward
the 34th Regiment from Toronto to that place.
Sir John Colbome, vrith his accustomed actirity,
again risited the Niagara frontier, and formed a camp
near the Falls. The 43rd under Colonel Booth, two
field-pieces under Lieutenant Wilkins of the Royal Artil
lery, and part of a company of Sappers under Lieutenant
Roberts of the Royal Engineers, went at the same time
to the frontier, and were followed by complete reinforce
ments, and by two troops of the Dragoon Guards and
the-71st Regiment.
Some of the pirates marched from Bear Creek to
Delaware, within about sixteen miles of London, and
haring robbed the store of a French trader on the
St. Clau', the Indians pursued and routed them. They
extended their plunder, however, as far as the Goderich
* The murders of Lieutenant Weir and of Chartrand were so
barbarously brutal and unnecessary, even to the cause of the rebels.
that it was long hoped justice niight yet overtake all the perpetrators.

1 42 CANADA.
frontier of Lake Huron in a sloop, which was taken
possession of, after the pirates had escaped, by -the
United States' steamer Gratiot.
About this time Lord Durham revoked all the pro
clamations of his predecessors, offering rewards for the
capture of the rebels who had absconded.
The invasion of the Western district vvas soon put an
end to, and Lieutenant Elmsley of the Royal Navy, who
had already so much distinguished himself, captured
six of the pirates of Bear Creek whilst cruising on Lake
Erie. The Indians also took many more, amongst
whom was Aide-de-camp Spencer, who had been par
doned on account of his having given useful information.
The United States steamboat Governor Marcy also
captured six of the brigands who had robbed the shops
near Gooderich, and for the first time a Grand Jury at
Detroit found one of the patriots guUty of violating the
neutrality of the United States. His name was Vree-
land, and he was sentenced to a year's imprisonment,
and a fine of 1,000 doUars.
The Kingston Penitentiary also received several of
the state prisoners, who were sentenced to three years'
hard labour and expatriation afterwards ; but at Quebec
a public meeting was held, expressing sympathy for the
fate of the French Canadian rebels, and caUing upon
Lord Durham to restore them aU to their homes. This
meeting took place on the 4th of July, the day on
which the Independence of the United States is annu
ally kept, and was most numerously attended, Jean
Tourangeau, a Justice of the Peace, presiding, and
Monsieur BeUeau, Secretary, and a copy of the resolu
tions was ordered to be sent on board the Vestal, then

CANADA. 143
about to convey Wolfred Nelson and his companions to
Bermuda ; and the French Canadians of Terrebonne
illuininated their town on the same 4th of July.
A special commission at Kingston tried the following
prisoners for high-treason, and they were acquitted or
held to bail : Reynolds, Le Sage, and Myers, Lewis, Orr,
La Fontaine, Marsh, and Day. Of the guUt of some
of these men, who were taken vrith arms in their hands,
there was not a doubt, for they themselves affected not
to deny it ; but the pririlege of an almost unlimited
chaUenge of the jurors, and the evident magnanimous
intention of the Government not to push matters to
extremity, was the cause of their release. They were
chiefly inhabitants of the districts adjoining Kingston,
and what is worse, several of them were the sons of
United Empire settlers, who owed aU they possessed to
the Government.
The trial of the prisoners taken at the Short Hills
ended differently. Morrow, the leader, was executed
on the 30th of July. He was a native of Pennsylvania ;
and Miller, an American law-student, was also found
guilty with some others, such as Waite, the second in
command ; but it would be tedious and uninteresting
to name all the obscure adventurers who were punished
or perished for their atrocities and folly.
Lord Durham having detei-mined to return to Eng
land, addresses in his favour were sent to his Lordship
from the most influential persons in the Cities of
Toronto, Quebec, Montreal, and Kingston, from
Cobourg and from many other towns. It is said that
this change of feeling towards the Governor-general
aldose in consequence of the want of support he met

1 44 CANADA.
with at home ; and also that since the acquittal of the
murderers of Chartrand, he had somewhat altered his
policy respecting the French Canadians, particularly as
the districts which had evinced most openly the prin
ciples of rebeUion, were again practising the same
unhappy game. Just before his departure in October,
a trooper of Captain Moore's troop of the Mississiquoi
Dragoons captured a French Canadian double wagon
and a cart at Moore's Corner, v/hilst they were passing
from the frontier of Vermont towards Stanbridge in
Lower Canada at midnight. The drivers escaped, but a
beautiful iron nine-pounder gun, complete in everything
necessary for the field, and covered over with apples,*
with other materials for a fresh attack, were secured.
* Theller and Dodge escaped from the Citadel Prison of Quebec in
the latter end of October, with three other minor symiiathisers, who
were, however, retaken, and John George Parker, Bropliy, Anderson,
and several others also escaped from the State Prison at Fort Henry,
Kingston. Parker and another were retaken. In the latter case,
treachery was employed ; in the fonner, cunning alone elFected the
escape. Both were adventures which might form parts of romance.
I annex Brophy's account, which leaves the traitors who aided him
out altogether, and without whose assistance he could not have
escaped : the detail of the escape is correct.
, We shall probably gratify the curiosity of our readers by giving
them an opportunity of reading "Col. Brophy's" account of the
escape of the prisoners from Fort Henry, as copied from The North
American, printed at Watertown. Brophy's statement diff'ers mate
rially from that of Watson in several particulars, especially as to the
means employed in the escape, and shows that in addition to the
Colonel's "being acquainted with military engineering," he is pos
sessed of another accomplishment, yclept lying.
To THE Editor, &c. Watertown, Tth August, 1838.
Sir, — In reply to your note of yesterday, requesting a statement of
the escape of myself and fellow-suflferers, late in adversity, from the
stronghold of the enemy in Canada, I beg leave to state that, on the
2ud of June last, fifteen of us were heavily ironed and sent from

CANADA. 145
No sooner was Lord Durham on board of the vessel
which conveyed him to Europe, and had delegated the
Toronto to Fort Henry, Kingston, and confined in- a strong room in
the garrison, under a doubly sentry of the Regulars, and the daily
inspection of a Bailiff, -appointed by the authorities of Kingston.
To any who have visited the garrison, its appearance is im
pregnable ; and on my first acquaintance I had imagined that it
would take more powder to blow us out of it than I was able to cal
culate. On a closer examination matters appeared more favourable,
and no opportunity was neglected in extending the inquiry in every
instance that ofi'ered.
We were permitted, in about three weeks after our arrival, to walk
for half an hour each day on the parade; and on one occasion the cell
next that in which we were confined being open, myself and another
person entered, partly to avoid the oppressive rays of the sun, and
partly to see how the land lay around us. On being observed by the
Bailiff, he ordered us out, but not before one of us discovered a trap
door at the end of a dark passage at one end of the cell. Being
acquainted with military engineering, and being at this time tolerably
acquainted with the plan of the garrison, the idea occurred that this
passage had a subterraneous communication with the sallyport and
gun-rooms for the defence of the ditch and the outworks of the fort,
the port-holes of which we observed from the port-holes in the cell.
This discovery seemed to offer a hope, though other difliculties,
apparently insurmountable in themselves, occurred, not the least of
which was scaling the outer wall. In being taken to the garrison,
some of our party observed a low point in this wall for the purpose of
allowing a gun placed on the ramparts to bear upon any object
approaching the shore, which appeared a favourable scaling-point.
In examining the cell, we saw that it had a communication with the
one we occupied by a strong panel-door, the recess of which was
filled with solid masonry on our side four and a half feet thick. From
all the subsequent observation and inquiry that lay in our power to
make, an escape by mining a passage through this doorway appeared
feasible ; yet it was not till an answer was received from Montreal to
an address presented to Lord Durham by a majority of the prisoners
in the garrison, on his return from Toronto, stating that he (Lord
Durham) had referred the address in question to Sir George Arthur,
that a determination was agreed upon to place more reliance upon
this passage and our own exertions, than in the Lieutenant-governor
or Lord Durham, in whose hands we lay.
With these views, on last Friday evening (3rd inst.), after the
VOL. II. H

146 CANADA.
administration of the Government once again to Sir
John Colborne, than the fire of rebeUion, which had
Bailiff and guard had visited us for the day, I brought up the subject
again in full meeting, pointing out the utter hopelessness of our case,
and reported upon the north-west passage, as we called it, asking leave
to commence the undertaking, saying, —
"Where's the slave so lowly,
Condemn'd to chains unholy.
Who, could he burst
His bonds at first.
Would pine beneath them slowly? "
Leave was granted by a majority ; and about four o'clock one of
our party, as contractor of the undertaking, (and well aud most
satisfactory did he execute the work,) commenced the plan, which was
to mine a passage level with the fioor, two and a half feet square,
through the masonry in the doorway, and when arrived at the door
a panel and munton was to be removed by cutting out the groove on
the inside, carefully preserving the moulding in front in order to
replace the panel should the way out be found to be impracticable.
The stones in front of the wall were numbered and carefully pre
served, and the remainder placed under our beds along the walls of
the cell, while a large stove in the apartment served to contain the
dry mortar that crumbled, and was taken out on the occasion.
It has been stated in some of the Kingston papers that a crowbar
was given us, and other assistance rendered from without. Such is
not the case ; we received nothing whatever in the way of assistance
from any person ; and the only tools used, or that we had to use, were a
large crooked nail or spike about five inches long, and a piece of cast
iron two inches wide, eight inches long, and shaped like the letter L,
probably a brace belonging to one of the gun-carriages, both of which
we picked up while walking on the parade, as we did the smallest
trifle, even to a lead button of the soldiers' dress that came in
our way.
These two pieces of iron, which are probably ere this found in the
stove into which they were put, and a stick of firewood, was'all that
was used in removing the masonry, which was effected, and the front
stones replaced, filling the joints with mortar made from the dry
material removed, so as to leave no traces of discovery, about nine
¦o'clock in the evening. Saturday evening we set to again and
removed the panel, and at six o' clock, a dark lantern being prepared,
I had the pleasure of passing through, followed by two others of our

CANADA. 147
only been slumbering, broke out with fi-esh fury, and
regiments were again called for from Nova Scotia, the
party, entering the trap-door and descending a narrow subterraneous
passage by a ladder of some eight or ten steps placed under the trap
door ; following this passage, we ascended to the level of the room we
left by a ladder placed at the opposite end of the passage, and entered
the works in the outer wall, thence through a narrow passage and four
small rooms all studded in front with port-holes for musketry, thence
by a short passage turning at right angles, and ascending a few steps
into the gun-rooms, from whence we were enabled to survey the ditch
and low point referred to in the outer wall. The gun-rooms are three
in number, having each a mounted gun and a store of ammunition,
with port-holes sufficiently large to admit a full-grown person, each
of which is secured with an oak shutter, hung in a groove, and can
only be opened on the inside. On raising the shutter an entrench
ment fifteen feet deep was perceptible on the outside, right under the
port-holes for the whole length of the gun-rooms, and faced with
masonry, through which our passage lay. Not having the means of
descending into this entrenchment, we returned and reported progress,
and another visit was made at dawn next morning, all of which time a
double sentry was placed on our door, four others were in different
parts of the parade, and one on the ramparts.
It was then determined that a grand move should be made on Sun
day night, notwithstanding the opposition of a few unwilling ones of
the party, who however acquiesced in the end. The passage was
closed up as usual for the day, and ou the visit of the guards and
Bailiff, every thing seemed to be in its proper place. Having all got
ready at half-past ten at night, the procession began to move on
slowly and quietly, all in their stocking feet, and with a very small
portion of clothing and provisions, and arrived at the gun-rooms, when
a halt was made until it could be ascertained where the sentry stood
on the ramparts by his calling out '• All's well," which was passed
around every half-hour to all on guard, ending with the sentry on the
rampart, where it began — whose duty it was to walk round the ram
part every half-hour.
While in the gun-room, we distinctly heard the guard turn out to
receive the grand rounds, who went round and found "all well."
Soon as the sentry's position was known on the ramparts, a descent
was made into the entrenchment by a rope fastened to the muzzle of
the gun, and at a signal given on the outside, one of our party who
remained behind to answer inquiries if the seutry should make any
during our departure, passed out two planks through the port-holes,
h2

148 , CANADA.
93rd being at once ordered from Halifax, from Prince
Edward's Island and Cape Breton. Arms and ammu-

which were ripped from a bench in the cell and lashed together, holes
being cut eighteen inches apart to serve as a ladder in scaling the
outer wall, and immediately joined the party in the gun-room, while
another was examining the scaling point outside.. At a signal given
by him, the descent was continued; and at the time that all were out
in the ditch, and had taken their places under the garrison wall, a
storm was visibly gathering in the horizon. The moon was going
down, and the sullen gloom of the firmament was beautifully illumined
by fitful flashes of lightning, which showed our way in the total dark
ness of the storm as the pillar of fire did the Israelites in their escape
from Pharaoh. We awaited the storm, and soon as the rain began,
which it was expected would encase the sentry in his box, the ascent
was commenced. The calculation was a good one, and answered our
expectations. In a few moments the rain began to fall in torrents,
all was enveloped in darkness, and in moving on, Mr. Montgomery
met with a serious accident in falling into an entrenchment at one
angle of the ditch, which rendered him almost unable to walk. He
was taken out very much hurt, and is yet labouring under its effects.
The ladder was applied to the wall within about 100 feet of the
sentry on the ramparts, by means of which one ascended on the glacis,
and a rope made from a portion of our bedding was suspended froui
above, which drew up all hands in a few moments, at which time the
storm began to abate. The ladder was drawn up and cast away, and
a quick march beat till about 100 rods north of the garrison ; when a
halt was made and all hands mustered, it was discovered that
Mr. Parker was missing.
Observing him much agitated on reaching the glacis, it occurred
that he might have fallen into a deep ditch, that lay within a few feet
of our landing. I returned, accompanied by another, examined the
glacis, and descended into the ditch, and after a most anxious search
could observe no traces of him, nor can we account for the cause of
his departure from us. We again joined the party, who awaited us,
got on our boots, assisted Mr. Montgomery, by a person getting under
eaoh arm, took up a quick march, and in a little time fortunately
gained the river road to Gananoque, just as the guards were crying
out " all's well," at half-past twelve, we travelled till daylight, when
we turned in and halted in the woods.
Owing to the loss of Mr. Parker, our plan of arrangements for
crossing the river was disorganized; and seeing Mr. Montgomery
quite helpless and dispirited, myself and two others of our party

CANADA. 149
nition were also sent from the great dep6t at Halifax
¦to Quebec.
On Lake Ontario the large steamboat Traveller and
the Burlington were chartered to convey troops, and
that part of Lower Canada where the rebels were most
numerous was freshly garrisoned to prevent the de
struction of the locks of the GrenriUe Canal. Toronto
was strengthened, and Kingston fuUy manned.
An act of grace was at the same time issued by Sir
George Arthur to the deluded victims of unpriacipled
leaders, and the heads only having suffered the just
volunteered to remain with him, and bring him away, or share his
fate. The remaining ten divided themselves into two parties, and left
us for some favourable point down the river.
Mr. Montgomery's situation enabled us to make very little progress
after ha-ving halted. On Wednesday night we succeeded in getting
into a boat, and after passing several craft on the river, we put into a
bay on Long Island, carried our skiff across, about a mile and a half,
launched her on the other side, and arrived at Cape Vincent about six
o'clock on Thursday evening, where we were received with marked
kindness and hospitality by the inhabitants.
My letter being perhaps rather lengthy, I shall address you further
at another time, and close with the names of all who have reached
here : — John Montgomery, John 'Anderson, and Gilbert F. Morden,
were sentenced to be executed, and had no commutation of their sen
tence. Thomas Tracy, Edward Kennedy, John Marr, William Stock-
dale, John Stewart, Walter Chase, and myself, had received no sen
tence ; but as these things were all managed by the Executive
Council, as the trials of Emmett and others were in Ireland forty
years ago, by passing the sentence before the trial, there is no doubt
in our minds but transportation for life to some dismal corner of the
earth awaited us. Providence has, however, ordered it otherwise. It
is said that three others have crossed at or below French Creek, which
with Messrs. Parker and Watson, complete the entire number who
left the garrison. Very respectfully, your obedient Servant,
STEPHEN B. BUOPHY,
Colonel of Engineers in the Patriot service of Upper Canada.

150 CANADA.
penalty of death, they were permitted to retum. But
Alonzo Merriman of PeUham, merchant, Aaro n Win
chester, yeoman, Darid Jennings, Chester GUlet, and
Thomas Lambert, aU of Pelham, labourers, concerned in
the attack and plunder of the tavern at the Short HiUs,
who had absconded, were summoned to retum and
surrender, on pain of attainder for high treason.*
The mercy thus nobly shown, such is the perverse-
ness of human nature, particularly when that nature is
• Those who had absconded after the Toronto outbreak, and here
after named, were in like manner duly attainted, provided they did
uot surrender for trial :
John Rolph, M.P.P. Henry Stiles.
Edmond Quirk. William Fletcher.
William Lyon Mackenzie, David M'Carty.
M.P.P. Seth M'Carty.
Silas Fletcher. Nelson Gorham.
Jacob Rymal. Daniel Fletcher.
Richard Graham. Alexander M'Leod.
John Mantack. ComeUus Willis.
Joseph Borden. Erastus Clark.
Joshua Winn. David Gibson, M.P.P.
Jeremiah Graham. Landon Wurtz.
Thomas Brown. James Marshall.
Levi Parsons. Alum Marr.
Jesse Loyd. Joseph Clarkson.
Aaron Munchaw. Dudley Wilson.
And those who had acted within the London district, viz. .
Charles Duncombe, M.P.P. Jesse Paulding.
James Davis. Joel P. Doan.
Eliakim Malcolm. Samuel Edison, Jun.
Peter Delong. Joshua G. Doan.
Orsimus B. Clark. John Talbot.
Lyman Davis. Abraham Suiton.
Henry Fisher. Moses Chapman Nickerson.
Solomon Howes. George Lawton.
James Malcolm. John Massacre.
' Pelham C. Teeple. Elisha Hall.
Morris Humphrey.

CANADA. 151
deteriorated by an imperfect education, was scorned ; for
as the month of November, and the long dark nights
approached, a new, a more extensive, better organized,
and apparently more effective scheme of plunder, piracy,
and bloodshed was secretly concocted and matured.
Such however was the accuracy, as in the former
cases, vrith which paid informers and honest men
detailed the proceedings of the Hunters' Lodges and
the plans of Dr. Nelson, Mackenzie, and Co., that
everything necessary to be done was soon done to meet
the emergency. ,
Sir George Arthur, in Upper Canada, issued a
Militia general order, statiag that information had
been received of a determination again to invade Canada
from the shores of a friendly state, and that that state
had failed to preserve peaceable relations towards
these Colonies. Under these circumstances, the Lieu
tenant-governor again caUed upon the Mihtia to
defend their countiy from lawless war, plunder, and
devastation, assuring them that he was in full pos
session of the designs of the enemy, who had nominally
among them many "who have not forgotten their
allegiance to her Majesty, or their duty to their Canadian
brethren, and only appear in the ranks of the brigands
at present to save themselves from insult and violence."
The intentions of the American sympathizers (com-
Who were almost all American settlers or of American descent ; and
those who had been indicted in the Gore district at Hamilton, viz. .
Michael -Marcellus Mills. George Washington Case.
George Alexander Clark. Angus Mackenzie.
Joseph Fletcher. John Vanorman.
Were similarly described, and the reader can form an opinion of the
country and origin of nine-tenths of all these lists.

152 CANADA.
posed of citizens of the United States) were to make a
grand attempt simultaneously to enter Canada from
Detroit and Lake Erie to the State of Maine, which
was embroiled at that moment in the Boundary dispute,
and ripe for aggression, and which the exertions of
Sir John Harvey and the Militia of New Brunswick
and Nova Scotia alone kept under. Thus, instead of
permitting five or ten thousand of these brave MUitia-
men to march, as they had splendidly offered, to the
assistance of the Canadas, they were obliged to re
main for'the defence of their own homes.
By this extended line of operations, it was hoped
the Queen's troPps and Militia would have been
paralyzed, and that the disaffected in both prorinces
would have been enabled to join the Patriots, and
effect the subversion of British power on the American
continent. The lands of the Colonists were duly
parcelled out, and tickets of location given to the
" Hunters." As usual, however, there was a want of concert
amongst the leaders, and the information given to the
Government was clear, explicit, and so conclusive, that
a party of rebels of Lower Canada, who had been
pardoned, or had fled to the State of Vermont, were
taken by a detachment of the Dragoon Guards and the
15th Regiment from Chambly, under Lieutenant-
colonel Taylor, whilst deliberating in the house of
Gagnon at Pointe h la Meule, about seven miles from
St. John's, and near the boundary-line, forty-five
degrees. Seven were captured, all armed with Ame
rican muskets, cartouche-boxes, bayonets, and belts,
with twenty rounds per man of ball cartridge. Amongst

CANADA. 153
them was a son of Gagnon's, and several inhabitants
of St. John's were also arrested, the chief of them
being Dr. Lacroix, who had been in prison all the
former winter, and pardoned.
A night or two previous, domicUiary risits by the
Patriots had been made at the isolated farms, and one
French Canadian was obliged to contribute fifty pounds
in hard cash to save his life and his premises. So
fiercely did this spu-it rage, that at La Tortue, seven
miles from La Prairie, the houses of the loyalists were
ransacked, and two respectable farmers, named Walker
and Vitrey, were murdered in the night in cold blood,
and in the most deliberate and atrocious manner; and
the farmers were obliged, generally, to quit their homes
for the protection of the nearest garrison.*
A party of the 7th Hussars came suddenly upon
the pei-petrators of these deeds of horror, and put them
to the route. They fied into the woods ; but two loyalist
prisoners were fortunately rescued, and Walker's vridow
and chUd taken to La Prairie. When she arrived, the
unfortunate woman was covered with her husband's
blood. On the same night the rebels again appeared
in arms in Beauhamois, and captured the steamer
Henry Brougham, with the mail and passengers from
Upper Canada. They also took prisoners Messrs.
Ellice, Brown, Norval, and Ross. The seigniory of
Beauhamois belonged to Mr. Edward Ellice, son-in-law
of Lord Grey. Simultaneously the Chateauguy River
district was the scene of revolt ; and a Magistrate, Mr.
• Such was the courage of the women in these isolated farm
houses that they often shared the danger with their husbands ; Wal
ker's wife loaded his piece for him. — Editor.
h3

154 CANADA.
M'Donald, was woimded; and the River Richeheu,
from St. Mary's downwards, towards the St. Lawrence,
was again the universal scene of civU war.
A gallant achievement of the Caughnawaga Indians,
who are domiciled opposite the Montreal shore, must
be mentioned. The greater part of the residents of the
rillage, bearing the name of the tribe, were assembled
at church on the moming after the rising on the
Chateauguy, when the chief was informed by an old
squaw, who had been searching in the woods for a lost
cow, that the woods were full of armed men, who were
advancing upon the village. Unarmed, the Indians
left the sacred edifice ; and their gallant leader, imme
diately raising the dreaded war-whoop, seized the
nearest rebel, from whom he wrested his musket. His
example was instantly followed ; and sixty-four, which
was double that of the tribe present at this daring
exploit, were disarmed, made prisoners, and brought to
Montreal soon afterwards by the La Chine cavalry. I
do not recollect the name of this heroic chief, but trust
he received that, which an Indian so dearly prizes, a
medal. Just prerious to this event, the steam-boat Princess
Victoria had been employed to take from La Prairie
four field-pieces, &c., to St. John's ; and, as the night
came on when she reached that place, it was deemed
unsafe that she should proceed or embark the men,
horses, and guns. During the night, combustibles
were placed in several parts of the vessel's forecastle,
and fired ; but the fiames were fortunately got under.
This timely discovery, and the detention of the gunners
in the village saved it from destruction also, as it was

CANADA. 155
to have been sacked and burned if the troops had pro
ceeded. At the same time, about thirty feet of the
raUway from St. John's was destroyed in the night, and
the driver of the Quebec mail was an-ested by twenty
armed men, at Bout de I'Isle, but allowed to proceed, it
not being the mail to Quebec vrith the dispatches of
Sir John Colborne, which they alone wanted, and
which they said would not escape them, as their party
at Berthier would get them on their road.
The troublesome districts north of Montreal ex
hibited, as of old, the same scenes ; and the city was in
such a state of ferment, that about 4,000 Volunteers
agaia enrolled themselves for its defence. His ExceUency
Lieutenant-general Sir John Colborne immediately pro
claimed Martial Law in the District of Montreal, and
the foUovring persons were also arrested on the 4th of
November, 1838 :
Messrs. D. B. Viger, Messrs. J. J. Girouard,
Charles Mondelet, „ J. A. Labadie,
L. H. Lafontaine, „ H. B. WeUbrenner,
John Donegani, „ George Dillon,
Fran9ois Des Rivieres, „ Goulet,
L. M. Viger, „ LabeUe,
Dexter Chapin, „ Labonte,
Fran9ois Pigeon, „ Harkin,
who were chiefly people of rank and consideration, with
several others of less consequence.
Dr. R. Nelson* published at the same time the foUow-
* Having firs~t instigated the peasantry at St. Ours, St. Denis,
St. Charles, St. Michel, L'Acadie, Chateauguy, La PrairiS, Napier-
ville, Beauhamois, &c., to assemble again in rebellion. In fact, the

156 CANADA.
ing Proclamation, which I should not think worth copy
ing, as in the case of Mackenzie's, if it did not happen
that it served, and still serves, to convince the French
Canadians that their interests were not much thought
of by the revolutionary leaders. After a long preamble,
setting forth the tyranny and oppression experienced
fi-om the British Govemment, and stating that Dirine
Providence had permitted them to put down that
Government in Lower Canada, it proceeds thus ;
" We, in the Name of the People of Lower Canada,
solemnly declare ;
" 1. That from this day forward, the people of
Lower Canada are absolved from all allegiance to Great
Britain; and the political connection between that
power and Lower Canada is now dissolyed.
" 2. That a Republican form of Government is best
suited to Lower Canada, — which is this day declai-ed
to be a Republic.
" 3. That under the Free Govemment of Lower
Canada all persons shaU enjoy the same rights; the
Indians shall no longer be under any civil disqualifica
tion, but shaU enjoy the same rights as all other
citizens of Lower Canada.
" 4. That all union between Church and State is
hereby declared to be dissolved, and every person shaU
be at liberty freely to exercise such religion or belief as
shall be dictated to him by his conscience.
" 5. That the feudal, or seignorial tenure of land is
whole section of country between the Richelieu and Yamaska rivers
was in insurrection, and west of the Richelieu from Centre Cceur,
Vercherre, and Belceil.

CANADA. . 157
hereby abolished as completely as if such tenure had
never existed in Canada.
" 6. That each and every person who shall bear arms
or otherwise fm-nish assistance to the people of Canada
in this contest for emancipation, shall be, and is, dis
charged from all debts due, or obligations, real or sup
posed, for arrearages in virtue of seignorial rights
heretofore existing.
" 7. That the douaire coutumiere is, for the future,
abolished and prohibited.
" 8. That imprisonment for debt shaU no longer
exist, — excepting in such cases of fraud as shall be
specified in an Act to be passed hereafter by the Legis
lature of Lower Canada for this purpose.
" 9. That sentence of death shaU no longer be
passed or executed, except in case of murder.
" 10. That mortgages on landed estate shall be
special; and, to be valid, shall be enregistered in offices
to be created for this purpose by an Act of the Legis
lature of Lower Canada.
"11. That the liberty and freedom of the press
shaU exist in all public matters and affairs.
" 12. That trial- by jury is guaranteed to the people
of Lower Canada, in its most extended and liberal
sense, in all criminal suits, and in all civil suits above
a sum fixed by the Legislature of the state of
Lower Canada.
"13. That as general and public education is neces
sary, and due by the Govemment to the people, an Act
to proride for the same shall be passed as soon as the
circumstances of the country wUl permit.

158 CANADA.
" 14. That to secure the elective franchise, aU elec
tions shaU be by ballot.
"15. That, vrith the least possible delay, the people
shall choose Delegates, according to the present dirision
of the country into counties, towns, and boroughs,
who shaU constitute a Convention or Legislative Body,
to establish a Constitution according to the wants of
the country, and in conformity with the disposition of
this declaration, subject to be modified according to the
will of the people.
" 16. That every male person of twenty-one years
of age, and upwards, shaU have the right of voting as
herein provided, and for the election of the aforesaid
Delegates. "17. That all Crown Lands, also such as are caUed
Clergy Reserves, and such as are nominaUy in pos
session of a certain Company of Landholders in England,
caUed ' The British North American Land Company,'
are, of right, the property of the State of Lower
Canada, except such portion of the aforesaid lands as
may be in possession of persons who hold the same in
good faith, and to whom titles shall be secured and
gi-anted, by virtue of a law which shaU be enacted to
legalise the possession of, and a title for, such untitled
lots of land in the townships as are under cultivation
or improvement.
" 18. That the French and English languages shall
be used in aU public affairs.
' " And for the fulfilment of this declaration, and the
support of the patriotic cause in which we are now
engaged, with a firm reliance on the protection of the

CANADA. 159
Almighty, and the justice of our conduct, we, by these
presents, solemnly pledge to each other our lives, our
fortunes, and our most sacred honour.
" By order of the Provisional Govemment.
" Robert Nelson, President."
The British reader ¦wUl scarcely believe that such a
document ever had existence, or that an Englishman in
the humble situation of Robert Nelson could have been
so daring as thus to have braved the power of the
British Queen ; but so it was, and luckily it did the
utmost injury to the cause it pretended to espouse, for
the French Canadians -saw that at one fell swoop all
their cherished usages and their religion would be
sacrificed to an insane desire of becoming an integral
portion of the Republican States of America.
Burnings,, murder, and plunder followed this delect
able document; and such was the state of things, that
two steam-boats, the Charleroi and the Britannia, were
chartered on the Richelieu, for the Patriot service, and
a run made upon all the Montreal banks. But Dr. R.
Nelson had one of Wellington's best generals to contend
with, active in the field and energetic in the council-
chamber, Lord Seaton, who immediately took measures
to secure these steamers and to keep open the inter
rupted mail communications, whUst it was understood
that every town or place in whicii the rebels made
head, would meet the fate it deserved, by being rased
to the ground.
The state of Montreal and other places, in which
an insidious foe lurked, may be conceived when it is
known that the inhabitants seldom rested tranquiUy at

160

CANADA.

night, and were obliged for a time to keep lights
burning in their vrindows, to assist the troops in case
of alarms, whilst additional arrests, too numerous to
detail, were continually made.
On the 5th of November a supply of a 6-pounder
and ammunition was embarked by the Patriots on
board a schooner, at Rouse's Point, on the Champlain,
close to the lines. This supply was for the head
quarters of the French Canadian rebels, at NapierviUe,
in Canada, and Dr. Cote with Gagnon were ordered to
drive the British Troops from the famous mUls at
La CoUe, which occupied the pass by which NapierviUe
was to be reached. Accordingly a body of about 400
rebels prepared to cross the lines from Alburg and Cald
well's Manor, and halted, on the night of the 5th, in
the houses close to Lake Champlain and to the Boun
dary line. On Tuesday morning the Bth Nov. 1838, at
about ten o'clock, the attack commenced on La CoUe
Old MUl, and the Volunteers, who were on piquet in
advance, were driven in. The post was defended by
Colonel Odell; and the rebels receiving a check, he
immediately sent for Major Schriver and a reinforce
ment of Volunteers.
The Volunteers now attacked in their turn, and
captured the 6-pounder, 250 stand of arms, and a
quantity of ammunition, kiUed 11 of the Patriots, and
took 8 prisoners; the rest escaped across the lines,
where they could not be followed without riolating the
neutrality. Two of the Volunteers were kiUed and
two wounded, and much praise was given to the
Volunteer MUitia Companies, commanded by Captains
Weldon, March, and Fisher.

CANADA. 161
The attempt to open a communication with Nelson
and his grand army having failed. Nelson marched, on
the morning of the 9th, from NapierviUe, against the
British position of Odell Town, with a view of securing
that communication with the United States, which was
of the most vital consequence to himself and his officers,
their safety being utterly compromised. His force
consisted of 800 men, armed with muskets, and 200
with pikes and swords.
The force to defend Odell Town was not more than
200 bayonets, all Militia Volunteers. Fortunately, Lieu
tenant-colonel Taylor, — one of the Special Serrice
officers, who had been purposely sent from England,
to organize the Militia, — arrived on the spot just in
time to assume the command of this little band.*
Nelson commenced the action at a quarter before
eleven, a.m., "with his whole force, by firing upon
Captain Welden's advanced piquet. Lieutenant-
colonel Taylor concentrated his men upon the Metho
dist chapel of Odell Town, and the enemy surround
ing him kept up an incessant fire for two hours and
a half upon the post thus well-chosen.
The Volunteers, nothing daunted, sallied out several
times ; and the action ended by the sudden retreat of the
insurgents, who left ."50 dead men on the field. Captain
M'Alhster, of the Volunteers, and 4 men were killed,
and Ensign Odell and 9 privates wounded.
Thus the Canadian Militia again showed that British
spirit is not to be cowed or tamed, even after it has
nearly been exhausted, as it was here, by constant
* Colonel Taylor, a dashing officer, who afterwards fought and fell
in one of the battles in the Punjab. — Editor.

162 CANADA.
watching and harassing duties. The MUitia used the
very cannon which they had taken at La CoUe from
the rebels, with dreadful effect ; for it is said that upon
the advance of Nelson's men, in columns, up the road
leading to the chapel, the fii-st discharge of this gun,
with grape, cleared a lane in the ranks ten feet wide.
They had only two soldiers of the regular amiy * pre
sent, a sergeant and a private, who served this gun vrith
the Volunteers ; and to show the gaUantry of the
thing, it was only' fired three times, from the circum
stance of its being outside of the chapel, and the
constant shower of balls poured against it, to render it
useless or to retake it.
StiU the main body of the insurgents occupied
NapiervUle, 4,000 strong, and Sir John Colbome
having marched agaiast it, the whole took to their
heels, followed by the cavalry ia pursuit (and many
throwing away their arms in their rapid and suc
cessful flight on the 10th of November) from daylight
to about seven o'clock. The troops in the field oh
this occasion composed a magnificent division, con
sisting of twelve field-pieces, with Major-generals Sir
James Macdonell and Clitherow, the King's Dragoon
Guards, 7th Hussars, Volunteer Cavalry, Grenadier
Guards, 15th, 24th, 71st, an,d 73rd Regiments.
Beauhamois was however still occupied ; and on
the 10th of November, Lieutenant-colonel Carmichael,
of the Particular Service, and Major PhiUpotts, of
the Royal Engineers, acting as Assistant Quarter
master-general, with 22 men of the Royal Sappers
* Sergeant Beatty and Private Devlin of the Royal Regiment,
both severely wounded.

CANADA. 163
and Miners, 1 Captain, 3 subaltems, 4 sergeants,
2 buglers, and 120 men of the 71st Regiment,
and 1,000 of the Highlanders from Glengany, under
Colonels Macdonell and Fraser, all Volunteers, were
landed at Hungry Bay, and soon dispersed the
rebels ; having, however, 1 man kiUed and 3 wounded
of the 71st, but rescuing several of the loyaUst pri
soners, and recapturing the Henry Brougham steamer
and the Upper Canada mail-bag, which had been
carefuUy secreted from the insurgents.* After this
defeat, Mr. Ellice, and his ten companions in captivity,
who had been taken to Chateauguy, were released
by the sudden flight of their guards, whilst on the
road to NapierviUe, upon their hearing that that place
had been evacuated. But Mr. EUice's splendid set
tlement, and several farmhouses, were burnt, — and
aU along the Chateauguy river, burning and woe
filled the air for several nights.
Sir John Colbome, by the advice of his Special
CouncU, and having found that decisive measures
alone would relieve the country, as there were then
between 600 and 700 prisoners at Montreal, quartered
the troops on all the disaffected vUlages, ordered a
general search for arms, and issued four ordinances,
suspending specie payments by the banks, authoriziag
the an-est of rebels and the suspension of the Habeas
Corpus Act for a limited period; also the erection
of tribunals, to try, and punish those engaged in the
• The mail contained a large sum in bank-notes, which a lady on
board most resolutely rolled up in her hustle, and thus the insurgents
missed a rich harvest, even had they found the mail, which the
Captain had hid.

164 CANADA.
rebellion, and the seizure of aU arms and munitions
of war, &c.
Up to this time, excepting threats, the grand
simultaneous scheme of conquest had not developed
itself in Upper Canada anew; but Mackenzie, TheUer,
Dodge, Wolfred Nelson, and those who had returned
under Lord Brougham's Act from Bermuda, had
attended public sympathetic meetings in the city of
New York, headed by the celebrated Dr. M'Neven.
But the New Yorkers were not prepared for such
an extensive display of Canadian patriotism, and
they met with very little countenance, — the- wealthy,
the inteUigent, and the leading men of the city
affording not the slightest countenance to their wUd
ravings about Canadian freedom.
The drama was, in fact, nearly acted out, and the
curtain about to drop upon the scene in which so
many "Patriots" had flourished, but not untU Upper
Canada was to receive a final lesson, — a lesson which,
to this day, she has not, nor will she ever forget.
I must detail it from the evidence of others ; for
although then in a situation in which I should
necessarUy have been an actor, I was, from the
fatigues and exertions of prior events, unconscious
of all sublunary affairs, having lost the use of the
faculties of mind and body so completely as to
have passed three months unconscious almost of my
own existence. I do not mention this to enhance
my individual exertions, but as an additional proof
of the lamentable consequences of a ciril war, and
as one of thousands of instances of effects stUl
operating amongst the Canadian population similarly

CANADA. 165
severe, or which ended only with the cessation of
being. The serious farce of the conquest of Canada now
shifted its scenery to Prescott, a flourishing com
mercial viUage on the St. Lawrence, just above the
Rapids of the Long Sault, where water communication
again becomes uninterrupted vrith the Lake Ontario.
Here the department under my orders had been
engaged in constructing a square tower of con
siderable size, to replace the ruined Fort Wellington,
and to check aU attempt at invasion in that quarter
from' the United States. It was nearly finished,
when intelhgence was received that a strong body
of American sympathizers from Oswego and the
neighbouring country, bordering on Lake Ontario
and the St. Lawrence, was determined to take it.
They embarked at Oswego, on board of an im
mense American steamboat, the United States, and
having been joined by two schooners full of men,
at Sackett's Harbour, proceeded dowu the St. Law
rence. I must state that this steamboat, the United
States, was of enormous size, and buUt to rival the
Great Britain, on whose decks 1,200 men have
been seen, and which was so spacious that a regi
ment, with its horses, baggage, and field equipage,
was frequently embarked in it when changing
quarters. The United States had, however, never
before been used for warhke movements, and was a
trading vessel between the American and the British
lake and river ports only.
To account for the breach of confidence displayed
in permitting her to be made use of by the sym-

166 CANADA.
pathizers, it was stated by the Captain and others,
that they had seized her ; a statement so notoriously
vrithout foundation, that she never agaia dared to
appear at Kingston during the disturbances.
The object of this expedition was to attack Fort
WeUington at Prescott, and then enter Canada.
No sooner, however, was it known that the brigands
were in motion, than Captain Sandom, the British
naval commander on the lakes, ordered a strict look
out to be kept upon their movements, amid the
Thousand Islands of the River St. Lawrence and as
far as Prescott.
Lieutenant Fowel, R.N., in the Eccperiment, a
little armed steamer, effectuaUy checked the intended
attack, and landed at Prescott, then gan-isoned by
Militia, under the command of Major Young, one of
the Particular Service officers, distributed along the
frontier to discipline and command that exceUent force.
The piratical vessels, unprepared for such vigorous
measures as those adopted by Lieutenant Fowel, took
shelter on the American shore at Ogdensburgh,
exactly opposite to Prescott, which shore was lined
vrith thousands of people, for several days, eager to
witness the invasion and its results.
The next day the marauders took heart of 'grace,
and having dropped down the river a mUe or two,
landed at a place in Canada called WindmiU Point,
where there was a lofty stone vrindmill, built very
solidly, and three strong stone houses. The position
was a good one, on a small projecting point of the
St. Lawrence, entirely out of range from Fort
Wellington.

CANADA. 167
The road to Lower Canada ran behind the windmill
which is near the edge of the rather steep bank of the
river, on a shght eminence, up which the road passed.
Thus the windmUl commanded both the land and water
approaches, and was covered on the land front by the
strong stone houses on the opposite part of the road,
one of which was built at right angles to the others on
the side of Prescott, and thus formed a sort of outwork,
well flanked.
The pirates, however, not liking the look of things,
and not being joined by any of the Canadians, as they
expected, commenced immediately to strengthen then-
position by throwing up slight earth-works to cover
their guns and men employed in keeping open their
communications with each other, and threw in a large
quantity of ammunition to their tower of streng-th.
A circle of observation was also formed by<the bri
gands on the neighbouring fields, which somewhat
overlooked the position; and Major Young, finding that
they were determined to hold the mill, mustered his
MUitia force, with the small detachments from the
Royal Marines and 83rd Regiment, sent from Kingston.
His force consisted of two columns of attack. The
right, under Lieutenant-colonel Gowan of the Queen's
Borderers Volunteer Mihtia, was composed of 44 men
of the 83rd, 150 of the Queen's Borderers, and 100 of
Colonel Martle's Regiment of Stormont Mihtia. The
left vring, commanded by Colonel D. Fraser, with a com
pany of Glengarry Highlanders under Captain George
Macdonnel, Captains Jones and Eraser's companies 2nd
GrenvUle, and 100 men of the Stormont Militia, and
30 men of the Royal Marines.

168 CANADA.
The troops advanced at a quarter before seven in the
mornmg of the 13th November 1838, to di-ive the enemy
from the extended lines which he had occupied behind
the stone walls which dirided the fields and inclosures
for a considerable distance round the mill ; and Captain
Sandom, haring arrived from Kingston in the Victoria
steamboat at two o'clock in the morning, determined
to combine his operations on the St. Lawrence vrith
those of Major Young on the land, thus entirely sur
rounding the windmUl.
The sympathizers fought desperately, and retreated
from behind the stone walls very slowly, picking off
leisurely numbers of their opponents vrith their rifies ;
and as no field-guns were in possession of Major Young,
and finding that no impression was made on the mill
from the cannon of the armed steamboats, at three p.m.,
after driring the brigands into the miU, he drew a
strong cordon of Militia round it.
Lieutenant Johnson, of the 83rd, leading his Uttle
band of Regulai-s into the thickest of the fight near the
mill, had just climbed the bank near the road, when he
was picked off by a rifle-ball, being in a blue frock and
his men in red.*
Lieutenant Dalmage, of the 1st Regiment of Gren
vUle Militia, whilst emulating the zeal of the Regulars,
was also killed. Lieutenant Parker of the Royal Marines,
and 16 Marines wounded; as were Lieutenant Parlow
of the 2nd Dundas Militia, and Ensign Macdonald of
the Loyal Glengarry Highlanders, with 45 non-com-
• In India and elsewhere many casualties have happened from the
officers and men not being more assimilated, as they were on the
Peninsula, when under fire. — Editor.

CANADA. 169
missioned officers and privates altogether kUled and
wounded. The brigands suffered severely, and Generals
Brown and PhUlips were kUled, and 32 prisoners taken.
The conduct of the Royal Navy and Marines was beyond
all praise.
The brigands being thus hemmed in, and Lieutenant-
colonel the Honourable H. Dundas, commanding the
83rd Regiment, having left Kiagston vrith four com
panies of that regiment, two 18-pounders and a hovritzer,
under Major M'^Bean, Royal Artillery, took up a position
400 yards from the stone buildings on the 15th of
November, assisted by Captain Randolph of the Royal
Engineers, and a company of the 93rd under Major
Arthur; and Captain Sandom, with two 18-pounders
in gun -boats, co-operated on the river. The Royal
Artillery soon made an impression on the stone houses,
but the mill resisted all the cannonading. I saw it
afterwards, and it had suffered veiy little; probably
owing to its circular form, which caused the shot fired
at an high angle from the gun-boats to glance off, as
well as those fired at a depression from the land above
it.* The cannonading having lasted more than an hour,
the brigands began, however, to find it and a constant
stream of musket balls to be rather unpleasant. They
therefore held out a white flag when they saw the troops
advance against the stone building which flanked the
road; from which they, however, first poured a very
destructive fusUlade in the darkness which was rapidly
coming on.
Eighty -six prisoners were secured, with sixteen
* In visiting Windmill Point, the power of resistance which cir
cular defences possess, was very apparent. — Editor.
VOL. II. I

1 TO CANADA.
wounded men besides, and a large supply of arms,*
ammunition, twenty-six kegs of gunpowder, and threei
pieces of cannon. Several pirates escaped in the dark
ness and confusion, and hid themselves in some low
brushwood on the bank of the river under the mUl.
Here, however, they were soon hunted out and secured
by the MUitia, and amongst them General Von Schultz,
their leader, was secured. One soldier of the 83rd was
killed; and the stone buildings haring been burnt, a
company of MUitia garrisoned the windmill, which was
armed with a carronade and otherwise streng-thened
afterwards, to prevent further use being made of it.
Thirty-five were kUled, making altogether, with the
action on the 13th, — 102 kiUed, and 162 prisoners,
on both occasions.
The Albany Argus, in commenting upon this action,
says — " Of the entire population ready to revolt, as they
were taught to believe, only three joined them. In
some ihstances, the people whose houses indiriduals
visited to instigate revolt, seized upon them and con
signed them to prison; and the Militia fought like
devils. Excepting a Pole, by the name of Von Schultz,
their generals, colonels, &c., to a man, abandoned them
before crossing, and now shrink from the taunts of an
indignant people."
This was strictly true; for the Generalissimo was
taken sick, and the poor dupes were deserted by their
vapouring instigators; whilst the MUitia were vrith
great difficulty restrained by Lieutenant-colonel Dundas
from inflicting summary punishment on aU the iavaders.
The most unfortunate circumstances in the affairs at
Prescott, were the deaths of Lieutenant Johnson and

CANADA. 171
Captain Drummond. Lieutenant Johnson was buried
at Kingston, side by side with the brave private soldier
who fell with him, amidst the tears and execrations of
thousands of the inhabitants. The most shameful and
depraved barbarities had been committed upon his body
by the miscreants of the mill, vvhilst it lay under their
power. We shall see afterwards that this mode of
treating the slain British officers was universally adopted
by the ruffianly crews of invaders. Captain Drummond,
of the Glengany Highlanders, was shot by mistake in
one of the stone buildings.
The conduct of the Mihtia on this occasion was, as
usual, excellent. At one time, it was said that five
thousand Volunteers from all parts flew to Prescott.
Lieutenant Fowel, R.N. ; Mr. Elliott, mate, R.N. ; and
Lieutenant Parker, R.M. ; were mentioned in the dis
patches to the Admiralty.'
The only simultaneous occurrence in Lower Canada
worthy of remark was a rising at the Boucherville Moun
tain by the peasantry, commanded by Malhoit, which
was soon put down by the Dragoon Guards and
66th, under Colonel the Honourable G. Cathcart *
and Major Johnstone, when the latter captured one
6-pounder, two 3-pounders, 43 muskets, 50 pikes, 11
casks of powder and baU-cartridge, and 70 rounds of
gun ammunition.
Sir George Arthur published another proclamation
of a most spirited nature, and military tribunals were
instituted to try the rebels in the two provinces.
Colonel Worth, the American Commander on the
frontier, seized The United States steamboat and the
* A first-class cavalry-officer. — Editor.
I 2

172 CANADA.
schooners, and did his utmost to prevent reinforcements
being sent over to the Windmill ; whUst BUI Johnson
and his son were arrested, and their boats captured.
The President also issued a proclamation to enforce
neutrality, in which these remarkable words were used :
after stating that " disturbances had broken out anew
in the two Canadas," which was exactly the reverse of
the real state of things, for not a movement within had
been made of any consequence, he proceeds to exhort
the sympathizing citizens of the United States to desist
from hostile invasion of Canada ; and it is then observed
that their projects are " fatal to those whom they profess
a desire to relieve, impracticable of execution vrithout
foreign aid, which they cannot rationaUy expect to
obtain," &c.
Sir John Colbome also issued proclamations insti
tuting tribunals for the trial of the rebels in Lower
Canada, and for extending martial-law to the disturbed
district of St. Francis, and above all he commanded a
solemn fast to be observed on the 7th December, 1838.
The Patriot flag, which was taken at the Windmill,
had an Eagle and a Star, with the words " Onondago
Hunters," " Canada Liberated."
The farce at Prescott terminated in the serious di-ama
of the trial of the prisoners, by a militia general
court-martial, at Kingston. A fortnight afterwards
another simUar exploit was enacted in the westem
district at Windsor, near Amherstburgh, opposite
Detroit, where the " Patriots," having " stolen " the
American steam-boat Champlain, crossed the river on
the 4th qf December, a few miles above that city, and
marched down the Canadian shore upon the little

CANADA. 173
viUage, where they most gallantly burnt the British
steam-boat, Thames, lying at the wharf, and a building
occupied with stores, &c., murdered an unhappy negro
who refused to join them, and, after a skirmish with
the Militia, prepared to march on tovrards Sandwich,
another village on the road to Amherstburgh. They
took prisoners the small detachment of Militia at
Windsor, which, however, soon effected its escape after
shooting the leader of the banditti.
Another awful intimation of what the Upper Cana
dians had to expect, if the sympathizing Patriots could
have succeeded in revolutionising Canada took place on
this occasion.
Staff Assistant-surgeon Hume, of the British Army,
having met th6se marauders on' their march, although
unarmed and in the act of offering surgical aid, which
he conceived might be required after the firing, was
brutaUy and inhumanly murdered, and his dead body
mutUated, broken, and shamefuUy and disgustingly
disfigured. Upon intelligence of their being in possession of
Windsor, Colonel Prince and his brave Militia, at Sand
wich, advanced against them, and a most gallant,
spirited, and successful attack being made upon the
miscreants, they fled into the shelter and cover of the
thick forest, leaving twenty-five killed on the field of
action, and twenty-six prisoners ; one private (a French
Canadian) of Captain Elliott's company, was killed, and
two more wounded.
The Militia engaged upon this occasion were, Nos.
1 and 2 companies, Volunteers under Captain Sparke,
with the Essex Militia, under Captains Lesslie, Elhott,

174 CANADA.
and Thebo, and several gentlemen from Sandwich, vrith
Captain Bell, of the Provincial Volunteers. After the
action. Colonel Prince was informed that a strong body
of brigands was at Sandwich, upon which he marched
back to that place, where he was joined by Captain
Broderick of the 34th and a field-piece, when the vvhole
force again was put in motion, by other intelligence,
upon Windsor, but after a long march the enemy was
not to be found.
Amongst the prisoners was Mr. Joshua 6. Doan, of
the London District, a most notorious and active per
son, for whose apprehension a reward had been offered,
and the others were chiefly Americans. Their number
was about 450, armed vrith muskets, rifles, pistols,
bayonets, and bowie-knives.
The person who bore their flag was shot by Monsieur
Pierre Mamatelle, a French Canadian Ensign in Cap
tain Thebo's company, chiefly composed of French
Canadians, and the flag itself was taken by Lieutenant
Rankin, of Captaia Sparke's company. It was a tri
colour, vrith a crescent and two stars.
Colonel Prince, in his dispatch, mentions the foUow-_
ing gentlemen as having distinguished themselves :
Charles Baby, Esq. (a French Canadian), Joseph Wood,
C. Askm, and W. R. Wood, Esqs., Mr. Grant, Editor
of the Sandwich Herald, and Messrs. Gatefield, Laugh-
ton, and Paxfield of Sandvrich.
Putnam, the leader of the sympathizers, was killed,
¦ and papers and documents, disclosing their plans, and
the co-operation of several respectable citizens of
Detroit were taken, and altogether the MUitia had
reason to be proud of the battle of Windsor.

CANADA. 1 75
I must not, however, in my duty as a mihtary his
torian, pass over a circumstance that occm-red, about
which the press of the United States rang with censure.
Colonel Prince, an Englishman of property, who
had settled in the Westem district, was a Member of
the Provincial Parliament and a Barrister-at-law. He,
for eleven months, had been kept in a constant state of
actirity and alarm, had been threatened with assassina
tion, and that his house and property should be de
stroyed. To such an extent had his anxieties been
carried by his loyal exertions, that, it is said, and I
believe truly, that one of his family, one the most dear
to him, had been almost if not actually deprived of
reason by continual alarms for his safety and that of
the family generally. He commences his official dis
patch, by saying, in language that every feeling mind
must appreciate. " Sir, I have the honour to inform
you, that yesterday at six a.m., an alarm was brought
here that Windsor (or the ferry), a small viUage about
two mUes above this, was in possession of brigands and
pirates from Michigan. Being extremely ill and worn
out by constant fatigue, both by day and night, I had,
for the first time, retired to my house, half a mUe distant
from this place (Sandwich) at two o'clock a.m., &c."
The action was at its height, Colonel Prince knew
neither the plans nor the number of the pirates, he ,
received intelhgence that they had taken up a position
which threatened his only cannon, his prorisions, and
his ammunition, in his rear at Sandwich, which he had
left unprotected.
Dr. Hume and the negro had been most barbarously
murdered in cold blood, the Thames steamer and a

176 CANADA.
house had been maliciously burnt, a brave French
Canadian had been killed and two Militiamen wounded,
and he was surrounded with a fierce band of despera
does, whilst the people on the American shore, at
Detroit, rent the air with cheers, to support the pirates,
and threatened every moment to join them in overwhelm
ing numbers. When his mind was thus occupied, when
the result of the action was uncertain, he ordered four
ofthe vUlains, with arms in their hands, to be shot,
probably finding it impossible to restrain the summaiy
vengeance of the Mihtia.
For this act, done by an officer of Volunteers who
had never been subjected to military discipline, he was
bome down by the whole force of the American press.
I do not pretend to say that an officer used to scenes
of combat would have so done, but I am persuaded,
that like the gaUant attack on the Caroline, it had an
excellent effect, and I am at a loss to know, why a
people in amity with another country closely bordering
upon them, should permit their citizens of the lowest
classes to send fire and sword, under the very eyes of
the. Govemment into an unoffending, unretaliating, and
peaceable community.
If the subjects or citizens of any Power were attacked
by bucaneers or pirates, would their Governments
weigh how, when and where those bucaneers or
pirates were shot, hung, or disposed of ? Assuredly not.
Colonel Prince was exonerated by the voice of the
Upper Canadian people, legally and universaUy, and an
honourable Court of British Officers acquitted him of
all blame.
To, show the reader in England the abominable

CANADA. 177
system to which sympathy was so suddenly raised, I
have only to state that the steam-boat Thames, which
was bui-nt, was a mere trader, and then the only
British boat on Lake Erie, and that a short time before
the rebellion occm-red, when she plied as the first
British steamer on Lake Erie, when the Americans had
half a hundred, I was on board of her, and visited the
City of Buffalo in her, to show the Americans that
Canada was following their example in extending com
merce on the great inland seas of the West.
We were received vrith the wharves lined with
people, who shouted " Long live George the Third."
I suppose they meant the good sailor king. We
were taken to the Eagle Tavern, treated and toasted.
Alas, alas ! no sooner did Mackenzie open his serpent
tongue upon these same Buffalonians, than the same
steam-boat, the poor Thames, became a victim to the
Moloch of ambition.
A court-martial was ordered to assemble at London
for the trial of the brigands taken at Windsor ; and
Sir George Arthur addressed the British minister at
Washington, and issued a proclamation declaratoiy of
his having so done, on the ground that the President's
proclamation before alluded to, contained an expression
injm-ious to the loyal Canadians, by its having stated
that " Disturbances had broken out anew in the two
Canadas," whereas the contrary was really the fact,
and the citizens of the United States had invaded the
countiy, and caused disturbance from without.
The two French Canadian judges, Bedard and Panet,
having taken an active part respecting the obstacles
thrown in the way of trying the Lower Canada rebels
I 3

178 CANADA.
and brigands, by the declaration that the suspension of
the Habeas Corpus Act was Ulegal, were themselves
suspended from office.
Mercy had, in fact, been too long practised, and it
was now necessary to make more examples of the
leaders of the invasions and commotions. General von
Schultz, Colonel Martin Woodruff, a native of Sahna, in
the State of New York, Colonels Abbey and George,
also American citizens, as were Sylvanus Swete, and
Joel Peeler, were hung at Kingston for the Prescott
outrage, with some others ; riz., Christopher Buckley,
Sylvanus Lawton, Russell Phelps, and Duncan An
derson, shortly afterwards ; Joseph Cardinal and Joseph
Duquette, TheophUe Deolgue, Ambrose Sanguinet,
Charles Sanguinet, Francois Xarier Haniehn, and
Joseph Robert, the last four for the murder of Mr.
Walker, French Canadians, were hung at Montreal for
then- conduct during Nelson's iavasion ; Hiram B.
Linn, Daniel D. Bedford, and Abel Clark, concerned in
the Windsor outrage, suffered the extreme penalty of
the law early in the next year at London, -in Upper
Canada. In 1839 General T. J. Sutherland, T. R.
Culver, B. F. Pow, A. W. Partridge, H. L. Hull,
Thayer, Nathan Smith, Chauncey Parker, Colonel
Dodge, and Doctor TheUer, were confined in the citadel
of Quebec, from which however the latter two escaped,
as before stated, on the 15th of October, 1838 ; and a
large body of rebels and sympathizers were consigned
to the penal settlements of New HoUand.
To show how unprovided vrith common sense the
sympathizers were, and how they must have had their
minds worked upon by the Mackenzie leaders, I have

CANADA. 179
only to remark, that after the battle of Windsor, the
country being up in arms, the sympathizers could
actuaUy find no kind friends to transport them across
the narrow strait within hail of the American shore,
«nd nineteen imha,ppy wretches were found in the
gloomy Canadian forest frozen to death, and vrithout
food, round the remains of a fire they had kindled ; and
yet this in the only part of the country inhabited liy
French Canadians.
Several French officers had been seduced by the
American sympathizers to take commands in Lower
Canada, as weU as some Poles, who said they had
served under Napoleon; and one of these deluded
people pubhshed a long detaU of the manner and
matter of his appointment to a Brigadier-general
ship, in which he showed the leaders in their trae
oolours, and also exposed the system of the sympathi
sers, the robbery of churches and houses, and the
¦abstraction of large sums from the French Canadians
for the patriot serrice, which were never afterwards
•accounted for.
Von Schultz, who appears to have been a very brave
but reckless adventurer, instigated these French and
PoUsh officers to join the Lower Canadians; and finding
that the game was up when the magnificent httle army,
under Sir John Colbome, took the field against Dr.
Nelson, he hastened to Upper Canada, where he com
manded at Prescott, as we have seen, and ended his days
bravely, without doubt, on the gallows at Kingston.
His servant, a Pole also, was desperately wounded, and
Ungered in the Kingston Hospital for a length of time,
showing even more firmness than his. unhappy master.

180 CANADA.
The French officer who made the disclosures alluded
to, had been a subaltem m the 15th Regiment of Light
Infantry; his name was Charles Hinderling, and he
stated that Mr, Duvernay had been the cause of his
taking a commission in the patriot serrice with another
French officer, who had been in the Anglo-Spanish
Legion, Mons. Touvrey. Hinderhng suffered on the
gallows, after a lengthened consideration of his case, as
an example to foreign officers not to enlist in the
hopeless, cause of driving British power from her Trans
atlantic dominions. But in justice to Frenchmen, we
must say, that those officers who did join the . patriots
were all mere homeless adventurers, and really uncon
nected vrith the French army.
John George Parker, Brown, Walker, and Wilson,
all .deeply engaged in the outbreak in Upper Canada,
had been sent to New South Wales, but anested in
London by a mandamus, and their case re-argued as to
the legality of their transportation from Canada
penal settlemen|.,' in which, however, K9^«?iSnstanding
all the exertions of their British friends, they were
unsuccessful. Parker's case rested mainly on letters
found in the mail-bag at Kingston, addressed to Mr.
John Vmcent, the printer of a Radical Newspaper, and
Mr. Augustus Thibodo, of the same place, in which
he recommended an organization of the midland dis
trict, and the prospect of success in consequence of the
soldiers being vrithdrawn.
Early in the ensuing year, and at the same time
with the J French officer. General Hinderling, who
commanded in the attack on Odelltovm, C. D. Lorimier,
P. R. Narbonne, Amable Dunais, and F. Nicolas,

CANADA. 181
charged with participating in the murder of Mr.
Walker, were hung.
More than half of the Prescott prisoners being youths
under age, were pardoned by Sir George Arthur, and
the rest sent to New South Wales from the state
prison in Fort Henry.
It is tme, but a most melancholy truth, that of the
great body of sympathizing youths from the United
States, nearly an hundred and fifty, who had at various
times been taken prisoners, three-fourths had been
brought up vrithout any fixed religious notions, and
they all really imagined that they were seiving their
country, as well as themselves, in attempting the con
quest of Canada. They were, in fact, chiefiy those
restless frequenters of tavern bars, who begin smoking
cigars and drinking spirits before nature has developed
their perceptions of right and wrong.

182

CANADA.

CHAPTER V.
Condition of both Provinces in the year 1839, and until the Union.
Lord Durham's panacea for the absolute restora
tion of Lower Canada to a healthy state, was the
Quintuple Union of the North American British Colo
nies, which wUl, some day or other, take place, but
about which, at present, argument would be thrown
away, as these provinces are not yet in a condition for
it. What would French Canadians say to being
swamped by British legislators from Nova Scotia and
New Brunsvrick, — by the crude phUosophers from the
mercantile fishing community of Newfoundland, or by
the little agricultural state of Prince Edward's Island ?
What a diversity of present interests would 'meet in
councU in the Chateau of St. Louis, which must then,
for the convenience of all, be the place of meeting 1
British interests, of course, would predominate; but
they would be so divided according to the wants and
vrishes of the different States of this Quintuple Al
liance, that it would be wiser to avoid the collision for
at least another half century,*
* The Halifax and Quebec railroad would unite the interests ofthe
British American Provinces and rapidly advance them, by means of

CANADA. 183
Any person who bas -calmly viewed Colonial politics
at their fountain head, must know that every Cis-At-
lantic province of Great Britain has its own peeuhar
policy, and that in general the oldest settlers bear
away the bell from the newer, who struggle riolently
for their rights. In Lower Canada, for instance, does
the French Canadian ever dream of submitting pas
sively to dictation from the English, whom, he fears,
would thrust him out of house and home by the cul
tivation of the Eastern Townships ? In Upper Canada,
does the tiUer of land yield submissively to the bureau
crats and the old family dominion, as they style aU
possessing office or long standing in the community ?
In Newfoundland, just emerging from a state of nature,
does not the fisherman begin to perceive that where
his forefathers existed only by the mere sufferance of
a race of rich fishing merchants, and could not call an
inch of the soU his ovra, that a change has come over
the spirit of his dull dream, and that the Mercanto-
cracy is yieldiag to that pressure from without, which
wills that all British Colonies shall have the same just
measure heaped up ; whilst the very merchants them
selves are no longer confined in their trade to a supply
from the Cod Banks, but are extending commerce in
every direction, and beginning to fix their abodes on
the island, which is now, for the first time, coming into
notice, and, in spite of 350 years of continued mis
representation, has been declared by its Governor

well-organized emigration, &c. The St. Lawrence and Atlantic
railroad, under the direction of the very able chief engineer, Mr.
Gzowski, is rapidly " progressing " from Montreal towards Portland.
— Editor.

184 CANADA.
capable of holding up its head as an agricultural
country; and that the fishermen, to be happy, must
be induced to cultivate it largely, by having free grants
of land ?
So it is everywhere else, — Nova Scotia, New Bruns
vrick, Prince Edward's Island, the West Indies, — ;all,
all, have their internal dirisions, and all begin to feel
their importance; whilst Colonial Toryism and Colo
nial Radicalism are both equally impotent to sway the
general destinies of the empii-e. In fact, colonial
politics hinge upon so many littlenesses, as well as upon
so much external greatness, that, excepting the Mother
Country is likely to be engaged in foreign wars, by
their internal commotions, no man at home gives him
self much concern about the ever-varying shades of
colonial politics, beyond the Ministers whose duty it is
to watch their beariags, or the merchant whose
resources are affected by them. For iastance, who, in
the name of fortune, would care twopence, beyond five
or six mercantUe houses in England or Scotland, whether
the shade of politics in Newfoundland was foggy or
bright, whilst there the utmost and the most absurd
importance is attached to clique and party ?
In like manner in Canada, the Family Compact and
the Bureaucracy in Upper and Lower Canada, have
been all-absorbing themes, whilst the local Government
gets continually embarrassed by the pretensions of all
sorts of adventurers, who think that their personal
gratification is the price at which England is to hold
her greatest Colony ; whUst the important fact is over
looked that the British public neither feel nor care for
these agitators.

CANADA. 185
A broad question at length starts up. How is Lower
Canada to be managed ? " By a Govemor, with arbi
trary powers," says your red-hot Tory. " By a union
with the British population of Upper Canada," ex
claims the more moderate Conservative. " By yielding
everything to the people of French origin, and swamping
the British settlers," roars the Radical. Difficult,
indeed, is the choice out of this Pandora's box; and
when the hd is forced, there is nothing but Hope left
to work upon.
The most riolent politicians in Colonies, those who
arrogate and demand the greatest surrenders from the
Governors of the troubled provinces, are invariably,
whether Tory or Radical, those who resort to every
scheme to force submission to their ultra views, and are
always place or popularity-hunters, who harass and
annoy through that powerful engine, a cheap press.
In many of the Colonies, such is the rigour with which
this engine is plied against the Governors, that it soon
puts out the moderate fire enkindled in the bosoms of
weU-intentioned men, who care not to place themselves
in the arena, where it plays afterwards. Thus, a good
sound medium party is rarely formed. The press that
would support such a party would not pay, because
that press is chiefly fed by advertisements, and nobody,
in a young country, cares to advertise in a paper which
is not eagerly read.
Look at Canada; see the sacrifice of health, of life,
which involves the post of administrator of that
Government. It is no bed of down, — no bed of roses,
the Vice-regality of that country ; and so even of that
most unknown land. Terra Nova. No man ever goes

186 CANADA.
to those Govemments that comes away vrithout many
dear-bought days of existence subtracted from his term.
And why ? Why, if he has a firm, independent, de
termined, and unshrinking miad, he meets vrith con
stant annoyances and embarrassments. He can please
no party, because all want to rule ; and every aspirant
for place has his coterie of miaor and subserrient fol
lowers at work. Let him be ever so good, so right-
minded, and so determined to act " according to the
' best of his conscience and the custom of war in like
cases," he must finally faU into the arms of som/e one
party, — usually of the few who have contrived to keep
the rule in their ovm hands ; or else he must meet the
fate of a late Governor-general of Canada, who, by
tryiag to carry out that most honourable of all prin
ciples, — justice to a race hitherto kept in the back
ground, has been forced into partnerships vrith a party
diametricaUy opposed to the opinions he has been
brought up in. But, as Milton so beautifuUy says, he
" Would ill become this throne.
And this imperial sovranty, adorn' d
With splendour, arm'd with pow'r, if aught proposed.
And judged of public moment, in the shape
« Of difBiculty, or danger, could deter
Him from attempting."
Whether his pohcy was right or not is another
question. The year 1839 was not remarkable respectiag exter
nal events or internal trouble, hke those which imme
diately preceded it in Canada; but to the active
Governor-general, Sir John Colbome,* and the vigi-
• Who was sworn in as Governor-general at Montreal, on the 17th
of January, 1839.

CANADA. 187
lance of Sir George Arthur, with the firm attitude of
the MUitia and the presence of the troops, may be
attributed alone the check given to the sympathizers,
who were banded more strongly and seriously, with
the additional help of the disputed north-eastem
boundary question, now revived at so embarrassing a
time vrith more fury than ever, and which was con
ducive of a spirit which extended over the frame of
society in the United States more difficult for its rulers
to manage than all the other border troubles put
together. The firmness and the tact vrith which Sir John
Harvey met the aggressions of the State of Maine are
matters of history, and so far connected vrith Canada,
that by his wise conduct the communications with that
country were not only kept open by land, but troops
were again spared from Nova Scotia, as the patriotism
of the Militia of New Brunswick and that prorince
defied foreign invasion.
In 1839 the whole frontier of Canada, from Maine
to Michigan, was placed in a state of security by the
re-estabhshment of all the important posts, and the
esrection of barracks in such places as were necessary
to check the disaffected, or to afford assistance to
the frontier ; and the MUitia were newly organized by
substituting permanent corps for a certain number of
years' service for those which had only been established
for intervals of a few months, or for the emergencies
of the moment.
The British reader wiU be surprised to find that in
this year the Militia Army-list for Upper Canada alone
contained eighty-three closely printed pages for the

188 CANADA.
officers' names only of one hundred and six complete
regiments, with the full complement of officers and
staff. The Incorporated Militia, formed, clothed, and
officered as the line is, Consisted of four battalions.
The Provisional Militia, also called out for a stated
time, consisted of twelve battalions ; and there were also
thirty-one corps of Artillery, Cavalry, Coloured Com
panies, Riflemen, &c., whilst most of the Militia corps
had each a troop of cavalry attached to them. Thus,
without at aU distressing the countiy, 40,000 young
men in arms, many of them weU drilled under officers
from the Regular Army, could at any time take the
field in Upper Canada.
The Regular Army consisted of two troops of the
King's Dragoon Guards, stationed at Niagara; three
companies of the Royal ArtiUery, and two demi-field-
batteries; twelve officers of the Royal Engineers, and
one full company (100 men) of the Royal Sappers and
Miners (at Niagara) ; the 24th Regiment at the FaUs
of Niagara ; the 32nd at London ; the 34th at Am
herstburgh; the 43rd at DrummondriUe, near the
FaUs of Niagara ; the 65th at Kingston ; the 83rd at
Kingston; the 85th at Sandwich; the 93rd at To
ronto. In Lower Canada, four companies of Royal
Artillery ; one of Royal Sappers and Miners ; a pro
portion of officers of the Royal Engineers; the 7th
Hussars ; the 2nd battalion of the Grenadier Guards,
and the 2nd battalion of the Coldstream Guards (a
brigade of the Household Troops 1,450 strong, com-
. manded by Major-general Sir James MacdoneU) ; the
2nd battalion ofthe 1st, or Royal Regiment; the llth,
15th, 23rd, 66th, 71st, and 73rd Regiments.; and an

CANADA. 189
immense force of Volunteers, the Lower Canadian
Sedentary Militia generally, of course, not haring been
called out.
On the lakes Ontario and Erie a naval force was
also established, under the orders of Captain Sandom,
R.N., by arming steam-boats, hired or bought for the
Govemment; and seamen and marines were sent out
from England to Kingston. Thus, in 1839, Su- John
Colborne found himself at the head of a force fully
adequate to all emergencies, and entirely paralyzed the
efforts of the sympathisers ; and thus the country
remained quiet, excepting occasional burnings on the
frontier of Vermont, as that in the beginning of the
year performed by Grogan, an American, who burnt
the farm-buildings, fee, of the Loyalists residing on
the Rouville-road, named Gibson, Johnson, Clark, and
Mannie ; but haring been fired at by a patrol, the
sympathizers escaped into the United States.
Mackenzie, who had been for some time in New
York editing a paper calculated to keep alive the dis
turbances, finding very little support ia that commer
cial city, betook himself and paper to Rochester on Lake
Ontario early in 1839, and was at length imprisoned,
both for his libels on the people of the United States,
and for his assault upon the country of a friendly power.
The Legislatures of Nova Scotia and New Bruns
vrick, each voted the sum of £1,000 for the support
of the widows and children of those who had faUen in
the late disturbances in Canada. The Maine boundary
question agitated the public mind in the spring of
1839 ; but as this work professes to treat only of the
internal affairs of Canada, and it would swell these

190 CANADA.
volumes to a great extent to enter upon that question, I
shaU pass it over; which wiU be of the less consequence,
as it has since been entirely settled, and then the only
territorial difficulty was that of the right of England to
the country between California and Russian America on
the shores of the Pacific ; in which dispute, if the Ame
ricans act wisely, they vriU see that by colonizing the
shores of the Pacific and by opening a road through the
prairies of the west and the Rocky Mountains to their
projected seaports, they wUl at the same time present a
key to Russia to unlock the gate which Nature has set
up in the Indian country between the Asiatic hordes and
the American Anglo-Saxon race, which may hereafter
pave the way for a second irruption of Tartars to con
quer and people the New World.
How much better and more pohtic it would be to let
England alone in her fur-hunting Establishments on
the Pacific; even should she colonize that shore, for
her colonists would interpose an impassable barrier to
Russian advancement, which the resources of the
United States for another hundred years must be inca
pable of vrithstanding, and it requires^ no great clear
sightedness to perceive, that as England has made a
permanent settlement on the opposite shores of China,
the little belt of littoral left between Cahfomia and the
Russian settlements in America on the Pacific, is
becoming hourly of infinite importance; and that a
second Nootka Sound affair may not be so far off as
¦may be at present imagined. Already (in 1847), the
American papers say, that Mexico must yield California
to pay her debt to the United States, and the Presi
dent's message has just veiy clcEurly infonned us that

CANADA. 191
the Nation have not lost sight of their claim to the-
Columbia. I should not be at all surprised to find at
least, a portion^ of California occupied by the keen
foresight of American pohcy ; but I should hope that
Great Britain will never permit the Pacific Ocean to
be closed along the whole American shore to her com
merce and colonization. The furs of the Hudson's
Bay territory should at least be shipped from British
ports on the Pacific for the Chinese Mart, and the
noble forests of the most gigantic pine timber in the
whole world, remain as they actually are, British
property.* The period of Canadian history was now arrived,
when Lord Durham having left his throne, and having
been succeeded by the renowned warrior Sir John
Colbome, and that wanior having brought his mUi
tary arrangements to a close, was to be succeeded in
his civil administration by a gentleman whose chief
talent had been displayed in the great commercial
world ; amidst those royal merchants of England,
who are verily kings and princes of the earth, and
before whom aU minor principalities, thrones, domi
nions, powers, and rirtues of commerce sink into
insignificance. Lord Durham had closed his splendid but tmsatis-
factory reign , by declaring that he entertained, " no
doubt as to the National character which must be
given to Lower Canada ; it must be that of the British
* The American colonization about the Great Bay of St. Francisco,
consequent on the proceedings at the " gold diggings," and the reten
tion of territory by Britain, on the West coast, have realized the
above ideas. — Editor.

192 CANADA.
'Empire; that of the majority of the population of
British America; that of the great race which must
in the lapse of no long period of time, be predominant
over the whole North American continent, vrithout'
effecting the change so rapidly or so roughly, as to
shock the feelings and trample on the welfare of the
existing generation, it must henceforth be the first and
steady purpose of the British Government to estabhsh
an English population, with English laws and language
in this province, and to trust its Govemment to none
but a decidedly English Legislature."
Able and sound reasoning follows this declaration,
and Lord Durham shows that the French Canadian of
gentle blood, and the French Canadian peasart would
benefit by this change ; inasmuch, as the former is at
present excluded by the tenacity with which he holds
to a foreign language, from participating freely in the
offices of state, and in the higher walks of the leamed
professions in a British colony, whUst the peasantry's
rude and equal plenty is fast deteriorating under the
pressure of population vrithin the narrow limits of
cultivation to which their absurd adherence to bar
barous and obsolete feudal laws and customs has con
fined them.*
This reasoning is founded on the rock of truth;
it is downright madness to imaguie for a moment,
that an isolated remnant of the great French nation,
unconnected now, even by family ties, vrith that
* Twenty years ago there was a great export of grain from the
Chambly Valley, but from the bad and exhausting system of agri
culture pursued there, food is now required to be imported .from
Canada West. — Editor.

CANADA. 193
empire, can remain continuaUy vrithin the pale of
an exclusive system; that they, in short, can expect
long to continue under those feudal laws and customs
which have for ever expired in young France ; whilst,
at the same time, they are hemmed in, in their
former happy vaUey, by two equaUy enterprising
races of Saxon origin, one branch of which has for
ever quashed the remnant of French power and of
feudal foUy in the southern section of the American
continent. It was argued in a journal, confessedly the
best informed amongst those published at Quebec,
that Papineau and his followers never dreamed of a
Nation Canadienne. What, then, did he dream of?
Nelson's proclamation says, that Lower Canada was
to be a Republic, and abohshed feudal laws and the
predominance of the Catholic religion vrith a stroke
of the pen; but Papineau had preriously called the
young blood to arms, for the purpose of constituting
a Canadian nation.
Supposing that the rebeUion had been successful,
would the French Canadian peasantry have seen
their religion trampled upon, and all their old asso
ciations trodden in the dust. Never ! Nelson opened
their eyes, and, henceforward, they never sought
separation from England ; and why ? because they
found that the power of France was whoUy un
available ; and that even if they achieved a temporary
triumph, it must have been at the expense of joining
their star to those of the twenty-seven States, which
their British neighbours in Upper Canada would
not have bome very quietly.
VOL. II. K

194 CANADA.
I have said before, and I say it again, that proper
treatment and calm refiection will assuredly maintain
the peace and the loyalty of the French Canadian,
who is, although somewhat antiquated as to knowledge
of the world, in the main, an exceUent fellow, from
whose aid, excepting only a very few borderers, who
have caught their iafection from too close proximity,
the United States would never, in case of a war,
derive much benefit.
Lord Durham, in his celebrated Report, suggested
the foUovring great and radical alterations in the
mode of governing Canada :
1. The union of the two Provinces, with power to add the other
colonies. 2. Every public officer, excepting the Governor and his Secretary,
being made responsible to the people ; but the Governor to have no
hopes of assistance from home in case of disagreement.
3. An enlarged alid sound system of colonization.
4. A new division of electoral districts.
S. Elective bodies in each district subordinate to the legislature, to
exercise complete control over such local affairs as do not come
within the province of general legislation.
6. A general executive, and a supreme court of appeal for all the
North American colonies.
7. The other establishments and laws of the two Canadas to be left
for consideration of the united legislature.
8. Security for the existing endowments of the Roman Catholic
church in Lower Canada.
9. A revision by Parliament at home of the constitution of the
legislative council, so as to prevent the repetition of coUisionswith,
and to ensure a useful check upon, the popular branch of the
legislature. 10. An imperial ofBcer to superintend the management of the
public lands upon a new plan.
11. The concession of all the revenues of the Crown, excepting
those derived from the lands, to be at once given up to the united
legislature on the concession of an adequate civil list.
12. The independence of the judges.

CANADA. 195
IS. All money votes to originate with the Crown.
14<; The repeal of past provisions respecting the clergy reserves,
and the application of funds arising from them';
These were the legacies His Lordship, who acknow
ledged the loyalty of the mass of the Colonists, left
to his successors ;' and it vrill be seen, that they have
been working at them ever since to a very great
extent, and that, in fact, successive Governors-general
have, untU the present moment, grappled with the
difficulties which they presented.
The suggestion of the union of Upper and Lower
Canada was warmly debated in the Upper Canada
Parhament, in the spring of 1839, and at length,
after much opposition, was recommended by that
body. The Attorney-general, Hagerman, opposed uniting
the two Canadas, and suggested a general union of
all the North American provinces into a separate
kingdom, under a riceroy, upon the same principles
as that of Ireland.
The Solicitor-general, Draper, upheld the union,
upon condition, —
1. That the seat of Government should be in Upper Canada.
2. That all Lower Canada, east of the Madawaska River, and south
of the St. Lawrence, consisting of the counties of Gaspg, Bonaventure
ani Rimouski, should be attached to New Brunswick.
3. A proper qualification for members to be fixed by the act of
union. i. The act not to make void any of the appointments of the present
legislative council.
5. That the number of members from Upper Canada should be
sixty-two ; from Lower Canada fifty ; and that the elective fran
chise should be confined lo those holding land in free and common
eoccage.
k2

196

CANADA.

6. A new division of Lower Canada into counties.
7. The use of the English language only in all public proceedings.
8. Courts of Appeal and Impeachment to be within the United
Province. 9. Surplus of post-office revenue, together with casual and terri
torial, and every other branch of revenue, to be under control of
the Legislature.
, 10. Courts and laws to remain in their present places and modes
until otherwise provided for,
11. Debt of both Provinces to be chargeable to United Province.
12. Legislature to have power to originate and reduce customs and
excise duties, subject to certain restrictions, similar to those of 42nd
sect. 31st George III. chap. 31.
13. That the principles of the Constitution, with these exceptions,
remain the same as contained in Slst George III. chap. 31, inviolate.
14. That two Commissioners proceed to England.
Which resolutions were carried.
The ParUament in which these resolutions were
mooted, sitting untU the llth of May, was prorogued,
after passing an act to re-invest the clergy reserves
in the Crown, which gave the Home Govemment
the power of settling a question, the most vexed
and troublous of any it had had to deal with,
respecting Upper Canada.
His Excellency, Sir John Colbome, after eleven
years of active serrice to the State in Upper and
Lower Canada, was relieved on the 19th of October,
1839, in his high and important office of Govemor-
general, by the Right Honourable Charles Poulett
Thompson, late M.P., and President of the Board of
Trade. Mr. Thompson opened the Parliament of Upper
Canada in person, on the 3rd of December, 1839,
and promulgated the celebrated despatch of Lord
John Russell, respecting the responsibility of officials

CANADA. 197
to the Governors of colonies, and declared that the
union of Upper and Lower Canada was to be
accomplished. Thus ended the year 1839. Sir John Colbome
returned to England, and received the dignity of a
baron of the United Kingdom, with the title of
Lord Seaton, — a title which was earned by his talents,
his underiating patriotism, and his unceasing devotion
to tbe cause of his country, the honour of the British
army, and the firmness with which he had ever upheld
the glory of the British sceptre and the true interests
of religion and order; learing in Canada an undying
name, and a renown only to be paraUeled with that
which he had gained under the renowned Moore
and Wellington.

198 CANADA.

CHAPTER VI.
The Union -^ Govemment of Lord Sydenham — his Death, and
Government of Sir Charles Bagot — embracing the years
1840, 1841, and 1842.
We have seen that the recommendations of Lord
Durham were to form the basis of the future adminis
trations. Mr. Thompson, accordingly, commenced his
reign by declaring that the union of the Canadas was a
sine qua non; and therefore the exceUent Lieutenant-
governor, Sir George Arthur, yielded to the force of cir
cumstances, and, abdicating his high office, he was
rewarded by a lucrative government in India, and the
Governor-general afterwards was raised to the peerage
by the titles of Baron Sydenham and Toronto, — the
former from the name of a delightful little suburban
Kentish vUlage, the latter from the capital of Upper
Canada at that time. I shall therefore designate
Mr. Thompson, in the remainder of this political
sketch, by his title of Sydenham.
His Lordship, actuated by the desire to make- the
Canadas one British prorince, removed the seat of
government after a time to Kingston, which was nearer '
to the Lower Prorince by 180 miles than Toronto, and
less subject to invasion. His policy was evident. To

CANADA. 199
carry out the scheme of Govemment with which he
was entrusted, it was necessary to conciliate the Re
formers of Upper Canada, so as to divide them, if
practicable, from the excited French Canadians of Lower
Canada, and thus hold a balance of power. He found
Upper Canada in a singular position. Two-thirds, at
the very least, of its permanent population were in
favour of connection vrith the mother country, whilst
the remainder, who were chiefly of American descent,
desired stUl to see it a state of the Union. AU the
frontier population of the States of Michigan, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, and Maine, were
ready to assist the riews of the latter party, and keep
ing them constantly in mind, were stUl drilling, pre
paring arms, coUecting contributions, and spreading
their emissaries throughout the prorince, unsettling the
mindsof the people, and persuading the soldiers to desert.
Of the two-thirds first mentioned, a great number
were dissatisfied with circumstances whoUy unconnected
with the Govemment of the Mother Country, but which,
if not attended to, would inevitably create discontent.
Of these circumstances, the clergy reserves had
been a most prominent feature, and the management of
the Crown Lands ; the FamUy Compact at Toronto still
was a bugbear, notwithstanding its erident faUacy, and
the obstacles in the way of British settlers obtaining
locations and votes upon the land they laboured, vrith
the want of rigilance in preventing American teachers
and preachers from occupying the public schools, and
the paucity of the means for obtaining public education,
were the most prominent grievances.
To remedy these things was not a veiy easy task ;
but it became necessary to calm all anxiety about the

200 CANADA.
future appropriation of the clergy reserves : so that the
numerous members of the Scotch and Irish Presby
terian Church, the Wesleyan and other Methodists,
an,d the Roman Catholics should at least be satisfied,
vrithout reference, otherwise than generaUy, to the
infinitely split and finely-dirided sects, which out
numbered either the Church of England, or that of
Rome, as the Tunkers, the Dunkers, the Men of Peace,
the Quakers, the Shakers, the Mennonists, the Mora-
rians and the Swedenborgians, the Baptists, the Unita
rians, the Antinomians, and the Multinomians ; for it
is impossible to recollect the hundred legions of dis
putants upon the subject of faith vrith which Upper
Canada was overspread. Year after year, hour after
hour, had this vexed question troubled the peace of
Upper Canada ; and the clamours of all parties, parti
cularly of the Presbyterians, had rendered it necessary
to come to a decision; for the unsettled state of the
lands which had been set apart as clergy reserves, com
posing, as they did, one-seventh of every town or
rillage plot, and of every county or township, vrith
those retained in a similar manner, as Crown lands,
retarded the improvement of the country, kept the
finest lands in a state of vrilderness, prevented roads
being opened, and consequently paralyzed settlement
and cultivation.*
With respect to the Crown lands. Lord Durham had
proposed that they should be subjected to the super-

* In the early stages of the controversy, it was limited to the two
established churches of England an^ Scotland. Had the first of these
consented to allow the latter a share, the subject would never have
been discussed in the way it has been since ; none of the numerous
other denominations then put in any claim. — Editor.

CANADA, 201
intendence of an imperial, and not a colonial officer,
and in this I beheve he met vrith no other opponents
than the local authorities ; for whatever might become
of the control of the revenue derivable from their sale,
it is self-evident that an imperial officer would be best
adapted to conduct the disposal of them with a riew to
assist emigration from the Mother Country.
The FamUy Compact has been a source of
Radical uneasiness from the time that the enthusiast
Gourlay wrote his three volumes on the subject of
Canada, to the pubhcation of Mackenzie's " Grievance-
Book," and to the present moment, when even some of
the public journals professing Tory principles have
levelled their weapons against it. That it ever existed
to the extent which Mackenzie would have made the.
world believe, we have already controverted, and now it
is so far different, that upon the great question of the
admission into the United Parliament of French
Canadians who had been concerned in the rebellion it
was in a most singular and unprecedented minority ; nor
was it able to cope better with the governmental views of
Lord Sydenham, when he acted under a Whig minis
try, as Sir Charles Bagot had acted under Tory rulers.
Both endeavouring to tranquUlize and secure Canada by
arriving at the same end through different means,
Lord Sydenham, by combining the Reformers of both
prorinces to support British supremacy, without giving
undue power to the French Canadians, and Sir Charles
Bagot, finding that such a combination was unworkable,
going to the opposite extreme, and calliag in the aid of
the French Canadians to crush aU opposition.
But more of this in its proper place. The next sub-
k3

202 CANADA.
ject is the franchise to British-bom settlers and educa
tion. The former, so reasonable ui itself, has not yet
been put on the only footmg it should be put upon ;
for the only way of securing Canada is to make it
essentially a British Colony; and thus every British
settler should have the franchise as soon as he obtained
land in the Colony, had paid a certain portion of the
purchase-money, or had performed the settlement duties,
and had cleared a defined portion.
With respect to education, some primal arrangements
were made by Lord Sydenham for district and normal
schools, and the setting apart a fund for that purpose ;
but much, very much, is yet to be done. Every school
master should be a bom British subject, and should be
compeUed to teach from the usual elementary English
books; for as it is, even yet, itinerant Americans, of
the very lowest class, obtain the small schools in the
interior, teach entirely from American class-books, and
thus imbue the infant mind vrith an early dislike of
British principles, and inculcate as rehgious notions the
wUd and risionary doctrines of Mormonism, of the
Tunkers, Dunkers, and Mennonists; of the unknown
tongue, — that most blasphemous attempt at imposture,
— and of the thousand and one splinters into which
the rod of religious disciphne has been shivered in the
United States, tending, in manhood, to make then-
scholars either enthusiasts or indifferents. At present,
two-thirds, at the least, of the people of Upper Canada
are an orderly, well-behaved, well-disposed race, and
require only a certain and fixed system of things to
make them the most comfortable and happy beings on
the face of the earth, unburthened, as they are, either

CANADA. 203
by the exercise of power over them, or the pressure of
taxation.* To effect this happy consummation, and to retain
them in their aUegiance to a Mother Country they are
so proud of their connection with and descent from,
the causes of disquietude must be permanently vrith
drawn, or examined thoroughly into ; the public money
must be carefuUy directed into the channels of edu
cation and internal improvements; the British settler
must be encouraged, and the American fugitive dis
countenanced ; for Canada has everything to gaia by
holdiag fast to Great Britaia, and everything to lose
by aUiance vrith the United States, of which she would
become merely a paltry proconsulate.
The American territory is not overburthened with
population, nor will it be for centuries ; and therefore
there can be no hardship in placing obstacles in the
way of emigrants from that country to Canada ; for if
they stUl hold to the political faith in which they have
been nurtured, it is somewhat singular that they should
desire to live under a Monarchy ; and if they do not
desire to hve under a Monarchy, they have cleai-ly no
moral right to disturb its peace and the comfort of its
people by disseminating doctriaes which wUl not obtain
a footing in any portion of the British Empire. All
angry passions should have been soothed by the mission
of Lord Ashburnham; and yet, immediately after he
* The Irish National- school system has been copied with singular
success, Messrs. Armour and Ramsay having introduced the books
into Canada. Much however yet remains to elevate the character
of the teachers, to improve the school-houses. Sectarian feelings
were scarcely known in the common schools, but now a cry has un
fortunately got up for separate schools on the part of the Romanists
and some of the Church of England.— Editor,

204 CANADA.
put his foot on the Enghsh land again, we heard the
President in his place in Congress pointing to another
smaU black cloud which was gathering on the poUtical
horizon, adverse to British tranquUhty. And was there
a bosom amongst the tiers etat of the American Con
federation, from the Mississippi to the Penobscot, that
did not beat in unison ? Was there a man amongst
the people who would not have marched to secure the
Oregon Territory or to conquer Canada ? And in case
of any fresh disturbances, what power had the Ame
rican Govemment over its frontier population, — could
it control it, — who composed the last invading force ?
The answer is, — Americans from the outside, and Ame
ricans and their children from the inside.
Mackenzie was, as it were, the firebrand tied to the
fox's tail. He was a tool working with others who
were still supposed (o be actively planning revolutions.
For a time their forces were led by native Americans,
who made so sure of a second Texan enterprise, that
during the whole of the disturbances, their steam-boats
on the Lakes invariably used the Texan flag, — "the lone
star," with the American ensign.* But the Upper Ca
nadians, being contented with British institutions,, were
not to be forced into American ones; and perceiring
clearly the advantages of the former, wiU hold them as
long as they are able, weU knovring, that notwithstanding
the French Canadian attempt to revolutionize Lower
Canada, the number of American sympathizers dis-
* Mr. T. R. Preston, in his work " Three Years' Residence in
America," 1840, says that " the sympathizers had » bank for
aiding in the conquest of Canada, of £1,687,500 sterling, capital,
which was to be reimbursed by the confiscation of Canadian landed
property." This I do not believe. — Editor.

CANADA. 205
persed in Westem Canada, and the unquenchable lust
of conquest on the American border, that although
they would have much to do and suffer in the event of
another war, yet, if Great Britain deserts them not in
tbeir hour of need, they will always triumphantly
secure their soU from aggression ; whilst they are con
scious that the Americans, on their side, vrill have also
to contend with other foes than Britons and Canadians,
— vrith their slaves, with the Indians, and with their
own internal dissensions, which occasionaUy arrive at
a much greater height than is believed by those who
have not had an opportunity of observing them.
It is, therefore, to be fervently hoped that the Anglo-
Saxon Americans, as they love to style themselves, wiU
be content vrith their present condition and the glorious
prospects of their future power; and that in aUiance
with England, they wiU continue to uphold the uni
versal cause of freedom, suffering the Canadian people
to choose their own course, and " doing unto them as
they would be done unto " by the rest of the world.
Let us now see what Great Britain proposed for the
welfare of her chUdren. and subjects in Canada, by
uniting the British and the French races, the Saxon and
the Norman.
In the first volume of " Canada in 1841," is an ap
pendix giring, verbatim et literatim, the Act of 3 & 4
Victoria, cap. 35, for " The Union of the Canadas,"
which, therefore, it will be unnecessary to repeat ; but,
as I said before, few people read appendices now-a-days,
and I shaU therefore concisely show the leading features
of this Act.
It prorides for the Union under the name of Thb
Province of Canada.

206 CANADA.
For the Constitution of one Legislative CouncU and
one House of Assembly, under the title of " The Legis
lative CouncU and Assembly of Canada."
The Legislative Council not to be composed of fewer
than twenty natural bom or naturahzed subjects of the
Queen, the tenure of such office being for life, excepting
the member chooses to resign, is absent from his duties
without cause or permission for two successive sessions,
shaU become a citizen or subject of any foreign power,
or become bankrupt, an insolvent debtor, public de
faulter, or attainted of treason, or be convicted of felony,
or of any infamous crime.
The Speaker of the Council to be appointed by the
Govemor, who may remove him and appoint another.
Ten members to constitute a quorum, including the
Speaker. The House of Assembly to consist of Members chosen
from the same places as heretofore divided into Counties
and Ridings in Upper Canada ; but that the Counties of
Halton, Northumberland, and Lincoln, shaU each be
dirided into two Ridmgs, and return one Member for
each Riding.
That the City of Toronto shaU have two Members;
and the Towns of Kingston, BrockviUe, HamUton,
ComwaU, Niagara, London, and Bytown, one each.
That in Lower Canada every County, heretofore re
presented by one Member, shaU continue to be so
represented, excepting Montmorency, Orleans, L' As
somption, La Chesnaye, L'Acadie, La Prairie, Dorchester,
and Beauce. These to be conjoined as follows : Mont
morency and Orleans into the County of Montmorency ;
L' Assomption and La Chesnaye, to be the County of
Leinster ; L'Acadie and La Prairie, that of Huntmgdon ;

CANADA. 207
and Dorchester and Beauce, that of Dorchester: and
each of these four new Counties to retum one Member.
The Cities of Quebec and Montreal, to retum two
Members each; and the Towns of Three Rivers and.
Sherbrooke, one each.
The qualifications of a Member to be those of bond
fide possession of landed estate worth £500 sterling.
The English language to be only used in aU written
or printed proceedings of the Legislature.
The passing of any BUI to repeal the prorisions of
the 14th George III., or in the Acts of 31st of the same
reign, relating to the Govemment of the Province of
Quebec, and the dues and rights of the clergy of the
Church of Rome; the allotment or appropriation of
lands for the support of a Protestant clergy ; the endow
ments of the Church of England, or its iatemal dis
cipline or estabhshment ; or affecting the enjoyment or
exercise of any form or mode of rehgious worship in
any way whatever ; or which may affect Her Majesty's
prerogative touching the Waste Lands of the Crown,
must be first submitted to the Imperial Parhament pre
vious to the declaration of the Sovereign's assent, and
that if the Imperial Legislature shall petition the Queen
to vrithhold her assent within thirty days after such
Act shaU have been received, it shaU not be lawful to
affix the Royal assent thereto.
The levying -of imperial and colonial duties ; the
appointment of a Court of Appeal; the administration
of the ciril and criminal laws ; the fixation of the Court
of Queen's Bench within the late Province of Upper
Canada; the regulation of trade ; the consohdation of all
the revenues derivable from the Colony into one fund,
» to be appropriated for the public serrice of Canada.

208 CANADA.
Out of this fund £45,000 to be payable to Her
Majesty, her heirs and successors, for the purpose of
defraying the expenses for the administration ^of the
govemment and the laws on the CivU List.*
Both sums to be paid by the Receiver-general, upon
the Govemor's warrants, and the Receiver-general to
account to the Lords of the Treasury; and aU the
» Governor  £7,000 ,
Lieutenant-Governor  1,000
Upper, or Western Canada.
One Chief Justice  £1,500
Four Puisne Judges £900 each  3,600
One Vice- Chancellor  1,125
Lower, or Eastern Canada.
One Chief Justice, Quebec  £1,500
Three Puisne Judges, Quebec, £900 each 2,700
One Chief Justice, Montreal  1,100
Three Puisne Judges, Montreal, £900 each 2,700
One Resident Judge at Three Rivers .... 900
One Judge of the Inferior District of Gaspg 500
One Judge of ditto St. Francis 500
Pensions to Judges, Salaries of the Attorneys
and Solicitors- General, and Contingent
and Miscellaneous Expenses of the Ad
ministration of Justice throughout the
Province of Canada  20,875
Total, £45,000
And a further sum of £30,000 out of the said Consolidated Revenue
Fund for defraying the under- mentioned expenses of the Government.
Civil Secretaries and their Offices  £8,000
Provincial Secretaries and their Ofiices. . . . 3,000
Receiver- General and his Office  3,000
Inspector- General and his Office  2,000
Executive Council  ^  3,000
Board of Works  2,000
Emigrant Agent  700
Pensions  5,000
Contingent Expenses of Public Offices. . . . 3,300
£30,000

CANADA. 209
expenditure thereon to be laid before the Prorincial
Parliament within thirty days after the commencement
of each session.
The total sum of £75,000 thus raised and paid for
the Ciril List, to be accepted and taken by Her Majesty
by way of Ciril List, instead of aU territorial and other
revenues then at the disposal of the Crown.
The first charge upon the consolidated revenue fund
to be its coUection, management, and receipt ; the second
the public debt of the two Provinces at the time of
the Union ; the third, the payment of the clergy of the
Church of England, Church of Scotland, and the minis
ters of other Christian denominations, agreeably to
previous laws or usages ; the fourth charge, to be the
Ciril List of £45,000; and the fifth, that of £30,000,
payable during the life-time of Her Majesty, and for
five years after her demise. The sixth charge to be
that of the expenses and charges before leried and
reserved by former Acts of the two Provinces, as long
as they are payable.
All bills for appropriating any part of the revenues
of the United Proviace, to originate vrith the
Govemor, who shaU have the right of initiating the
same, as weU as of recommending the appropriation
of any new tax or impost, and that, having thus
been recommended, the Legislative Assembly shall
first discuss the same.
The formation of new townships to originate with
the Govemor, as well as the appointment of tovraship
officers. The power vested in the Queen to annex
the Magdalen Islands to the Govemment of the
Island of Prince Edward, m the Gulf of St. Law-

210

CANADA.

rence; and the appointment of Govemor of the
Prorince of Canada to be understood as meaning
Govemor, Lieutenant-governor, or person authorised
by Her Majesty, her heirs, and successors, to execute
the office of Govemor of that province.
These are the principal features of the celebrated
Act of Union which Lord Sydenham was to foimd
his Govemment upon, and which had met with
considerable opposition in the Legislature of Upper
Canada, the votes for the union in the Legislative
Council being twelve, and eight against it ; and in
the House of Assembly, forty-five for the Union, and
ten against it. The Special CouncU of Lower Canada
also passed resolutions in its favour.
The next difficulty was the sore one of the disposal
of the clergy reseives, but Mr. Thompson got over
it vrith great tact ; and, as the settlement of this
important question had been left by the Queen to
the Proviacial Parliament, a BUI was introduced by
Mr. Draper, the Solicitor-general, empowering the
Govemor to sell and alienate all these lands, to
create a fund for the support of the clergy of the
Church of England, and of any other persuasion to
which the faith of the Crown had 'been pledged
during the Uves of the present incumbents or holders.
After paying these stipends, the residue to be applied
as follows, viz., one-half to the churches of England
and Scotland vrithin the province ^of Upper Canada,
proportionably as to numbers; the residue to be
dirided amongst all other denominations of Christians
recognised by the existing' laws, in proportion to
their annual private subsci-iptions. This BUI passed

CANADA. 21 1
the House by votes of twenty-eight to twenty, a
majority only of eight.
The Governor-general then, on the 14th January,
sent a message to the Assembly, stating, that he
had been commanded by Her Majesty to admiaister
this Govemment " in accordance with the weU-
understood wishes of the people; and to pay to
their feelings, as expressed through their repre
sentatives, the deference that is justly due to them."
In other Words, that he was to carry out the new
and dreaded system of responsible Govemment, which,
whUst it gave him the power of dispensing vrith the
serrices of every public officer who differed with
him upon questions of pohcy, also made his Cabinet
responsible to the people.
Thus the first blow was aimed in Canada, at the
long-established and almost hereditary rights of office
and place, v.rhilst a source of uneasiness was opened
at every new election, and forebodings as to the
power of the Reformers and Radicals, when the
Union should be declared, were very rife; nor did
the Radicals delay to show their teeth very plaialy,
by the Durham meetings upon the subject of Reform,
which, in some places, had created great alarm, the
name of Lord Durham having been used as a con
venient cloak to cover other designs.
This declaration of the Governor-general was in
stantly followed by thfe removal of Mr. Hagerman, the
Attorney-general, who had voted on the Union ques
tion, in the minority, and the appointment of the
Solicitor-general, Mr. Draper, to succeed him, whilst
Mr. Baldwin, the leader of the Reformers, was made
Sohcitor-general. Mr. Hagerman was at»-the same

212 CANADA.
time, for his long and faithful serrices, raised to the
Bench. The last Parliament of Upper Canada was prorogued
on the 10th of Februaiy, by the Governor-general in
person, who immediately left Toronto for Montreal,
and to show his energy, he performed a journey by
land, in a Russian sledge, of 390 miles, over the snow,
in 36 hours, almost equalling steam, because there
were necessarily several stoppages. The rate was,
exclusive of these, 13 miles an hour with four
horses. On the 17th of April, the beautiful hollow column
erected in honour of Sir Isaac Brock, the hero of
Upper Canada, on the Queen's Town heights, was
treacherously entered, in the absence of the keeper,
and some gunpowder placed in its base, to which a
train haring been laid and fired, the explosion so
shattered this beautiful ornament of the country, that
it became useless. It was ascended by 170 spiral-
steps, and contains in its base the ashes of the hero
and his aide-de-camp Colonel M'Donell, whUst from
its summit it commanded one of the most singular and
sublime of riews, looking over Lake Ontario, the
River Niagara, and an endless succession of forest and
cultivation in Canada and the United States, whilst
the cloud of the Great Falls hung in the middle ground
of the picture.
To give an idea of the determined hatred of the
perpetrator of this unholy deed to Canada, it must
have required forethought and skill to have, effected
the destruction of the monument, the base of which
was twenty-two feet square, and the waUs six feet in
thickness. The explosion was heard in Queen's Town,

CANADA. 213
between the hours of four and five in the moming, so
that probably the previous night had been passed in
the preparations. The upper or trap-door leading on
the roof, had been left open by the keeper, which it is
supposed gave vent to the suddenly expanded air, and
thus saved some lives, as none of the stones of the
buUding were thrown off, but the whole was rent,
cracked, and contorted from base to summit. Some
persons saw an enormous cloud of smoke rise from the
roof, and it is therefore supposed that more than one
barrel of powder was used.
A grand and imposing meeting of the Militia
officers, &c., of Upper Canada, presided over by Sir
George Arthur, was held near its ruins, on the 30th of
July, at which 5,000 persons were present, and a sub
scription entered into to rebuild it.*
Mr. Thompson visited the different provinces of his
govemment during the summer of this year, and was
everywhere received with marks of the highest- respect.
His health was, unfortunately, not equal to the wear
and tear of mind and body required, and thus he pro
bably hastened the event which so soon afterwards
occurred, in consequence of an injury received from his
horse stumbling at Kingston, whUst taking a ride.
He lived to see, however, his project of making Kings
ton the seat of Govemment fully carried out, and also
to set the grand experiment of-the Union in operation,
but, as might have been expected, his brief career was
passed amidst stormy opposition.
• It is much to be lamented that this monument has not yet been
restored, though there are ample funds for it. The Editor submitted
a design to the Building Committee, much within the amount sub
scribed. . . '

214

CANADA.

A very troublesome occurrence took place in the
latter end of 1840, by the forcible imprisonment in the
United States, of Mr. Alexander M'Leod, supposed to
have been a principal actor in the destruction of the
Caroline. This person had been a Deputy Sheriff of
the Niagara District, and had in reality no connection
whatever with the affair in question, but incautiously
dropping some words which tended to a recognition of
his participation, he was most illegally imprisoned and
tried by Courts which really had no jurisdiction in his
case. The consequence was his escape from a dUemma
into which he brought himself, and had involved
most seriously the Government, and after a very long
imprisonment and causing the utmost excitement in
the United States, he was restored to his country,
which had been perilled, for his sake, vrith a fresh
war. Upper and Lower Canada were declared to be one
Prorince, " the Province of Canada," from and after the
10th day of February, 1841, and then commenced the
tug of political warfare.
Sir George Arthur, who had so satisfactorily admi
nistered the Lieutenant-governorship, was, of course, at
once supplanted, and afterwards returned to England, a
Baronet, amidst the good wishes and applause of the
Upper Canadians.
It is a curious coincidence that the 10th of Februaiy
in 1763, was the date of the final cession, by conquest,
of Canada to England, and thus only seventy-eight
years had passed since Canada was a British Colony
undivided. The Governor-general immediately assembled a Coun
cU of Advice, and the undermentioned gentlemen were

CANADA. 215
appointed Members of the First Executive Council of
Canada :
The Honourable Mr. R. B. Sullivan, President.
„ „ J. H. Dunn, Receiver-general.
„ „ D. Daly, Secretary, Canada
East.
„ „ S. B. Harrison, Secretary, Ca
nada West.
„ „ C. R. Ogden, Attorney-general,
Canada West.
„ „ W. R. Draper, Attorney-gene
ral, Canada East.
,, „ R. Baldwin, Solicitor-general,
Canada West.
„ „ C. D. Day, Sohcitor-general,
.Canada East.
As I shall give a list of the House, in 1842, at the
close of this chapter, it vrill be only necessary to say
that the first election terminated in the retum of a
majority in favour of the Governor-general's plans ;
upon the very first day when an embarrassing question
to try their strength was mooted, we find forty-seven for
the Govemment and twenty-seven in opposition to it.
The Speaker chosen was Mr. CuvUlier of Montreal,
a French Canadian Reformer, who spoke both lan
guages, and who was supported by the Radicals because
he had shown his want of confidence in the Adminis
tration, because he had been opposed to several im
portant parts of the Union Bill, — particularly the Ciril
List, — because he had been opposed to the line of policy
pursued towards Lower Canada, and because he was a
firm supporter of the new system of Responsible Go
vernment. He was chosen by the High Tories, by the

2^16 CANADA.
Conservatives, and by the moderate Reformers, because
they had confidence in the excellent character he had
sustained, and in his parliamentary experience, and
because he had withdrawn from the reform ranks as
soon as rebellion showed its head.
The speech so eagerly looked for as developing the
policy of the Government, contained the undermen
tioned declarations.
1st. In allusion to the case of M'Leod, her- Majesty's
firm determination to protect her Canadian subjects
with the whole weight of her power.
2nd. A new arrangement of the Post-office.
3rd. Extensive public works, in the improvement of
the navigation from the ocean to Lake Huron; the
erection of new communications in the inland districts,
and for these purposes her Majesty's Minister proposed
to guarantee a loan to the magnificent extent of one
million and a half sterling.
4th. Emigration on an extended scale, and the dis
posal and settlemeiitof- the public lands.
5th. A system of local self-government for the dis
tricts, by Municipal Councils.
6th. A provision for the education of the people.
7th. That a large sum would be annually devoted
by the Home Govemment to the mihtary defences of
the province.
Sth. The fixed and settled determination of the
Queen " to maintain, at all hazards, her North Ame
rican possessions, as part of her Empire."
No one could carp at such a speech, or turn it to
party purposes, yet still there lingered a spark of that
political flame, which soon blazed into a beacon thence
forward constantly before Lord Sydenham's eyes.

CANADA. 217
The High Tory party, few in number in the House,
saw themselves evidently in a strange position, and the
appointment of -Mr. Parke, a noted Reformer in the
last Upper Canadian Parliament, to the office of
Surveyor-general, was alone sufficient to fan their
latent fire.
The leader of the Upper Canadian Reformers, Mr.
Baldwin, took umbrage because the Governor-general
did not apparently go so far with liberal measures as
his party had expected ; and therefore this gentleman
veiy consistently resigned his place in the Cabinet, as
he had done before, under Sir Francis Head's Admi
nistration, threw up the Solicitor-generalship, and
joined the ranks of the French and Western Canadian
Reformers. A junction so indicative of renewed troubles was
compacted by the union of Mr. Hincks with Mr.
Viger ; both holding the same political faiths, but who
had been sundered upon trifling nationalities. They
combined the Ultra-Reform party against the Mode-
rados, and Mr. Parke was violently assailed for accept
ing office under a Ministry so equivocal. Thus a
split in the ranks of the Reform party at once threw
additional strength into British hands, and the Gover
nor-general immediately explained, through an official
organ, that he was determined to carry out his views,
by making the Executive Council and Heads of De
partments responsible for their acts to the House, —
or rather, in other words, that they must individually
resign their places, if they could not conscientiously
perform their duties, in unison with his measures, for
the good of the country. This is the true game of
VOL. II. L

218 CANADA.
" Responsible Goverament," as it has since been
played in Canada for the nonce : however, the former
reading suited the purpose, as it gave the Government
the support of about fifteen Reformers, and Mr. Bald
win was leading the Opposition with about twenty
French Canadian members and fifteen from Western
Canada. Six of tbe CouncU sat in the House. The
High Tories, Conservatives, and Moderate Reformers,
numbered about thirty ; and these were, with the
exception of four or five, always ready to support the
Executive when its measures were reasonable.
But there was another grievance, which began vrith
the union, and that was the composition of the Upper
House, or new Legislative Council, in which many
members were introduced almost unknown to the
country ; whilst many were excluded, who had all their
latter lives been decorated with the title of Honourable
Councillors. Some gentlemen refused to sit in it, and
others delayed being sworn in.
But Lord Sydenham was not a man to be deterred
by difficulties, and his measures were hourly develop
ing the resources of the country. The purchase of the
Welland Canal Stock from the proprietors, in order that
that great public work might be taken out of private
hands, was consummated by him. From 1837 to 1840
the tolls on this canal, insignificant as its construction
was, had reached from £12,000 to £20,000.*
* Lord Sydenham's grand scheme of internal improvement was as
follows, amounting to £1,470,000 :
To open the Welland Canal and the St. Lawrence by canals for
steam-boats, between Lake Erie and Montreal.
To improve the navigation of Lake St. Peter, between Montreal and
Quebec, for the largest steamers.

CANADA. ' 219
But a new order of things was now about to occur
at home, and a Governor-general, selected by a Whig
Government, was shortly to try his strength under a
Tory Ministry ; and by a very remarkable coincidence,
the Tory leader in the Assembly, Sir Allan M'Nab,
defeated the Canadian Cabinet by a majority of ten,
To improve the River Richelieu by completing the Chambly Canal.
To improve the Ottawa River, and make slides for timber upon it.
To complete the inland water communications of the Newcastle
District. To make a Port and erect Lighthouses on Lake Erie.
To improve the Burlington Bay Harbour by enlarging the Canal.
To form and complete great lines of roads from Quebec to Amherst
burgh and Port Sarnia, from Toronto to Lake Huron, between Quebec
and the. Eastern Townships, and between the Bay of Chaleurs and
the St. Lawrence, by the following sums in loans granted by the
Imperial Government on the Consolidated Revenue :
Class I.
Welland and St. Lawrence Canals  £450,000
River Richelieu  21,000
Ottawa River  28,000
Burlington Bay Canal  45,000
Canal, Newcastle District  : . . 50,000
Harbour and Lighthouses, Lake Erie and
roads connected therewith  70,000
Total  £664.,000
Class II.
Bay Chaleurs, or Kempt-road  £15,000
« Gosford, or Eastern Townships-road .... 10,000
Toronto, or Northern-road  30,000
Main Province-road, or certain parts of it,
leading from Quebec to Amherstburgh,
and Port Sarnia :  5,000
Cascades to Cfiteau du Lac  15,000
Brantford to London  55,000
Thence to Port Sarnia  15,000
London to Chatham, Sandwich, and Am
herstburgh  36,000
Total  £181,000
L2

220 CANADA.
upon a question involring electoral rights, at the very
moment that the news of the Tories having gained
a victory in the elections in Great Britain reached
Canada. One of the last acts of the Whig Colonial Secretary,
Lord John Russell, gave unmingled pleasure to every
British subject in Canada. He addressed a dispatch
of some length to the Governor-general, explanatory of
Her Majesty's feehngs towards Canada. He reiterated
the determination of the Queen to uphold British inte
rests and honour in North America as a "fixed and
fundamental principle of British policy. He said that
the Ministry had no other views than to bind Canada
more firmly to Great Britain, to develope her resources,
to strengthen the British population, to defend the
territory, and to support and encourage the loyal spirit
of the people. He then entered upon the great ques
tions of relieving the Colony of its debt of £1,226,000,
of executing the vast public works required for internal
communications and for military defences ; with refer
ence to the fortifications, the minister stated that in
addition to the ordinary annual expenditure, £100,000,
each succeeding year, would be applied for the com
pletion of such as had been now approved by the
Master-general of the Ordnance, and by the Duke of
Welhngton, for the defence of the country. He
entered at large upon an emigration system, and con
cluded this remarkable dispatch by saying, that " with
a legislature in Canada disposed to co-operate vrith the
Queen and the Parhament of the United Kingdom in
developing her vast and unexplored resources, there
is every hope that we shall behold tbe prosperity of

CANADA. 221
that noble prorince augment every year, and add
more and more to the strength and stability of the
empire." Lord Sydenham, of course, found the new Ministry
determined to carry out these views, as nothing could
tend more to attach the loyal part of the population
to the Mother Country ; whilst even those who still
dreamt of separation, must have seen that such pro
tective measures would enhance the importance of
Canada to an extent before unthought of.
But, unhappily, the feelings of parties were still too
sore, the " cicatrix" too raw to bear handling, and Lord
Sydenham, with declining health, met nothing but
opposition. One determined blow was given by the
mercantile community to a favourite measure of his
Lordship's, that of the creation of a Prorincial Govern'^
ment Bank of Issue; but he established a Board of
Works, a much more useful thing. This Board had
originally been concocted in Upper Canada in 1836, by
some persons of my acquaintance and myself, and I
have now before me the printed draught of a BiU for
the very purpose of erecting it under a President, uncon
nected with the Govemment or House of Assembly, as
a member of the Cabinet or a representative of the
people.* In short, I think that it would have been better,
without any reference whatever to those who have the
office of President of the Board of Works, that, as in all
our Eastern colonies, a scientific military officer had been
appointed, whose rank in the army alone would have
rendered him responsible, without any necessity for his
* There was a Board of Works in Lower Canada, erected by ordi
nance of Sir John Colbome's Special Council. — Editor.

222 CANADA.
being a pohtician; for to execute such an important
office, the mind and the man should be unfettered and
undirected. An officer of acknowledged abUities, in the prime
of life, with two clerks of works, one for the Upper and
the other for the Lower dirisions of the province, with
resident civil-engineers on the lines of the great canals
and roads, would, vrith a system of accountability like
that of the Ordnance, which admits of no payments by
the department making out the estimates and bills,
be of the utmost serrice ; and it is somewhat surprising,
considering the long peace, that the Govemment have not
largely employed a corps of Topographical Engineers on
such colonial duties. In Ireland Ordnance officers direct
the canals, and in England the railroads are under their
supervision. In fact, canals and railroads are justly and
truly great military, as well as great commercial, high
ways. I do not desire to see them employed in building-
Government houses, or in the drudgery of repairing
colonial edifices, but there is a sort of right which the
Government has acquired in Canada, by its munificent
outlay and loan, to ensure all the roads, whether by land
or water, being adapted to military convenience and mili
tary uses. Besides, parliamentary influence must more
or less attach to a Director of Works who is a Cabinet
officer, and who has to run about to look for consti
tuents every time the House is dissolved ; whilst it must
always interfere with duties which require his presence
in every part of the province. The Director-general of
Public Works should not -be a politician, and he cannot
help being one if he is a member either of the CouncU
or of the Assembly.

CANADA. 223
We have only to read the report of Mr. Killaly, the
first President, to show what is the extent of his duty ;
and in the next chapter we shall revert to this subject
of the public works of Canada, as they were at first
brought forward by Lord Sydenham, to his eternal
honour. The Naturalization Bill for Aliens {alias American
residents), was one of his Lordship's successful mea
sures ; by which thousands of persons who had settled
in the province became subjects of the Queen.
But the career of Lord Sydenham was terminating,
and just as the news of the change of Ministry in
England arrived at Kingston, his Lordship met with
the serious accident* which ended in his death, after
great suffering. He expired on the morning of the
19th September, 1841, and the Parliament'was accord
ingly prorogued by Major-general Clitherow, Deputy-
governor of Westem Canada, who had been appointed
the day before his death by Lord Sydenham for that .
express purpose.
Lord Sydenham and Toronto was buried in St.
George's Church in Kingston, with the honours due
to his elevated station.
Just about this time a notorious fellow of the name
of Grogan,t who had figured as an incendiary on the
* A broken leg, by a fall from his horse. — Editor.
•f The atrocities of this disgrace to human nature, Grogan, about
whom the two nations were nearly getting into as serious a dispute as
the M'Leod case, were almost beyond belief, — equalled only those of
Bill Johnson and Lett. On the night of the 29th and 30th December,
1840, he passed over into Canada from the State of Vermont, near the
Jiead of Mississquoi Bay, with a party of miscreants in sleigha in a
severe snow-storm, surprised the Militia sentries, and committed the
following awful crimes before he was driven off. The family of

224 CANADA.
Canadian frontier, adjoining the State of Vermont, was
kidnapped by some loyal but thoughtless young men
in that State, and brought into Canada, where a reward
had been offered for his apprehension. This was taken
up instantly by the American authorities ; and it was
given out, most industriously, that he had been
Johnson, an industrious farmer, consisting of his wife, two sons, and four
daughters, were all asleep at about one o'clock on Sunday morning, when
the sentry was astonished to see several sleighs filled with armed men
drive up to the door, amidst a furious storm of wind and snow. They
immediately, before he could alarm the sleepers, burst open the doon
and with horrid imprecations roused the family, and drove them naked
into the night-storm. They ran into the woods to a log-hut for half
a mile up to their waists in the drifted snow, the inhuman villains
firing at them as they fled ; and although the poor girls had been on
their knees imploring them to allow them to dress, bayonets, levelled
.at their breasts, was the only reply. When the unhappy family
reached the hut, their hands and feet were frost-bitten, and their
house, their barns, their outhouses, cattle, hay, and grain, with aU
they possessed, a- prey to devouring fiames. Grogan then went to
Mr. Clark's house, — who had a wife and six children, the oldest only
twelve, aud the youngest but three days old. The picquet had
alarmed this family, and they were fortunately enabled to hurry on
their clothes. They drove them all out, but spared the house on
account of the interference of one of the women, who implored them
to let the poor mother return. They sought for Clark, to murder
him, but he escaped. His barns, outhouses, and stock of every kind
were, however, burnt. He went then to Mr. Maine's, where the same
barbarities were enacted ; but the fire was extinguished in the dwell
ing-house only after Grogan had fled, all the rest of thi.s farmer's
property being destroyed. John Gibson, a farmer also, was next
visited. He had a wife and five children, — the eldest fifteen, the
youngest at the breast. This family was caught asleep, pulled from
bed, and driven naked into the pitiless storm, the mother imploring
vainly for clothing to cover her babe. They lost their way in the
snow of the trackless woods, and ran half a mile before they found
shelter ; when the feet and hands of the poor father and mother became
so completely frozen, as to be soon shapeless masses of flesh. Their
house, furniture, clothing, barn, hay-stacks, in short, everything was
burnt.

CANADA. 225
captured by British soldiers as a hostage for
M'Leod. Sir Richard Jackson, the Commander of the Forces,
who had been sworn in to administer the Govemment,
as soon as he heard of the arrest, immediately ordered
his release, and the capturers were duly punished ; and
thus ended another border excitement, which threat
ened heavily against M'Leod; who was, however, soon
afterwards tried and acquitted.
Of Lord Sydenham's life and times in Canada it
would be useless to say much in this work, as his
brother, assisted by Mr. Murdoch, his Lordship's
chief secretary, published a work expressly devoted to
that subject. We may therefore embrace what is now
to be written in a very few words.
Lord Sydenham carried out the plan of the Union.
He left Canada tranquil and fiourishing. He gave an
impetus to public improvement, which no man in that
country had ever imagined possible, under the lapse
of half a century, could have been dreamt of. He
endeavoured to render it a British Colony without pre
judice to the French Canadian interests, and he opened
a wide door to exertion in the rising generation.
With a steady and unwavering hand, but with a weak
body, he pursued his task, and fulfilled his mission at
least honestly, leaving behind him in the race of life
many bitter political, but few private enmities.
Kingston owes him much ; Toronto little : the selec
tion of the former as the seat of Government was
probably meant to paralyze long-standing interests in
the latter ; and if so, succeeded. l3

226 CANADA.
The Reformers were elevated in his reign ; the Ultra-
Tories hid their diminished heads ; but although raany
of his appointments were very singular in their nature,
it is probable they were solely made with a view to
balance the opposing parties, and without reference
to the persons. He did not appear to have thought
it requisite to bring into action and power those who
had openly endeavoured to sever the connection with
England, or to permit the French Canadian to have
more than his due weight in the affairs of the country;
but in order to break the party which had ruled into
fractions, he called in several Reformers of Upper
Canada, who were known by another name during the
disturbances. His Govemment was, therefore, not very satisfactoiy
to the Ultra-Tory, the Conservative, the moderate Re
former, the red-hot Radical, or to the luke-warm friend
of Canada; and his time was passed in a constant
struggle, not to annihilate, but to break up these
opposite factions.
We shall now see how a High Tory successor sat
upon the Vice-regal throne.
The year 1842 saw this throne occupied by a very
different Viceroy. Mr. Thompson was, comparatively
speaking, a new man, — a man of the people, — well
connected, however, but not able to blazon on his
escutcheon a line of bearings derived from the Con
quest. Sir Charles Bagot, of an ancient and time-
honoured English family, was essentially of the aristo
cracy, bred in High Tory principles, and accustomed
from early life to courts and diplomacy; but he had

CANADA. 227
passed that age of man's existence wherein vigour of
mind and vigour of body are usually in their prime.
A thorough-bred gentleman of the best English school,
accustomed to the highest circles of society from in
fancy. Sir Charles had now to contend, for the first
time, with Colonial policy, and to meet a storm which
he never imagined could have been raised, and from
which neither his high rank nor his acknowledged
talents availed him for an instant. He, seeing the dif
ficulties with which his forerunner had struggled, and
the utter impossibility of obtaining support for his
Government from the Tories or the British Reformers,
who had both left Lord Sydenham to fight his own
battles whenever it suited their respective views, sought
the French Canadians as his allies ; and thus at once
brought over to his camp Mr. Baldwin, and that section
of the Upper Canadian Reformers which he led.
The French Canadians, delighted at the prospect of
being really considered as worthy to share the loaves
and fishes, and as being honoured by a real station in
the Government, immediately rallied round him; and
men whose names, during the rebellion, figured upon
the lists of the Attorney-general or the Provost-mar
tial, were now seen filling the prominent offices of the
State. Ruin,— ruin, inevitable and uncontrolled, was
now predicted to Canada. The fact is, that the French
Canadian may be made as loyal as he was in former
wars ; and if that can be achieved, what does it signify
who the person, — the mere person,— is who holds a
temporary office ? Aud after aU, may not that person,
when he sees that his rights as a British subject are
respected, abjure his former errors, and become one of

228 CANADA.
the most devoted subjects of the Queen ? Leave out
some of the leaders, and many good and loyal men
amongst the British Canadians wiU be willing to throw
as thick a veil as possible over the past. And it is to
be bome in mind that emigration is now going on at
the rate of nearly 40,000 persons a year from the
Mother Country. Where, then, will be even nume
rical superiority in the Lower Canadian French some-
years hence ? The Anglo-Saxon race will swallow it
up, and in twenty years the French Canadian will have
discovered that he is behind-hand with the rest of the
world, and that feudal systems and a law of gavelkind
are unsuitable to his advancement. He will learn
English, or, at least, his chUdren will, and Canada
must, as the Americans say, in the meantime progress
by tranquillizing his fears.
The opinion upon this subject, delivered by the
political writer in that leading European journal, " Ths
Times,"* will convey all I have to say on thi* subject.
• CANADA.— SIR CHARLES BAGOT.
{From the London Times, Oct. 27, 1842.)
" It is, of course, with the greatest difiiculty that any one not prac
tically versed in the politics of Canada can pronounce an opinion
upon the late important step of Sir Charles Bagot, iu calling to
his councils men so notorious for past indisposition to the British
Government as those who have lately accepted office with buch cir
cumstances of triumph. One thing alone is certain— that it is the
commencement of a, new era in colonial government. It is a great
experiment, perhaps forced upon Sir Charles Bagot by the policy of
his predecessors, but certainly of a most novel character, and the
issue of which can only be looked to with the most extreme anxiety
and diffidence.
" We have already observed upon the desirableness of admitting the
French population of Lower Canada to a larger share in the govern
ment of that Colony than has been hitherto conceded them. Many
circumstances recommend such a course. Their own simple and

CANADA. 229
I regret the necessity of employing some few only of
these persons ; but I admit it, and augur good results
honest character, their mere numerical importance, their indisposition
to the alliance of our encroaching and untrustworthy neighbours of
the United States ; — all these circumstances point them out as fit
recipients of a share, and a substantial one, of political power and
infiuence. " This, the Act of Union of 1840, unpopular as it at first was with
them, has at once given them. That Act conferred on a body of
people not, we believe, at heart indisposed to the British protection,
but still fomenting from the efiects of late popular excitement, a pre
ponderance in the popular assembly of Canada. Not only this, but
the theory of a responsible Government was established. The instru
ment and representative of the Imperial Government was compelled
to exercise his powers, not at the will of that central power which
regulates the movements of the whole, but in obedience to the partial
and probably short-sighted wishes of that province which he was com
missioned to administer. A principle of colonial government, not
devoid of a certain plausible generosity, — nay, more, practically sound
and wise, — but, in the extent to which it has been applied, most
hazardous in the abstract, has been forced to its first practical trial
under circumstances which multiply tenfold its danger and incon
venience. The power to control their Governor has been transferred
from the Home Government to the colonial population at a moment
when they have scarcely quitted a position of distinct and illegal hos
tility to it.
" The result may prove auspicious ; we are willing to hope the best.
But it is a somewhat ominous consequence of this new order of things,
that the Govemor is compelled to call to his councils, on their own
terms, men who have lately been proscribed, or in prison ; and that
the choice of individuals is justified upon the ground that the leaders
of the French party, now predominant, were all in the same scrape,
and that if any influential Frenchman at all is now to aid the "Govern
ment of Canada, it must necessarily be one of those who were traitors,
or suspected, a few years back. The outset is unfortunate j not, we
believe, from the fault of Sir Charles Bagot, or the present Govern
ment, but from the indiscretion of those who have precipitated this
revolution, who have left to their successors no choice between so
perilous a risk as the present, and the still more daring alternative of
suspending the fresh Canadian constitution, and supporting that

230 CANADA.
from so determined a line of policy by the Tory
Ministry. I augur well from it, for two reasons. The
suspension by the bayonets of the British soldiery, and the physical
energy of a fraction of the inhabitants.
'• We should not, however, omit to remark upon the great strength
which, at least in the House of Assembly, the Government appears
to have combined by its present concession. A majority of fifty- five
to five at the opening of its sittings, is a primd facie evidence of no
ordinary power ; nor is the liberal and French press less sanguine in
their auguries, or loud in their panegyrics of the Governor's policy
than might have been expected from the circumstances. We are told
that by these concessions the aflTeotions of the French are for ever
bound to the British Government, and that our troops may be with
drawn from Canada with no longer delay than is necessary to find
room for them in England.
" Such is usually the language of those who are gaining their point.
Lavish of promises till the next occasion of collision, it is ever their
object, by tlieir very eulogiums, to create an obligation to proceed —
by the very profuseness of their acknowledgments to raise extravagant
expectations iu their followers, and to affix an extravagant interpre
tation to the concessions they have extorted, which may be appealed
to in future times, in order to heighten the odium of pausing in the
course which has been once begun. It becomes an act of treachery
to fall short of the expectations of so grateful a population. The
greater the original boon, the more difficult and dangerous it is made
to decline that further progress which it is held to imply. We do not
then set any great store upon the present promising aspect of affairs.
This momentary popularity may indeed be the attendant upon a bold
and well-timed policy, but it m.ay be the equally natural result of a
weak and imprudent concession. Which it is, the future must decide.
Two remarks only we would venture before concluding.
" One is this — that the preaent arrangements offer little prospect of
permanence. Between the English Ultra- Reformers and the French
Colonists there is no. real community of interest or principle. The
patriarchal habits of the latter, their unenterprising though indus
trious characters, their prejudices, simplicity, and native refinement
of feeling, render them iio natural allies of the active, pushing, inde
pendent, money-making English Radical ; and any continued union
between two such parties, however possible in the loose warfare of
opposition, can neither be hoped nor feared from them when engaged

CANADA. 231
first, because the French Canadian must see that justice
is done to his claims, as representing one good l^alf of
the Canadian population. The second, because it must
equally assure him that Great Britain is not afraid of
his counteraction. I could add another; and I may as
well, for I believe, from the bottom of my heart, that
the French Canadian is, as I before have said, a gentle
man when educated, and an excellent fellow at. all
times, when undisturbed by demagogues. But with
" The Times," and with its opinions, I conclude this
chapter, and nearly this book.
As hereafter it will be very interesting to the
Canadian public to know who composed Sir Charles
Bagot's Parliament, I subjoin the most accurate
list I can obtain, taken from the Montreal Gazette,
in the practical details of legislation aud administration. The present
coalition is a mere transition state ; we shall have another shuffling
of the cards before we can tell what is to turn up for Canada.
" Secondly, if we did uot look forward to this second breaking up
of parties, our expectations would be more gloomy than they are.
Already from within the Government's Cabinet we hear sentiments
broached of no favourable nature to British supremacy — intimations,
if we rightly understand them, of doubt whether the act of the
Imperial Legislature is conclusively binding on the Colonies without
the additional sanction of the colonial ratification. If this is to be the
tone of the coalition, speedy be its dissolution ; for such administering
of the affairs of the Colony on the principle now apparently conceded
of " responsible," that is, in fact, independent, local Government,
would be indeed a dangerous enemy to the Home authority ; as the
shrewd Yankee press has found out, telling us with some admixture
of contempt, that however generous, however worthy of a new era in
government that principle may be, it is palpably at variance with the
laws of colonial empire, and must disable us from holding that empire
together one year after it has ceased to be supported by the most
palpable and present coincidence of interests."
[There is also an admirable commentary in the Standard of the
same time.]

232 CANADA.
and. from the Toronto Patriot of October 4th,
1842.* • LIST OF THE TWO HOUSES.
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.
The names of Members and Places arranged alphabetically.
Speaker — Hon. Austin Cuvillier.
Names of Members — alphabetically.
Armstrong, D. M  Berthier.
Aylwin, T. C  Portneuf.
Baldwin, Robert  Hastings.
Boulton, H. J.,  Niagara.
Boutillier, Dr. T  St. Hyacinthe.
Barthe, J. G  Yamaska.
Berthelot, Amable  Kamouraska.
Buchanan, Isaac  Toronto, City.
Borne, Mfchael  Rimouski.
Black, Hon. Henry  Quebec, City.
Burnet, David  Ditto.
Boswell, G. M  Northumberland, South Riding.
Crane, Samuel  Grenville.
Cuvillier, Hon. Austin  Huntington.
Cook, John  Dundas.
Cartwright, J. S  Lenox and Addington.
Chesly, S. Y  Cornwall.
Cameron, Malcolm  Lanark.
Christie, Robert  Gaspg.
Child, Marcus  Stanstead.
Daly, Hon. D  Megantic.
Draper, Hon. W. H  Russell.
Dewitt, Jacob  Leinster.
Dunlop, William  Huron.
Dunscombe, J. W  Beauhamois.
Derbishire, S  Bytown.
Duggan, G. R  York, Second Riding.
Delisle, Alexander M  Montreal, County.
Dunn, Hon. J. H  Toronto, City.
Durand, James  Halton, West Riding.
Forbes, C.J  Two Mountains.
Foster, Dr. Sewell  Shefford.
Gilchrist, Dr. John  Northumberland, North Riding
Harrison, Hon. S. B  Kingston.

CANADA. 233
Since this List was made, there were some remark
able changes in the Cabinet.
Holmes, Benjamin  Montreal, City.
Hale, Edward  Sherbrooke, Town.
Hopkins, Caleb  Halton, East Riding.
Hincks, Hon. Francis  Oxford.
Hamilton, John R  Bonaventure.
Jones, Hon. Robert  Mississquoi.
Johnston, James  Carlton.
Kimber, Dr. E. J  Champlain.
Killaly, Hon. H. H  London.
Lafontaine, L. H  York, Fourth Riding.
Leslie, James  Vercheres.
Moore, John  Sherbrooke, County.
Morris, James  Leeds.
Moffat, Hon. George  Montreal, City.
Merritt, W. H  Lincoln, North Riding.
M'Nab, Sir A. N  Hamilton.
M'Donell, J. S  Glengarry.
M'Culloch, Dr. M  Terrebonne.
M'Lean, Alexander  Stormont.
M'Donald, Donald  Prescott.
Noel, Dr. J. B  Lotbiniere.
Neilson, John  Quebecj County.
Ogden, Hon. C. R  Three Rivers.
Papineau, D. B  Ottawa.
Powel, Israel M  Norfolk.
Prince, John  Essex.
Parent, Etienne  Saguenay.
Parke, Thomas  Middlesex.
Price, James H  York, First Riding.
Quesnel, F. A  Montmorency.
Robliii, J. P  Prince Edward.
Simpson, John  Vaudrueil.
Smith, Henry, jun  Frontenac.
Small, James E  York, Third Riding.
Sherwood, George  Brockville.
Smith, Dr. Hermanns  Wentworth.
Steel, Elmes  Simcoe.
Tachg, Dr. Etienne  L' Islet.
Turgeon, Abraham  Bellechasse.
Turcotte, J. E  St. Maurice.

234 CANADA.
The Honorable Mr. Draper resigned the Attorney-
generalship for Canada- West, and the Attorney-general
Thorburn, David  Lincoln, South Riding."
Tachereau, A. C.  Dorchester.
Thompson, D  Haldimand.
Viger, Hon. D. B  Richelieu.
Viger, L. M  Nicolet.
Walker, William  Rouville.
Watts, R. N  Drummond.
Williams, John T  Durham.
Woods, Joseph  Kent.
Yule, John  Chambly.

LEGISLATIVE
Speaker — Hon. R.
Hon. R. S. Jamieson.
„ P. B. De Blacquiere.
„ Peter M'Gill.
„ R. B Sullivan.
„ R. E. Caron.
,, William Morris.
,, George Pemberton.
„ Alexander Fraser.
,, Barthelemi Joliette.
,, James Crooks.
„ Adam Fergusson. ' '
„ John Fraser.
,, John Macaulay.
,, John Hamilton.
„ F. P. Bruneau.

COUNCIL. S. Jamieson.
Hon. John M'Donald.
Adam Ferrie.
J. B. Tache.
P. H. Knowlton.
Thomas M'Kay.
Gabriel Roy.
P. H. Moore..
Robert Dickson.
Amable Dionne.
^Joseph-DtoraTe. George Goodhue.
I. P. Sherwood.
William Walker.
Sim. Washburn.

Names of Places — alphabetically.
Brockville  George Sherwood.
Berthier  D. M. Armstrong.
"Beauhamois  J. W. Dunscombe.
Bellechasse  A. Turgeon.
Bonaventure  J. R. Hamilton.
Bytown  S. Derbyshire.
Carlton  James Johnson.
Champlain  Dr. R. J. Kimber.
Chambly  John Yule.

CANADA. 235
for Canada East, Mr. Ogden, was displaced. Mr.
Sherwood, Solicitor-general for Upper Canada, was
Cornwall  S. Y. Chesley.
Dorchester  A. C. Tachereau.
Drummdnd  R. N. Watts.
Dundas  John Cook.
Durham  J. T. Williams.
Essex  John Prince.
Frontenac  Henry Smith, jun.
Gaspg  R. Christie.
Glengarry  J. S. M'Donell.
Grenville  S. Crane.
Hamilton  Sir A. N. M'Nab.
' Halton, East Riding  Caleb Hopkins.
Ditto, West Riding  J. Durand.
Hastings  Robert Baldwin.
Haldimand  D. Thompson.
Huntingdon  Hon. A. Cuvillier.
Huron  Dr. W. Dunlop.
Kent  Joseph Woods.
Kingston  Hon. S. B. Harrison.
Kamouraska  Amable Barthelot.
Lanark  Malcolm Cameron.
Leinster  Jacob De Witt.
Leeds  /  James Morris.
L' Islet  Dr. E. Tach6.
London  Hon H. Killaly.
Lincoln, North Riding  W. H. Merritt.
Ditto, South Riding  David Thorburn.
Lenox and Addington  J. S. Cartwright
Lotbiniere  Dr. J. B. Noel.
Megantic  Hon. D. Daly.
Montreal, City  P^""; ^""S^ ^°«"^*'~
t Benjamin Holmes.
Ditto, County  Alexander Delisle.
Middlesex  Thomas Parke.
Montmorency  F. A. Quesnel.
Mississquoi  Hon. Robert Jones.
Niagara  H. J. Boulton,
Nicolet  '.  L. M. Viger.
Norfolk  L. M. Powell.
Northumberland, N. Riding. . Dr. John Gilchrist

236 CANADA.
also superseded, as well as Mr. Daridson and Mr.
Macaulay. The Cabinet was then recomposed, as follows :
The Hon. Mr. R. B. Sullivan, President of the
Council.

Northumberland, South Riding . . G. M. Boswell.
Ottawa  D. P. Papineau.
Oxford  Hon. Francis Hincks.
Prince Edward  J. B. Roblin.
Portneuf  T. C. Aylwin.
Prescott  Donald M'Donald.
„ , „.. (Hon. H. Black.
Quebec, City  .; ID. Burnet
Ditto, County  John Neilson.
Russell  Hon. W. H. Draper.
Richelieu  Hon. D. B. Viger.
Rouville  W. Walker.
Rimouski  Michael Bome.
Shefford  Dr. Sewell Foster.
Stanstead  Marcus Child.
Simcoe  Elmes Steele.
Stormont  ,  Alexander M'Lean.
Sherbrook, Town  Edward Hale.
Ditto, County  John Moore.
Saguenay  Etienne Parent.
St Maurice  -.-'.'rTTj. E. Turcotte.
St. Hyacinthe  Dr. T. BoutilUer.
Three Rivers  Hon. C. R. Ogden.
Terrebone  Dr. M. MCulloch.
_ . f Hon. J. H. Dunn.
Toronto  } (Isaac Buchanan.
Two Mountains  C. J. Forbes.
Vercheres  James Leslie.
Vaudreuil  John Simpson.
Wentworth  Dr. Hermanns Smith.
Yamaska  J. G. Barthe.
York, First Riding  J. H. Price.
Ditto, Second Riding  George Duggan, Jun.
Ditto, Third Riding  J. E. Small.
Ditto, Fourth Riding  L. H. Lafontaine.

CANADA. 237
The Hon. Mr- Harrison, Secretary, CE.
„ Dunn, Receiver-general.
„ Killaly, President of Board of
Works.
„ Hincks, Inspector-general of
Public Accounts.
,, Baldwin, Attorney-general, CE.
„ Small, Solicitor-general, CE.
„ Daly, Secretary, CW.
„ Lafontaine,Attorney-general, C. W.
„ Aylwin, Solicitor-general, C.W.
„ Morin, Commissioner of Crown
Lands.
In 1842, the House of Assembly was divided as
follows, according to the Toronto Examiner :
Firm supporters of the above Ministry . 60
Decidedly opposed . . . .13
Doubtful  11

84

Of the 60 Ministerial supporters, the Patriot said
as follows :
Ministers themselves . . . .10
Other Office-holders during pleasure, chiefiy
local  17
27
Other Members, including those whose
seats were questionable . . .33 60

238 CANADA.
Of the 24 opposed or doubtful, are Office
holders during pleasure (mostly
local officers) .... 8
Other Members  16
34
Total Office-holders . . . .35
Others  49 84
Sir Charles Bagot, in short, worked with a majority
of Reformers chiefiy through a French interest, as
Lord Sydenham had worked with a British one ; and
although he slept not on a bed of roses, he resigned
his life respected for the purity of his intentions, and
with the character of the old English gentleman, — his
honour untarnished, and his sufferings from illness
deeply and universally regretted.
From the mass of intelligence in the United Legis
lature, there was every reason to believe that harmony
would at length arise upon most of the questions of
real interest to the Colony ; and there was very little
doubt that Sir Charles Metcalfe was the most proper
person who could have been selected to work that
desirable end, and that he would succeed in governing
Canada upon open and manly terms was scarcely to
be doubted.
It was useless to listen to the unreasonable cry of
swamping the French, and making Upper Canada
interests alone the rule. The immense emigration
from Britain yearly would alone operate as a counter
check to French principles, or to any fear of Lower

CANADA. 239
Canada having an undue preponderance ; whilst the
impetus given to exertions by the magnificent scheme
of opening the St. Lawrence to Lake Superior for
ocean-going vessels, will go far to annihilate the feudal
barbarism of the race which borders upon the banks of
that father of floods ; for steamboats will make com
merce, and commerce will make population, and the
back country must be opened. See what steamboats
have done for the Mississippi. Before they rode upon
the muddy waves of that river, the Louisianian French
alone occupied its best littoral ; now the Anglo-Saxon
only appears, and a thousand miles of water and forest
owa his sway, and bear annually vast tokens of his
increase, of his active mind, and of his dauntless
exertions. So it will be with the St. Lawrence, On
tario, Erie, and Huron, when steamboats pass unin
terruptedly from Quebec into Lake Superior.

240

CANADA.

CHAPTER VII.
Reflections on the probable future destinies of Canada, and general
polity of the Colonial Empire of Great Britain in Northern
America.
It is with the utmost pleasure I turn from the tire
some and laborious work of forming the outline of
Canadian politics, given in the last chapter, to " matter
more attractive," and in which the mind has its free
scope. The first thing which must now occupy the
inquisitive reader is the financial condition of the
Union. The foUovring is the statement of the Inspector-
general, down .to the end of the December quarter of
1841, of the monetary affairs of the Prorince of
Canada ; and as it gives, at one glance, the extent of
the Public Works, the Public Debt, and the Public
Credit, I shall not curtail one word of it, or one figure,
and thus place it under the reader's eye without note
or comment. [See pp. 242 and 343.]
The internal commerce of this fine country is rapidly
increasing, and the lake ports of Ontario becoming
yearly of more importance. In 1830, on Lake Ontario
the traffic was confined to York, Kingston, and Niagara,

CANADA. 241
whilst Coburg was only starting, as a port, into
existence. Now these are numerous, and several are
driving a large trade with the interior, and saUing or
steam-vessels penetrate into every available " coign of
vantage" along the whole of a shore which Nature
has rendered it necessary for man to improve the com
munications of, so straight and deficient of harbours as
it is. I shall just give one instance to show how the
Canadian shores of this beautiful lake are improving.
The Newcastle District is, perhaps, the worst provided
with natural harbours of any part of its circuit, either
on the British or American littoral ; and yet here,
such have been the silent strides of commerce, that
places unknown on the map yield a revenue to the
Custom-house. There has, in fact, been a great deal
of enterprise in that district, which is one of the finest
in the whole province.
In the Revenue Returns I observe, for 1841, the
undermentioned places are mentioned as becoming
productive : Ports. Receipts.
£ s. d.
Bond Head and Dariington . . 301 2 3|
Coburg  1,005 0 5J
Newcastle and Trent .... 168 1 5J
Port Hope  595 14 4|
Windsor  380 13 8|
Total .... £3,350 13 4i
In short, the revenue from the great Mediterranean
fresh-water seas of Canada is steadily increasing ; for,
notwithstanding the pressure of the times, the im-
VOL. II. M

242 CANADA.

STATEMENT OF THE AFFAIRS
On the Z\st of

PUBLIC DEBT.
Sterling Debentures, interest payable at Glynn,
Mills, Halifax, and Co., sterling, £450,000 
Sterling Debentures, interest payable at Baring

£
444,444 8
487,511 2
28,261 II
11,703 8
20,000 0
6,000 O"
289,544 1
123,675 0

d.
10 3

Balance due Glynn, Mills, Halifax and Co 

6 Hn

n

Provincial Debentures, Upper Canada 

2

£
Profit on Exchange sold by the Receiver-general
Interest account, for interest on loans to Public
Works 
1,411,23? 11
45,844 19
18,083 13
225 7
16 9
lOi I
7
Balance due to Public Accountants :
Collectors of Customs  ,...
55 4
£59,155 9 0|
SPECIAI- FUNDS.
Clergy Reserve Fund, Canada West 
Clergy Reserve Fund, Canada East 
Clergy Reserve Fund 
Jesuits' Estate Fand 
School Land Fund  ,
Trinity Fund, Quebec 
Trinity Fund, Montreal 
Tonnage Duty Revenue  ,
Lunatic Asylum Fund  ; 
Consolidated Revenue Fund for balance of that
Account  .' 
Civil List, Schedule B, 1841, for balance of that
Account 
Receiver- general Dunn, balance per
his account current, sterling  £2,525 17 0
Warrants issued for the service of
1841, aud' credited him, but un
paid  50,524 8 li
18,982
13
11
311
9
I
11,606
19
7
23,502
I
S
2,055
5
8
2.215
16
9|
645
10
0
616
2
0
1,577
6
9
£61,513
5
2J
73,280
16
2|
1,621
13
14
*56,998 II 11
63,331 15 .4J
Currency  £1,670,142 10 lOJ
F. Hincks, Inspector-general.
Kingston, 21 St September, 1842.
CANADA.

243

OF THE PROVINCE OF CANADA.
December, 1841.

I.0ANS TO INCORFORATED COMPANIES AND TO C0MMISSZ0NEK8
FOR TURNPIKEBOADS, VIZ: —

Home District Toll-roads 
Hamilton and Brantford-road 
Dundas and Waterloo-road 
Kingston and Napanee-road 
Brockville and St. Francis-road  ,
Erie and Ontario Railroad Company..
Oakville Harbour Company 
Coburg Harbour Company 
Port Hope Harbour Company 
Desjardins Canal Company 
Grand River Navigation Company ...
Tay Navigation Company 
Grantham Academy 
Montreal Turnpike Trust 
Quebec Turnpike Trust 

£ 8.
95,728 4
45,804 12
29,246 16
?.0,555 2
7,692 17
5,514 1
3,723 16
5,211 18 3
3,075 8 0
22,415 14 2
588 16 11
1,461 0 2
318 2 7
1,211 16 3^
400 19 7^

d. Oi I
4
30

PBOyiNCIAL ¦WORKS.
Welland Canal 
St. Lawrence Canal 
Trent Navigation 
Inland Waters Newcastle District 
Kettle Creek Harbour ...,„ 
Paris Bridge 
Trent Bridge 
Chatham Bridge 
Brantford Bridge 
Dunville Bridge 
Garafraxa-road 
New Brunswick-road  , 
Kingston Penitentiary 
Kingston Hospital 
Parliament Buildings, Toronto 
West Gwillim hury-road and Bridge 
St. Ann's Rapids 
Harbour of Montreal 
Chambly Canal 
Steam Dredge, Montreal 
Thomas Wilson and Company, for this sum
owing the Province 

DEBTS DUE BY PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS,
Collectors of Customs 
Inspectors 
Commissioner of Crown Lands  ,
Receiver of Licences 
Naval Officer 
Outstanding Bonds, Montreal  ,
Outstanding Bonds, Quebec 
Outstanding Bonds, St. John's 
Thomas D. Harrington 
Post OfG.ce Commission  r. 

Pteceiver- gen eral Dunn,^balance due by him for
special funds 
Civil List, Schedule A, advance for 1842 
Civil List, Schedule A, advance for 1841 
Territorial Revenue, Special Account, being
debt due to the Clergy Fund for Land Rights
Board of Works to be accounted for 

£283,524 14

Ui

462,866

18

10

440,097

11

u

23,364

n

7

21,660

0

0

6,500

0

C

2,000

0

0

4,800

0

0

2,000

0

0

2,000

0

0

1,700

0

0

2,600

0

0

2,500

0

0

43,198

15

9

3,000

0

0

5,000

0

0

955

3

5

4.308

16

H

87.175

U

0

35,000

0

0

1,500

U

0

66, 140

I

0

£1,225,346

17

3i

59,095

I

10

4,528

16

1+

3,733

0

8

3,696

0

0

4,732

9

8

18,312

6

i

8,242

II

0

1,291-

6

10

287

J6

9

285

0

0

£103,204

8

31

40,019

5

11

191

1,')

H

876

17

H

15,661

8 :

11

1,337

2

0

Currency  £1,670,142 10 lOJ
M 2

244 CANADA.
porters have done, and are doing, a very extensive busi
ness, and the towns favourably situated are rapidly in
creasing in population ; and when the St. Lawrence and
Welland Canals, and the Ottawa Navigation are com
pletely finished, so that the expenses of transhipment
will be avoided, it is impossible to foretell the increase
of the carrying trade, as no doubt tbe Americans on
Lakes Michigan and Erie will prefer the cheaper mode
of sending down flour, peltries, ashes, staves, &c., by
the Great Welland Canal, to the tedious and dearer
navigation of that of Erie. The Welland Canal, I
have always argued, is the most important of all to
Canada. It opens out the whole of Westem America,
from the Columbia on the Pacific, and the mouths of
the Mississippi, to the Hudson's Bay Territory and the
fur-hunting countries of the North ; whilst the great
wheat-growing Western States find a new road to the
ocean by it j and all the best part of Canada, its wheat,
its hemp, its flax, and its tobacco-grounds, are imme
diately in its ^vicinage.
To show the British reader the great importance of
this public work, which has now passed into the hands
of the Provincial authorities, after having long, been
a source of mere private speculation, I shall annex
a statement of the Tolls for the years 1841 and 1842 :

CANADA. 245
Welland Canal Tolls. £ s. d.
From August Slst, 1840, to
Sept. 30th, 1841 .... 15,453 2 OJ
From August Slst, 1841, to
Sept 30th, 1842 .... 19,733 0 0|

Increase  3,279 18 0|
Tolls for all 1841  20,210 19 9
Tolls to 30th Sept. only, 1842 . 19,733 0 OJ
Now if this Canal, in its wretched and unfinished
state, fit for mere barges only, could be made to yield
twenty thousand a-year by the very side of the Erie
Canal, what will it do when it is properly finished as
a Ship Canal ? Why, the whole of the produce of the
Western countries would go down it ; and if a judicious
tariff between the State of New York and Canada was
established, all the European and Asiatic merchandize
used in Westem America would be conveyed along its
line, instead of by tbe tortuous and tedious route of the
wooden works of the Erie navigation.
To prove that this is now advancing beyond a ques
tion to a state which will bear out this assertion, I
shall just notice the advantages wbich the Welland
navigation has over the Erie.
In the first place, the entrance and exit of the Wel
land Canal is free from ice some weeks before and
after the artificial harbour of Buffalo is open, and as
the whole line of the Welland runs through an isthmus
in which winter, by a singular provision of nature, is
less severe than in the neighbouring region, so the
feeders are available both earlier and later in like man-

246 CANADA.
ner ; and when the supply was drawn off, all that was
necessary to caiTy on internal communication was the
railroad between Queenstown and Chippewa, in order
to open Eastern and Western Canada to each other.
The Welland is a canal of only a few miles in length,
i,he Clinton, or Erie inland navigation, embraces some
hundreds. The lakes are a road of themselves, from the Falls
of St. Mary on Superior to the mouth of the Welland
Canal on Lake Erie. Passing through this short water
course to its exitus on Lake Ontario, that lake com-
. municates with the Atlantic Ocean by the magnificent
works of the Rideau and the St. Lawrence ; and all
that was wanted to prevent transhipment, was the
enlargement of the Lachine Canal, which I have always
thought would have been much better placed at the
back of Isle Jesus, so as to admit of a free opening
both to the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence works.
Nobody at home can form an idea of the grandeur
of the rivers St. Lawrence and Ottawa, or of the mighty
canals which have surmounted the perils and difficul
ties of their rushing and rapid waters. The Bideau is
without a doubt the finest specimen of a stone-built
canal in the world, and the St. Lawrence rivals it.
This splendid colonial work, erected under the superin
tendence of an officer of engineers, who had Colonel
By's achievement on the Rideau constantly before his
eyes, was opened in 1842, by the passage of the High-
htnder steamboat through its finished lock. Thus the
obstacle of the great rapid of the Longue Sault, or
Long Leap, was overcome.
A mere outline of the gigantic scheme of inland
navigation is, of course, all that can be expected in

CANADA. 247
a work chiefly devoted to military history ; but it is a
proud reflection for the Corps of Royal Engineers, that
it has had so large a share in bringing this noble
scheme to maturity.
The line of inland navigation commences with the
La Chine Canal at Montreal, cut to avoid the rapids
of the St. Lawrence at that place, for a distance of
nine miles. This work, originally very perfect for
barges, has been enlarged, so as to form the main
leader to the seas of Canada. It opens upon Lake
St. Louis, a great but shallow expansion of the St.
Lawrence and Ottawa rivers, twenty-one miles from
Beauhamois. The next cutting is at the Cascades, at
the village of Beauhamois, where the new Canal {called
after the village) commences, and extends fifteen miles
to a point opposite Coteau du Lac, and surmounts the
Rapids called the Cascades, the Cedars, and the Coteau,
all about sixty feet fall, and whieh had already a small
canal, inadequate for anything but boats or barges.
The Beauhamois Canal, commented in 1842, leads
into the Lake St. Francis, another large and shallow
opening out of the St. Lawrence, which extends to
Cornwall, a distance of thirty-five miles.
Here, on the line of latitude 45 degrees, begins the
Cornwall Canal, at the pretty little town so called, and
which extends as far as Dickenson's Landing, or eleven
and a quarter miles, with a fall of about fifty feet.
This, which was commenced under the superintendence
of Lieutenant-colonel PhiUpotts of the Royal Engineers,
and nearly completed by him, is an excellent specimen
of the whole St. Lawrence Canal work. It has six
locks of the best and most beautiful solid masonry,
constructed in the most lasting manner, each chamber

248 CANADA.
being 200 feet in length by 50 in width, with 10 feet
water, and calculated for the largest class of the steam
boats and sailing vessels which ever ply upon Lake
Ontario, or on the Lower St. Lawrence from Montreal
to Quebec. It was opened on the 25th of November,
1842, by the steamboat Highlander.
This canal, styled par excellence the St. Lawrence,
was undertaken to overcome the worst part of the
Rapids of the Longue Sault, near Cornwall, and passes
by the villages of Mille Rochers and Moulinette, and.
has near its centre, towards the south, the celebrated
Barnhart's Island, which was conceded by treaty to
the United States.
From Dickenson's landing to Prescott is thirty-eight
miles, in which the undermentioned short canals were
required to overcome the Galloppe, Point Cardinal,
Rapide Plat, and Farren's Point Rapids, the first half
a mile, the second only three-tenths of a milej the
Rapide Plat, however, three and nine-tenths miles, and
the fourth eight-tenths of a mile ; in all five miles and
a half. But steamers and Ericson's propellers have
treated these obstructions with very little regard ; yet
still they are necessary to be canaUzed, as danger lurks
in their whirling waters. Thus the whole length of the
St. Lawrence Canal is only thirty-one and a half miles.*
I have mentioned the Rideau Canal so much at
large in a former work, that it is unnecessary now to
compare it with the St. Lawrence; but I shall put the
reader in possession of circumstances gathered from
Lieutenant-colonel Phillpott's and Mr. Killaly's reports^
* Mr., Thomas Keefer, one of the most distinguished civil engi
neers in Canada, has prepared admirable plans for deepening the
rapids of the St. Lawrence, — Editor.

CANADA. 249
which will show at once the extent and capabilities of
the vast works of the St, Lavn-ence Canal. The
calculations of Colonel PhiUpotts are followed, although
there has been great discussion about placing the canal
at Beauhamois, or on the north side; the former
route is a mile or so longer,*
INLAND NAVIGATION BY THE ST. LAWEENCE. Miles.
From the Ocean Port of Quebec by the
St. Lawrence to Montreal . , , 180
Montreal or La Chine Canal ,, , 9
La Chine to Cascades by Lake St, Louis , 21
Beauhamois Canal, to avoid the Cascades,
Cedars, and Coteau du Lac Rapids . 14f
Lake St. Francis to Cornwall . . 35
Cornwall Canal to Dickenson's Landing , lli
Dickenson's Landing to Prescott, in which
five and a half miles of canal are ne
cessary ...... 38
Prescott to Kingston ... 70
Kingston to Port Dalhousie on Welland
Canal  180
Port Dalhousie, by Welland Canal, to Port
Colbome, on Lake Erie ... ,28

587

Five hundred and eighty-seven miles of inland
water communication is thus opened from Quebec
tide-waters to Lake Erie, and to Lakes Michigan and
Superior, or 2,000 miles, of which 526J are natural,
" The Beauhamois Canal was placed on the south side of the river
to serve local interests, and it is thus unfortunately within sixteen
miles of the United States frontier. — Editor.
- M 3

250 CANADA.
and only 60 J artificial, whUst, by a short cut of a
mile or so at the FaUs of St. Mary, the whole of Lake
Superior, for 400 miles more would be thrown open.
This will therefore give Great Britain an exclusive
and direct road from London to the vast Far West, and
opens to the Hudson's Bay merchant a new and facile
path for the produce of his industry, whilst the wheat-
growing lands of the American Union will at once be
thrown open to commerce.
In this 60J miles of canal there are 63 locks and
517 feet of lockage; and, according to Lieutenant-
colonel Phillpotts, the expense required was i6!2,228, 700
to bring the surplus produce of the vast Western States
' of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana,
Missouri, Michigan, lUinois, Mississippi, Alabama,
Wisconsin, and Iowa to the Atlantic, by way of
Montreal and Quebec, instead of altogether by the
routes of the Mississipi to New Orleans; the Ohio
and Chesapeake Canal to Baltimore; the Ohio and
Pennsylvania Canal to Philadelphia; by the Ohio,
Kanawha, and James River to Richmond in Virginia ;
and by the tediously long Erie Canal from Buffalo to
New York.
The Buffalo merchants' ship produce from Chicago,
that growing emporium of the West, chiefly in steam
boats ; and have, of course, frequent transhipments and
unloadings to undergo before the cargoes reach the
Atlantic at New York. The obvious gain by a ship
canal, such as the Welland, in even sending goods
from the West only as far as Oswego is clear ; but if
the Americans obtain a transit trade to the ocean
without unshipping, it becomes a matter of specula
tion whether Montreal and Boston would not, instead

CANADA. 251
of New York, become the emporiums of the West,
In short. Nature and the command of capital has
created for England a water road through the heart of
America, which almost realizes the fairy visions which
caused the discovery of that continent, as the meta
incognita appears verily to have been found in the
noble St. Lawrence, and the trading path is nearly
opened which leads to the slumbering waters of the
Pacific and the Golden Cathay.
To effect this approach to so desirable a consumma
tion as that of rendering Canada as important as she
deserves to be, we find that Great Britain stepped
forward with a loan of a million and a half, and the
princely merchants of London came forward to acce
lerate the disposal of that vast sum. I was at first
much opposed to the immense outlay required in
constructing the St. Lawrence Canal, when the Rideau
answered every purpose for small steamboats ; but my
mind has since been convinced that the two are
perfectly compatible with the best interests of the
province, the one as a military, the other as a com
mercial canal. Besides, the Rideau Canal leads
directly from Lake Ontario to that part of the great
Ottawa, which must hereafter be rendered navigable
for the immense and fertile region embraced between
the Ottawa, the Nipissing country. Lakes Huron,
Simcoe, and Ontario ; it will soon be explored fully,
and the tide of emigration turned into its silent and
splendid forests and rivers.*
• Between the Ottawa and Lake Huron, and in other parts of
Canada, free grants of fifty acres of land may he obtained on the con
ditions of settlement, cultivation, and keeping the road in repair
opposite the lot. — --Editor.

252 CANADA.
The Welland Canal toUs amounted, in the dis
tressed season of 1839, to J12,700. The toUs of the
Rideau in 1839, were only £7,000; the La Chine,
£6,638 10s. M.; the Grenville or Ottawa canals,
£2,000. Thus the Welland was in 1841, nearly as
productive as all the others put together; for even
granting that the others in 1841 had risen, they rose
only in the same proportions.
The Erie Canal tolls in 1838, when the Cana
dian rebellion had paralyzed commerce in Canada, and
consequently assisted the transit trade to New York,
amounted to £318,189 3s. sterling, which alone
showed the vast amount to be gained by making the
Welland a ship canal. Before it was excavated, all the
carrying-trade was by portage across the Niagara fron
tiers and to the ocean by Montreal and Quebec ; but
the moment Clinton finished his stupendous under
taking, the carrying-trade departed from Canada
entirely, until some enterprising spirits got up the
Welland Canal speculation.*
The Erie navigation is only 40 feet wide and 4 feet
deep, and thus fitted merely for shallow covered barges.
It is 36S mUes long, and connects Lake Erie with the
tide waters of the Hudson River at Albany. It was
conmenced in 1817, and completed in 1825, in which
year the Welland Canal was commenced.
The cost of the Erie navigation was great, — '¦
£1,607,127 lis. 6^. About a quarter of that sum
was required, or £416,571 5s. Id., according to
Mr, KUlaly's original report, to render the WeUand
Canal fit for large steamboats.
• Among whom is to be distinguished Mr. Hamilton Merritt.
— Editor. ^

CANADA. 253
In 1841, the canal tolls of the State of New York
amounted to the great sum of 1,792,485 doUars. In
1842, they diminished to 1,525,525 dollars, probably
owing to the New Tariff and the increased transit
trade by the Welland. But at all events the transit
trade by canal in that State has been worth nearly
three quarters of a million sterling a year to the
revenue ; whilst from the paltry construction of the
Canadian Canal, one quarter at least of that sum was
lost to the province.
The arguments for and against the imposition of a
protective duty on American produce passing through
Canadian canals or water routes, would occupy too
much space, so I shall merely add the result of Mr.
Merritt's experience in a debate upon the subject.
It is asserted that Canada does not at present grow
wheat enough even for her own consumption. This
argument does not, however, hold good for the future
condition of the country ; and be it remembered that
immigration is going on at the rate of 40,000 persons
a year. I confess I like the reasoning of those persons who
say that there is not enough attention paid to mer
cantile interests in the Govemment of Canada, " as
neither the Executive, nor the Legislative Council
contains that infusion of mercantile intelligence abso
lutely essential to ensure a faithful representation of
commercial interests. The Executive, in particular, is
deficient on this point,— an evil which might be cured
by tbe creation of a Colonial Board of Trade, with an
ex-officio seat for its President in the Cabinet,"
The same Montreal paper from which I have ex
tracted the above, makes another observation, which it

254 CANADA.
wUl be well to bear in mind : — " Timber, ashes, and
provisions, are the staples, at present, of the Canadian
export trade," The writer, however, forgets that
tobacco, aud hemp, and flax, will soon bear a large
share in it,
"^ The agriculturists of Westem Canada," he says,
and it is true, — " oppose the admission of American
produce for consumption, whilst the merchants favour
it because it secures tbem the export trade," Let both
parties unite in a petition to the Imperial Govemment
to sanction the admission of American wheat which has
passed through Canada, upon the same terms as the
colonial produce, under the seal of the bonded system.
In what other mode will the expense of the Welland
and St. Lawrence Canals be covered ? But to Mr,
Merritt and his calculations, and the extent to which
mercantile transactions wUl be affected by the New
British Possessions Act, passed on the 16th July,.
1842, and which came into operation in Canada on
the 5th July, 1843, I shall refer, the reader to the
Appendix, as there the Act itself, imposing a duty
of 2s, per barrel ou wheat flour from the Colonies, and
Mr, Merritt's arguments concerning the transit trade,
are placed at length ; but the commercial reader will
find in the following extract from tbe Montreal
Gazette, an analysis of the difference between the
new and the old Acts highly useful.
With the view of aiding our readers in estimating the extent to
which the transactions of 1843 must be affected by it, we have com
piled the following comparative statement of the duties on the chief
articles of our trade leviable under the existing and future law. It
must, however, be borne in mind, that uuder the former, the' excess
of the Imperial duty over the Colonial, only, was collected ; whereas,
under the latter, the Imperial duty is levied without reference to the
Colonial : —

Tea 
Fish, dried or salted . . . .
Fish, pickled 
Fish oil, blubber, &c 
Spermaceti 
Wheat flour 
Meat, salted or cured ....
Butter . . , 
Cheese 
Coffee 
Cocoa 
Molasses 
Sugar, Unrefined 
Do., refined 
Do., do., in bond 
Rum 
Gin 
Brandy 
Wines, French, in bottle . .
Do , in wood 
Do., all other, in bottle,
Madeira excepted 
Do., in wood 
Do., if from Great Britain,
Malta, or Gibraltar ....
Madeira 
Manufactures —
Glass 
Silk 
Cotton 
Linen 
Woollen 
Leather 
Paper 
Hardware 
Tobacco 
Clocks and watches 
Soap 
Candles, other than Sperm
Corks, cordage 
Oakum 
Articles, non- enumerated. .

CANADA.
Duties now payable.
Prohibited 
Do 
Do 
Do 
Do 
Free 
Free 
,15 per ct. ad val.
15 do 
5s. per cwt 
5s. do 
4<s. 6d. do. ..... .
5s. do 
20 per ct. ad val.
20 do 
Is. per gal 
Is. 3d. do 
Is. 3d. do 
7s. per tun. . . .
1\ per ct. ad val.
Is. per doz. bottles
7i per ct. ad val.
\ £1 7s. per tun  \^
i 1 s. per doz. bottles /
7s. per ton. . . .
[ 10s. do 

(

255
Duties payable after
July sth, 1843.
Id. per lb.
2s. per cwt.
4s. per barrel.
15 per ct. ad val.
15 do.
2s. per barrel.
3s. per cwt.
8s. do.
5s. do.
5s. do.
Is. do.
3 s. do.
5 s. do.
20 per ct. ad val.
10 do.
6d. per gallon.
Is. do.
Is. do.

7J per ct. ad val

£7 do.

J

20 per ct. ad val.]

do.do.do.
do.
do.do.do.
do.
do.do.
do.
do.

302030 15
30
30 15 20
30 2015IS
Free 
15 per ct. ad val.

15 ditto.

) 7 ditto.

ditto.

256 CANADA.
With reference to the latter class, we name a few of the articles it
compromises, and in whioh considerable business already exists, or
may arise ; — ale or beer ; spices ; arrow-root ; bees-wax j cabinet-
ware ; leather j carriages ; feathers ; floor-cloths, painted ; flower- r
roots J furs ; glue ; horn, and articles made thereof ; lead, and
articles made thereof; Indian rubber, and articles made thereof;
lard ; linseed oil ; mats ; medicines ; paints, and brushes of all de
scriptions i perfumes'; quills ; silver, and gold, and articles manu
factured thereof, except watches ; salt ; slates ; straw, and articles
made thereof ; types ; and zinc.
It is also provided that if any goods, charged with duty, tea and
sugar excepted, shall be imported through the United Kingdom,
having been warehoused therein, and having been exported from the
warehouse, or the duties thereon, if there paid, having been drawn
back, such goods shall only be charged with three-fourths of the
duties named in the Act.
The internal navigation of Canada is not however
merely to be considered as effected by the construction
of the St. Lawrence Canal, and by the enlargement
of the WeUand and La Chine Canals. These merely
create a water road from the Westem States, and
Western Lakes to the Atlantic. The producer in
Canada must have other means of reaching this
main artery, and thus the following works are more
essential to his well-being.*
* To show the enormous trade carried on by means of the Erie
Canal, with the Lakes Erie, Michigan, and Huron, I subjoin the
following return :
CANAL TRADE OF BUFFALO IN 1842.
From the Buffalo Daily Mercantile , Courier, Dec. 7.
Below is a table made up from the books of the Canal Collector of
the shipment of property down the canal during the year 1 842, with
a similar table for 1841, for the purpose of comparison^ The
sudden closing of the canal has arrested flour and wheat enough at
this place to have increased the former article to 660,000 and the
latter to 1,250,000 bushels, which would show a trifling increase
over 1840, when the navigation lasted until Dec. 1; notwithstanding
a large amount has gone through Canada.

CANADA. 257
The Trent navigation, for which the small sum
of £23,364, and the Inland waters navigation of the
Of other articles some show an increase, some a diminution, and
some articles, viz. . square timber and .barley, have been shipped
from this port which were not reported at all last year. A large
increase will be noticed in wool, lead, flax-seed, butter and lard,
cheese, ashes, corn, and oats ; and a great reduction in ship stuffs,
peas aud beans, dried fruit, leather, hides, iron, staves, boards and
scantling, and domestic spirits. 1842. 1841.
Ashes, barrels  17,828 10,165
Pork, barrels  '. .. 52,489| 67,007
Beef, barrels  , 4,293 3,218
Fish, barrels  2,347 1,844
Flour, barrels  640,277 648,686
Wheat, bushels  1,171,651 1,207,125
Rye, bushels  2,075 3,057
Corn, bushels  279,953 148,727
Barley, bushels  2,933
Oats, bushels  161,410 34,262
Ships' stuffs, bushels  17,836 33,851
Peas and beans, bushels ... . 5,554 11,625
Dried fruit, lbs  28,930 280,981
Clover and Grass Seed, lbs. . 1,289,314 1,378,842
Flax Seed, lbs  675,270 370,174
Hops, lbs  18,394 2,745
Tobacco, lbs  979,874 805,595
Cotton, lbs  48,603 73,016
Wool, lbs  577,078 f 340,229
Leather, lbs  105,159 210,845
Hides, lbs  208,646 497,879
Bar and Pig Lead, lbs  1,454,558 107,411
Pig Iron, lbs  34,300 67,239
Iron Ware, lbs  23,422 60,024
Butter and Lard, lbs  6,242,072 5,147,246
Cheese, lbs  2,807,983 1,211,585
Merchandise, lbs  242,348 363,3 1 8
Furniture, lbs  698,658 902,019
Stone, Lime, &c., lbs  436,378 509,878
Gypsum, lbs  2,032
Mineral Coal, lbs  2,981 5,150
Furs and Peltries, lbs  291,177 363,751
Staves  34,851,010 56,623,456

258 CANADA.
Newcastle district, for which £21,660 was set aside,
are most important works, as they open out a vast
interior of the most fertile description to the agri
culturist. If there is any portion of the unsettled region of
Canada more fertile and delightful than another ; it
is the splendid section through which the Trent, the
Rice Lake, the Otonabee, and the chain of lakes and
streams, including Balsam Lake, run and communicate
with Lake Simcoe, and approach the Moon River and
Lake Nipissing, Here Nature has spread out her
bounties with no sparing hand.
Peterborough stands at the foot of a series of rapids
formed by the Otonabee, and the tributary lakes and

Boards and Scantling, feet . . 5,232,323 9,123,99-1
Shingles, M  150^ 211
Timber, 100 ft  3,172
Wood, cords  973 13
Domestic Spirits, gallon  373,520 717,040
Sundries, lbs  3,251,835 2,205,959
The amount collected in 1 842 Dollars 374,448-89
„ 1841 „ 348,482-08

Excess in favour of 1842  25,966.81
Whole number of clearances in 1842, 5,171
1841, 5,782
Deficiency of clearances in 1842, 611
Canal Tolls. — Account of tolls received on all the canals of this
State during the last week in November, and' the totals to the 30th
November in each of /the years following, viz. :
Last week in Nov. Totals to 30th Nov.
Dollars. Cents. Dollars. Cents.
1835  21,191 03 81,544,841 14
1836  18,081 72 1,613,028 85
1837  18,325 26 1,283,934 75
1838  12,074 81 1,590,244 66
1839  5,041 56 1,599,028 00
1840  20,190 47 1,773,582 51
1841  21,734 11 2,033,261 77
1842  5,380 09 1,748,869 88
Comparing this year with the last, there was a falling off in the
last week in November of 16,354-02, and the total falling off to the
30th of November is 284,391-89 dollars.— Albany Argus.

CANADA, 259
streams springing out of the depths of this vast and
unopened forest ;" and Nature, although she has placed
impediments in the way of the natural water route,
to that king of fresh water seas. Lake Huron, has
nevertheless interposed one of the finest and safest
expanses of inland water between Lake Ontario and
it, — Lake Simcoe, to assist the engineer in surmount
ing all obstacles, through a series of wUd turbulent
streams, noisy cascades, and splendid sheets of rapids ;
which for eight miles beyond Peterborough, are
encountered at every haK-mile through a limestone
country where materials are everywhere at hand.
Beyond this angry portion of the Otonabee, is a scene
which cannot be adequately described, as the waters
spread out into every variety of form, which islands,
lakes, and rivers can present.
Lakes incessantly follow each other, some not more
than a mile, others ten miles loug, whose banks con
sist of a rolling outline covered down to the pure
margin of the water, with the most rich, luxuriant,
and magnificent forest scenery, in a fertile and rich
soil. For nearly an hundred miles the traveUer passes
through scenes which awaken all the most splendid
conceptions of the grandeur with which forest and
fell combine in the scenery of the New World ; and
here sailing along, or paddling at his ease, nothing
disturbs the reign of Nature but the solitary cry of
the loon, the sharp note of the kingfisher, the tapping
of the great woodpecker, the screams of the wild
geese, and the noisy wing of the splashing duck, or
the occasionEd dart of a maskanonge, a huge species
of pike, from his deep abode. Now and then you see

260 CANADA.
the Red Indian, as silent as his native. woods, engaged
in hunting or fishing ; but in general, with the ex
ception of some solitary clearings at long distances,
all is solemnly still, and in magnificent repose. At
the end of his journey on these beautiful waters, after
passing along a deep, black, placid stream, whose
frowning cliffs bound the prospect, a beautiful little
Niagara is reached, and the river pitches over a
regular parabolic curve, about thirty feet in height.
So regular is the descent, and so smooth the edge of
this Horse-shoe FaU, that a curious visitor may, it is
said, pass entirely across under it, from shore to shore,
behind a magnificent liquid curtain without danger,
and without being wetted by its spray.
This splendid fall comes from Balsam Lake, a very
deep and very extensive sheet of water, which commu
nicates by shallow streams and portages with Lakes
Simcoe and Huron to thfe eastward, and with the great
Ottawa to the west ; whilst the Nipissing Lake .and
French River, which join the Ottawa and Lake Huron,^
are approachable to the north, Peterborough com
municates with Lake Ontario by the Otonabee ; Rice
Lake and Trent River at the Bay of Quinte. The
Trent River passes through some of the finest land in
the province, and one of its picturesque falls in the
township of Seymour makes a fine sketch; but
the canal will be incomplete unless the harbour of
Presqu'ile, on Lake Ontario, is made available, and the
Bay of Quinte united with Lake Ontario by the much-
required canal of a mile or two in length across the
isthmus, near Presqu'ile, which appears now once
again to be forgotten, — although it would secure a safe

CANADA. 261
navigation of at least one-fourth of Lake Ontario, and
that, too, where it is most studded with shoals and
islands, and give a vent for the industry of the farmers
of Prince Edward, that most industrious and flourish
ing of districts.
I shall not touch upon the other great internal
public works, such as roads and harbours, any further
than to observe, that it is to ])e hoped that roads will
be thought of before anything else, as without then^
all the outlay on the harbours and canals, as far as
Canada will be concerned, will be nearly useless.
To show what the export trade of the United Pro
vinces was, in 1 842, and where that trade was directed
to, I append* an accurate list of the ports in Great
Britain to which 714 vessels were directed, embracing
a tonnage of 272,400 ; and those of the British Ame
rican possessions, and South America, for which 175
ships, holding ] 3,090 tons sailed, making altogether
889 vessels and 385,490 tons. What wiU this export
amount to when the internal navigation is fully
opened from Lake Superior to the sea ? It is in
calculable, London, Liverpool, Belfast, Cork, Bristol,
Hull, Limerick, and Newcastle, appear to be the great
emporiums of the Canada export trade.
The value of the Canadas to Great Britain is there
fore so obvious, that it is useless to insist upon it, and
we must therefore only glance, in parting with the
reader, at the future destinies of this New India.
Sir Charles Bagot's health having failed, his consti
tution became unequal to the onerous task of setting
the house in order, which had so long been at dis-
• See Appendix,

262 CANADA.
union, and he was replaced by Sir Charles Metcalfe,
so well known for his distinguished civil services in
India and in Jamaica.
The experiment of amalgamating the French Cana
dians with the Reformers of Upper Canada was under
his auspices, tried; and although the Government
had a most triumphant and decided majority in the
Parliament, still great dissatisfaction existed in the
country, on account of the persons who took a leading
part in the rebeUion having been rewarded with the
loaves and fishes, and the British residents, and the
British Canadians loudly and plainly proclaimed their
sense of the injustice.
Amongst these, the Quebec Gazette, decidedly one
of the most talented (to use the Irish phrase) of the
Canadian journals, thus spoke in tbe person of the
Hon. John NeUson, M. P. P., the Nestor of Reform,
and whose opinions, were perhaps decisive of the
general feeling. He was the proprietor of the paper.
" We have no doubt, however, that the majority of
the newspapers, and the majority of newspaper
readers in Canada, disapprove of the present Provincial
Administration, or are waiting to see what they may
do, in order to take a more decided stand upon the
subject." That the French Canadians should be admitted at
once, manfully, and for ever, to an equal share in the
business, and management of the business, of Canada,
was so self-evident, that it is utter loss of time to
argue about it at all; but that persons recently in
hostile array against the Government, and whose
example stimulated the decent and excellent pea
santry to take up arms, should absorb every place

CANADA. 263
and office of profit and of power, seems little less
than to acknowledge that theirs was a just cause.
It was wise, and a policy that might have been
expected from the new ministry, to calm the excited
feelings of the Lower Canadian, and even to go many
steps out of the way to do so ; but parties are much
more equally balanced in Canada than election returns
show, and the British and the French numerically
unequal, the majority being in favour of the Saxon,
instead of the Norman race.
Disquiet must therefore always reign in that fine
Province, unless justice is firmly and impartially
administered to both, without caring a jot for personal
pretension, or the pretension of class and race ; and
I can conceive very little difficulty beyond the usual
nine days' wonder, in selecting such an administration
as will be able to carry out the principal of equal
rights, without admitting either race to ride rough
shod over the other.
The majority of the British settlers are devotedly
loyal;* the French are, we trust, also disposed to
honour the Crown, and they dislike their neighbours
too much to render it probable , that they will ever
* The Emigrants to Canada in 1842 were distributed as follows ;
To Canada West, formerly Upper Canada .... 26,900
To the New Ottawa settlements  4,250
To Glengarry and Beauhamois  1,946
To the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada . . 2,755
To the North of Montreal  1,175-
To the Public Works, and as Servants  3,479
Tolal  40,505
13,060 were forwarded by Government. 884 only were on the sick-
list/during the season, and 59 died after landing ; 1,850 went to the
United States.— Kingston Chronicle, Feb. 25, 1843.

264 CANADA.
sincerely join them. The Queen has declared that
her whole power shall uphold the connection vrith
England, and therefore all that is wanted is firm
ness and impartiality in the making of that power
felt. The future of Canada is bright, and tbe general
polity of the colonial empire is now so- clearly marked,
that Canada will neither " be lost nor given away," and
every friend to Britain looks anxiously to a permanently
settled system of emigration thither, on a large and
well-conducted scale; for as it must remain, and will
be essentially a British province, the central dominion
of English laws and English feeling in North America,
the day will come, in the ripeness of time, when the
five provinces will form one great whole, with Quebec
for the metropolis, of a country which must extend from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, and control the destinies
of one grand and powerful division of the Anglo-Saxon
race. Let us therefore hope that the French Canadian
will see that his real interest and his real glory consist
not in vain opposition to a power before which the
Roman and the Greek empires of old sink into insig
nificance. Let him bless the hour when its mighty
segis was thrown before him for his protection, and
instead of attending to the cabals of interested indi-
viduals,' let him rouse himself to open out the endless
resources of his native soil, and hand down to his
posterity the proud boast of being the active labourer
in perfecting the grand schemes now afoot to render
Canada the cynosure of Transatlantic States, and the
right arm of Great Britain.

CANADA. 265

SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER.

Serious riots in Montreal in 1849 — Destruction of the Houses
of Parliament — The Governor-general assailed — Death of
Lieutenant-general Sir Benjamin D'Urban.
The Right Honourable the Earl of Elgin and
Kincardine having been appointed to the Govern
ment of British North America in succession to
Lord Metcalfe* and Earl Cathcart,t and after having
successfuUy administered the government of Jamaica,
His Excellency arrived at Halifax, in the beginning
of 1847, and, on being presented with a con
gratulatory address by the principal inhabitants,
showed himself to be a nobleman of great intelligence
and a scholar, by the happy manner of his reply.
His Excellency then proceeded to Montreal, where
he took up his residence at Monklands, three miles
from town, and devoted himself, to the best of his
judgment, in promoting the interests of the extensive
regions under his authority. Though some of His
Lordship's ministers had been disaffected to British
authority during the rebellions of 1837-38, yet
* Whose admirable career has yet to be written.
f A highly distinguished oflicer.
VOL. II. N

266 CANADA.
His Excellency's government worked with tolerable
smoothness till the spring of 1849, when the
following serious occurrences took place.
The season was an open one; the St. Lawrence'
was early free of ice, and, owing to the unexpected
arrival of vessels with merchandise at the port of
Quebec, it was deemed advisable that His Lordship
should proceed, on a short notice, to Parliament,
on the 26th April, in order to give the Royal
Assent to a Customs Bill, whieh had that day
passed the Legislative Council. Lord Elgin deemed
it expedient, at the same time, to dispose of the
other Acts, in which the two branches of the local
Parliament had,, at an earlier period of the session,
concurred, and which still awaited his decision ;
among these was the Aet tg provide for the indemnifi
cation of parties in Lower Canada, whose property
was destroyed during the rebellions of 1837-38,
with respect to whieh much excitement had been
stirred in and out of Parliament.
Many persons had disapproved of the measures
respecting rebellion losses in Lower Canada, which
had been introduced by the Goverament, and which
the local Parliament had passed by large majorities ;
and, in the minds of others, to use the language
of a despatch, "it stirred national antipathies, which
designing politicians sought to improve for their
own selfish ends."
The British party in Lower Canada, who had
turned out most loyally and gallantly in the re
bellion, could not brook that those who had pursued
an opposite course should now entertain the idea,

CANADA. - 267
that their losses during the rebellion should be
made good, and that a tax should be imposed for
this purpose.
The British party imagined, that, by the In
demnity Bill, all indiscriminately who had suffered
loss during, the rebellion should be indemnified,
whether they had turned out against the Govern
ment or not; when it was alleged by the opposite
party, that, after due inquiry, only those who had
incurred losses by no fault of their own should
be indemnified.
The Parliament was. denounced as French in its
composition, and the Government as subject to
French influence ; and doctrines had been broached
with respect to the right which belongs to a British
minority, of redressing by violence any indignity to
which it might be subject from such a source.
When Lord Elgin left the Parliament-house, after
giving the Royal Assent to the Bills above alluded to,
among others the Rebellion Losses Indemnity BUI,
as he entered his carriage (which was escorted by
provincial cavalry) he was received by a crowd with
hootings and groans, whilst a knot of individuals,
respectably dressed, pelted the carriage with various
missiles collected at hand.
The Houses of Parliament were under one roof;
the building was formerly the St. Anne's market,
which had been fitted up for Legislative purposes
after the seat of Government, which had been
at Kingston, was removed to Montreal. Besides
two spacious halls, for the Legislative CouncU and
the Legislative Assembly, well furnished, and orna-
n2

268 CANADA.
mented with handsome pictures of Her Majesty,
there were valuable libraries belonging to the above
two bodies, and archives and records of the United
Provinces. Notwithstanding the great excitement which pre-
vaUed outside the Parliament House after the Go
vernor-general had retired, the House continued in
session, and, apparently, in perfect confidence,
although Sir Allan Macnab had warned the party
of the ministers, that it would be advisable to call
for military assistance, as the populace were un
derstood to be in a state of ferment, and a riot
might be expected.
It soon became known that a public-meeting
had been called; a caleche passed, with a bell,
and a person, announcing the meeting to take
place in the Champ de Mars, at eight o'clock, was
heard from the House; the fire-beUs were also rung
in the city, to create an excitement.
Accordingly, at the Champ de Mars, a large
number of persons assembled ; the sloping bank
and the stone steps there were crowded with persons,
many of whom bore torches. Some inflammatory
speeches were made on the occasion, with reference
to the Rebellion Losses BUI, .&c., and suddenly
there was a cry, " To the Parliament House !"
The crowd immediately organized themselves hastily
into a sort of procession, and first marched and then
ran down, in an excited state, to the Parliament
buildings. It was nine o'clock, and the House of
Assembly was engaged in discussing the Judicature
BUI for Lower Canada; there was neither police nor

CANADA. 269
military in the way, when a loud shout, mingled with
yellings, gave the members unmistakable evidence
that a riot was fermenting outside, and immediately
after a number of stones were driven through the
windows. The strangers' gallery was immediately
deserted, some of the members escaped by it, and
others took refuge behind the Speaker's chair, whilst
the stones continued to be thrown incessantly.
The missiles came at first from the front of the
building, but presently they came from the back
also, till very little glass was left in the windows.
There was a short cessation in the attack and several
of the members again entered the house from the
lobbies, but the stones were again thrown and fell in
the centre of the hall through the shattered windows ;
then a cry was raised from the library end of the
building — " They come !" and the members and clerks
there rushing across the hall disappeared at the
opposite end,
A dozen persons now entered the Hall of Assembly
from the library end, armed with sticks ; one of them,
a man with a broken nose, walked up the steps and
seating himself in the Speaker's chair, said in Crom
weUian style, and waving his hand, " I dissolve this
house !" The others then commenced the work of de
struction, the papers were struck off the members desks
into the middle of the floor with sticks. Some tore up
the benches and hurled them also into the middle of
the floor, whilst others threw their sticks at the chan
deliers and globe-lights on the walls, and demolished
them. The splendid mace, silver-gilt and ornamented with

270 CANADA.
the imperial crown and Canadian beavers, liay under
the table, as the House was in Committee, but one of
the rioters seeing it, he seized it up and carried it off
on his shoulders, v/hen the Serjeant-at-arms, whose
province it was to g-uard the mace, rushed upon the
man who bore it, and endeavoured to rescue it, but
he was overpowered by others, and the mace was
borne into the street.
The Honourable William Robinson, M.P.P., and
Colonel Gugy, M.P,P,, exerted themselves to expel the
rioters from the House. Sir Allan Macnab assisted to
save the Queen's picture, when suddenly a red glare
of light from below showed that the building had
caught fire. It is not believed that the rioters had
any intention originally to fire the Parliament-house ;
they certainly wished to testify their indignation by
pelting and hooting those who had been instrumental
in passing the obnoxious Rebellion Loss BUI, but
meeting witb little or no opposition in the work of
destruction, and heated with passion, they probably
broke the gas-pipes, and thus the fire rapidly spread to
all parts of the building.
Sir Allan Macnab, the Honourable Mr. Badgley,
Mr. Turner, Editor of the Courier, and others, tried to
save some of the valuable books in the library of the
Assembly, the other picture of the Queen, in the
Council-chamber, was also carried out by Mr. W.
Snaith, Jun. and Mr, Hargrave ; it cost £oOO and was
painted by Partridge, and for a time disappeared.
But now the flames spread so rapidly that every one
was obliged to seek safety in flight, and Sir Allan,
Mr. Badgley, Mr. Steers and Mr. Macfarlane, were

CANADA. 271
pursued by the flames, were scorched, and were
eventually taken off a gallery with ladders.
The flames now enveloped the whole of the build- .
ing, and the military having been sent for, when too
late, could only keep back the crowd, which drew up
on the foot-path to view the conflagration, which
illuminated the whole city and rolled its black volumes
of smoke towards the Montreal mountain. Some fire-
engines tried to play on the building but ineffectually ;
however they saved some neighbouring houses which
had caught fire, also the Grey Nunnery. There was a
smart breeze blowing, and burning paper, in great
quantities was carried along the ground in flakes of
fire. It was altogether an imposing but a very painful
sight, chiefly on account of the destruction of the two
valuable libraries and a large portion of the public
records of the Province. The Pilot office, where the
Ministerial paper was printed, was visited by the mob,
and the windows demolished, after which, for that
evening the work of destruction closed, and the mom
ing -sun looked on the smoking and empty walls of the
late Houses of Parliament.
On their way from the Parliament building, the mob
escorted the person carrying the mace, in a caleche,
and when they came opposite Donegani's Hotel, where
Sir Allan Macnab lived, a cry was raised that the mace
should be left in his keeping, as the late popular
Speaker ; but a struggle taking place for its possession,
some of the beavers were broken off — however the
mace eventually was carried into Sir Allan's room.
The Commander of the Forces, his Excellency Lieu
tenant-general Sir Benjamin D'Urban, G.C.B. , — an

272 CANADA.
officer of the highest character, and of gi-eat experience
as a soldier and as a civil governor, — now arrived with
his staff from his country residence at Sorel,* and
made arrangements for the suppression of riot and
disorder ; but for a whole month the city continued in
a ferment, — so roused had the people become, — so
infuriated against each other were parties, — ^the British
or the old Loyalists, and the French or Ministerial
party. The Government now made several arrests. Messrs.
Heward, Montgomerie, Mack, Esdaile, and Ferres
were taken into custody, and marched off to gaol, on
the plea that they had excited and headed the rioters
at the destruction of tbe Parliament House. The
people threatened to rescue them, and beat and in
sulted several of the Members obnoxious to them, who
came in their way, — as Mr. Holmes, Mr, Watts, Mr,
H, Boulton, The military were drawn across the
street at the old Government House, in Notre Dame-
street, where the Ministers were sitting in council
and the mob continued to hoot and pelt the members
of the Ministry and their supporters who attempted
to- come out of the conclave within. The soldiers
every now and then cleared the ground, by marching
to and fro with fixed bayonets, and the people always
retired before them, cheering and laughing, as there
was, of course, no ill feeling between them and the
soldiers. At night, the assemblage in front of Govemment-
* Iiis personal staff at this time consisted of Captain Kirkland,
Military Secretary, Major Talbot, Sir J. E. Alexander, and Captain
V. Murray, Aides-de-camp.

CANADA. 273
house became more dense ; signals were passed among
the crowd, and suddenly a large body moved off
towards the St. Antoine suburb, where, attacking the
residence of the Prime Minister, Mr. Lafontaine,
the stables were destroyed by fire, and the house
ransacked inside; the furniture broken, feather-beds
emptied to the wind, books tumbled from their shelves,
and the whole house became a wreck. Fortunately for
the family, they escaped before the rioters arrived. The
mob moved so swiftly and silently, that the mUitary
did not reach the house of Mr, Lafontaine — who
omitted to have a guard there, after the warning he
had had by the destruction of the Parliament House,
— ^tUl the mischief was done.
The rioters nexjt visited Mr. Drummond's house;
there they found a guard, and no damage ensued. At
Messrs. Baldwin and Cameron's boarding-house the
windows were broken ; also at Dr. Wolfred Nelson's
residence, and at the houses of Messrs. Hincks,
Holmes, and Charles Wilson.*
The Executive had in a manner left the city for two
days in the hands of the mob, though a powerful
military force only waited the requisition of the civil
authorities to turn out and maintain the supremacy of
the law ; and now perhaps, because the military had
not come up in time to prevent the unexpected move
on Mr, Lafontaine's house, the singular expedient '
was resorted to of arming with cutlasses and pistols
500 partizans collected from the suburbs, young French
Canadians, Irishmen, &c,, " for the protection of lives
* The energetic Mayor in 1851. — Editoe.
N 3

274 CANADA.
and property." If the householders had been asked,
they Would immediately have turned out as special
constables, and acted with the two strong regiments in
garrison, the 19fh and 23rd,*
The drUling of the armed constables during the night
at the Bonsecours Market occasioned an immense
ferment among the opposite party. They again
organized themselves, and were marching to disarm
the constables by force, when they were met by General
Gore and Colonel Gugy, who harangued them, said the
arming was " a mistake," and that next morning one
part of the population should not be armed against the
other. The mob was accordingly pacified and retired.
If they had gone on there would have been a fearful
scene of bloodshed.
Another riot was nearly excited by the arrival from
Quebec of a deputation to offer protection to the
Governor-general ; but the members of this deputation,
learning that they would probably be met on the
wharf by an angry mob, prudently left the steamer,
and landed in the outskirts of Montreal and entered the
City in the evening, without exciting observation.f
The loyal inhabitants of the city now held a meeting,
and put forth an address, signed by 200 respectable
names, inviting the citizens to preserve peace and
order. This had, to a certain extent, a tranquillizing
effect ; but a new source of uneasiness arose from the
* The want of an efficient civil force at this time in Montreal,
caused the military authorities to remonstrate against the employment
of the troops for police duties, this may explain the expedient of the
armed constables.
- f The address from Quebec was one of a number presented at this
time to Lord Elgin from different parts ofthe country.

CANADA. 275
ministry having arranged to get up an address of
confidence in the Governor-general, and deciding that
his Excellency should receive it in town, instead of at
his official country residence at Monklands.*
Lord Elgin accordingly drove into town in his
carriage and four to receive the Address at the Old
Government-house. His Excellency was accompanied
by the Honourable Colonel Bruce, his brother and
Mihtary Secretary, Lord Mark Kerr, and Lieutenant
Grant, A.D. C's., and he was escorted by Captain
Jones's troop of Provincial Dragoons. The Infantry
were drawn up opposite Government-house. As His
Lordship entered the city, he was assaUed by a shower
of stones in the Haymarket and Great St, James-street,
thrown by some stout mechanics in fustian jackets;
and again as he proceeded along Notre Dame-street,
he was obliged to keep his hat before his eyes to
guard his face from the missiles, and entered Govern
ment-house, carrying with him a 21b, stone, which he
picked up from the bottom of the carriage : altogether
most unusual treatment for Her Majesty's Represen
tative to receive, and very painful to witness.
There was a great and angry crowd in the streets,
who, expecting His Lordship's return by the same
route he had passed along, had made preparations for
obstructing him, and for upsetting his carriage by
drawing cabs across the street ; but it was a maxim of
the renowned Rob Roy, "never to return by the same
* It was considered that the address was a necessary sequel to the
events which had preceded it, and that its presentation at the Govern
ment Buildings, in Montreal, was the proper and customary course,
and that on constitutional grounds it could not have been presented at
Monklands.

276 CANADAi.
road you went, if you expect any trouble;" accord
ingly, when His Lordship re-entered his carriage,
instead of turning round, he directed the carnage to
proceed straight forward, and doubling on the mob, he
passed rapidly along St, Denis and Sherbrooke-streets
to gain Monklands by a circuitous route,*
When the mob perceived this clever manoeuvre, they
were much exasperated, and rushing on foot and in
cabs by by-streets to intercept the carriage in Sher-
brooke-street ; a considerable number came up in time
to assail it with stones at " Molson's comer," Colonel
Bruce's head was cut and bled. Colonel Ermatenger,
Police-Magistrate, was stunned; also Captain Jones,
and every panel of the carriage was stove iu, The-
escort was not loaded, or several lives would have been
lost ; the postilions, as the rioters were crowding in
fi'ont, turned sharp up the Mile-end-road, and by good
and rapid driving, soon cleared the excited multitude.
His Lordship reached Monklands in safety, though he
had certainly a very narrow escape from personal
injury, — the exasperation was so great against him
for signing the obnoxious Rebellion Loss Bill,
About this time there was some bloodshed, in con
sequence of the Ministers and their friends having
given a political dinner at Tetus Hotel to a deputation
from their party at Toronto, Toasts were given, and
there was a good deal of cheering ; this was answered
by groans from without. A crowd had collected, and

* This arrangement was made /or not by Lord Elgin ; it originated
with the heads of the military and civil force, on th'e spot, who urged
it most strenuously, and the welcome prepared at Notre Dame-street
justified the advice.

CANADA. 277
empty bottles having been imprudently thrown out at
them, stones were returned, and an attempt made to
force the door, which was resisted with knives and
pistol shots ; two or three of the mob were wounded,
and the house ran the risk of being fired, had not a
strong party of the military (horse and foot), under
Colonel Hay (Commanding 19th Regiment), promptly
arrived and quieted the disturbance,
Mr, Lafontaine's house was again attacked, but
this time being prepared for the mob, they were
received with a volley of musketry from the windows ;
which taking effect fataUy on a young man named
Mason, the rioters dispersed. At the Coroner's
Inquest, Mr. Lafontaine being present to give
evidence, the hotel (where it was held) was set on
fire from above, and an attempt was made to do
violence to Mr. Lafontaine in the confusion, but a
party of the 71st Highlanders saved him.
The Parliament now held its sittings in the new
building of Mr. Hays, in Dalhousie-square, Sir J.
E. Alexander had searched for and recovered in
different places, in the outskirts of the city, the
portraits of Her Majesty, which had been carried
off the night of the burning of the Parliament-
house. They were repaired, and resumed their places ;
and things were beginning to assume an air of com
parative tranquiUity after a month of intense anxiety
and excitement, when the closing scene of this painful
history was the sudden demise of one of England's
most accomplished generals. His Excellency, Sir
Benjamin D'Urban, — worn out in the service of his
country, and having fought her battles in the Peninsula

278 CANADA.
and South of France, and in Africa, and administered
the Governments of Antigua, British Guiana, and the
Cape of Good Hope, with the greatest advantage to
the public, — fell back on his bed, on the 25th of
AprU, and expired at the age of seventy-two, from
an affection of the throat. As an Obelisk, erected to
his memory by the officers serving in Canada, records,
" He died as he had lived, in the faithful discharge of
his duty to God and his sovereign,"
The Parliament was prorogued by Lieutenant-
general Rowan, C,B., now appointed to command
Her Majesty's Forces, and Lord Elgin proceeded to
Toronto, as the seat of Govemment, which, in 1851,
is transferred to Quebec,

APPENDIX.

NEW BRITISH POSSESSIONS ACT,
To take effect in Canada on the 5th July, 1843.

ANNO QUINTO ET SEXTO VICTORIjE REGINjE.
CAP. XLIX,
An Act to amend the laws for the Regulation of the
Trade of the British possessions abroad. — [16th July,
1842.]
Whereas an Act was passed in the third and fourth
years of his late Majesty King William the Fourth,
intituled An Act to regulate the Trade of the British
Possessions abroad, hereinafter' designated as " The
Possessions Act :" And whereas it is expedient to make
certain alterations and amendments therein : Be it there
fore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty,
by and with the advice of the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament
assembled, and by the authority of the same, that,
except as hereinafter is provided, from and after the
fifth day of July one thousand eight hundred and forty-
three, so far as relates to the British possessions in

280 APPENDIX.
iN'orth America, and from and after the fifth day of
April one thousand eight hundred and forty-three, so
far as relates to the British possessions in South America
and the West Indies, and from and after the fifth day
of July one thousand eight hundred and forty-three, so
far as relates to the Mauritius, this Act shall come into
and be and continue in full force and operation for all
the purposes mentioned herein.
II. And whereas, under or by virtue of an Act passed
in the fourth year of his late Majesty George the Third,
intituled an Act for granting certain duties in the
British Colonies and Plantations in America, for con
tinuing, amending and making perpetual an Act passed
in the sixth year of the Reign of His late Majesty King
George the Second, intituled An Act for the better
securing and encouraging the trade of his Majesty's
Sugar Colonies in America; for applying the produce
of such duties and of the duties to arise by virtue of
the said Act, towards defraying the expenses of defend
ing, protecting and securing the said Colonies and
Plantations ; for explaining an Act made in the twenty.
fifth year of the Reign of King Charles the Second,
intituled an Act for the encouragement of the Green
land and Eastland trades, and for the better securing
the Plantation trade; and for the altering and disallow
ing several drawbacks on exports frora this Kingdom,
and more effectuaUy preventing the clandestine con
veyance of goods to and from the said Colonies and
Plantations, and improving and securing the trade
between the same and the United Kingdom, the fol
lowing duties are chargeable upon ¦wines imported into
the British possessions in America ; (that is to say).

APPENDIX. 281
For every ton of -wine of the growth of the Madeiras,
or of any other island or place from whence such
wine may be lawfully imported, and which shall be
so imported from such islands or places, the sum of
seven pounds :
For every ton of Portugal, Spanish, or any other wine
[except French vrine], exported from the United
Kingdom, the sum of ten shillings :
And whereas, under or by 'virtue of an Act passed
in the sixth year of the Reign of His late Majesty King
George ihe Third, intituled an Act for repealing certain
Duties in the British Colonies and Plantations granted
by several Acts of Parliament, and also the Duties
imposed by an Act made in the last Session of Parlia
ment upon certain East India goods exported from the
United Kingdom, and for granting other duties instead
thereof, and for further encouraging, regulating, and
securing several branches of the trade of this Kingdom
and the British dominions in America, the following
duties are chargeable upon molasses and syrups and
British pimento imported into the British' possessions
in America ; (that is to say).
For every gallon of molasses and syrups [except as in
the same Act is mentioned], one penny :
For every pound weight avoirdupois of British pimento
[except as in the same Act is mentioned], one half
penny ;
And whereas, under or by virtue of an Act passed in
the fourteenth year of the Reign of His -late Majesty
King George the Third, intituled an Act to establish a
fund towards further defraying the charges of the
Administration of Justice and support of the Civil

282 APPENDIX.
Government within the Prorince of Quebec in America,
the following duties are chargeable on brandy, rum,
and spirits, imported in any port of Canada ; (that is
to say).
For every gallon of brandy or other spirits of the manu
facture of the United Kingdom, threepence :
For every other gaUon of rum or spirits which should
be imported or brought from any of His Majesty's
sugar colonies in the West Indies, sixpence :
For every gallon of rum or other spirits which should
be imported or brought from any oth^/ of His
Majesty's colonies and dominions in America^ jiine-
pence : s
For every gallon of foreign brandy, or other„ spiKJJs
of foreign manufacture, imported or brciught from ^
the United Kingdom, one shilling.
For every gallon of foreign brandy, or other foreign
manufacture, imported or brought -from the United
Kingdom, one shilling.
For every gallon of rum or spirits of the produce
or manufacture of any of the Colonies or plan
tations in America not in the possession, or under
the dominion of. His Majesty, imported from any
other place except the United Kingdom, one
shUling.
And whereas it is expedient that the several
herein before-mentioned duties imposed by the said
Acts respectively should be repealed, be it therefore
enacted, that so much of the said three several Acts
of His late Majesty King George the Third, as
imposes or authorises the charge of the herein
before-mentioned duties upon wine, molasses, pimento.

APPENDIX. 283
and spirits respectively, shall be, and the same is,
hereby repealed.
III. And whereas by the said Possessions Act it
was enacted, that the several sorts of goods enu
merated and described in the table therein men
tioned, denominated, " A table of prohibitions and
restrictions," should be prohibited to be imported,
or brought either by sea or inland navigation, into
the British possessions in America, or should be so
imported or brought only under the restrictions
mentioned in such table, according as the several
sorts of goods are set forth therein, and that if any
goods should be imported or brought into any of
the British possessions in America contrary to any
of the restrictions mentioned in such table in respect
of such goods, the same should be forfeited; and
that if the ship or vessel in which such goods
should be imported should be of less burden than
seventy tons, such ship or vessel should also be
forfeited ; and whereas it is expedient that the pro
hibitions established by the lastly herein before-
recited enactment should be materially modified, and
that for this purpose the said enactments should
be repealed, and such prohibitions should be enacted
as herein before are mentioned ; be it therefore
enacted, that so much of the saii Possessions Act
as prohibits the importation of the goods enumerated
and described in the table in the said Act, contained
and herein before mentioned, and as declares the
forfeiture of such goods, and of certain vessels im
porting the same, as herein before is mentioned,
shall be repealed.

284 APPENDIX.
IV. And be it enacted, that the several sorts of
goods enumerated or described in the table foUovring,
denominated, '^A table of prohibitions and restric
tions," are hereby prohibited to be imported or
brought, either bj'' sea or by inland carriage or
navigation, into the British possessions in America
or the Mauritius, or shall be so imported or brought
only under the restrictions mentioned in such table,
according as the several sorts of such goods are
set forth therein : (that is to say,)
A TABLE OF PROHIBITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS,
Gunpowder ; ammunitions, arms, or utensils of war,
prohibited to be imported, except from the United
Kingdom, or from some other British possession;
coffee; sugar, not being refined, in bond in the
United Kingdom ; molasses ; rum, being the pro
duce or manufacture of any British possessions
within the limits of the East India Company's
Charter, except and subject as hereinafter pro-,
vided, or being of foreign produce or manufacture,
prohibited to be imported into any of the British
possessions on the Continent of South America
or in the West Indies, (the Bahama and the
Bermuda Islands not included,) or into the Mau
ritius, except to be warehoused for exportation
only, and may also be prohibited to be imported
into the Bahama or Bermuda Islands by Her
Majesty's Order in Council ; base or counter
feit coin; books, such as are prohibited to be im
ported into the United Kingdom, prohibited to
be imported.

APPENDIX. 285
And if any goods shall be imported or brought into
any of the British possessions in America or the
Mauritius contrary to any prohibitions or restrictions
mentioned in such table in respect of such goods,
the same shall be forfeited; and if the ship or
vessel in which such goods shall be imported be
of less burden than seventy tons,, such ship or
vessel shall also be forfeited.
V. Provided always, and be it enacted, that it
shall be lawful to import into any British pos
sessions in the West Indies and South America,
and into the Mauritius, any coffee, the produce of
any British possessions within the limits of the
East India Company's Charter, and also any sugar,
the produce of any British possessions within the
limits of the East India Company's Charter, into
which the importation of sugar, the produce of any
foreign country, or of any British possession into
which foreign sugar may be legally imported, has
been prohibited; and also any rum, the produce of
any British possession vrithin the limits of the East
India Company's Charter, into which the importation
of rum, the produce of any foreign country, or of
any British possession, into which foreign sugar or
rum may be legally imported, has been prohibited;
provided, nevertheless, that no such coffee, sugar,
or rum shall be entered in any British possession
in the West Indies or South America, or in the
Island of Mauritius, as beiug the produce of any
British possession within the limits of the East
India Company's Charter, from which the same may
be legally imported under the proviso last aforesaid'

286 APPENDIX.
unless the master of the ship importing the same
shall have delivered to the coUector or principal
officer of the Customs at the port of importation
such certificate of origin as hereinafter is men
tioned, under the hand and seal of the proper
officer, at the place where the same shall have been
taken on board ; and such master shall also make and
subscribe a declaration before the proper officer of the
Customs that such certificate was received by him at
the place where such coffee, sugar, or rum was taken
on board, and that the coffee, sugar, or rum, so im
ported is the same as mentioned therein ; and such
certificate of origin shall, as regards coffee, certify that
a declaration in writing had been made and signed
before the officer giring such certificate, the contents
of which he believed, to be true, by the shipper of
such coffee, that the same was really and bond fide the
produce of some British .possession; and such certifi
cate of origin shall, as respects sugar, state the name
of the district in which such sugar was produced, the
quantity and quality thereof, the number and deno
mination of the packages containing the same, and
the name of the ship in which they were laden and
the master thereof, to the officer giving the same, by
the shipper of such sugar, and shall likewise certify
that there had been produced a certificate under the
hand and seal of the collector or assistant-collector
of the land or customs revenue of the district within
which such sugar was produced, that such sugar of
the produce of the district, and that the importation
into such district of foreign sugar, -or sugar the growth

APPENDIX. 287
be legally imported, is prohibited ; and such certificate
of origin shall, as respects rum, state the name of the
district in which such rum was produced, the quantity
and strength thereof, the number and denomination of
the packages containing the same, the name of the
ship in which they were laden and of the master
thereof, and shall also testify that there had been
produced to the party giving such certificates, by the
shipper of such rum, a certificate under the hand and
seal of the collector or assistant collector of the land
or customs revenue of the district within which such
rum was produced, that the same was the production
of such district.
VI. And whereas by said Possessions Act it is
enacted, that there shall be raised, levied, collected
and paid unto Her Majesty the several Duties and
Customs, as the same are respectively set forth in the
figures in the Table of duties therein after contained,
upon goods, wares and merchandize imported, or
brought into any of Her Majesty's possessions in
America, and in and by the said Table certain articles
are therein declared to be exempted from or free of
such Duties ; and it is by the said Possessions Act
provided, that no greater proportion of the Duties
imposed thereby, except as therein excepted, shall be
charged upon any article which is subject also to Duty
under any of the Acts therein referred to, or subject
also to Duty under any Colonial law, than the amount,
if any, by which the Duty charged by the said Posses
sions Act should exceed such other Duty or Duties,
and it is thereby further provided, that the full
amount of Duties mentioned therein, whether on

288 APPENDIX.
account of such former Acts, or on account of such
Colonial law, or on account of the said Possessions
Act, shall be levied recovered and received under
the regulations and by the means and powers of the
said Possessions Acts : And whereas it is expedient
that the said Duties should be repealed, and other
Duties substituted in lieu thereof; be it therefore
enacted, that the hereinbefore recited enactment,
imposing Duties upon goods, wares, and merchandize
imported or brought into any of Her Majesty's
possessions in America, and so much of the said
Possessions Act as extend any of such Duties to the
Mauritius, and the said Duties and exemptions so
imposed and established by the said Possessions Act,
and the said several enactments in relation thereto,
which are hereinbefore recited, shaU be repealed.
VII. And be it enacted. That there shall be raised,
leried, collected, and paid unto Her Majesty the
several Duties of Customs as the same are respectively
set forth in Figures in the Table of Duties hereinafter
contained, upon goods, wares, and merchandize not
being the growth, production, or manufacture of the
United Kingdom, or any of the British Possessions
in America, or of the Mauritius, or of any British
Possessions within the limits of the East India Com
pany's Charter, or the produce of any of the British
fisheries, imported or brought into any of the British
Possessions in America or the Mauritius by sea or by
inland carriage or navigation :

APPENDIX.

289

TABLE OV DUTIES.

S. 2

Wheat Flour  the Barrel of 196 lbs.
Ti,. , J, -n . , 1 • rDried or Salted, the
Fish 01 Foreign taking '
^ ^i cwt  2 0
or curing  LPickled, the Barrel 4 U
Meat, salted or cured  the cwt. 3 0
Butter  " 8 0
Cheese  " 5 0
Coffee  " 5 0
Cocoa  " 1 0
Molasses  " 3 0
Sugar, unrefined  " 5 0
Refined sugar, the produce of and^ 20 per centum
refined in foreign countries. J ad valorem.
Tea, unless imported direct from!
China, or unless imported from I
the United Kingdom, or from j ^
any of the British possessions. J
Rum  per gallon 6
Other spirits and cordials  ,^ 1
Glass manufactures 
Silk manufactures 
Spermaceti 
Wine whether bottled or not . .
Cotton manufactures 
Linen ditto 
Woollen ditto 
Leather ditto 
Paper ditto 
Hardware ditto 
Clocks and watches 
VOL. II. O

15 per cent, ad
valorem.

y

7 per cent, ad
valorem.

290

APPENDIX.

Manufactured tobacco 
Soap 
Candles, other than spermaceti
Corks, cordage, and oakum.

7 per cent.
ad valorem.

4 per cent, ad
valorem.

Oil, blubber, fins, and skins, the produce of fish, and
creatures liring in the sea, of foreign fishing,
fifteen per cent, ad valorem.
Articles not enumerated, except"!
such as are comprised or referred '
to in the adjoining Table of Ex- |
emptions, J
A.nd if any of the goods herein
before proposed to be charged
with duty, except sugar and
tea, shall be imported through
the United Kingdom [haring
been warehoused thereiiji, and
being exported from the ware
houses, or the duties thereon
if there paid, having been drawn
back,]

Such goods shall
only be charged
^with three-fourths
ofthe duties here
inbefore proposed.

TABliE OP EXEMPTIONS,
Coin, bullion, and diamonds; horses, mules, asses,
neat. cattle, and all other live stock; hay and straw;
tallow and raw hides; salt; rice; corn and grain
unground; biscuit or bread; meal or flour, except
wheat flour ; fresh meat ; fresh fish ; fruit and veget
ables, fresh ; carriages of travellers ; wood and lumbei-;
cotton wool; hemp, flax, and tow; drugs; gums and
resins ; tortoise -sheU ; manures of all kinds.

APPENDIX. 291
Herrings, taken and cured by the inhabitants of the
Isle of man, and imported from thence.
Provisions and stores of every description imported
or supplied for the use of Her Majesty's land and sea
forces. All goods imported from the United Kingdom, after
having there paid the duties of consumption, and im
ported from thence without drawback,
VIII. And be it enacted, that the articles enumerated
or mentioned in the table of exemptions hereinbefore
contained, shall be imported without payment of any
duty under this Act, and also such of the following
articles; (namely).
Salted or cured meat ; flour ; butter ; cheese ; mo
lasses ; cork wood ; cordage ; oakum ; pitch ; tar ;
turpentine ; leather and leather-ware ; fishermen's cloth
ing and hosiery; fishing craft utensils, instruments,
and bait ; as shall be imported for the use of the British
fisheries in America, into any place at or from whence
any such fishery is carried on, subject to such regula
tions as the commissioners of customs, or the principal
officer of customs at such place, shall make, and which
they and he are hereby empowered to establish, for the
purpose of ascertaining that such articles are bond fide
intended to be applied to the use of such fisheries, or
that such prorisions or stores as aforesaid, are bond fide
imported or supplied for the use of Her Majesty's land
and sea forces,
IX, And be it enacted, that there shall be raised,
leried, collected, and paid unto Her Majesty a duty of
ten pounds for every one hundred pounds of the value
upon sugar refined in bond in the United Kingdom,
o2

1
292 Appendix.
not being of the growth of any of the British posses
sions in America or of the Mauritius, or of any of the
British possessions within the limits of the East India
Company's charter, imported or brought into any of the
British possessions in America, or into the Mauritius,
by sea or by inland carriage or navigation,
X, And be it enacted, that if in any of the British
possessions in America or the Mauritius any duty be
chargeable by any colonial law upon any articles being
the growth, produce, or manufacture of the United
Kingdom, or of the British' possessions in America, or
of the British possessions within the limits of the East
India Company's charter, or the produce of British
fisheries, beyond the duty (if any) chargeable by such
colonial law upon similar foreign articles, the imperial
duty thereby imposed upon such foreign articles shall
be increased by such excess or amount (as the case
may be) of the duties so chargeable by such colonial
law upon similar British articles ; and that if in any of
the British possession's in America or the Mauritius
any duty be chargeable by any colonial law upon tea
imported direct from China, or imported from the
United Kingdom, or any of the British possessions,
beyond the duty (if any) chargeable by such colonial
law upon tea not so imported, the imperial duty hereby
imposed upon tea not so imported shall be increased by
such excess or amount (as the case may be) of the
duties so chargeable by such colonial law upon tea
imported direct from China, or imported from the
United Kingdom, or from any of the British pos
sessions. XI. And be it enacted, that it shaU and may be law-

appendix. 293
M for Her Majesty, by and with the adrice of Her
Privy Council, by any order or orders in Council, to be
issued from time to time, to direct that any article
described in such order, being an article chargeable un
der this Act as an unenumerate article, with a duty of
four per cent, ad valorem, shall be added to the hst
of exemptions hereinbefore set forth, and shall be free
from such duty, and from and after the time mentioned
in such order for the commencement of such exemptions,
not being less than six months from the date thereof,
such exemptions shall take effect, and such article shall
thenceforth, whilst such order shall continue in force, be
free from such duty accordingly; and any such order
may at any time be suspended or revoked by Her Ma
jesty, with the advice of Her Privy Council, by any
other order in "CouncU.
XII. And be it enacted, that the duties imposed by
this Act shall be levied and recovered and received
under the regulations and by the means and powers of
the Possessions Act, except such of the said regulations
as are repealed or altered by this Act.
XIII, And be it enacted, that all sums of money
granted or payable under this Act, or under the Posses
sions Act, as duties, penalties, or forfeitures, in the
British possessions in America or the Mauritius, shall
be deemed, and are hereby declared to be, sterling
money of Great Britain, and shall be collected, reco
vered, and paid to the amount of the value which such
nominal sums bear in Great Britain; and that such
moneys may be received and taken in sterling money of
Great Britain, or in foreign coins, at such rates as shall
be equivalent to sterling money of Great Britain, and

294 appendix.
which shall have been fixed by any proclamation issued
by Her Majesty ; that all duties under this Act shall be
paid and received in every part of the British posses
sions in America and in the Mauritius according to the
imperial weights and measures now by law established ;
and that in all cases where such duties are imposed
according to any specific quantity or any specific value,
the same shall be deemed to apply in the same propor
tion to any greater or less quantity of value ; and that
all such duties shall be under the nlanagement of the
Commissioners of the Customs,
XIV, And be it enacted, that the net produce of the
duties so received by the nleans and powers of this Act,
shall be paid by the CoUector of the Customs into the
hands of the Treasurer or Receiver-general of the colony,
or other proper officer authorised to receive the same in
the colony in which the same shall be leried, to be
applied to such uses as shall be directed by the local
legislatures of such colonies respectively; and that the
produce of such duties, so received as aforesaid in the
colonies which have no local legislature, shall and may
be applied in such manner as shall be directed by the
Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasmy,
XV. And be it enacted, that goods, the produce or
manufacture of the islands of Guemsey, Jersey, Alder-
ney, or Sark, when imported from such islands into the
British possessions "in America, or the Mauritius, shall
be admitted to enter upon payment of the same duties
as are payable upon the like goods, the produce or manu
facture of the United Kingdom, or of alny of the said
Possessions, upon production to the principal Officer of
Customs at the port of importation of the proofs now

- appendix. 295
required by law that such goods are the production or
manufacture of the islands aforesaid.
XVI. And whereas the hereinbefore recited pro
visoes contained the said Possessions Act, which
proride that no greater proportiou of the duties im
posed by that Act, shall be charged upon any article
which is subject also to duty under any of the Acts
therein referred to, and subject also to duty under any
Colonial law, than the amount, if any, by whieh the
duty charged by the said Possessions Act jhall
exceed such other duties, and that the full amount
of the duties mentioned in the said Possessions Act,
whether on account of such former Acts, or on account
of such Colonial law, or on account of the said Pos
sessions Act, should be levied and recovered and
received under the regulations and by the means and
powers of the said Possessions Act have been
understood and acted on in divers different senses in
the several British possessions in America and the
Mauritius, and ' in some of the aforesaid possessions
certain duties have been imposed by the Colonial
Legislature or other Authorities having the power to
impose duties, which duties have been expressly
directed by the Colonial Acts, or Ordinances imposing
the same, to be in addition to or over and- above the
duties imposed by the said Possessions Act, and in
those and others of the aforesaid possessions the duties
respectively imposed upon articles by the said Posses
sions Act, and by the Colonial Acts and Ordinances in
such possessions, have, notwithstanding the aforesaid
provisoes, been coUected in full 'without any such
abatement as in the said prorisoes is contemplated;

296 appendix.
And whereas it is expedient that such collection in full
of the said Imperial and Colonial duties shall be held
to be good in law, notwithstanding the aforesaid pro
visoes : And whereas doubts have been entertained
whether the duties imposed on the importation of
goods, wares, or merchandize into the West Indies by
the said Possessions Act are; under the provisions of
that Act, leviable upon the like goods, wares, and mer
chandize imported into the Mauritius from the United
Kingdom : And whereas notwithstanding such doubts,
the aforesaid duties have been leried upon goods, wares,
and merchandize so imported into the Mauritius from
the United Kingdom, and it is expedient that the
levying of the same should be held good in law : Be it
therefore enacted, that from and after the passing of
this Act, no personal action, suit, or other proceeding
shall be prosecuted or commenced against any Officer
of Her Majesty's Customs, or any Officer or other
person authorized by the Legislature, or other proper
authorities of any of the aforesaid British possessions,
for or in respect of such Officer or person having leried
duties imposed by the said Possessions Act upon the
importation of any article in full, vrithout making any
deduction therefrom in respect of duties imposed by
any Colonial Law or Ordinance upon the same article,
or for or in respect of such Officer or other person
haring leried duties imposed upon the importation of
any article, by any Colonial Law or Ordinance in full
without making any abatement or deduction therefrom,
in respect of the duty imposed by the Possessions Act,
upon the same article; and that no personal action,
suit, or other proceeding, shall be prosecuted or com-

appendix. 297
menced against any Officer of Her Majesty's Customs,
or any other Officer or other person empowered by the
proper authorities to coUect duties in the Mamitius for
or in respect of such Officer or other person haring
levied the hke duties upon the importation of goods,
wares, or merchandize into the Mauritius from the
United Kingdom as are imposed by the said Posses
sions Act upon the, importation of goods, wares, or
merchandize into the West Indies ; and if any action or
suit or other proceeding whatsoever, shall be prosecuted
or commenced against any Officer of Customs, or other
Officer or person as aforesaid, by reason of anything
done as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the defendant in
any such action or suit, or other proceeding as afore
said, to apply to the Court in which such action shall
be brought during the sitting of such Court, or to any
Judge of such Court during vacation for stay of proceed
ings, and such Court and such Judge respectively shall
stay such proceedings accordingly; and all payments
which may have been made' in respect of the duties, so
leried in full, or 'without abatement or deduction as
aforesaid, or in respect of such duties so levied upon
the importation of such goods, wares, and merchandize
.into the Mauritius as aforesaid, shall be held to have
been good and shall not be recoverable at law from any
person or persons who may have received the same.
XVII. And be it enacted, that in any British
possession in America in - whi6h the imperial duties,
imposed by the said Possessions Act, and the
Colonial duties, imposed by the laws of such Pos
session, have both been customarily levied in full,
without making any deduction from the Imperial
o3

298 appendix.
duties, in respect of the Colonial duties, or from the
Colonial duties in respect of the Imperial duties, it
shall be lawful, from and after the passing of this
Act, for the officers of the Customs, and other officers
duly authorised, to continue so to levy, in full, such
Imperial and Colonial duties respectively, during the
continuance of the said Possessions Act, anything
in the said Possessions Act contained in anywise
notwithstanding. XVIII, And be it enacted, that this Act may be
amended or repealed by any Act to be passed in
this present session of Parhament,

Commercial Relations of Quebec with Great
Britain and the Colonies.
Statement of the number of vessels and tonnage,
cleared at the Quebec Custom House, for each port
in Great Britain, &c., during the year 1842.

Cleared for

No. of Ton-
Vessels, nage.

Aberswith  5 962
Aberavon.'  1 ,186
Ardrossan  1 382
Aberdeen  10 3159
Ayr  3 608
Barnstable  1 283
Beaumaris  2 1247
Bideford  3 - 689
Bridgewater  23 6749
Bristol  19 9435
Banff.  1 282
Boon  1 34.7
Ballyshannon .... I 93
Bantry  1 245
Blyth  2 522
Belfast  24 10969
Brest  1 279

No. of Ton-
Vessels, nage.
X

Cleared for
Berwick  X 332
Cardigan  4 902
Colchester....  2 592
Carlisle  1 193
Chester  1 299
Carmarthen  1 316
Carabwick-Pill ... 4 1057
Cardiff  3 1024
Conway  1 309
Chatliam  4 1319
Cork  29 10881
Clare  1 237
Dartmouth  1 203
Donegal  2 275
Drogheda  2 482
Dover  2 267
Downpatrick .... 1 1 90

APPENDIX.

299

n J y„ No. of Ton-
Clearedfar „ i
¦' Vessels, nage.
Dublin  18 6124
Dundee   l' 386
Ennis  1 158
Exmouth  I , 336
Exeter  3 713
Falmouth  9 3163
Fowey  2 818
Feversham  1 239
Glasgow  4 1857
Greenock  2 1467
Garleston  1 194
Gloucester  7 2532
Grangemouth .,,. 3 1228
Galway  1 347
Glandore  1 294
Hull  ,  22 9964
Hartlepool  1 315
Holyhead  4 838
Irvine  1 238
Kinsale  I 381
Kilrush  1 238
Xillala  1 203
Kirkaldy  4 298
London  125 51679
Liverpool  88 50852
Lancaster  1 378
Llanelly  2 454
Lynn  4 1004
Londonderry , . . , 6 3102
Laine  2 ' 1210
Limerick  23 7889
Leith  6 2253
Loch Ryan  1 439
L'Orient  2 1029
Milford . , . .'  6 1534
Mumbles  4 1324
Menai Bridge .... 2 919
Minehead  1 204
Maryport  1 180
Maldon  2 530
Montrose  2 546
Newcastle  23 7276

No. of
Vessels.

Cleared for
Neath  3
Newport  6
Newry  4
New Ross  5
Plymouth  14
Portsmouth  5
Portrush  2
Padstow  4
Portsea  1
Poole  6
Pembroke  4
Preston  2
Port Madock  1
Peterhead  3
Penzance  4
Pwlhelli  2
Rye  1
Rochefort  , , 2
Sunderland  20
Southampton  8
Seaton  1
Sheerness  2
Swansea  5
Strangford  3
Stocron  3
Sligo  7
St. Ives  1
Tralee  3
Tenby  3
Voyd  1
Woolwich  2
Weymouth  2
Wicklow  2
Whitby  1
Westport  3
Whitehaven  6
Waterford  15
Wexford  1
Yarmouth  3
Youghall  2

Ton-
nage. 568
20891914 1931
6511 2506 750
1431 289
1568 1691 386 255
874
1064 574 210
1W4
55312972 147
11401297 630 784
1998 307
901 800244 785622
504235 641
1356
4734 250
813 568

Total  714 272400

300

APPENDIX.

Statement of the number of vessels, with their Tonnage
cleared at the Quebec Custom House during the year
1842, for each port in the Lower Provinces, the
West Indies, South America, &c., &c.

Cleared for

No. of Ton- I
Vessels, nage.

Jamaica  12 1760
Porto Rico  1 179
St. Michael's  1 55
Rio Janeiro  1 388
Rio de la Plata .... X 332
Buenos Ayres .... 1 200
St. John's, New
foundland  1 88
St. George's Bay , , 3 174
Labrador  2 99
Ungava Bay  1 107
Halifax ,  26 1475
Miramichi  21 1036
l>ictou,,.  *15 5219
Arichat  8 380 Total  X25
» Steam-ship Unicom, 12 trips. — Quebec Gazette.

Cleared for
Sydney, C B 
St. John, N. B 
Cambelton 
Dalhousie 
Bathurst 
Little Bay, New
foundland 
Guysborough . . . , . .
Restigouche 
Canso 
Shippigan 
Caraquet 
Richibucto 

No. of Ton-
Vessels, nage. 28 95
40
442 39

225 209 303 61
100 21
44

13090

ARGUMENTS OF MR. MERRITT, OF THE WELLAND
CANAL, RESPECTING THE TRANSIT TRADE FROM
THE WESTERN STATES THROUGH CANADA.
Mr. Merritt, — I am happy to find a warm in
terest is manifested on this subject. That it is the
most important that can be brought under con
sideration during the present session no person can
doubt : of all others it should be fully discussed,
as I much fear, from the obseiTations of some honour
able members, its object and design are but imper
fectly understood. It is scarcely necessary to enter
on political economy. The theory advocated by the
honourable and leamed member for Richelieu is un-

APPENDIX. 301
doubtedly correct; free trade is the only true prin
ciple, and well would it be for mankind if all Go
vemments would act upon that principle; but as
they do not, and will not, it is idle for us to attempt
it. I was not a httle surprised to hear the opinions
entertained by the honourable the Inspector-general,
and by the honourable member for the city of Mon
treal; they apprehend that it is not the intention of
the Govemment of the mother country to admit
wheat and flour from the Western States into the
ports of Great Britain through Canada, after paying
the proposed duty. As I entertain a very different
opinion, it will be necessary, in order to explain the
question fully, to go back and examine the changes
which have taken place in the policy of the mother
country ; and I trust the Chairman of the Committee
'will bear with me in taking up more time on this
occasion than ordinary on other subjects.
Heretofore, the trade of all Colonies was subject
to restrictions, under the erroneous impression, that
the subjects of the mother country were alone en
titled to benefit by it. The universal discontent
occasioned by an adherence to this pohcy in all
Colonies invariably led to separation so soon as ^
they were sufficiently numerous to effect it. After
the loss of the American Colonies, a gradual change
commenced in the colonial pohcy of Great Britain.
In 1825, the late Mr. Huskisson introduced his
system of discriminating duties, under which, articles
grown in this country were admitted into Britain at
a less rate of duty than from foreign countries,
although' at a higher duty than similar articles

302 APPENDIX.
grown by our fellow-subjects in Britain, It placed
us in a better situation than foreigners, but it did
not fuUy establish the great principle for which
we contend, and recognise us as subjects ; it placed
us in a medium between the two, and was at least
one step in advance. This change was haUed by
the inhabitants of Canada as a great boon, and
the most sanguine expectations were formed; many
indiriduals embarked their capital — their all, under
this hazardous and uncertain system. The temporary
protection thus afforded by the Home Govemment
was suddenly withdrawn, and wide-spread ruin is
the consequence. It is notorious, that neither the
grower, miller, merchant, nor shipper has ever real
ised a profit out of the productions of the soil
when sent to the British market ; that capital in
vested in land wUl not yield an interest ; and we
can never hope to see the country prosper under
the present system. Notwithstanding the universal
dissatisfaction which prevaUs throughout the country,
the repeated apphcations which have been made
by addresses from the Legislature, and petitions from
the agricultural population, no change had been
attempted untU the last session of the Imperial
Parliament, when the average price at which colonial
grain could be admitted was reduced from 67s. to
58s. per quarter. This alteration was also intended
for our benefit, but it has, in fact, placed the grower
in Canada in a much worse situation. Owing to
the distance at which he is situated from the home
markets, and to the time required after the grain
is harvested before it can reach the consumer, he is

APPENDIX. 303
subjected to the highest duty named, as weU as aU
other charges; and were the averages lowered even
to 40s., it would produce the same effect. It is,
however, apparent, that after the Com-biU was deter
mined on, very great changes took place in public
opinion, as well as in the Cabinet. The efforts made
by the British North American Committee, and various
individuals in London, to second the efforts of the
colonists, as vritnessed by the memorial from Lord
Mountcashell and others, afford . the best evidence
of the one, and the declaration of Sir Robert Peel
and Lord Stanley, of the other. It is the first time
that you have heard a minister declare, that you
should treat Canada as if she were an integral
part of the kingdom. In what way, or in what
manner is this great and all-important principle to
be carried into effect for the mutual benefit of this great
kingdom, of which we are hereafter to form a part ?
Surely not by the views and opinions expressed by the
Inspector-general, which would, instead of increasing,
annihilate the trifling trade we at present possess. All
the grain grown in Canada does not supply the con
sumption of British North America. The quantity
which could be exported to Britain, admitting that
the entire population in all our commercial towns
consumed American flour, would be trifling in the
extreme. Can any person for a moment suppose that
after lending us the credit of the nation for a milh on
and a half, for the express purpose of completing oar
great leading communications from the great Westem
part of this continent to the ocean ; after placing pro
tecting duties on flour and wheat in their ports, to give

304 APPENDIX.
a preference to her vessels and seamen to convey the
same ; and after securing by this policy a vent for her
manufactures for the consumption of mUhons of people
already inhabiting the great westem country above
us — that a measure would be recommended by that
cabinet, the effect of which would be to render those
commimications useless ; to lay up our ships and
vessels, or rather send them to seek employment in
the American trade to Liverpool, and drive British
manufactures from the greater part of the continent of
America, The price of conveying . a barrel of flour
from Cleveland (Ohio) to Liverpool, during the pre
sent faU : — £ s. d.
By way of Quebec, has been per barrel , , , . 1 12 7
By way of New York, ditto, ditto  1 8 7

In favour of the Erie Canal and New York 0 4 0
When the average price of wheat in Britain
is 64s, per quarter, foreign duty is 5s, 'od.
sterling, colonial duty 7\d. ox^d.  0 5 4
Learing a balance in favour of Canada .... 0 1 4
Suppose to this we add the 3s. per quarter
now proposed, equal to, per barrel  0 2 \\
Suppose we place in favour of New York,
per barrel  0 0 7^
which will effectually prohibit the transit of a single
barrel of flour through Canada, and wiU prove an
effectual protection for the English grower, and remove
all apprehension of successful competition, through
Canada, It is also apparent that the mother country

APPENDIX. ' 305
has also in riew the immense trade of the western
part of the United States, — which vriU be conveyed by
her ships and seamen paid 'with her manufactures, and
wiU in a short time enable the prorince to realize a
sufficient revenue from the tolls on our canals and the
revenue on articles from foreign countries, to enable
us to remove all duties on articles from Britain, and
estabhsh free trade in every sense of the word between
the mother country and this colony, or in the words of
Sir Robert Peel, between different parts of the same
kingdom. One word as to the effect on the popula
tion of Canada. Admit that the duty so raised is for
the purposes of revenue — every shilling so raised will
be remitted on the articles now consumed from Britain,
so that in the aggregate the burden vrill not be
materiaUy increased ; it will transfer the duty now
collected from our fellow subjects in Britain to our
competitors in the neighbouring States. — It will also
possess this double advantage — a bounty by remoring
the duty in England, and a protection hy imposing
2s. to 3s. per barrel duty on flour for our home con
sumption. Every man in Canada wUl see the value
of his productions increased, and the value of his pro
perty, the effect of which need not be again repeated.
It will soon make Canada the envy and admiration
of our neighbours, and infuse new life and vigour
throughout the whole Prorince, and by the effects
produced prove the present policy fraught with vrisdom
and justice, and worthy of the enhghtened statesmen
who preside over the councUs of the kingdom.

306 APPENDIX.
Cost of conveyance of one barrel of flour from Cleve
land, Ohio, to Liverpool, vid Montreal, including all
charges. Dollars,
Wheat at Cleveland, five bushels at 80 cts, .... 4 00
Freight to St, Catharme's  8 0 40
Insm'ance and purchasing  2 0 10
5 bushels to the barrel at 90 cts  4 50
4 50 dols. cost at mUl, • 
Freight per barrel flour to Kingston  0 15
Ditto ditto to Montreal  .- 0 40
Six months' interest on 5 dols  0 15
One per cent. com. at New York on draft, on
London  0 05
Cooperage to put in shipping order  0 02
At Montreal  5 32
Shipping charges at Montreal, say  0 05
Insurance to Liverpool, 4 per cent, on 7 dols. 0 28
Freight to Liverpool, 4s, sterling  0 88
6 53
Less 8 per cent. Exchange  0 52
Actual cost of a barrel of flour at Liverpool, , , . 6 01
Charges in Liverpool : Cents,
Bond, cartage, cooperage  3
Portage at quays ^ f. shed dues 2 J. . . , 6
Portage, receiving and delivery dues. . 1, 2
Store rent 10 cents., cooperage dues J, lOJ
Stamps 1, insurance against fire IJ . , 2|

APPENDIX. 307
Cents, Dollars,
Interest on charges, short wt, & damage 2
Commission and guarantee, 4 per cent. 28 — 0 54
Without duty the consumer would pay  6 65
Against Canada route 83 cents.
Colonial duty  0 23
6 77
In favour of Canada route without duty  0 15
6 92

Cost of the conveyance of one barrel of fiour from
Cleveland, Ohio, to Liverpool, vid New York, in
cluding all charges, '
Wheat in Cleveland, 5 bushels at 80 cts  4 00
Freight to Buffalo  5  0 25
Insurance and purchasing  2  010

At Buffalo  4 35
Freight to New York  0 52J
One per cent, commission at New York  0 05
Five months' interest  0 12^

At New York  , , , 5 15
Shipping charges at New York  0 05
Cooperage to put in shipping order  0 02
Insurance to Liverpool, 1 per cent  0 07
Freight to Liverpool, Is. Zd. sterling  0 28
5 57
Less 7 per cent. Exchange  0 39

308 APPENDIX.
Actual cost of a barrel of flour at Liverpool. . , , 5 18
Sundry charges after reaching port  0 54
Brings the article to consumer without duty , , 5 72
Duty on foreign flour at this moment, averages
being per quarter 5s. 6d  1 20
6 92
In favour of New York route 83 cents per baiTcl with
out duty
Against it, including duty, 22 cents per barrel.

I now give the political economist and the mercantile
reader an opportunity of riewing the American opinions
upon the subject of Canadian prospects in the grand
canal scheme of opening Lake Huron to the Atlantic,
It is extracted from the Patriot, an able Ultra- Tory
paper of Toronto, on account of the commentary on the
statement of the New York Journal of Commerce :
THE FORWARDING TRADE.— SHIP CANALS.
We would recommend a very careful perusal of the following .very
plain and logical article, from the New York Journal of Commerce, on
the subject of Ship Canals, espeoially that of the St. Lawrence.
We do not pretend to any accurate knowledge of these matters, but ~
confess that we have never been able to understand what benefits the
Province is to derive from the gigantic line of artificial navigation
now advancing to surmount the mighty rapids of the St. Lawrence ;
or from what source, apart from direct taxation, the interest of the
enormous sum there to be buried, is to he paid.
At present, every pound of wheat and flour which the Province
and the neighbouring States have to export, can be floated down the
broad river itself, with comparatively slight risk, and the vessels
return by the Rideau Canal, — and so, with sorae moderate local
improvements, could continue to do, until Canada was traversed in
every direction by good roads, and had a population some six or
ten times greater than she has at presentv

APPENDIX. 309
We may be wrong, and very probably are; but, viewing these
public works pretty much in the spirit in which they are viewed by
the great mass of the agricultural population, we feel very uneasy as
to the wisdom of burying our half a million of hard-got money in
making what we fear will be a useless Ship-canal, alongside of a
splendid river which can readily carry all our produce for the next
half century.
We know that the awful outlay on this canal would have furnished
Canada with excellent roads, traversing her forests in every direction,
and giving her hard-working yeomanry a chance of bringing their
now-often-useless produce to market. We know that, had this sum
been so spent, the population of Canada would probably be quad
rupled, and a practical good done to her agricultural population, instead
of a possible evil in the shape of a gigantic ship-canal, which may
be only a yawning chasm, into which the spare capital of this young
and struggling country has been too inconsiderately cast.
We will be very glad to receive any information on this subject,
and our columns will ever be open to its fair discussion ; but our
motto has ever been, " Good roads for the Canadian farmer before
. ship-canals for the Americans." '
The Welland Canal is an indispensable work and must be main
tained, if it did not pay one per cent, interest.
" EEIE CANAL ENLAilG.EMENT — CANADA TRADE.
" As flour is the great staple of the West, and as the freight of this
article is generally regarded as the standard of the' cost of transporta
tion from the West to the seaboard, the rates per barrel by the
diiferent routes should be carefully noted. And first we may remark
that flour from Lake Erie is delivered at the same rates at Kingston
and Oswego. From the former place to Montreal, the regular average
cost is 35 cents per barrel, though for some time during last summer
it was carried for 25 cents. The distance by stages and steamboats is
180 miles ; by the river above 200 miles. Hence, the cost being 35
cents, the rate is one mill and three-fourths per barrel per mile. The
average rates from Oswego to New York are about 55 cents per
barrel, making a difference of about 20 cents in favour of Montreal. The
average charge for freight from the latter port to England is from
3s. to 4s. sterling ; ¦ from New York not more than half those rates, —
omitting, of course extreme cases, where Is. sterling per barrel has
been accepted here, and 5s. and 6s. sterling demanded at Montreal,
and we believe paid in November last. Without the English corn-
laws, then, competition with New York would be as hopeless for
Montreal, as with the English corn-laws, carefully graduated so as to

310 APPENDIX.
turn the scale in favour of Montreal, competition is now hopeless for
New York, iu reference to the supply of the British markets. The
greatest anticipated diminution in the cost of transportation by reason
of the enlargement, is stated to be 22 cents, or Is. sterlmg per barrel,
(Sen. doc. 51, 1841, p. 12); though with the immense debt thereby
created, an increase of cost is far more probable than a diminution ;
but, admitting a reduction of 22 cents per barrel on flour, can this
difference be sufiicient to counterbalance the great advantages yielded
to the Colonies hy Great Britain ! Can it have any sensible eff'ect in
increasing the export of flour hence to that country, as long as the
" sliding-scale " and differential duties favouring the North American
Colonies, exist? Or, to come nearer home, is it — we will not say
necessary or proper — but is it just, to tax the citizens of New York,
in order that the property of the inhabitants of other States, or of
Canada, may be carried to and from the seaboard more cheaply than
at the present low rates ? The capacity of the present canal is noto
rious to all acquainted with the trade of the West ; and by means of
the railroads alongside, almost any amount of freight may be carried
to the Hudson, as cheaply as on the canal. In proof of this, we refer
to the average rates for flour on the canal, from Buffalo to Albany, as
given in the Report quoted above, viz., 79 38-100 cents for a distance
of 363 miles, equal to 2 18-100 mills per barrel per mile, as contrasted
viith the rates between Albany and Boston, viz., 35 cents for a dis
tance of 200 miles, or 1 75-100 mills per barrel per mile. The railway
over the mountains to Boston carries, therefore, at lower rates than
does the canal to Albany, and at about the anticipated rates on the
enlarged canal, with the advantages of four or five times the speed,
and throughout the year. Thepeople_of New York have consequently
nothing to gain by the enlargement, either as regards a diversion of
the traffic from the St. Lawrence, or as a means of increasing the
facilities or cheapness of communication with the Westem States, or
with the interior of this State, either in vrinter or summer.
" The so-called ' ship canal ' around the rapids of the St. Lawrence,
is 10 feet deep, locks 55 feet wide, and 200 feet long. Of this about
12 miles are nearly done, at a cost of 150,000 dollars per mile ; and
as about 28 miles more will be required, the entire cost of the ' Im
provement of the St. Lawrence ' above Montreal, may be put down
at 6,000,000 of dollars. The present trade is carried on in ' barges,'
which take 1,500 barrels of flour at high-water, and 1,000 barrels at
low-water from Kingston to Montreal by the river, paying no toll,
and return by the Rideau Canal, the tolls of whioh route do not
exceed those by the Erie Canal. The present boats on the Erie
Canal carry about 50 tons. The ' Improvement of the St. Lawrence '

APPENDIX. 31 1
is intended to cheap§n transportation by the introduction of a different
class of vessels for the Western trade ; but we are informed that no
precise dimensions of these vessels, nor any statements of the con
templated tolls on these canals, have been made public, and that the
locks on different parts are to be of different widths — diminishing,
perhaps, with the means of the province, or rather as John Bull may
feel inclined to ' fork out,' or otherwise.
" The improvement of the river itself between the points connected
by the canals, is also to be undertaken ; and it is now said that a
trifling sum will remove all obstructions to vessels of 150 tons
burthen in the lowest water, and thus reduce the cost from Kingston
to Montreal, to about half that from Oswego to New York. But,
even with this reduction, how are the Canadians to divert the flour
and pork for the people of New York, New Jersey, and the Eastern
States from the Erie Canal and Hudson to the St. Lawrence ? It
may be very easy to carry the produce to Montreal, but how is it to
be carried thence to Albany, New York, Newark, Hartford, Boston,
&c. ? — The present trade of the St. Lawrence arises from the demand
for flour in England, which, if furnished by this continent must go
by way of the St. Lawrence. The present trade of the Erie Canal
rests mainly on the demand for consumption in this country. Were
flour carried for 20 cents, per barrel from Kingston to Montreal, the
consumers in the Atlantic States and the marine, would not receive a
barrel less than they now receive vid the Erie Canal ; and, on the
other hand, were flour carried from Oswego to New York for 30
cents, per barrel, the merchants of Quebec and Montreal would not
ship a barrel more or less to England, notwithstanding these assumed
rates are much lower than can ever be expectd.
" So far are we from fearing the ' ship canals ' of Canada, that we
believe the enormous debt they are now running up, will, by render
ing the highest toll indispensable, tend rather to divert than to attract
the westem trade. Had the present Erie Canal been 'let alone,'
the tolls might have been reduced one half, and thus all the antici
pated advantages of the enlargement would have been secured some
years since, without any cost to the state. Indeed, at this moment,
the rates from Buffalo to Albany are 25 per cent, lower than the
average rates given above from official documents, and are not three
cents, per barrel higher than the lowest rates ever contemplated by
the friends of the enlargement ;-that is, 57 38-100 cents.^(See doc.
No. 51, 1841, p. 12); yet we do not perceive the magical eifects on
the prosperity of the country so confidently predicted, nor, have we
heard that the low freights of last summer on the St. Lawrence —
25 cents, per barrel of flour from Kingston to Montreal — have done

312 APPENDIX.
anything for the commercial interests of our northern neiglibours.
Hence we conclude, that no large amount of additional capital can be
now safely invested in improving these thoroughfares, but that the
true policy is to reduce the tolls, and if the canal be crowded beyond
a few days in the season, to build extra locks and reservoirs when and
where wanted only, or permit the railroads to carry freight, or both.
Of the St. Lawrence — being out of our jurisdiction — we shall merely
say, that, as the Lachine Canal is nearly three times the size of the
Erie Canal, and as the tolls increase in a still greater proportion-
being four times the tolls and 70 per cent, more than the total cost
of transportation on the Erie Canal ! — we do not very clearly see by
what process of reasoning a canal ten times larger, is to reduce the
cost of transportation. Experience and proper caution are however
scouted by politicians and adventurers, who, having everything to
gain by the extravagance of the Government, clamour loudly, and
too often successfully, for the immediate construction of the most
visionary undertakings. — StiU, we venture to predict, that the
enlargement of the Erie Canal will not be completed for many
years; — these very formidable advocates of the measures to the
contrary notwithstanding ; that the future expenditures of this state
will bear a more reasonable proportion to her income than hitherto ;
and, lastly, that the construction of the St. Lawrence Canal, on its
present gigantic scale, will do as little to injure, as will the enlarge
ment of the Erie Canal to foster and increase, our westem trade.
In other words we fear the enlargement much more than the ' ship
canals.' " — New York Journal of Commerce.

APPENDIX, 313
PROVINCE OF CANADA.

TARIFF OF DUTIES PAYABLE ON IMPORTS INTO
CANADA.
Under the Act 12 Victoria, cap. 1,
Animals, specially imported for the improvement of stock Free.
Animals and live stock- — all . . 20 per cent.
Anatomical preparations Free.
Anchors ... . 2J per cent
Apples, green or dried . 30 ,,
Ashes,— pot, pearl, and soda . Free.
Bacon ... ,20 per cent.
Barley, beans, here, and bigg , , 20 „
Beef .... 20 „
Berries Us6d iu dyeing . , . 2^ „
Biscuit ', . . . l^J- „
Books, printed ... . Free.
Books, reprints of British copyright works Prohibited.
Books, blank . . ' . . 12^ ,,
Books and drawings of an immoral or indecent character . Prohibited.
Boots aud shoes . 12^ per cent
Bran and shorts . . 20 ,,
Brandy . 2s. per gall, and 25 „ ^
Bristles . . 2^ ,,
Broom-com . 2J ,,
Brooms . 12^ „
Brushes . . 124 „
Buckwheat . , 20 „
Bulbs, roots, and trees . . Free.
Burr stones ... 2i per cent.
Burr stones, wrought . . 12J ,,
Busts and oasts of marble, bronze, alabaster, or plaster
of Paris . . . . . Free.
Butter .... 20 per cent,
Cabinets of coins, medals, or gems, and other collec
tions of antiquity . Free,
Candles . . 12J per cent.
Castings , . . . . 124,,
Chain cables, uot less than 15 fathoms, aud links five-
eighths of an inch thick . . 24 „
Cheese . . . . 20 „
Cider . . , . . 124 „
VOL. II. P

314

APPENDIX.

Clocks
Coals and coke
Coff'ee, green .
Coffee, roasted or ground
Coin and bullion
Coin, base or counterfeit
CordialsCotton wool
Cotton manufactures
^ Drugs
Drugs, used solely in dyeing
Dye woods .
Earthenware .
Engravings, etchings, and drawings
Feathers Fish
Flax and tow, undressed
Flour
Fmits, all kinds
Furs
Furniture ,
Gin . ^ .
GingerGlass, and manufactures of ,
Glue .
Grease and scraps .
Hair, and manufactures of
HamsHarness
HardwareHatsHempHidesHoney
Hops .
Indian com
Indian-rubber and manufactures
Indigo ,
Ink .
Iron-r.-Bar and rod not hammered
Sheet, not thinner than sixteen
Hoop, not over 2 inches broad
Charcoal-made or refined
Boiler plates .
Railroad bars
Spike rods

124 per cent.
24 „
4s. 8d. per cwt. and I24 ,,
14s. per cwt. and I24 ,,
Free.
Prohibited.
3s. per gallon and 25 per cent.
Free. 124 per cent
124 „
24 „
24 „
124 „
Free.
124 per cent.
124 24
20 30
124 124
2s. per. gall, and 25
30124
124 24
124
20 124
124 124 24 24
124
20 Free.
124 per cent.
24 „
124 „
24 „
24 „
24 „
2i „
^ „
24 „
24. „

wire gauge

APPENDIX.

315

Iron — pig and scrap

24 per cent.

Jewelry ,

124 „

Junk or Oakum

24 „

Lamps . ...

124 „

Lard

24 „

Lead, pig and sheet ' .

24 „

Lead manufactures

¦ 124 „

Leather, and manufactures of

124 „

Lemon syrup .

¦ 124 „ -

Linen, and manufactures of .

124 „

Liqueurs . . 3s. per gall.

and 26 „

Macaroni . . .

30 „

Machinery, all

¦ 124 „

Mahogany

12i „

Manures, all kinds

Free.

Maps

Free.

Marble, in blocks unpolished

24 per cent.

Marble, all others

124 „

Meal, Indian

- 124 „

Meal, other

20 „

Meats, all, except mess pork

20

Medicines ....

124 „

Models of machinery aud other inventions and im

provements in the arts

Free.

Molasses . . .3s. per cwt.

and 124 per cent.

Musical instruments .

124 „

Nails

¦ 124 „

Nuts ;

30 „

Nuts used in dyeing

24 „

Oats :

20 „

Oil— palm and cocoa-nut

24 „

Oil— all other

124 „

Oranges and lemons

30

Ores of all metals

24 „

Oysters

124 „

Paints

124 „

Paintings

Free.

Paper and paper manufactures

124 per cent.

Peas .

20 „

Pepper and pimento

30 „

Perfumery

124 „

Philosophical instruments and apparatus

Free.

Pickles and sauces

124 per cent.

Pipeclay

24 „

Pipes, smoking

124 „

Pitch

24 „

2 p

316 APPENDIX.
Pork, mess . . 124 per cent.
Pork, all other 20 „
Preserved iruits - , 30 ,,
Quills . . . 124 „
Quinces . . . 30 „
Raisins - . . 30 „
Resin or rosin . - 24 ,,
Rice . 124 .r
Rope . . - ¦ ¦ 124 ,,
Rope, tarred — ^when imported by shipbuilders for rig
ging their ships . . . . 24 ,y
Rum, at proof, by Sykes' hydrometer. Is, 3d. per gall, and 25 „
Rye . . . . 30 „
Saleratus . . . I24 ,,
Salt . - Id. per bushel amd 124 >«
Saw logs . 24 ,,
Seeds . . I24 „
Segars . Is. 6d. per lb, and 124 >>
Ships' water casks in use , . . 24 ,,
Snuff . . . 4d. per lb. aud 124 „
Soap ..... 124 „
Specimens of natural history, mineralogy, and botany Free,
Spices, all . ... 30 per cent.
Spikes . ... 124 „
Spirits, except rum and whisky, at proof, 2s. per gall, and 25 „
Spirits or cordials, sweetened so that the strength cannot
be found by the hydrometer . 3s. per gall, and 25 „
Spirits of turpentine . . 124 »
Steel . . 24 „
Steel manufactures ... 124 t.
Sugar, refined, in loaves or crushed, and candy
14s. per cwt. and 124 >»

Sugar, bastard and other kinds

9s. per cwt. and 124

Sumach .

24

Syrups

. 124

Tallow

24

Tar .

24

Tea

Id. per lb. and 124

Teasels

24

Tin and tin-ware .

124

Tobacco, manufactured .

Id. per lb. and 124

Tobacco, unmanufactured

. ,4d. per lb. and 124

Tow, undressed

. 24

Toys

124

Type metal, in blocks or pigs

24

Types

124

APPENDIX.

Varnish

124 per
Vegetables used in dyeing
24 „
Vegetables
• 124 „
Veneers .
124 „
Vermicelli
30 „
Vinegar
30 „
Watches
124 „
Wax
124 „
Whalebone
¦ 124 „
Wheat
Free.
Whisky, at proof
3d.
per
gall. andJ24 „
317
Wine, iu wood, value £15 the pipe of 126 gallons or under,
6d. per gall, and 25
Wine, value over £15 the pipe Is. 6d. per gall, and 25
Wine in bottles . 43. per gall, and 26
Wood and lumber .... 124
Wood used in making carpenters' tools 24
Wool . . 24
Wool manufactures . . 124
All goods, wares, and merchandise, uot enumerated I24
EXEMPTIONS.
Arms, clothing, cattle, provisions and stores of every description, which
any commissary or commissaries, contractor or contractors, shall
import or bring, or which may be imported or brought by the prin
cipal or other officer or officers of Her Majesty's Ordnance into the
province for the use of Her Majesty's army or navy, or for the use of
the Indian nations in this province ; provided the duty otherwise
payable thereon would be defrayed or borne by the treasury of the
United Kingdom of this province.
Horses and carriages of travellers ; and horses, cattle, and carriages and
other vehicles, when employed in carrying merchandise, together
with the necessary harness and tackle, so long as tbe same shall be
' bona fide in use for that purpose, except the horses, cattle, carriages,
vehicles and harness of persons hawking goods, wares, and mer
chandise through the province for tbe purpose of retailing the same,
and the horses, cattle, carriages, and harness of any circus or eques
trian troop for exhibition. The horses, cattle, carriages and harness
of any menagerie to be free.
Donations of clothing specially imported for the use of, or to be distri
buted gratuitously by any charitable society in this province.
Seeds of all kinds, farming utensils and implements of husbandry, when
specially imported in good faith by any society incorporated or esta
blished for the encouragement of agriculture.
Salt for the use of the fisheries, and wine for the use of regimental
messes.
318 APPENDIX.
The following articles in the occupation or employment of persons
coming into the province for the purpose of actually settling
therein, viz. .
Wearing-apparel in actual use, and other personal eff'ects not mer
chandise ; horses and cattle ; implements aud tools of trade of handy-
craftsmen.
The personal household effects, not merchandise, of inhabitants of this
province, being subjects of Her Majesty, and dying abroad.
And the following articles, when imported directly from the United
Kingdom, and being the growth, produce, or manufacture of the
said United Kingdom, viz. :
Animals, beef, pork, biscuit, bread, butter, cocoa-paste, corn or grain of
all kinds; flour ; fish, fresh or salted, dried or pickled ; fish oil; furs
or skins, the produce of fish or creatures living in the sea; gypsum,
horns, meat, poultry, plants, shrubs and trees, potatoes and vegetables
of all kinds. Seeds of all kinds, skins, pelts, furs or tails undressed.
Wood, viz., boards, planks, staves, timber, and firewood.
And the following articles when imported direct from the provinces
of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward's Island,
and being the growth, produce, or manufacture of said provinces
respectively, viz. :
Grain and breadstuffs of all kinds, vegetables, fruits, seeds, hay and
straw, hops, animals, salted and fresh meats, butter, cheese, chocolate
and other preparations of cocoa, lard, tallow, hides, horns, wool,
undressed skins, and furs of all kinds, oxen of all kinds, irou iu pigs
and bloom, copper, lead in pigs, grindstones and stones of all kinds ;
earth, coals, lime, ochres, gypsum, ground or unground ; rock-salt,
wood, bark, timber and lumber of all kinds, firewood, ashes, fish, fish-
oil ; viz., train-oil, spermaceti-oil, head matter and blubber, fins and
skins, the produce of fish or creatures living in the sea.

Amount of Bevenue and Expenditure. £ s. d.
1850; Total expenditure . . . 532,063 12 4
Excess ot revenue over expenditure . . 172,170 10 1
Total currency
1850 : Nett revenue of Customs' duties
Statement of Imports.
1849 ....
1850 . . Tonnoffe of Vessels by Canals.
1850: Welland . . . 687,100 tons.
St. Lawrence . 460 180 ,,
Chambly , . 143,194 ,,

£704,234 2

5

581,132 12

0

444,547 6
615,694 13

1
8

APPENDIX. 319
Bcceipts of Tolls by Canals. £ s. d.
1860; WeUand . . 37,742 17 24
St. Lawrence . . 19,730 13 7
Chambly . 2,956 7 44
Burlington Bay Canal 3,679 6 2
St. Ann's Lock . 807 6 74
. Total by canals . £66,772 10 64
Number and Tonnage of Vessels registered in ttie Province of Canada
in 1860.
Steamers . . 31
Tonnage of ditto . 2,985|
Sailing vessels 213
Tonnage of ditto 33,148
1850 ; Value of dutiable and free goods imported £4,245,517 3 6
Duties collected . . . 615,694 13 8
Total vEilue of Canadian produce and manufac
ture exported from sea and inland ports in 1850 £3,235,948 15 9

Number of Vessels inward and outward in 1850.
Montreal . . .312
Quebec . . 1,275
Total tonnage . . 543,963
Men . ... 19,116
In 1851, 96 more vessels than in 1850.

Population of Upper and Lower Canada is now about equal, and may
amount, conjointly, to 1,582,000 souls.
Sctujols. — Dr. Ryerson, the able superintendent of education, reports
that in 1850, 259,258 children attended school in Western Canada.
There are besides in each district a grammar-school, various model-
schools, and at Toronto an excellent Normal school.
Amount of crops, stiowing that Canada is a more agricultural country
than the United States.
In 1847 population of Canada West .... 723,332
Ditto ditto United States .... 20,746,400

Canada West.

United States,

Bushels.

Quantity to
each inhabitant

Bushels.

Quantity to
each inhabitant.

Wheat 7,558,773

1,046

114,245,500

560

Oats 7,056,730

975

167,867,000

809

Maize 1,137,656

157

639,350,000

2,601

Potatoes 4,751,331

667

100,965,000

486

320

APPENDIX.

List of economic Minerals and Deposits of Canada exhibited by TF. E.
Logan, Esq., F.B.S., Provincial Geologist, at ths Great Exhibition
in London, 1851.

Metals.
Iron, magnetic. specular.
bog. titaniferous.
Zinc, sulphuret.
Lead „
Copper „
Nickel ,,
Silver, native, &c.
Gold, in gravel, &c.
Chemical Materials.
Uranium.Chromium.Cobalt.
Manganese. Iron pyrites.
Dolomite.Magnesite. . Stone Paints.
Barytes.
Iron ochre.
Talcose slate.
Soapstone.Serpentine.
Ferruginous clay.
Materials applicable to the
Arts.
Lithographic stone.
Materials applicable to
Jewellery, &c.
Agates. Jasper.
Labradorite. Sunstone.
Hyacinths. Oriental rubies. 1
Sapphires. ' j
Amethysts.Ribboned Chert.
Jet.

Materials for Glassmaking
White quartz sandstone.
Pitchstone, basalt, &c.
Repractort Materials.
Soapstone.
Asbestus. Sandstone.Plumbago. Manures.
Phosphate of lime.
Gypsum.
Shell Marl.
Grinding and Polishing
Materials.
Millstones. Grindstones. Whetstones
Hones.Tripoli.
Materials por Rating,
Tiling, &c.
Slates, roofing.
Flag-stones. Building Materials.
Granite, superior.
Pseudo-granite. Sandstone.
Calcareous ditto.
Limestone. Lime.
Clay.
Marble.
Combustible Materials.
Peat. Petroleum.
Naphtha. Asphalt.
Sundry other Materials.
Moulding sand.
FuUer's-earth.

Note. — No coal has been found in Canada ; but the Halifax and
Quebec railroad, if completed, will supply it abundantly from Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick. Mr. Logan recently put into my hand a
glass bottle full of Canadian gold, about £450's-worth, from the
Rivifere du Loup, a branch of the Chaudiere. J. E. Alexander, A.D.C.
Montreal, Cliristmas, 1851. THE END.

London ; Printed by 'Williatn Tj ler, Bolt-cnurt.

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" A valuable contribution to historical knowledge. It contains a mass of every kind of
historical matter of interest, which mdnstry and reBearoh could collect. We have derived
much entertainment and instruction from the work."  A^nomm,

HISTOKT AND BIOGEAPHY.

MEMOIRS OF HORACE WALPOLE
MP HIS COITEMPORARIES,
ISCLtJDING NUMEEOnS OKISINAt, LETTfift'S, CJEffiFl.Y *KOM STRA-l\T3EKKY HILI..
SDITED BY
ELIOT WARBURTON, ESQ.
AttTHOE OE " THE CEESCENT AND THE CROSS," ETC.
2 vols. Svo, with Portraits, 28s. tound.

Perhaps no name of modern times is productive of so many pleasant
associations as that of " Horace Walpole," and certainly no name was ever
more intimately connected with so many different subjects of importance
in connexion with Literature, Art, Fashion, and Politics. Tlie position of
various members of his family connecting Horace Walpole with the Cabi
net, the Court, and the Legislature — his own intercourse with those cha
racters who became remarkable for brilliant social and intellectual quali
ties— and his reputation as aWit, a Scholar, and a Virtuoso, cannot fail, il is
hoped, to render his Memoirs equally amusing and instructive.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
" The biography before us is in all respects eminently satisfactory." — Moming
Chronicle. " These Memoirs oifer a good subject, well treated, and indeed a necessary
addition to the library of every English gentleman. The ' Memoirs of Horace
Walpole and his Contemporaries' nearly completes the chain of mixed personal,
political, and literary history, commencing with ' Evelyn' and 'Pepys,' carried
forward by ' Swift's Journal and Correspondence,' and ending almost in our
own day with the Mstories of Mr. Macaulay aud Lord Mahon. Besides its
historical value, which is very considerable, it cannot be estimated too highly
as a book of mere amusement." — Standard.
" Two more interesting or entertaining volumes than these ' Memoirs of
Horace Walpole' may be searched for for a long time before they will be found.
The writer has woven into his narrative a rich fund of contemporary anecdote
and illustration. Most of the npbleS, wits, and literati of the period are judi
ciously introduced." — Moming Post.
" Horace Walpole was the most remarkable man of his time; and posterity
will do him the justice, now that his career is fuUy elaborated, to place him
in the niche which belongs to him, as one whose influence in the affairs of his
country has been far beyond the average of other men." — Messenger.
" This life of Horace Walpole is a very valuable and interesting addition to
the historical library. We should be glad to see every part of our later history
illustrated with equal clearness and impartiality." — Weekly Chronicle.
"Eew works ofthe present day contain more matter fltted for entertainment
and instruction." — Moming Herald.

COLBUEN AND CO.'S NEW PUBLICATIONS.

BMKE'S PEERAGE AO BARONETAGE,
FOR 1852.
NEW EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED THROUGHOUT
FROM THE PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF
THE NOBILITY, &c.
With the ARMS (1500 in number) accurately engraved, and incorporated with the Text.
Now ready, in 1 vol. (comprising as much matter as twenty ordinaiy volumes), 38s. bound.

The following is a List of the Principal Contents of this Standard Work :-

I. A full and interesting history of each
order of the English Nobihty, showing its
origin, rise, titles, immunities, privileges, &c.
II. A complete Memoir of the Queen and
Eoyal Family, forming a brief genealogical
History of the Sovereign of this country, and
deducing tbe descent ef the Plantagenets,
Tudors, Stuarts, and Guelpbs, through their
various ramifications. To this section is
appended a list of those Peers who inherit
the distinguished honour of Quartering the
Eoyal Arms of Plantagenet.
III. An Authentic table of Precedence.
IV. A perfect History oir All the
Peeks and Bakonets, with the fullest
details of their ancestors and descendants,
and particulars respecting every collateral
member of each family, and all intermar
riages, &c.

V. The Spiritual Lords.
VI. Foreign Noblemen, subjects by birth
of the British Crown.
VII. Peerages claimed.
VIII. Surnames of Peers and Peeresses,
with Heirs Apparent and Presumptive.
IX. Courtesy titles of Eldest Sons.
X. Peerages of the Three Kingdoms in
order of Precedence.
XI. Baronets in order of Precedence.
XII. Privy Councillors of England and
Ireland. XIII. Daughters of Peers married to
Commoners. XIV. All the Ordeks op Knight
hood, with every Knight and all the Knights
Bachelors. XV. Mottoes translated, with poetical
illustrations.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
" The most complete, the most convenient, and the cheapest work of the kind ever given
to the public." — Sun.
" The best genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage, and the
first authority on all questions aifecting the aristocracy." — Globe.
'¦' For the amazing quantity of personal and family history, admirable arrangement of
details, and accuracy of information, this genealogical and heraldic dictionary is without a
rival. It is now the standard and acknowledged book of reference upon all questions
touching pedigree, and direct or collateral affinity with the titled aristocracy. The lineage
of eaoh distinguished house is deduced through all the various ramifications. Every
collateral branch, however remotely connected, is introduced; and the alliances are so
carefully inserted, as to show, in all instances, the connexion which so intimately exists
between the titled and untitled aristocracy. We have also much most entertaining
historical matter, and many very curious and interesting family traditions. The work is,
in fact, a complete oyclopadia of the whole titled classes of the empire, supplying all the
information that can possibly be desired on the subject." — Morning Post.

A COMPANION TO THE PEERAGE.

BURKE'S HISTORY OF THE LANDED GENTRY,
FOB 1852.
^ ffijnfalogical ^BicttonarB
OF THE WHOLE OF THE UNTITLED ARISTOCRACY OP
ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND :
Comprising Particulars of 100,000 Individuals connected with them.
In 2 volumes, royal Svo,
WITH A SEPARATE INDEX, GRATIS,
CONTAINING BEFEEBNCES TO THE NAMES OP EYEKT PEBSON MENTIONED.
Beautifully printed in double columns, comprising more matter than 30 ordinary
volumes, price only 21. 2s., elegantly bound.

The Landed Gentry of England are so closely connected with the stirring records of its
eventful history, that some acquaintance with them is a matter of necessity with the legis
lator, the lawyer, the historical student, the speculator in politics, and the curious in topo
graphical and antiquarian lore ; and even the very spirit of ordinary curiosity will prompt
to a desire to trace the origin and progress of those families whose influence pervades the
towns and villages of our land. This work furnishes such a mass of authentic information
in regard to all the principal families in the kingdom as has never before been attempted to
be brought together. It relates to the untitled families of rank, as the " Peerage and
Baronetage "does to the titled, and forms, iu fact, a peerage of the untitled aristocracy.
It embraces the whole of the landed interest, and is indispensable to the hbrary of every
gentleman. The great cost attending the production of this National Work, the first of its
kind, induces the publisher to hope that the heads of all families recorded in its pages will
supply themselves with copies.
" A work of this kind is of a national value. Its utility is not merely temporary, but it
will exist and be acknowledged as long as the famiUes whose names and genealogies are
recorded in it continue to form an integral portion of the English constitution. As a cor
rect record of descent, no family should be without it. The untitled aristocracy have in
this great work as perfect a dictionary of their genealogical history, family connexions, and
heraldic rights, as the peerage and baronetage. It will be au enduring and trustworthy
record." — Moming Post.
"A work in which every gentleman will find a domestic interest, as it contains the
fullest account of every known family in the United Kingdom. It is a dictionary of aU
names, families, and their origin, — of every man's neighbour and friend, if not of his own
relatives and immediate connexions. It cannot fail to be of the greatest utility to profes
sional men in their researches respecting the members of different families, heirs to pro
perty, &o. Indeed, it will become as necessary as a Directory in every office." — Bell's
Messenger.

6 COLBURN AND CO.'S NEW PUBLICATIONS.
GERMANY;
ITS COURTS AND PEOPLE.
BT THB AUTHOR OF "MILDEBD TEENON."
Second and Cheaper Edition. 2 vols. Svo, 2lfi. boimd.
This work oomiprisesi a complete picture ef the varioHS courts and
people of the Continent, as they appear amidst the wreck of the recent
revolutions. The author possessed, through her influential connexions,
peculiar facilities for acquiring exclusive information on the topics treated
of. She succeeded in penetrating into provinces and localities rarely
visited by tourists, and stEl glowmg with the embers of civil war, and fol
lowed the army of Prussia in Germany, of Russia in Hungary, and of
Radetzky in Italy. Her pages teem with the sayings and doings of almost
all the illustrious characters, male and female,- whom, the events of the
last two years have brought into- European celebrity, combined with
graphic views of the insurrectionary struggles, sketches of the various
aspects of society, and incidents of personal adventure. To give an idea
of the scope and -variety of the contents of the work, it need' only be men
tioned that among the countries visited -sill be found Prussia, Austria,
Hungary,- Bavaria, Saxony, Servia, Styria, the Tyrol, Hanover, Bruns
wick, Italy, &c. To enumerate all the distinguished personages with
whom the writer had intercourse, and of whom anecdotes are related,
would be impossible ; but they include such names as the Emperors- of
Austria and Russia, the iCihgs of Pi'ussia, Hanover, Bavaria, and Wur
temberg, the Count de Chambord (Henry V.), the Queens of Bavaria and
Prussia, the ex-Empress of Austria, the Grand Duke of Baden, the Arch
dukes John, Francis, and Stephen of Austria, Duke Wilhelm of Bruns
wick, the Prince of Prussia, Prince John of Saxony,, the Countess. Batthy-
anyi, Madame Kossuth, &c. Among the statesmen, generals, and leading
actors in the revolutionary movements, we: meet with Radowitz,. Von
Gagern, Schwarzenberg, Bekk, Esterhazy, the Ban Jell'acic, Windisch-
gratz, Radetzky, Welden, Haynau,- Wrangel, Pillersdorf, Kossuth, Blum,
Gorgey,,Batthyanyi,,Pulszky, Klapka, Bem,Dembinski,Hecker, Struve,&c.

¦' An important, yet most amusing work, throwing much and lichty-coloured.
light on matters -with which every one desires to be informed. All the courts
aud people of Germany are passed in vivid review before us. The ac
count of the Anstrians, Magyars, and Croats, will be found especially inte
resting. In many of its lighter passages thework may bear a comparison
with Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's Letters." — Morning Chronicle.

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
 1.

NOW COMPLETE, IN FIVE VOLUMES, POST OCTAVO,
WITH FORTKAITS, &C., HANDSOMELY BOUND, PKICE 35s.,
PEPTS' DIARY

COERESPONDENCE,
ILLUSTEATIVE OF THE EBIGNS OF CHAELES II. AND JAMES II.
EDITED BY LORD BRAYBROOKE.

This Edition contains ALL the passages eestoked eeom the okigisal
MANUSCBIFT, and all the Additional Notes.

CRITICAL OPINIONS.

EDINBUEGH EEVIEW.
"''We unhesitatingly characterise tbis journal as the most remarkable production of
its kind which has ever beeu given to the world. Pepys paints the Court, the Mo
narchs, and the times, in more vivid colours than any one else. His Diary makes us
comprehend the great historical events of the age, aud the people who bore a part in
themv and gi?ves us more clear glimpses into the true English life of the times than all
tha other memorials of them that have eome down to our own."
ATHEN-ffiUM,
"The best book of its kind in the English language. The new matter ia extremely
curious,, and oecasioitally far more characteristic aud entertaining than the old. The
writer is seen in a clearer light, and the reader is taken into his inmost soul. 'Pepys'
Diary' is the ablest picture of the age in which the writer lived, and a work of standard
Imiportamee In English Kteratnre," QTJAETEELT EEVIEW.
" ' Pepys' Diary' throwa a distinct aud vivid light over the picture of England aud
its government diiring the period succeeding the Eestoration. If, quitting the broad
path of history, we look for minute information concerning anoisnt manners and customs,
th© progress of arts and sciences, and the various branches of antiquity, we have never
seen a mine so rich as these volumes. The variety of Pepys' tastes and pursuits led
him into almost every department of life- He was a man of busiuess, a man of informa
tion, a man of -whim, and, to a certain degree, a man of pleasnre. He was a statesman,
a bel-esprit, a virtuoso, and a connoisseur. His curiosity made him an unweaiied, as
well as an universal, learner, and whatever he saw found its way into his tables."

COLBURN AND CO.'S NEW PUBLICATIONS.

THE LIFE AND REIGN OF CHARLES L
By I. DISRAELI.
A NEW EDITION. REVISED BY THE AUTHOR, AND EDITED
BY HIS SON, B. DISRAELI, M.P.
2 vols., Svo, uniform with the " Curiosities of Literature," 28s. bound.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
" By far the most important work on the important age of Charles I. that
modern times have produced." — Quarterly Review.
" Mr. Disraeli has conceived that the republication of his father's ' Commen
taries on the Life and Reign of Charles I.' is peculiarly well timed at the present
moment ; and he indicates the weU-kno wn chapters on the Genius of the Papacy,
and the critical relations of Protestant sovereigns with Roman Catholic sub
jects, as reflecting, mirror-like, ' the events, thoughts, passions, and perplexities
of the present agitated epoch.' In particular, he observes, that the stories of
conversions to the Romish faith, then rife, seem like narratives of the present
hour, and that the reader is almost tempted to substitute the names of his
personal acquaintances for those of the courtiers of Charles. No apology was
needed for reintroducing to the world so instructive and original a work as that
of Isaac Disraeli." — Times.
" At the end of 250 years, Rome and England are engaged in a controversy
having the same object as that in which they were committed at the commence
ment of the seventeenth century ; and no wliere will the reader flnd the cir
cumstances of that controversy, its aims, the passions which it evoked, the in
struments which it employed, and its results, better described than in this ex
cellent book." — Standard.
"The position attained by the late Mr. Disraeli's admirable and learned com
mentaries on the great events of the Revolution, and the times that led to it,
would at any period have warranted its republication. To those, however, to
whom the bearing of its remarks, and the effect of the author's researches are
known on the religious question of that day, their apt and effective bearing on
the most vital topic of our preseat religio-political existence, will give the reap
pearance of the work an additional value." — Britannia.
" The history of Charles I. required a Tacitus, and, in our opinion, this work
ought to have that standard character." — Gentleman's Magazine.

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

LIYES OF THE PRINCESSES OE ENGLAND.
By MRS EVERETT GREEN,
EDITOE OF THE "LETTERS OF ROYAL AND ILLUSTRIOUS LADIES."
3 vols., post Svo, -with Illustrations, 10s. 6d. each, bound.
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
"A most agreeable book, forming a meet companion for the work of Miss Strickland, to
which, indeed, it is an indispensable addition. The authoress, already favourably known
to the leamed world by her excellent collection of ' Letters of Eoyal and Illustrious Ladies,
has executed her task with great skill and fidelity. Every page displays careful research
and accuracy. There is a graceful combination of sound, historical erudition, with an air
of romance and adventure that is highly pleasing, and renders the work at once an agreeable
companion of the boudoir, and a valuable addition to the historical library. Mrs. Green
has entered upon an untrodden path, and gives to her biographies an air of freshness and
novelty very alluring. The first two volumes (including the Lives of twenty-five Princesses)
carry us frora the daughters of the Conqueror to the family of Edward I. — a highly inte
resting period, replete with curious illustrations of the genius and manners of the Middle
Ages. Such works, from the truthfulness of their spirit, furnish a more lively picture of
the times than even the graphic, though delusive, pencil of Scott and James." — Britannia.
" The vast utiUty of the task undertaken by the gifted author of this interesting book
can only be equalled by the skill, ingenuity, and research displayed in its accomplishment.
The field Mrs. Green has selected is an untrodden one. Mrs. Green, on giving to the world
a work which will enable ns to arrive at a correct idea of the private histories and personal
characters ofthe royal ladies of England, has done sufficient to entitle her to the respect
and gratitude of the country. The labour of her task was exceedingly great, involving
researches, not only into English records and chronicles, but into those of almost every
civilised country in Europe. The style of Mrs. Green is admirable. She has a fine per
ception of character and manners, a penetrating spirit of observation, and singular exactness
of judgment. The memou-s are richly fraught -with the spirit of romantic adventnre," —
Morning Post.
"This work is a worthy companion to Miss Strickland's admu-able 'Queens of
England.' In one respect the subject-matter of these volumes is more interesting, because
it is more diversified than that of the ' Queens of England.' That celebrated work, although
its heroines were, for the most part, foreign Princesses, related almost entirely to the his
tory of this country. The Princesses of England, ou the contrary, are themselves English,
but their lives are nearly all connected with foreign nations. Their biographies, conse
quently, afiford us a. glunpse of the manners and customs of the chief European
kingdoms, a circumstance which not only gives to the work the charm of variety, but
which is likely to render it peculiarly useful to the general reader, as it links together by
association the contemporaneous history of various nations. The histories are related
with an earnest simplicity and copious explicitness. The reader is informed without
being wearied, and alternately enlivened by some sphited description, or touched by
seme pathetic or tender episode. We cordially commend Mrs. Everett Green's production
to general attention ; it is (necessarily) as useful as history, and fully as entertaining as
romance.'' — Sitn .

10 COLBURN AND CO.'S NEW PUBLICATIONS.

MADAME PULSZKY'S MEMOIRS.
Comprising Full and Interesting Details of
THE LATE EVENTS IN HUNGARY.
With an Historical Introduction by ERANCIS PULSZKY, Late Under-
Secretary of State to Eerdinand, Emperor of Austria and
King of Hungary.
2 vols., post Svo, 21s. bound.

OPINIONS OE THE PRESS.
" The uatiouality of the people, their martial prowess, and present unhappy fate, have
invested Hungary with the interest of a second Poland, aud -Western Europe must
be naturally desu-ous to learn something of their civil and social life. Those volumes are
the joint production of M. and Madame Pulszky. TiTiile the latter records her impres
sions and recollections of Hungarian life, we have to thank M. PuIs^ky for a very able
summary of the history of Hungary, from the days of .Arpad to the reign of Perdmand
the First, and the reform movement— a history whioh abounds iu interesting incidents
and useful lessons for the statesman and the philosophic historian. Madame Puljgky's
narrative of her wanderings and dangers is agreeably diversified with sketches and anec
dotes from Magyar life, as well as with ancient legends from Hungarian history and
modern passages in the late war of independence. It cannot fail to eieite an interest in
all classes of readers— in those who open a book only for amusement, as well as in those
who look for something more en6.viimg."—JSdinburgh Seview.
" -We need hardly Inform our readers that the authoress of this work is the accomplished
wife of the gentleman who was- originaUy accredited to the English cabinet by the
provisional government of Hungary. The private interest attaching to the recital of
events whicii have become so famous would insure a wide popularity for Madame Pulszky's
book. But we should very much under-estim^tg its value if we so limited our praise.
The memoirs, indeed, contain sketches of social life which aro worthy of a place by the
side of Madame de Stael de Launay and Madame Campan. But they are also rich
in political aud topographical information of the flrst character, Madame Pulszky was
in the habit of direct intercourse with the foremost and most distinguished of the
Hungarian generals and statesmen, and has given a complete summary of the political
events in Hungary, from the arrival of the Hungarian deputation in 18^, to the treason
of General Gorgey on the 13th of August, 1849. M. Pulszky has also prefixed a valuable
introduction, which gives the most complete history pf Hungary that has ever issued from
the English press."— SJoSe.
" With all the charms of romance, these volumes possess the graver iuterest of his
tory. Pull of personal anecdotes, historical reminiscences, and legendary associations ;
teeming with interesting adventures, rich in social illustration and topographical
description, the memoirs present to all classes of readers au attraction quite indepen
dent of the recent important events, of which they give so clear and connected a narra
tive." — Moming Post.
" In this most interesting book we have revealed in the characteristic memoirs of an
eye-witness ths whole story of Hungary and its revolution. The intrigues of Latour
with Jellachich, the treachery of the court, the part taken by Kossuth aud other
eminent characters, the Hungarian deputation to the Emperor, and the final breach
between Hungary and Austria, are told as forcibly as simply."— Dai^j/ Nmvs.
" It is impossible that the great Hungarian struggle for freedom can ever flnd a histo
rian more honest in point of narrative, more sincere in conviction, or more anxious to
do full justice to tho truth than Madame Pulszky."— Observer.

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. H

DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE OP
JOHN EYELYN, F.R.S.,
Author of " Sylva," &c.
A NEW EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED, WITH
NUMEROUS ADDITIONAL NOTES.
IJSriPORM WITH THE NEW EDITION OP PEPYS' DIARY.
In 4 vols., post Svo, price 10s. fid. each, -with illustrations.
N.B. — The First Two Volumes, comprising " The Diary," are now ready.

The Diary and Correspondence of John Evelyn has long been reg aJded as an
invaluable record of opinions and events, as well as the most interesting expo
sition we possess of the manners, taste, learning, and religion of this country,
during the latter half of the seventeenth century. The Diary comprises obser
vations on the politics, literature, and science of his age, during his travels in
France and Italy ; his residence in England towards the latter part of the
Protectorate, and his ijonnexion with the Courts of Charles II. and the two
subsequent reigns, interspersed with a vast number of original ariecdotes of the
most celebrated persons of that period. To the Diary is subjoined the Cor
respondence of Evelyn with many of his distinguished contemporaries ; also
Original Letters from Sir Edward Nicholas, private secretary to King Charles I.,
during some important periods of that reign, with the King's answers ; and
numerous letters from Sir Edward Hyde (Lord Clarendon) to Sir Edward
Nicholas, and to Sir Richard Bro-wn, Ambassador to France, duriilg the exile
of the British Court.
A New Edition of this interesting work having been long demanded, the
greatest pains have been taken to render it as complete as possible, by a careful
re-exammation of the original Manuscript, and by illustrating it -with such
annotations as will make the reader more conversant with the numerous sub
jects referred to by the Diarist.
"It has been justly Observed that as long as Virtue and Science hold their
abode in this island, the memory of Evelyn Will be held in the utmost venera
tion. Indeed, no change of fashion, no alteration of taste, no revolution of
science, have impaired, or can impair, his celebrity. The youth who looks
forward to an inheritance which he is under no temptation to increase, will do
well to bear the example of Evelyn in his miad, as containing nothing but what
is inaitable, and nothing but what is good. All persons, indeed, may find in
his character something for imitation, but for an Enghsh gentleman he is the
perfect model." — Quarterly Review.

12

COLBURN AND CO.'S NEW PUBLICATIONS.

BURKE'S DICTIONARY OP THE
EXTINCT, DORMANT, & ABEYANT PEERAGES
OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND.
Beautifully prmted, in 1 vol. Svo, containmg 800 double-column pages, 21s. bound.
This work, formed on a plan precisely similar to that of Mr. Burke's popular Dictionary
of the present Peerage and Baronetage, comprises those peerages which have been sus
pended or extinguished smce the Conc[uest, particularismg the members^ of eaoh family in
each generation, and brin^g the Jineage, in all possible cases, through either collaterals or
females, down to existing houses. It connects, in many instances, the new with the old
nobility, and it will in aU" cases show the cause which has mfluenced the revival of an
extinct dignity in a new creation. It should be particularly noticed, that this new work
appertains nearly as much to extant as to extmct persons of distinction; for though
dignities pass away, it rarely occurs that whole families do.

C O N T
1. Peerages of England extinct by failure of
issue, attainder, &c., alphabetically, ac
cording to Surnames.
2. Baronies by Writ — England — in abey
ance, and still vested probably in exist
ing heirs.
3. Extinct aud Abeyant Peerages of Eng
land, according to titles.
4. Charters of Freedom — Magna Charta —
Charter of Forests.
5. Koll of Battel Abbey.

ENTS.
6. Peerages of Ireland, extinct by failure of
issue, attainder, &c., alphabetically,
according to Surnames.
7. Baronies by Writ — Ireland — ^iu abey
ance.
8. Peerages of Ireland, extuict and abey
ant, alphabetically, according to Titles.
9. Peerages of Scotland, extinct by failure
of issue, attainder, &c., alphabetically,
according to Surnames.
10. Extinct Peerages of Scotland, alpha
betically, according to Titles.

MEMOIRS OF SCIPIO DE RICCI,
I.ATE BISHOP OP PISTOIA AND PEATO ;
REFORMER OP CATHOLICISM IN TUSCANY.
Cheaper Edition, 2 vols. Svo, 12s. bound.
The leading feature of this important work is its application to the great cjuestion now
at issue between our Protestant and Catholic fellow-subjects. It contains a complete
expose of the Romish Church Establishment during the eighteenth century, and of the
abuses of the Jesuits throughout the greater part of Europe. Many partictdars of the
most thrilling kind are brought to light.

MADAME CAMPAN'S MEMOIRS
OF THE COURT OF MARIE ANTOINETTE.
Cheaper Edition, 2 vols. Svo, with Portraits, price only 12s. — The same in French.
" We have seldom perused so entertaining a work. It is as a mirror of the most splen
did Court in Europe, at a time when the monarchy had not beeu shorn of any of its beams,
that it is particularly worthy of attention." — Clironicle.

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. IJj"
ANECDOTES OF THE ARISTOCRACY,
AND
EPISODES m MCESTRAL STORY.
By J. BERNARD BURKE, Esq.,
Author of " The History of the Lauded Gentry," " The Peerage and Baronetage," &c.
Second and Cheapek Edition, 2 vols., post Svo, 21s. bound.
The memoirs of our great families are replete with details of the most
striking and romantic interest, throwing light on the occurrences of public
as well as domestic life, 'and elucidating the causes of many important
national events. How little of the personal history of the Aristocracy .is
generally known, and yet how full of amusement is the subject ! Almost
every eminent family has some event connected with its rise or great
ness, some curious tradition interwoven with its annals, or some calamity
casting a gloom over the brilliancy of its achievements, which cannot fail
to attract the attention of that sphere of society to which this work more
particularly refers, and must equally interest the general reader, with
whom, in this country, the records of the higher classes have always pos
sessed a peculiar attraction. The anecdotes of the Aristocracy here re
corded go far to show that there are more marvels in real life than in the
creations of fiction. Let the reader seek romance in whatever book, and
at whatever period he may, yet nought will he find to surpass the unex-
aggerated reality here unfolded.
" Mr. Burke has here given us the most curious incidents, the most stin-mg tales, and
the most remarkable circumstances connected with the histories, public and private, of our
noble houses and aristocratic famihes, and has put them into a shape which will preserve
them in the Hbrary, and render them the favourite study of those who are interested in
the romance of real life. These stories, -with all the reaUty of established fact, read with
as much spirit as the tales of Boccacio, and are as full of strange matter for reflection and
amazement." — Britannia.
" We cannot estimate too highly the mterest of Mr. Burke's entertainmg and instructive
work. For the curious nature of the details, the extraordinary anecdotes related, the
strange scenes described, it would be diflicult to find a parallel for it. It will be read by
e'/ery one." — Sunday Times.
ROMANTIC RECORDS OF DISTINGUISHED
FAMILIES.
Being the Second Series of " Anecdotes of the Aristocracy."
By J. B. BURKE, Esq.
2 vols., post 8vo, 21s. bound.
" From the copious materials afforded by the history of the English Aristocracy, Mr.
Burke has made another and a most happy selection, adding a second wing to his interest
ing picture-gallery. Some of the most striking incidents on record in the annals of high
and noble famiUes are here presented to yieyj."— -John Bull.

14 COLBURN AND CO.'S NEW PUBLICATIONS.

HISTORIC SCENES.
By AGNES STRICKLAND.
Author of " Lives of the Queens of England," &c. 1 vol., post Svo, elegantly
boimd, with Portrait ofthe Author, 10s. 6d.
" This attractive volume is replete with interest. Like Miss Strickland's former worksi
it will be found, we doubt not, in the hands of youthful branches of a family, as well as
in those of their parents, to all and each of whom it cannot fail to be alike amusing and
instructive." — Britannia. 
" This dehghtful book will speedily become a reigning favourite. These deeply in
teresting compositions abound in dehcate and refined sentiment, glowing flights of
una^nation and the utmost poetic beauty." — WeeMy Chronicle.

LETTERS OF ROYAL AND ILLUSTRIOUS LADIES
OF GREAT BRITAIN,
ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE HISTORY^OF ENGLAND.
Now flrst published from the Originals, -with Introductory Notices.
By MARY ANN EVERETT GREEN,
Author of " Lives of the Princesses of England."
Cheaper Edition, 3 vols., -with Facsimile Autographs, &c., 15s. bound.

GENERAL PEPE'S NARRATIVE
01 THE WAR IN ITALY,
FROM 1847 to 1850 ; INCLUDING THE SIEGE OF VENICE.
Now flrst puhlished from the original Italian Manuscript.
2 vols., post 8vo, ais. bound.
" The gi-and features of the recent Italian movement in favour of a national existence
have had no other such authentic portraiture as these volumes convey. The State
documents and letters which the work contains make it indispensable to the historian
of these times. The whole panorama of the Revolution is here gone over — the reform
movement beginning at Bome — the agitation caused thereby in Florence and Naples,
thence spreading to Sicily, Piedmont, and Austrian Italy— the threats and hostile atti
tude of the Court of Vienna— the spirited revolt of the Sicilians— the increased tyranny of
German generals in Lombardy— the crash of the Parisian Eevolution— the nse of the
populace of Milan against Badetzky, the declaration of Charles Albert, and advance ofthe
Sardinian troops — ^the battle of Gtoito— the erultation of feeling in. Bome and Florence—
the flight of the Grand Duke of Tuscany — the revolution in Naples— the treachery of
Pope and King— the dreadful massacre in Naples— the disasters of Charles Albert— the
bombardment of Brescia^the glorious defence of Venice— the flight of the Pope from
Eome— tho arrival of Mazzini— the proclamation of the Eepublic from the Capitol—
the invasion of the Boman States by the armies of Spain, Austria, Prance, and Naples—
the fall of Venice and of Eome— and the whole chain of events down to the Pontiff's
return."— -iifte»<8«m.
"We predict that posterity will accept General Pepe as the historian of the great
Italian movement of the nineteenth century. His work is worthy of all commenda
tion."— 5ia«(Jord.

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 15
THE
REV. R. MILMAN'S LIFE OF TASSO.
2 vols., post Svo, 21s. bound.
"Mr. Milman's book has considerable merit. He has evidently, in his interesting
biography of Tasso, undertaken a labour of love. His dihgenoe has been great, his ma
terials are copious and wdl«arr«nged, and his sketches of the poet's contemporaries form
agreeable episodes in the narrative of Tasso's works and vioas.'— -Edinburgh Eeciew.^
" The present work, from the touchmg interest ofits subject, is likely to be extensively
read." — AOiencsum.
" Mr. Milman's biography is a very good one. The work wUl find a place in every
library." — Britannia.
" A most valuable addition to our literaiy treasures — fraught with deep and thriUing
interest." — Moming Post.
" Mr. Milman's Memoir of Tasso is a work of considerable interest ; entering fully into
the particulars of the great poet's life, and ^ving a general review of his works." — John
Bull

MEMOIRS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF
SIR ROBERT MURRAY KEITH, K.B., *
Minister Plenipotentiary at the Courts of Dresden, Copenhagen, and Vienna,
from 1769 to 1793 ; with Biographical Memoirs of
aUEEN CAROLINE MATILDA, SISTER OF GEORGE IIL
EDITED BY MRS. GILLESPIE SMYTH.
2 vols., post Svo, with Portraits, 21s. bound.
Sir Eobert Murray Keitlj, it wiU be recollected, was oue of the ablest diplomatists of
the last century, and held the post of Ambassador at the Court of Copenhagen, when
Caroline Matilda, Quee^of Denmark, tbe unfortunate sister of George III., was involved in
the conspiracy of Struensee, and was only saved fi-om the severest punishment her vindic
tive enemy the Queeiv-Jilather could inifict, by the sphited interposition of the British
Ambassador. Su- Eobert Keith also for a long period represented his Sovereign at the
Courts of Dresden and Vienna ; and his papers, edited by a member of his family, throw
considerable hght on the diplomatic history of the reign of George III., besides conveying
many curious particulars of the great men and events of the period. Among the variety of
interesting documents comprised in these volumes, wiU be founds— Letters from Frederick,
Kmg of Pi-ussia ; Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark ; Prmces Ferdinand of Brunswick,
Kaunitz, aud CzartorisM ; the Dukes of Cumberland, York, Queensbury, Montagu, and
Newcastle; Lords Stormont,, St. Asaph, Heathfield, Hardwicke, Darlingtcm, Auckland,
Apsley, Barrington, Stair; Counts Bentinck and Eosenberg; Baron Trenck; Field- Jlar-
shals Conway and Keith; Su'S Walter Scott, Joseph Yorke, Nathaniel WrasaH, John
Sebright; Dr. Eobertson, Mr. Pitt, Howard, Mrs. Piozzi, Mrs. Montagu, &o., &c.
" A large portion of this important and highly interestmg work consists of letters, that
we venture to say will bear a comparison for sterling wit, hvely humour, entertaining gossip,
piquant personal anecdotes, and brilliant pictures of social Hfe, in its highest phases, both at
home and abroad, with those of Horace Walpole himself." — Conrt Journal.

16 COLBURN AND CO.'S NEW PUBLICATIONS.

CAPTAIN CRAWFOED'S REMINISCENCES
OF ADMIRALS SIR E. OWEN, SIR B. HALLOWELL CAREW,
AND OTHER DISTINGUISHED COMMANDERS.
2 vols., post Svo, with Portraits, 21s. bound. ,
" A work which cannot fail of being popular iu every portion of our sea-girt isle, and of
being read with delight by all who feel mterested in the right hand of our country — its
Navy." — Plymouth Herald.

REVELATIONS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.
By M. COLMACHE,
THE pkinoe's private secketaey.
Second Edition, 1 volume, post Svo, with Portrait, lOs. 6d. bound.
"A more interesting work has not issued from the press for many years. It is in truth
a complete Boswell sketch of the greatest diplomatist of the age." — Sunday Times.

Now ready. Volume XI., price 7s., of
M. A. THLERS' HISTORY OF FRANCE,
FROM THE PERIOD OF THE CONSULATE IN 1800,
TO THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO.
A SEQUEL TO HIS HISTOET OP THE FEENOH EEVOLUTION.
Having filled at diiferent times the high offices of Minister of the Interior, of Finance,
of Foreign Affairs, and President of the Council, M. Thiers has enjoyed faciHties beyond
the reach of every other biographer of Napoleon for procuring, from exclusive and
authentic sources, the choicest materials for his present work. As guardian to the
archives of the state, he had access to diplomatic papers and other documents of the
highest importance, hitherto known only to a privileged few, and the pubhcation of which
cannot fail to produce a great sensation. From private sources, M. Thiers, it appears, has
also derived much valuable information. Many interesting memou-s, diaries, and letters,
all hitherto unpublished, and most of them destined for pohtical reasons to remain so,
have been placed at his disposal; while all the leading characters of the empire, who were
aUve when the author undertook the present history, have supplied him with a mass of
incidents and anecdotes which have never before appeared in print, and the accuracy and
value of which may be inferred from the fact of these parties having been themselves eye
witnesses of, or actors in, the great events of the period.
*,* To prevent disappomtment, thc public are requested to be partiou'ar m givmg their
orders for " Colbukn's Autiiokised Translation."

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 17

HISTORY OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS;
FEOM THE CONVENTION PARLIAMENT OF 1688-9, TO THE PASSING OF
THE EEFOEM BILL IN 1832.
By WM. CHARLES TOWNSEND, ESQ., M.A.,
Recorder of Macclesfield. 2 vols. Svo, 12s. bound.
" We have here a collection of biographical notices of all the Speakers who have presided
durmg the hundred and forty-four years above defined, and of several Members of Parha
ment the most distinguished in that period. Much useful aud curious information is scat
tered throughout the volumes." — tiuarterly Review.

DIARY AND MEMOIRS OF SOPHIA DOROTHEA,
CONSORT OF GEORGE I.
Now firiit published from the Originals.
Cheaper Edition, 2 vols., Svo, with Portrait, 12s. bound.
" A work abounding in the romance of real life." — Messenger.
" A book of marveUous revelations, establishing beyond all doubt the perfect innocence
of the beautifttl, highly-gifted, and inhumanly-treated Sophia Dorothea." — Naval and
Military Gazette. 
LETTERS OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.
Illustrative of Her Personal History.
Edited, with an Historical Introduction and Notes,
By AGNES STRICKLAND.
Cheaper Edition, with numerous Additions, uniform with Miss Strickland's " Lives of the
Queens of England." 2 vols., post Svo, with Portrait, &c., 12s. bound.
" The best collection of authentic memorials relative to the Queen of Scots that has
ever appeared." — Moming Chronicle.

MEMOIRS OF MADEMOISELLE DE MONTPENSIER.
Written by HEESELF. 3 vols., post Svo, with Portrait.
" One of the most delightful and deeply-interesting works we have read for a long
tune." — 'Weekly Chronicle.
LADY BLESSINGTON'S JOURNAL
OF HER CONVERSATIONS WITH LORD BYRON.
Cheaper Edition, in Svo, embellished with Portraits of Lady Blessington and Lord Byron,
price only 7s. bound.
" The best thing that has been written on Lord Byron." — Spectator.
" Universally acknowledged to be delightful."-T.4iAere<8Min.

18 COLBURN AND CO.'S NEW PUBLICATIONS.
NARRATIVE OF A TWO YEARS'
RESIDETOE AT I^INEYEH;
AND
TRAVELS IN MESOPOTAMIA, ASSYRIA, and SYRIA,
WITH KEMARKS ON THE CHALDEANS, NESTORIANS, "nsZIDEES, &C.
By the Rev. J- P. rLETCHEE.. Two vols., post Svo, 21s. bound.

These Travels embrace not only Nineveh and its antiquities, but various new
and interestiug particulars respecting the Yezidees, the Nestorians, and Orien
tal Christians, as well as. notices of the country between Mosul and Aleppo,
which has been explored by few Europeaa traveEaps, The intimate relations:
with the natives of the coimtiyenteredintobyMr-i'letcber, who resided some
years at Mosul, during his inquiries iato the condition of the Oriental Churches,
have furnished him. with a vast fund of anecdote and. lEustEation. The work
also comprises disquisitions on the ancient cities, of Mesopotamia, and on the
successive, empiies established between the Tigris and Euphraites, witb remairks
on the hypothesis advocated by Major Rawlinson as regards the early AssyiJan

OPINIONS OP THE PRESS.
" A work of great merit — ^the remarks' of a Biighly. inteUflgaoA: and acute observer.
The work is not less acceptable aa a book of travel than it is valuable as au auailiary
to the archteologyoffheHoly Scriptaxe»."—Staimlaret.
" At a time when the startling discoveries of Mr. Layard have called public attention
to the cradle of Asiatic civilisation, the notes of a two years' residence, on the mighty
plain of Nineveh,, and. of exeuirsions into the remotest parts of Assyria,, from the pea
of another travelleiri cannot fail to escite more than ordinary interest. Mr. Pletcher,
well versed in the questions connected with the geography of Scrijjture, and with the his
tory and position of the different Churches of the East, mads Sis. ohseiinrations on. the
countries which he visited, not as an ordinary traveUer who picks- 1;^ his knowledge
casually, here and there, but as au experienced student, who knows beforehand upon what
points he is to direct his inquiries. His volumes form an instructive and agreeable pen-
¦ daut to Mr. laya.rd's more exclusively antiquarian researches. The reader will meet
with much valuabl 3 information which he would look for iuvain elsewhere." — Jolvn Bull.
" A book whioh lets ua, more into the secret of the habits amd ideas' of tbe Bartives
of Eastern Asia, more especially of the Christian population, than any work we could
point out. Mr. Pletcher brings fresh and valuable uiforfflation from that new centre of
antiquarian research. He had the rare good fortune to be present at the first disco
veries of M. Bottai; and he is not without, elajiims to, be ranked, aa a discoverer hiimself.
But his disposition and his opportunities make him a better describer ofthe hving, tham
of the dead. The circle of his inquiries was by no means confined to Nineveh, but ex
tended to the whole Christian population of Asiatic Turkey, of whose habits, ideas,
observances, and general condition he gives a minute, interesting, and, we are convinced,
authentic account. The condition of the Eastern Churchea is exciting much curiosity at
present, and his detailed description of them wiU be most interesting to the rehgious
world. Our extracts will sufficiently show what varied, interesting, and useful matter
these volumes contain." — Daily News.
" Two volumes, abounding iu lively and graphic sketohesof scenes visited, and of charac
ters encountered." — Athenceum.
" There is a great deal of original hypothesis and' much gi-atifying information in
these volumes. Mr. Fletcher is an acute sbserver, and a well-read KistorsMi. His work
deserves to be popular, and cannot fail to increase our knowledge of the counSies of which
it treats."— JSvamgelical Magazine.

VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. ]_9

DIARY OF A LADY'S TRAYELS
IN NORTHERN, AFRICA.
2 vols., post Svo, 21s. bound.
"These exceedingly interesting volumes contain a very hvely and graphic narrative of
the author's experience amongst the curiously mixed population of Barbary, with many
important facts, and much useful intelligence." — TVeeklt/ Chronicle.
" These volumes of a very clever and observant lady are full of entertaining matter,
amusing .anecdotes, and life-like sketches of the places visited." — Moming JSerald.

NARRATIVE OF
AI OYIRLAND JOURNEY ROUOT) THE WORLD.
Sy sm GEORGE SIMPSOH",
Governor-in- Chief of the Hudson's Say Company's Territories in Xorth America..
2 vols., Svo, with Map, &c., 31s. 6d. bound.
"A more valuable' or instructive work, or one more fuU, of perilous, adventure and
heroic enterprise, we haw never met with." — John Bull.
" It deserves to be a standard work in all hbraries, and it will become so." — Messenger.

ME. ROSS' YACHT YOYAGE
TO DENMARK, NORWAY, AND SWEDEN^
IN LORD RODNEY'S CUTTER " THE IRIS."
Second Edifibn^ 1 -wjl., 6s-. Bcrond).
" There is not a sporting man in the country who could peruse these volumes ¦without
deriving a considerable amount of pleasure and pi-pfit from their pages. No one should
think of visiting Norway, Denmark, or Sweden, -witlioat consulting them." — Era.

FIYE YEARS II KAEFIRLAID:
WITH SKETCHES OF THE LATE WAR IN THAT COUISTTRY.
By Mrs. HARRIET WARD (Wife of Captain Ward, 91st. Regt.)
Second' Edition, 2 vols., post Svo, -with Pbrtraits,,. &o., 21s. bound.

THE WA IDE RER 'II ITALY,
SWITZERLAND, FRANCE, AND SPAIN,
By T. ADOLPHUS TROLLOPE, Esq. 1 vol^. 6s, bound..
Paus-GIPAi, Contents.— Venice— Eome— Horenoe'-Zurich— Lucerne— Beme^ — Inter-
laken — Certaldo— Aries— Beziers— Toulouse— Pau—Orthez— St. Sebastian— Azpeitia—
Saragossa — Jaca — Pauticosa— Bayonue, &c.
" A rfehghtful table-book for seaside Or fireside — for any place where there are cul
tivated tastes- The volume is a gallery of plcasjint pictures far more than aguidei^jook."
— Athmceum.

20 COLBURN AND CO.'S NEW PUBLICATIONS.

LORD LIIDSAY'S LETTERS 01 THE HOLY LATO.
FoDRTH Edition, Eevised and Corrected, 1 vol., post Svo, 6s. bound.
' ' Lord Lindsay has felt and recorded what he saw with the -wisdom of a philosopher, and
the faith of an enhghtened Christian." — Quarterly Review,

THE CRESGEIT AID THE CROSS;
ob,
ROMANCE AND REALITIES OF EASTERN TRAVEL.
By ELIOT WARBURTON, Esq.
Eighth and Cheapek Edition, 1 vol., with numerous Illustrations, 10s. 6d. bound.
" Independently of its value as an original narrative, aud its useful and interesting in
formation, this work is remarkable for the colouring power and play of fancy with which
its descriptions are enlivened. Among its greatest and most lasting charms is its reverent
and serious spirit." — Quarterly Review.
" We could not recommend a better book as a travellmg companion." — United Service

HOCHELAGA;
OR,
ENGLAND IN THE NEW WORLD.
Edited by ELIOT WAHBURTON, Esq.,
Author of " The Crescent and the Cross."
Fourth and Cheaper Edition, 2 vols., post Svo, -with Ulustratious, 10s. 6d. bound.
" We recommend ' Hochelaga ' most heartily, in case any of our readers may as yet be
unacquainted with it." — Quarterly Re/view.
" This work has already reached a thurd edition. We shall be surprised ifit do not go
through many. It possesses ahnost every qualification of a good book — ^grace, variety, and
vigom- of style — a concentrated power of description, which has all the effect of elaborate
painting — information carefully collected and judiciously communicated — sound and en
larged views of important questions — a hearty and generous love of coimtry — and the
whole pervaded by a refined but sometimes caustic humour, which imparts a constant
attraction to its pages. We can cordially recommend it to our readers, as well for the
amusement of its lighter portions, the -vivid brilliancy of its descriptions, and the sohd
information it contains respecting Canada, and the position generally of England in the
new world." — John Bull.

MISCELLANEOUS. 21

LIGHTS AID SHADES OF MILITARY LIFE.
Edited by Lieut.-Gen. Sir CHARLES NAPIER, G.C.B., Commander-in-
Chief in India, &c. 1 vol., Svo, 10s. 6d. bound.
"A narrative of stirring interest, whioh should be in the hands of every ofttcer in her
Majesty's aevvice."— Globe.
''^One of the most interesting and, as regards General Napier's share of it, one of the
most original productions of the day."— Indian News.

SIR JAMES ALEXAIDER'S ACADIE;
OR, SEVEN TEARS' EXPLORATION IN CANADA, &c.
2 vols., post Svo, with numerous Illustrations, 12s. bound.
" Replete -with valuable information on Canada for the English settler, the English
soldier, and the English Govemment ; with various charms of adventure and description
for the desultory reader." — Moming Chronicle.
"No other writer ou Canada can compare with the gallant author of the present volumes
in the variety aud interest of his narrjitive." — John BuU.

STORY OF THE PEIIISULAR WAR.
A COMPANION VOLUME TO MR. GLEIG'S
"STORY OP THE BATTLE OP WATERLOO."
With six Portraits and Map, 6s. bound.
" Every page of this work is fraught with undymg interest. We needed such a book as
this ; one that could give to the rising generation of soldiers a clear notion of the events
which led to the expulsion ofthe French from the Peninsular." — United Service Gazette.

LADY LISTER KAYE'S BRITISH HOMES
AND FOREIGN WANDERINGS.
2 vols., post Svo, 10s. bound.
" Unrivalled as these volumes are, considered as portfohos of aristocratic sketches, they
are not less interesting on account of the romantic history with which the sketches are
interwoven." — John BuU.

THE lEMESIS II CHIIA;
comprising a complete
HISTORY OF THE WAR IN THAT COUNTRY;
With a Particular Account of the Colony of Hong Kong.
From Notes of Captain W. H. HALL, R.N., and Personal Observations
by W. D. BERNARD, Esq., A.M., Oxon.
Cheaper Edition, -with a new Introduction, 1 vol., with Maps and Plates, 6s. bound.
" Capt. Hall's narrative of the services of the Nemesis is fall of interest, and wiU, we
are sure, be valuable hereafter, as affording most curious materials for the history of steam
navigation." — Quarterly Review.
" A work whioh -win take its place beside that of Captain Cook."— pree% Chromch.

22 COLBURN AND CO.'S NEW PUBLICATIONS.
THE YEAR-BOOK OF THE COUNTRYj
OR, THE EIELD, THE POREST, AND THE FIRESIDE.
Br WILLIAM HOWITT,
AUTHOR OF "the BOOK, or THE SEASONS," &e. SECOND AND CHEAPER
edition. 1 VOLUME, -(VITH ILLUSTRATIONS, 6S. BOUND.

OPINIONS OE THE PRESS.
" The world is always happy to'hear from Mr. Hewitt concerning ' the seasons and their
signs' — the garden, the woodland, and their ever-changing shows of beauty— and the
characters and humours which animate and chequer rural life. He treats of these topics
with that affluence of poetical imagination and experience which there Is no counterfeiting
— with that thorough love which, coming from the heart of the writer, goes direct to the
heart of the reader. The present volume is as fresh in spirit and as rich in matter as if
it were the first of its family. The iUustrations by Mr. Poster are excellent. The book
is at once welcome to read and goodly to see. It is richly, poetically, picturesiiuely
various. We cannot doubt of its having a welcome as wide as its range ,of content*, and
as cordial as the love of man and of nature, which every line of it hTeat'bes."—Athen<snm.
"To all lovers of couuti-y life we recommend this excellent volume, as abounding
in thoughts and suggestions eminently calculated to enlarge the sphere of their enjoy
ment as well as their usefulness ; aud to all lovers of the town we recommend it as likely
to reform their tastes, and awaken them to pnre delights whioh they have not yet tasted.
The work is a complete coun-try companion for the whole year— in the field, in the forest,
aud at the fireside. It is divided into twelve sections, eaoh of which relates to a par
ticular month of the year, and not only describes all the natural features 'of the season,
but the habits of life and customs appropriate to eao'h.".~Moming Post.
"A highly amusing book, supplying, from rural Anecdote, description, aud observa
tion, something appropriate to each season. The illustratious are very beautiful." — Stan
dard. " A perfect transcript of rural life in all its phases. In every respect a most attractive
book. Mr. Howitt paints nature as it is, and gives descriptions of its endless charms
with an elegance of manner that wins its way with readers of every class."- JfesseKser.
" This very attractive and deUghtful work is evidently one written con amore.
Mr. Hewitt's productions have always displayed an intense, and, so, to speak, elegant
and cultivated love of Old England's rural beauties ; aud the present book wiU form an
admirable companion to his ' Book of the Seasons.' In the present mstanoe there is au
abundant and interestingly applied variety of matter iUustrative of human pleasures and
pursuits in the country. A country life, indeed, is here seen In all its points of view
— iu the fleld, the forest, aud by the fireside. It is curious to observe the variety of sub
jects treated of, either in prose or poetry, in these right pleasant and entertaining pages.
The natural characteristics, pecuUar customs, and usual avocations incident to each
month in the year are described in a striking manner. Anecdotes, sketches of charac
ter, &o., are introduced with considerable skill and effect, adding mnch to the interest
ing nature of th© book. The ' Autumnal Bxcnrsions ' form some of the most attrac
tive parts of the volume j and the legends scattered throughout are told with peculiar
spirit and. effect. Indeed, the work Is altogether a charming one; and the iUustrations,
admirably engraved on wood, from exceedingly clever and pretty designs, by Mr. Birket
Foster, are quite worthy of the pages in whioh they «ppeaT."—MonKngAdveriiser.

MISCELLANEOUS. 23

MR. DISRAELI'S COIIIGSBY
Cheap Standard Edition, -with a New Preface.
In 1 vol., with Portrait, 6s. bound.
"We are glad to see that the finest work of Disraeli has been sent «ut in the same shape
as those of Bicken.'!, Bulwer, and other of our best novelists, at such a price as to place
them within the reach ofthe most moderate means. ' Coningsby'has passed from the popu
larity of a season to an endurmg reputation as a standard work. It is a valuable contri
bution to popular literature." — WeeUy Chronicle.

ZOOLOGICAL RECREATIOIS.
ByW. J. BRODERIP, Esq., F.R.S.
Cheapek Edition, 1 vol., post Svo, 6s. bound.
" We beheve we do not exaggerate in saying that, since the pubhcation of White's
' Natural History of Selbome,' and of the ' Introduction to Entomology,' by Kirby and
Speuce, no work in our language is better calculated than the ' Zoological Recreations' to
fulfil the avowed aim of its auSior — to furnish a hand-book which may cherish or awaken
a love for natural history." — Quarterly Review.

TALES OF HUiaARY. ,
BY FRANCIS and THERESA PULSZKY. Cheaper Edition.
3 vols., 15s. bonnd.
"The authors of the present charming tales have not only produced these most inte
resting volumes, but have opened a region of fiction whioh will be eagerly explored by many
readers." — Messenger.

THE DREAMER AND THE WORKER.
By R. H. HORNE, Esq.,
Author of " Orion," &o. Cheaper Edition. 2 vols., post Svo., 10s. bound.

ADYEITURES OF A GREEK LADY,
THE ADOPTED DAUGHTER OF THE LATE QUEEN CAROLINE.
Written bt Herself. 2 vols., post Svo, 123. bound.
" The chief interest of this more than ordinarily interestmg book lies in the notices it
furnishes of the unfortunate Queen Caroline. From the close of 1S14 tUl her Royal
Highness's return to England the author was never absent from her for a single day. AU
is ingenuously and artlessly told, and the plain truth finds its way at once to the reader's
judgment and feelings." — Court Joamai.

24

COLBURN AND CO.'S NEW PUBLICATIONS.

POPULAR NEW NOVELS AND ROMANCES.

BEAUTY AND INTELLECT;
OR, SECOND LOVE.
By Mrs. TROLLOPE. 3 vols.
TIME, THE AVENGER.
By the Author of " Emiha Wyndham."
3 vols.

MERBXAND.
By the Author of " Margaret Maitland."
3 vols.

LOVE AND AMBITION.
By the Author of " Rockingham." 3 vols.
MADAM DORRINGTON
OF THE DENE.
By WILLIAM HOWITT. 3 vols.
NATHALIE,
By JULIA KAVANAGH, Author of
" Woman in France." 3 vols.
LIGHT AND DARKNESS.
By Mrs. CROWE, Author of " The Night-
Side of Nature," &c. 3 vols.
THE WILMINGTONS.
By the Author of "Emiha Wyndham,"
" Mordaunt Hall," &o. 3 vols. .
ANNE DYSART;
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