2.

if

QIFT OF
FREDERICK SHELDON PARKER B.A,LLBL
YALE 1673
TO THE
YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
1916

Ar^.i i^-^-/>x#r^

TRIFLES ^^

MY PORT-FOLIO,

RECOLLECTIONS

SCENES AND SMALL ADVENTURES
DURING
TWENTY-NINE YEARS' MILITARY SERVICE
IN THE
PENINSULAR WAR AND INVASION OF FRANCE, THE EAST INDIES, CAMPAIGN
IN NEPAUL, ST. HELENA DURING THE DETENTION AND UNTIL
THE DEATH OF NAPOLEON, AND
UPPER AND LOWER CANADA.

BY A STAFF SURGEON.

i

Vela dare atque iterare cursus
 rehotos." 

HorAt.

IN TWO VOLUMES.— VOLUME II.

QUEBEC ;
PRINTED BY WILLIAM NEILSON, MOUNTAIN-STREET.
1839.

¦BvjM.m.

CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME,

CHAPTER I.

PAGE.
Beautiful Rides and fine Views in St. Helena. — A disagreeable Brigadier 
Illness and Death of Napoleon  , . 1
CHAPTER II.
Examination of the Body of Napoleon. — Fatal Disease. — Funeral. — Embar
kation of his Suite for England  S
CH apTEII Ill-
Voyage with its varieties. — Dolphin Fishing — A Gale off the Azores. —
Arrival at Spithead  15
CHAPTER IV.
Evil effects of Oysters and Gooseberries — Arrest of George the Fourth. —
Reception of the St. Helena Exiles. — Sunderland  22
CHAPTER V.
London. — Confessions respecting Painting and Statuary. — Sunderland. — March
to Liverpool and embarkation for Ireland  28
CHAPTER VI,
Dublin. — Cavan. — Castle Saunderson. — EnniskiUen — Sligo — A late Dinner 33
CHAPTER VII.
Sir Colquhoun Grant. — Sir George JMurray. — Death of an Officer of the 58th.
Birr. — Limerick. — Embarkation for Quebec  40
CHAPTER VIII.
Voyage to Quebec. — Codfish. — Arrival in the St. Lawrence. — Canadian
Winter  46
CHAPTER IX.
Monumental Pillar to Wolfe and Montcalm. — A Veteran who had served with
Wolfe present at laying the foundation. — Irish in Quebec. — Revd. Mr.
McMahon. — Departure of Lord Dalhousie and arrival of Sir James Kempt. 52
CHAPTER X.
Malbaie River. — Moral Canadian population. — Jacques Cartier River. — Pont
Dayree. — Salmon-fishing  57

CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
CHAPTER XI. PAGE.
Rich vernal and autumnal tints of the Canadian Woods— Three Rivers-
Falls of Shuanagam  MiUtary execution at Cape Diamond  '9
CHAPTER XII.
Montreal— Roman Catholic Cathedral.— Religious scandal— Picturesque route
to Kingston  CHAPTER XIII.
Kingston.— Bass-fishing on Lake Ontario.— Falls of Niagara  8S !
CHAPTER XIV.
Malignant Cholera at Kingston in 1832  ' • • . • 9^ ¦
CHAPTER XV,
Public Affairs.— Montreal Riot.— Burning of the Castle of St. Louis.— Solitude
of Canadian Woods. — Bass-fishing  lOS :
CHAPTER XVI.
Toronto  Sir John Colborne. — Humming Burds.— House of Assembly  lOS '.
CHAPTER XVII.
Cholera of 1834. — Beautiful Bay of Quinte. — Embarkation for Quebec  llf '
CHAPTER XVIII.
Canadian Politics. — Departure of Lord Aylmer, the Governor  12! i
CHAPTER XIX.
Arrival of Lord Gosford. — Mr. Roebuck  Elevation of Mr. Bedard to the
Bench. — Hospitalities and convivialities of the Chateau.  12' '
CHAPTER XX.
Public Affairs in Upper Canada. — Appointment of Sir Francis Head as Lieu
tenant Governor. Mutiny in his Executive Council. — Prorogation of Parlia
ment in the Lower Province. — Short Session of September, 1836  13. ¦
CHAPTER XXI.
Americans at Quebec — Brigade Field-day on the Plains of Abraham.-^
Progress of discontent amongst the Canadians. — Public Meetings of a sedi
tious character — Short Session of ParUament  14
CHAPTER XXII.
Accelerating progress of disturbances in the Province. — Meeting of the Five
Counties — Fils de la Libert^ — Assembly of armed men at St. Athanase.
Rescue of two prisoners. — General insurrection along the RicheUeu 
Affairs of St. Denis and St. Charles  ,  15

CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.

CHAPTER XXIII. PAGE.
Affeiir of St. Eustache. — Arrival of the troops oveiland from New Brunswick
and Halifax. — Mackenzie's insurrection in Upper Canada  172
CHAPTER XXIV.
Departure of Lord Gosford aud assumption of the Government by Sir John
Colborne. — Fresh disturbances along the frontier. — Reinforcements from
England. — Arrival of Lord Durham  187
CHAPTER XXV.
Falls of Shuanagam in full flood. — Outburst and suppression of the second
Canadian insurrection. — Courts Martial. — Lord Durham's Report  196
CHAPTER XXVI.
Fishing visit to Jacques Cartier. — Salmon larceny on a large scale. — Politics.
Valedictory suggestions  216
NugEB MetricEB  237 to 252

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.

CHAPTER I.

BEAUTIFUL RIDES AND FINE VIEWS IN ST. HELENA.— A
DISAGREEABLE BRIGADIER.— ILLNESS AND DEATH OF
NAPOLEON.

" JEiis in magnum fertur mare." Lttcretius.
" Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean, roll !
Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain ;
Man marks the Earth with ruin — his control
Stops with the shore ; upon the watery plain
The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain
A shadow of mem's ravage, save his own.
When for a moment, Uke a drop of rain
He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan.
Without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined and unknown." Childe Harold.
There is a wooded mountain-ridge in St. Helena, called
" Diana's Peak," three thousand feet above the level of the sea,
from which the view is wonderfully grand and vast. It com
mands the whole circumference of the Island, with a circle of
three hundred miles of ocean — the distant horizon mingling
with the sky. This is a celebrated spot for Pic-Nics ; although
the labour of clambering to the top is no trifling undertaking
for a lady, and the narrow ledge, or back-bone at the summit,
with its nearly perpendicular sides, aflPords a very nervous pro
menade. The whole mountain is covered with wood ; chiefly
the Geoffrsea or Cabbage Tree, shaped exactly like an um-
VOJ.. II, , B

2. TRIFLES FROM ilY PORT-FOLIO.
brella, and enormous Polypodiums, twenty feet high : but here,
as all over the Island, there is a dearth of wild flowers. At the
base of the Peak, several fine springs of the purest and coolest
water gush out ; feeding long leaden pipes, which were put
down in our time, to convey the water to Longwood and Dead-
wood, The rides on the highlands, generally, were remarkably
agreeable — the air cool, the road good, and every turn or fresh
elevation presenting some new and striking combination of pic
turesque objects. The road running round Diana's Peak to
Sandy Bay Ridge was a general favourite, as it afforded almost
at every step the most wild and extraordinary prospects. On
attaining the top of the ridge a scene of singular sublimity
expands at once ; looking quite unearthly, and like a bit of
some strange Planet at first ; until the old association with our
own Globe is renewed by the names of two rocky obelisks stand
ing boldly out of the vast hollow. These are called Lot and
his wife ; for the uncanonical people here have made a pillar of
the gentleman as well as the lady. Sandy Bay is seen in the
distance with its line of white surf — here and there a pretty
patch of cultivation strikes the eye, niched in some sheltered
nook ; fantastic, peaked and splintered mountains rise all around,
and beyond all, the illimitable ocean, with the cruizing vessels
like white specks upon its surface — perhaps stretching out to
arrest the course of some strange ship coming right down on
our Island.
Sir William Doveton, the only Knight, I believe, that St.
Helena ever produced, had a pretty cottage at the bottom of
tbe ridge. He was a respectable gentleman, who went to Eng
land in our time, and was Knighted by the Prince Regent.
Sir William came home soon after to sport his new dignity
amongst his brother Yam-stocks, to tell them the wonders of
England, expatiate on the afiability of the Court and the white
ness of the Prince's hands ; and to assure the Islanders that
London was not particularly dull, as they had heard, and that
people of fashion could live in it even after the East India Fleet
had sailed.
The second in command, Sir George Bingham, an officer
much and deservedly liked, had gone to England in 1819, and

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLlO. 3
was succeeded by a man of a very diff"erent character — of nar
row mind and sordid disposition ; in short, an unamlable com
bination of miser and martinet. He quarrelled with our Com
manding Officer, because he could not get unlimited fatigue
parties from the regiment to work on his grounds, gratis ; and
in consequence annoyed us all as much as he could — harassed
the corps with drills and field-days, and availed himself of any
triffing irregularity to insult it in General Orders.
This officer resided near our Head Quarters at Francis Plain,
where he farmed some acres of land from a poor octogenarian
widow ; which he cultivated a la Cincinnatus ; but he beat the
old Roman hollow in fattening his own cattle and making money
of his mutton. Poor Mrs. P  thought at first she had
found the nonpareil of tenants, for she received every week
nice presents from the General — a dish of sweet-breads, a neat
little roasting bit of beef, or a leg of lamb ; but she soon had
reason to change her opinion, when she saw every article
charged at the highest rate, and deducted from the rent. Major
H  , the Brigade Major, was also taken in like the old lady.
He found on his table one day after coming in from riding, a
kind note from  , accompanied by a quarter of mutton,
which he ate in due time, with all the relish that unsuspecting
credulity and fine flavour could confer — but was horrified by a
memorandum of its price before the end of the month.
Now, not having the fear of the Commander in Chief before
his eyes, the writer determined to expose and raise a laugh at
the Brigadier for all these shabby proceedings. Accordingly, a
number of placards were secretly printed and stuck up one
night all over the town. One of these was sent to Plantation-
House, another to the Flag Ship — each Regimental Mess in
the Island got one, and the General himself had the pleasure
of finding one next morning on his breakfast table. The notices
were as follows : — " ADVERTISEMENT.
" The public are respectfully informed that Brigadier General  will kill a
fat bullock at his house on Wednesday the 10th instant, and three fat sheep on the
Friday after. Beef, from lid. to Is. per pound, according to the piece. Mutton —
Hind Quarter, Is. Id. — Fore ditto, lid. The General farther gives notice that
Tripe is to be had at a reasonable price, and Geese are grazed on his grounds at
one penny a-head per week — the Ganders to pay double. " By Command."

4 TRIPLES FROM MY PORT-FOLJO.
The reader who can enjoy a joke, may judge of the sensation
these placards excited next day in the limited circle of St.
Helena, where  's stinginess was notorious. The risible
muscles of the community certainly had no sinecure for four-
and-twenty hours. Even the Governor laughed, but the Bri
gadier stormed, and Commanding Officers were directed to as
semble their officers, and take every step to find out the auda
cious wag. It was with the gravest complacency that I listened
to the lecture Colonel Nicol gave us on the occasion. Measures
to ensure secrecy had been carefully taken, however, and the
author of the libel was never discovered.
The beginning of 1 821 passed away with little change in our
Island aff'airs ; but in February it began to be known that Na
poleon was seriously ill ; and, in addition to his bodily sufferings,
had lately undergone much mental distress from certain reports
of the infidelity of the Empress Maria Louisa, that had found
their way to Longwood. He complained of constant pain at the
pit of the stomach, with sickness and total loss of appetite ; and
suffered great agony from two or three emetics in succession,
which his surgeon, Antommarchi, prescribed. At length he de
clined all medicine, and flung the last potion that was offered
Out],of the window.
Signer Antommarchi had been a pupil of the celebrated Mas-
cagni, at Florence, and was a good anatomist, but not remarka
ble for a profound knowledge of the other therapeutic sciences.
There is good reason for believing that the Emperor never had
any confidence in him. General Montholon told me that on
the arrival of Signers Bonavista, Vignali and Antommarchi, at
Longwood, they respectively underwent the keen scrutiny of
Napoleon. The two latter gentlemen were Corsicans ; and,
according to my informant. Cardinal Fesch, who conceived the
Emperor's countrymen would be agreeable to him, had made a
great mistake in sending them, as he could not endure them.
However this may be, Bonavista, who was a South American
Bishop and a learned man, passed the ordeal creditably ; as did the
Abbe Vignali, though a man of far inferior attainments. But the
Doctor being an inferior Chemist, broke down when undergoing
an examination :n that science, of which Napoleon had picked up
some of the elemental principles. Montholon, farther stated that

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 5
on this occasion the Emperor waxed very wroth and ordered An
tommarchi out of his presence, with the courteous mittimus —
" Va-t-en  Mte !" The poor Doctor came immediately to
Montholon to complain of the treatment he had received, saying
he was un homme perdu. He was told not to despair, and
assured that the fit of passion would soon be over. Montholon
farther advised him to solicit an interview the next day, acknow
ledge his imperfect education and deficiency in Chemistry —
throw himself on the mercy of Napoleon, and promise to im
prove himself, if his Master would condescend to lend him some
of the Chemical books in the Longwood Library. The story
goes on to say that this plan succeeded ; but I doubt the fact
of his ever having acquired any considerable part of the Em
peror's good opinion ; as Antommarchi was the only individual
of his suite at St. Helena who was not mentioned in his Will,
though afterwards pensioned by the family.
The state and ceremony which the Great Man still main
tained amongst his dependants at Longwood were sometimes
carried to a ridiculous extent. No one was ever allowed to be
covered in his presence in the garden or about the Longwood
premises, we were informed ; nor even in his blandest mood,
when conversing in great good humour with his suite, was any
of the highest rank — even the Grand Marshal Bertrand — per
mitted to be seated. Up to the last hour of consciousness this
etiquette was preserved, and Antommarchi more than once
alluded to this in conversation with me on our voyage home ;
declaring that he had been often exhausted to the verge of faint
ing, by preserving a standing posture during his long attendances
in the dying chamber of Napoleon for the two or three last
days. In March matters began to look serious at Longwood ; and
towards the end of the month, Buonaparte having now become
very weak and being in great pain, consented that an English
medical gentleman should be sent for. In consequence. Dr.
Arnott, Surgeon of the 20th Regiment, then quartered at Dead-
wood, was requested to attend.
From the first, Napoleon appeared to be aware of the nature
of his malady ; referring it to disease of the stomach, of which
Ills father died, and with which the Princess Borghese was

b TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
threatened. There is much ground for believing in the heredi
tary transmission of a tendency to stomachic ulceration in his
family ; for exclusive of himself and his father, the Princess
Borghese and his other sister Caroline, formerly Queen of
Naples, are stated to have died of this complaint. His own
feelings appeared to confirm this idea, and Arnott assured me
at the time that his patient would often put his hand on the pit
of his stomach and exclaim — " Ah ! mon Pylore — mon Pylore .'"
The 4th of May was an unusually stormy day in St. Helena,
where the wind not only always blows from the same quarter,
but is also for the most part of uniform strength. During the
night it increased to a strong gale; and although the barracks
at Francis' Plain were much sheltered, our little wooden houses
shook as with an earthquake, and we were in momentary expec
tation of being blown into the neighbouring ravine. At two
o'clock in the morning an officer of ours, who had slept at Plan
tation-House the night before, came galloping to my door,
bare-headed, and only half-dressed, with a summons for me to
go instantly to the Governor's — his youngest child being taken
suddenly and dangerously ill. Messengers had also been des
patched to James's Town, and night-signals made by telegraph
for farther medical assistance.
I found the little patient — an infant of eight months — appa
rently gasping its last under a terrible attack of Croup ; and the
peculiarly distressing sound of the spasmodic and stridulous
breathing audible over half the house. It was plain that with
out prompt relief the poor child would be lost. « The child
must instantly be bled," I said. " Good G  , Sir," said Sir
Hudson, " bleed an infant of this age !" " Yes," was the
reply—" else the child will be dead in ten minutes." « But,
Doctor, you won't be able to find a vein." « We'll try." So
the little sufferer's arm was bandaged— a tiny vein opened, and
when three ounces of blood had flowed, the breathing became
comparatively quiet and easy ; and after some medicine had
been given, the child fell into a sound sleep. In this state it
was when the other medical men arrived.
During my residence in St. Helena, opportunities of observ
ing minutely the character of Sir Hudson Lowe, were not want
ing ; and I believe nobody could fill all the ordinary relations
of domestic life and of society better than this much calumni-

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 7
ated man. He was, to my certain knowledge, a kind husband
and father, and I believe an excellent Magistrate and Civil
Governor. He obtained the consent of the Slave Proprietors
in the Island, with some difficulty, to abolish Slavery prospec
tively in 1818, without receiving any compensation ; and carried
the humane instructions of the British Government into effect
on this delicate question with much address and talent. The
abolition was dated with grace and propriety from Christmas
Day ; after which doubly auspicious day for the blacks, no slave
could be horn in the Island, and the supply by importation had
long been stopped. Perhaps this cautious and judicious disen-
thralment would have been a good model to follow in the great
change that has lately been effected in the West Indies, and
might have prevented some of the evils that have already en
sued — and more that are yet to result from a sweeping and
premature emancipation.
The morning of the 5th of May continued very blustery and
stormy, and, according to the old notion already alluded to, the
conflict of the elements was symbolical of the violent struggle
of a master-spirit with the last enemy that was then going on at
Longwood ; for Buonaparte was dying.
I remained at Plantation-House with my little convalescent
patient. The Governor went early to Longwood, staid there
the whole day, and did not return until all was over. The im
portant event of the day was naturally the chief topic of con
versation in the evening, as Sir Hudson took a hurried dinner
previous to writing his despatches ; and in bare justice to an
ill-used man, I can testify that notwithstanding the bitter pas
sages between the great Departed and himself, the Governor
spoke of him in a respectful, feeling, and every way proper
manner. Major Gorreguer, I think, observed that the deceased
was the most formidable enemy England ever had ; and the
writer, that Providence appeared to have taken that favoured
Country under its special guardianship, and covered the Island
for many centuries with a shield of adamant, against which all
hostile Potentates, from Philip of Spain to Napoleon, had shi
vered themselves to pieces. " Well, gentlemen," said the Go
vernor, " he was England's greatest enemy, and mine too ; but
I forgive him every thing. On the death of a Great Man like
him, we should only feel deep concern and regret."

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.

CHAPTER H.

EXAMINATION OF THE BODY OF NAPOLEON.-FATAL DIS-
EASE.-FUNERAL.-EMBARKATION of HIS SUITE FOR
ENGLAND.

" Raro anteoedentem scelestum
Deseruit pede psena clause. "
HoRAT.
" So may he rest— his faults Ue Ughtly on him."
Shakspeare.
" The triumph and the vanity.
The rapture of the strife —
The earthquake voice of Victory,
To thee the breath of life ;
The sword, the sceptre, and the sway
Which man seemed made but to obey.
Wherewith renown was rife.
All quell'd !"  Btron.
The close of the great Drama had now taken place ; the career
of the greatest man of modern times was over. It only remained
to satisfy the curiosity of mankind respecting the disease that
destroyed him ; to pay his corpse all fitting funeral honors and
consign it to the tomb.
The body was examined in the presence of Bertrand and
Montholon, one or two officers of the Governor's Staff, and all
the Medical Officers of the garrison, with some of the Navy,
and Antommarchi, Surgeon to the deceased. Sir Walter Scott's
account of the persons present on this occasion is not accurate,
as two or three gentlemen who attended are omitted in his
history. The principal medical officer, Dr. Shortt, Physician
to the Forces, directed the Writer to minute down the appear
ances and to write the bulletin which was afterwards published;
although his name was not appended to that document, because
he was then only Assistant Surgeon, and the Governor had

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 9
directed that no officer under the rank of Surgeon should sign
the bulletin.
Death is often a mysterious beautifier of human lineaments.
All turbulent and violent passions are calmed within the breasts
of the spectators in its presence, and the workings and traces
softened or even obliterated in the expression of the deceased —
" Before Decay's effacing fingers
Have swept the lines where Beauty Ungers."
Death had marvellously improved the appearance of Napoleon,
and every one exclaimed when the face was exposed, " How
very beautiful ;" for all present acknowledged they had never
seen a finer or more regular and placid countenance. The
beauty of the delicate Italian features was of the highest kind ;
whilst the exquisite serenity of their expression was in the most
striking constrast with the recollection of his great actions, im
petuous character and turbulent life.
As during his eventful career there was much of the mysteri
ous and inscrutable about him, .so, even after death Buonaparte's
inanimate remains continued a puzzle and a mystery ; for not
withstanding his great sufferings and the usual emaciating effects
of the malady that destroyed him, the body was found enormously
fat. The frame was as unsusceptible of material disintegration
as the spirit had been indomitable. Over the Sternum, or
breast-bone, which is generally only thinly covered, there was a
coat of fat an inch and a half thick; and on the Abdomen two
inches — whilst the Omentum, Kidneys and Heart were loaded
with fat. The last organ was remarkably small and the muscle
flabby, in contradiction to our ideal associations, and in proof
of the seeming paradox, that it is possible to be a very great
man with a very little Heart.
Much anxiety was felt at the time to ascertain the disease of
which Buonaparte died. Mr. O'Meara had represented the Liver
as the faulty organ, and this had been echoed by Antommarchi ;
though, as was said before, the illustrious sufferer himself, with
better judgment, referred the mischief to the Stomach as its seat
and source : and he was perfectly right, as the event proved.
This organ was found most extensively disorganized : in fact it
was ulcerated all over like a honey-comb. The focus of the
VOL, II. 2 c

10 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOMO.
disease was exactly the spot pointed out by Napoleon — the
Pylorus, or lower end where the Intestines begin. At this place
I put my finger into a hole made by an ulcer that had eaten
through the Stomach, but which was stopped by a slight adhe
sion to the adjacent Liver. After all, the Liver was found free
from disease, and every organ sound except the Stomach.
Several peculiarities were noticed about the body. He ap
peared at some time to have had an issue opened in the arm,
and there was a slight mark like a wound in the leg ; but which
might have been caused by a suppurating boil. The chest was
not ample, and there was something of feminine delicacy in the
roundness of the arms and the smallness of the hands and feet.*
The head was large in proportion to the body ; with a fine,
massy, capacious forehead. In other respects there were no
remarkable developments for the gratification of the Phreno
logists. The diseased state of the Stomach was palpably and demon
strably the cause of death, and how Napoleon could have existed
for any time with such an organ was wonderful, for there was
not an inch of it sound.
Antommarchi was about to put his name to the bulletin with
the English Medical gentlemen, when he was called aside by
Bertrand and Montholon, and after this conference declined
signing. The reason was, no doubt, that such proceeding on
his part would contradict the diagnosis of Mr. O'Meara as to
disease of the Liver. With the object of supporting O'Meara,
and also of throwing odium on the British Government, a new
insular disease, called Gastro-Hepalitis, was found out for the
nonce, of which Buonaparte died. Now, I will broadly assert
that we had no such disease, nor any other endemic in St.
Helena. We had some rare instances of Hepatitis, or inflam
mation of the Liver, amongst the soldiers, when much exposed
to the sun in the valley of James's Town, but not one twentieth
part of the number we used to have in India. At night, too,
from wet and exposure the men would catch Diarrhoeas ; as
under similar circumstances they would any where else, with
Pulmonary complaints, besides; from which we were remarka
bly exempt. But, as was before observed, that cannot be an
• Partes viriles exiguitatis insignis, sicut pueri, videbantur.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. II
unhealthy climate where a twelvemonth passes without a death
amongst 500 men — as was once the case at Deadwood — and
where during five years, and with an average of about forty
officers, we did not lose one by disease.
The body of the deceased Emperor lay in state all the 7th of
May in full military costume, during which time almost every
respectable person in the Island paid Longwood a visit. On
the morning of the 8th, all the Garrison off duty, the Governor
and Admiral, with their Staff — a great number of Naval Officers,
the Foreign Commissioners — many ladies and gentlemen, and
half the population of St. Helena attended the funeral.
When the Hearse bearing the body came to a point whence
there was only a foot-path down to the grave, the Coffin was
removed from it and carried to the willow-trees at the bottom,
on the shoulders of twelve Grenadiers of the 20th, and twelve
of the 66th Regiments. Two Protestant Clergymen attended
as well as the Abbe Vignali, but only the latter officiated.
After the funeral service, the body was deposited in the grave —
the Heart being sealed up in a silver vessel full of Alcohol
and put in the Coffin. A signal was then made and three
salvos of fifteen guns, and three volleys of musketry from a line
of three regiments — repeated grandly in a succession of fine
echoes from the hills and ravines — sounded the requiem of
Napoleon Buonaparte !
It was truly a spectacle of extraordinary and intense interest.
There lay the helpless corpse of him whose nod had long swayed
the destiny of nations — the Conqueror of an hundred battles —
the Legislator — the Creator of Kings and Princes — the Hero of
the Age — there he lay — borne to his narrow home in the course
of most righteous retribution — not with Imperial pomp, over
roads palled with sable escutcheons — but carried along a goat-
path by the soldiers of that great Nation which he had hated
all his life with rancorous bitterness ; that had stood sternly in
his path to universal Empire, and whose prostration and ruin it
had been the unrelenting purpose of his heart and chief aim of
his life to accomplish. There moved his body, borne by Bri
tish Grenadiers ; whilst the golden letters of " Minden" and
" Talavera" and " Albuera" and " Vittoria" and « The Py
renees" flaunted over it from the Colours in strange mockery

12 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
as it passed. There it slowly moved— to be buried in an obscure
but appropriate nook — the crater of an extinct volcano— on a
dreary Rock, amidst an immeasurable wildness of Ocean — with
out Cenotaph or Mausoleum — and even beneath a nameless
Tomb. All people capable of reflection, returned thoughtful from the
funeral, for such a lesson of the vanity and instability of earthly
grandeur none had ever before received — as none could receive
thereafter. Even at our Mess at Francis Plain, the spectacle
we had that day witnessed sobered the most volatile ; and we
all retired to repose in a vein not far removed from melancholy.
Two days after the final obsequies, an officer of the 66th
and myself were taking our favourite ride towards Sandy Bay
Ridge, when we met the Bertrands and General Montholon
going to Plantation- House, and turned to accompany them as
far as the gate, Madame Bertrand informed me that their
object in visiting the Governor, was to convey to him the Em
peror's last request that the past might be forgotten, and that a
reconciliation should take place between the parties. Such was
their story ; and we found afterwards that Sir Hudson Lowe,
although doubting its truth, acted on the supposition that such
had been the dying wish of Napoleon. The tale was too evi
dently got up from interested motives, and too inconsistent with
the inveterate hostility Buonaparte had manifested towards the
Governor to the last, to be very credible. The man who could,
in the near approach of death, deliberately pension the assassin
of his great enemy in his Will, was not very likely to act so
amiably. However, the story answered its purpose — peace was
made between the Suite of Napoleon and Sir Hudson and Lady
Lowe — the party lunched at Plantation-House, and dined there
the day after, when the elite of the Island, the Garrison and the
Fleet, were asked to meet them ; and several subsequent la'rge
parties were made for them, both in the country and at the
Governor's residence in town.
The Island appealed relieved from an incubus by the death
of Napoleon, and that disagreeable state of watchfulness, re
straint and coercion, under which all had felt themselves so long,
was at once relaxed. The sentries were withdrawn from the
numerous commanding points about the rock — the cruizers

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO, 13
ceased to interfere with strange vessels — the fishermen resumed
their labours without police surveillance ; and the taboo was
every where taken off. Yet St. Helena, on the whole, had been
much benefitted by the presence of Buonaparte — great sums of
money had been disbursed by the Garrison and the Fleet ; an
improved tone had been communicated to the insular society —
the blot of Slavery removed — agriculture stimulated ; and the
wretched goat-paths turned into good roads by military labour —
to say nothing of prospective advantages from future visitors,
attracted to the rock by the celebrity it had now obtained.
When about to quit St. Helena, some of the foreigners were
found to be considerably in debt to the shop-keepers in James's
Town, and one of the highest rank amongst them owed no less
a sum than between nine hundred and one thousand pounds.
Payment being delayed, legal measures were threatened, and
all was consternation at Longwood. In this dilemma, applica
tion was made to the Governor, who handsomely guaranteed
payment of the debt ; thus removing the principal difficulty in
the way of their embarkation. I have heard that the amount
was paid soon after their arrival in Europe, and I should expect
nothing else from the high character of the distinguished
debtor. This generous behaviour of the Governor, together
with other acts of kindness to the exiles after Napoleon's death,
notwithstanding the abuse they had all, publicly and privately,
showered upon his character, shew that Sir Hudson Lowe was a
very different man from what he was represented by his enemies
at the time, and what the world still believes him to be.
And now that the strong Garrison was no longer required,
preparations were made to send some of the troops to England.
The 66th was directed to prepare for embarkation, after a high
compliment in General Orders from the Governor — contradict
ing in the most ludicrous manner some splenetic Brigade effu
sion of our worthy Brigadier, the mutton-monger, of the day
before. The French people, too, were to be disposed of ; and
the Camel, a good ship of five hundred tons, commanded by a
Master in the Navy, was got ready for their accommodation,
Mr. Ibbettson, the Commissary, laid in an excellent stock, and
Head Quarters of the 66th, two Companies and the Regimental
Band, were sent on board, with the writer to take care of them.

14 trifles FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
On the 21st of May, after dining with a farewell party at the
Castle, the Suite of Napoleon came down to the wharf in the
Governor's carriages, accompanied by himself, his Staff, and a
large cortege of respectable persons, A barge from the Flag
Ship was in waiting, which immediately brought them to the
Camel, attended by Colonel Nicol. In the course of a couple of
hours, the baggage and stock were safely on board ; and the
same evening we weighed anchor and sailed for England.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 15

CHAPTER in.

VOYAGE WITH ITS VARIETIES.— DOLPHIN FISHING.— A
GALE OFF THE AZORES.— ARRIVAL AT SPITHEAD.

" The morning watch was come ; the vessel lay
Her course and gently made her liquid way ;
The cloven bUIow flashed from off her prow
In furrows formed by that majestic plough —
The waters with their world were all before ;
Behind ' our rugged Island's rocky' shore." Byron.
The Suite of the deceased Emperor, consisted of Marshal and
Countess Bertrand and their four children. Napoleon, Henri,
Artus and Hortense — Count Montholon, Dr. Antommarchi, the
Abbe Vignali — Marchand, Buonaparte's principal and favourite
valet — besides four or five other servants. The Bertrands,
Montholon, the Priest and the Doctor, messed with the Captain
and our four officers. Marchand presided at a good servants'
table. The run of six hundred miles from St. Helena to Ascension
is plain sailing, and the wind always as fair as possible. The
sea-sickness soon wore off our friends — the Band played all the
evening — our fare was good — the weather fine, and our voyage
thus commenced auspiciously. But, when we approached the
Line, we lost our refreshing breeze, and were tossed about
helpless by the swell in the mirror-like ocean. I had no enjoy
ment, except in looking out for Sharks, and killed fourteen of
these monsters during Ibis voyage.
The young Bertrands were remarkably fine, good-looking
children — Napoleon and Henri, handsome and sprightly bo3's —
Hortense, a very lovely little girl of eleven — but the youngest,
Artus, a sweet fellow of three years old, was a great pickle.
He had learned several naughty words from the soldiers about
the Longwood stables, and these he would often apply to his

16 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
Mamma, when she refused him any thing he asked at dinner,
after a fashion that was laughable enough. There was a large
white Newfoundland dog on board, that had been given to
Madame Bertrand by one of our officers. This noble animal
was Artus's horse, and carried his little master regularly for an
hour or two every morning and evening along the quarter
deck ; and, indeed, Csesar appeared to enjoy the promenade
fully as much as Artus ; allowing his long silky hair to be
pulled about, and all kinds of tricks played on him with the
most philosophic good humour possible. It was very pretty and
interesting to witness the perfect harmony between the petulant
child and this fine dog : and great was the pity that we had no
Landseer on board to sketch them. As the weather became
warm, the pitch that exuded from the seams of the deck marred
the beauty of Caesar's sleek sides sadly, covering them with
black, unsightly lines, so that the servant who attended Artus
was obliged to provide the dog with a saddle, to save the little
gentleman's white trowsers.
When Artus saw me catching the first Shark with a piece of
pork, he insisted on trying his hand at the same amusement.
As every whim of the child was instantly gratified, a tiny bit of
pork was put on a hook, fastened to a line, which he always
carried when taking his ride on Csesar, and took into his little
cot every night. Few children could have been more petted
and spoiled ; and if he has not turned out a self-willed and
passionate young man, it certainly was not for the want of
careful cultivation of these amiable qualities.
Hortense was a general favourite — very amiable, sweet tem
pered and lively, and extremely handsome — giving promise of
becoming a magnificent woman. She has been married, it is
said, to an American gentleman of good fortune and character ;
who will not be displeased, I hope, to hear such good reports of
the girlhood of his wife, nor to be informed that I possess a
beautiful lock of her hair, which was one day cut off in a frolic
on board ship.
Our conversation often turned on the events in St. Helena.
Madame Bertrand was very frank and communicative gene
rally—now that reserve was no longer necessary— and acknow
ledged that the Longwood people had found no difficulty in

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 17
maintaining a clandestine correspondence throughout with their
agents in London. She told us, to our surprise, that two British
Officers of the Garrison had been the chief agents in contraven
ing the regulations of Government, and in forwarding letters
and parcels to England. General Montholon made himself
very agreeable ; being clever, courteous, and most gentle
manly — besides being an admirable raconteur. It is true that
he was occasionally a little hyperbolic, and some marvellous
stories he told of his exploits with the French Army in Spain,
and certain scandalous anecdotes concerning the private history
of the ladies of the Thuilleries under the Imperial regime, re
quired to be listened to, cum grano sails.
I believe that Marshal Bertrand was the most honest and
honourable man of the Longwood Establishment — perhaps of
the whole Court of Napoleon ; aud on all other subjects than
those immediately referring to the Emperor himself, of unim
peachable veracity. But falsification, deliberate and systematic,
had been so firmly and thickly wound round the Imperial
portals, that every person privileged with the entree became,
voluntarily or involuntarily, involved in its meshes. Marshal
Bertrand has made unfounded assertions respecting Captain
Blakeney, of the 66th, contained in a letter to Count Las Cases,
and published in the Eighth Volume of that gentleman's Jour
nal. There are also several exaggerations, and some positive
mis-statements ; which he was, no doubt, commanded to pro
mulgate — such as, snares laid for the Emperor to insult him
when riding — affronts intended for him by the sentries, &c. &c.
There never could exist in any British soldier's breast, a wish or
thought of insulting Napoleon — the desire and the act would
be to respect the fallen greatness of his unhappy condition.
During one very interesting conversation with Marshal Ber
trand respecting the Battle of Waterloo, and the last advance
of the Moyenne Guarde up the slope of the English position in
the evening, I presumed to state my opinion, that on that great
occasion Napoleon had been wanting to his own illustrious name
as much as to the French Army, in failing to lead them on to
the attack. " Why, M. Le Marechal," it was asked, " why
did not the Emperor, in this very agony of his fate, act over
again the heroism of Areola or Lodi ? When he knew that
VOt. II. D

18 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
all was now at stake — his last reserve brought up, and the
Prussians clustering thickly on his right ; but that one daring
burst through the English centre might in an instant change
the aspect of the whole battle, and perhaps enable the Emperor
to break up the Coalition and dictate Peace at Brussels.
When he must have been aware that his presence at the head
of this chosen Column would inspire the men with a burning
enthusiasm scarcely to be resisted, O, why did he abandon them
from an ignoble apprehension of personal danger ? How dif
ferently would we speak of him at this moment, had he then
perished at their head ! It was become absolutely necessary
for his own character then to dare the worst, for the world had
begun to doubt his personal intrepidity in action."
To this appeal, made under the influence of strong feelings,
the Marshal replied that the Staff around Napoleon had seized
the bridle of his horse, led him aside, and prevented him by
force from heading the Guards when mounting the position.
To this it was replied — " This is a poor subterfuge, M, Le
Marechal — which of you would have dared to stop him, if the
will to go on had impelled him ? No — no. When you saw
him blenching, and perceived that the violence would not be
unacceptable, you forced your Chief into shelter, and kept him
there, whilst Fate was mowing down his last hopes on the slope
of the English position ! Yes, M. Le Marechal — you know
in your soul that Napoleon — however a plausible sophistry
may try to excuse him — was then wanting to himself, to his
devoted Army, and to France."
This was the truth, and the honest heart of Bertrand felt its
force. I even saw a tear gather in his eye ; but, true to his
Master, he defended him to the last.
After stagnating for five or six days under the Line, and see
ing nothing but the sun and the sea — covered with the empty
bottles that had been thrown overboard ; which undulated on
the calm surface around us much longer than we wished  we at
last got a gentle air, which freshened into a steady breeze, and
bore us along in high spirits. During the greater part of
the voyage the writer enjoyed a delicious shower-bath in the
mizen-chains every morning before any body was up. A
couple of sailors, having each a bucket and a long cord, got

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 19
into the rigging over his head, and poured water on him from
the height he wished — sometimes as far up as the yard-arm — -
which was the allissimum. Dr. Antommarchi tried the same
experiment one morning ; but being of delicate frame the shock
was too great and half killed him, so as to require two or three
tumblers of Champaigne to set his blood once more in motion.
One day when going very smoothly through the water, we
fell in with a shoal of Dolphins, which immediately attached
themselves to the ship, and gambolled about the quarters and
stern very playfully and picturesquely. I tied a couple of
Salmon-hooks on a line of whipcord, and commenced fishing
with a small bit of pork fat. The shoal formed a wedge of
forty-five fish ; for occasionally they would swim in such close
and quiet order under one of the quarter-boats, that we could
count them with great ease in the bright sunshine. One large
fellow, who appeared to be the commodore, was conspicuous at
the apex of the triangle, swimming along leisurely with the
ship — then only going three or four knots an hour. I singled
him out for my prize, and dropped the bait close to his nose.
On seeing the white object descending through the clear water,
two or three fish made for it ; but when they perceived their
leader shew a wish to gorge the tempting morsel, they dutifully
retired. The commodore then seized the pork, and when he
was well hooked he was hoisted up from the head of the squa
dron — to their great astonishment, no doubt. He was a fine
shaped and very large Dolphin, weighing thirty-four pounds.
Let not the sentimental reader be utterly shocked at the sad
and unromantic sequel. Alas, the barbarous truth, how painful
soever may be its avowal, must be told. Instead of watching
the beautiful play of colour in the rich golden skin, which is
developed as life leaves these classic fishes — the poor commo
dore was handed over to the black cook, and ordered forthwith
to be converted into chops ; for it was dinner time. The fish
turned out excellent, with much salmon flavour.
There were many opinions on board as to the reception which
the Suite of Napoleon would meet on their arrival in England;
and some even doubted whether they would be permitted to
land. Madame Bertrand herself anticipated rough and rude
treatment, but her husband's good sense, which was always

20 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
conspicuous, induced him to laugh at her fears. The Writer
never had the shadow of a doubt in the matter, and often repre
sented to the desponding lady that fidelity, such as theirs to
their fallen Master, would, probably, be better appreciated and
more highly esteemed in England than any where else : for if
any attribute pre-eminently distinguished the great people she
was now about to visit, it was generosity. The English nation
would not stop a moment to consider — as might be done else
where, — whether, in attaching themselves to Napoleon and
following his fortunes in the hour of his distress, they had not
adopted the most prudent course which their proscribed state
and desperate circumstances admitted. The English would
solely view them, after alleviating and sharing their Emperor's
exile and sufferings, as martyrs of high and chivalrous devotion
to him. They would be respected by all parties in England,
for it would be the wish of all to compensate now in some degree
for the necessary severity of the measures in St. Helena, by acts
of kindness to the friends and followers of Napoleon, when that
great Disturber of the world had ceased to exist.
Near the Azores we met a very heavy gale, which rose sud
denly and very nearly threw the ship on her beam ends ; blowing
every stitch of canvass to ribands, except a new foresail, in five
minutes. The dead lights had not been put in the stern windows
soon enough, consequently one terrific wave beat in through
the cabin, and set poor Madame Bertrand and her family afloat
in all directions, to the imminent risk of one or two of the chil
dren's lives. Bertrand, the Captain, our Colonel and myself,
remained on deck, whilst my two brother officers, happy rogues,
were asleep in their cots — Montholon was paralysed by sick
ness — Antommarchi and the Priest were dreadfully frightened ;
and the latter in particular. Poor man, he must have thought
it was all over — so piteous were his ejaculations, and so fervent
his Latin prayers.
Our breakfast the next morning, after the gale, was uncomfor
table enough ; for there was still much swell, and the stomachic
agitations of most of the passengers rose and fell in unison. Sea
sickness, however, being an " ill of life" which neither Captain
Webb, Colonel Nicol nor myself was " heir to," we sat down
to the meal as usual ; and at length had it all to ourselves.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. iM
The cabin of Madame Bertrand was a sad scene in the morn
ing; but mops and swabs and brooms being set to work, and
every assistance afforded, the half-drowned inmates began
gradually to revive ; and we even heard a giggle from Hortense
at the remembrance of the calamities of the night, before our
breakfast was over.
We made the Land's End on the 29th July, and after a
couple of days' delightful sailing along the coast of England —
which looked a hundred fold more fertile and attractive than
ever — contrasted with the black desolation of the Rock we had
just left, we anchored at Spithead on the evening of the 31st
July, 1821.

22

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.

CHAPTER IV.

EVIL EFFECTS OF OYSTERS AND GOOSEBERRIES.— ARREST
OF GEORGE THE FOURTH.— RECEPTION OF THE ST.
HELENA EXILES.— SUNDERLAND.

" Ever changing, ever new.
When will the landscape tire the view .'
The fountain's fall, the river's flow.
The woody valleys warm and low ;
The windy summit wild and high
Roughly rushing on the sky.
The pleasant seat, the ruined tower.
The naked rock, the shady bower —
The town and viUage, dome and farm,
Each gives each a double charm.
As pearls upon an jEthiop's arm." Dyer.
We arrived at Spithead at the time George the Fourth was at
Portsmouth on his cruize to Ireland. As soon as that courteous
Prince heard that the Suite of Napoleon had reached England,
he despatched two Noblemen of the Court to the Camel, to
make inquiries as to the health of the Countess Bertrand;
a piece of Royal condescension that made a great impression
on that Lady, and tended much to dissipate her fears of an
unkind reception. Still she was apprehensive of rudeness from
the lower classes, if permission to land were granted. Ma
dame Bertrand observed that she had often heard that the King
of England was the very first gentleman in the world, and she
was now convinced of the fact. So much value lies in a bit of
civility. Oysters had just begun to make their appearance when our
good ship dropped her anchor, and we were next morning sur
rounded by several shore boats with these delectable little
fishes— besides fruit, eggs, milk, fresh bread and butter, and
other edibles likely to find favour after a long voyage. Conse-

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 23
quently, I am sorry to be obliged to disclose the fact, that at
breakfast we had a scene of indiscriminating and somewhat
hazardous voracity; for scarcely any animal but an adjutant
or an ostrich could have escaped subsequent inconvenience from
so large and heterogeneous a meal. Oysters were prime favo
rites with all the foreigners, aud were first attacked — then all
other eatables in rotation or combination — and such combination.
First, oysters — soli — then oysters and gooseberries — strawberries
and poached eggs — beef-steaks and cherries — mutton cutlets and
red currants — black soles and green apples — with fresh rolls, new
potatoes, &c., &c., were devoured by all — children included —
and as for Artus, he ate like a little cormorant. The result was
more inconvenient to the parties than its detail would be agreea
ble to the reader.
About one o'clock the Writer availed himself of the return of
the Health Officer's boat to go to Rhyde ; intending to spend
the day with a friend at Newport. The place we had left was
not celebrated for its tailors, consequently we had deferred
getting plain clothes until our arrival in England, and he now
went ashore in uniform. This rather outre costume in a Rhyde
boat gave rise to an odd enough circumstance.
George the Fourth in his Yacht, attended by a couple of
Frigates and a Tender, besides several private Yachts, had
come out of Portsmouth as we stepped into the boat ; and was
now making a sweep round the Roads towards the Needles on
his way down the Channel. From a wish to get as near a peep
as we could of His Majesty, our boat was steered for the Royal
Yacht, whose course we were now crossing. At this time the
vessel was not more than two hundred yards from us, and we
saw the King, dressed in his blue jacket, white trowsers and
foraging cap, reconnoitring us through a spy-glass. As our
boat still kept its course towards the Yacht, and the Writer's
red coat and cocked hat were conspicuous and rather puzzling
objects, (ugly and anomalous as the Surgeon's dress then was),
and the vessel was leaving us fast, the civil persons on board
backed the foresail and lay to. Probably they wished to exa
mine the non-descript in the boat more narrowly, or imagined
that something had been forgotten at Portsmouth, which we were
now hasting to bring on board — or that despatches had just

24 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
arrived from town. From whatever cause it originated, we felt
very much obliged to Sir Charles Paget or His Majesty, for it
gave us a clear view of all on board. We passed close astern,
taking off our hats, which was gracefully returned ; and it may
be added that few persons can thus say with truth, that they
stopped the course of a King of England, sailing in his own
ship, under his own Royal Standard, and on his own waters.
The Isle of Wight appeared a Paradise after St. Helena ;
and the drive from Rhyde to Newport delightful. When walk
ing after dinner with some ladies through a flowery field, the
Writer threw himself down in the velvet grass and clover, from
sheer enjoyment once more of the English soil, and rolled over
like a horse or an ox.
Far from receiving them with coolness or incivility at Ports
mouth, and refusing them permission to land, intimation was
given the French people, that whenever it would suit their con
venience, the Admiral's Barge should await their pleasure to
bring them ashore. This was accompanied with an invitation
to dinner. Eleven o'clock on the morning of the 3rd of Au
gust was the hour fixed on ; and at Madame Bertrand's request
the Writer agreed to dress himself in red and accompany the
party, as a kind of protection from the apprehended rudeness of
the mob — a chimera which still haunted her imagination.
At the appointed hour, the Barge was in waiting and the
whole party went ashore. The Fortifications were covered with
a very large crowd of spectators, and when we landed — as had
been predicted to Madame Bertrand — the most respectful silence
was observed, and the foreigners appeared, as they deserved to
be — the objects of interest and respect.
It was necessary to go to the Alien Office to pass through
certain formularies of enrolment, &c. When we landed at the
Point, carriages were in waiting, but the party preferred walk
ing. The Countess took the Writer's arm— the Marshal gave
his to Hortense, whilst Montholon conducted two of the boys,
and Antommarchi and Vignali brought up the rear. The Priest
must have imbibed strange notions of English ferocity, for he
was in as great a fright as if about to be roasted in some Canni
bal Island. He stuck so close to the Writer's skirts, that his
panting breath was felt moist on the neck, whilst the toes of

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 25
his boots were very inconvenient to the hinder part of the white
trowsers. After the business at the Alien Office had been concluded
we all repaired to the Crown Inn, when the Admiral, Com
mandant, and principal people of the town waited on the exiles^
and every civility possible was paid them.
Marshal Bertrand and Count Montholon dined with the Ad
miral. The Writer remained for the day at the Crown with the
Countess, and in the evening we took the children out for a
walk on the ramparts. The little people expressed great sur
prise at the redness of people's faces in England. As we were
returning up the High-street, a well dressed, foreign-looking
gentleman passed us slowly ; stopping for an instant to clap
Napoleon on the back, and addressing him — " Mon petit ami
sois toujours fiddle comme ton pire." Next morning the Writer
bade the whole party (now reinforced by the arrival of Mr.
O'Meara from London) good bye, and returned to the Camel.
The ship weighed anchor for the Nore the next morning
early, and a delightful sail we had up Channel in company with
some hundreds of vessels ; all of which we passed with ease.
When off Dover the Flag, half-mast high, shewed us the Queen
was dead ; which few on board regretted, as she had become
the tool of faction and was likely to do mischief. Finally, we
left our good ship, and arrived in Chatham on the 13th of
August. Who does not instantly run up to town on setting foot in
England after a long absence, and what Cynic can there be who
will not then enjoy its pleasures ? A friend and myself got a
week's leave and started the morning after our arrival. At this
time the controversy about the Queen was the great topic in
England : a lady, the only other passenger, entered warmly
into it, and abused the King lustily for a whole stage of ten
miles. She called him a tyrant, an adulterer, a glutton, and a
whole host of bad names ; and concluded by expressing a wish
he might be drowned and feed the fishes on his way to Ire
land. We did not interrupt her for an hour ; but then gently
informed her she had talked all this treason a little imprudently
in the presence of total strangers, who happened to be Officers
VOL. II. E

26

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.

in His Majesty's Service. The poor lady was much frightened,
and continued mute as a mouse all the remainder of the day.
We arrived in London the day of the Queen's Funeral,
when serious riots, with loss of life, had occurred, and much
more serious mischief was apprehended. The day was dark,
with mizzling rain ; and from many long faces we met, it
seemed as if people were apprehensive of some great calamity.
But the day passed ; and next morning the mighty tides of
human beings rolled eastward and westward through the vast
city as quietly and as regularly as before.
The regiment was ordered, soon after, to Sunderland, In
passing through Lincoln a couple of the officers ascended the
Bell-Tower of the beautiful Cathedral on a windy day. We
found a prodigious vibration at the top, and during one strong
gust, as we were preparing to retrace our steps, there was no
small ground for apprehension that great Tom might take a
fancy to accompany us down stairs. To those Cognoscenti who
make it their business to hunt after new sensations, we would
recommend a visit of this kind as a probable source of novel
excitement. There is not much, except coals, to be seen at Sunderland,
The iron bridge over the Wear, however, is a fine object — its
span large — the structure gracefully light, and the elevation and
position, striking.
One is reminded of Paley at Bishop Wearmouth, of which
place he was Rector. The Writer often traced this eminent
man in his trouting excursions along the banks of the Wear,
half-way to Durham ; and heard many stories from the old
country people, of the good Doctor's affability on these occa
sions. By all accounts. Dr. Paley was a better philosopher than
fisherman, and more skilful in persuading his delighted readers
to follow the line of his induction, than remarkable for success
with the illogical trouts in any other line.
We had a dreadful gale from the south-east when quartered
at Sunderland, and three or four vessels were driven ashore
close to the town. The sea ran frightfully high, and the piers
of the harbour and line of coast were covered with thick masses
of spectators, anxiously watching some ships in the offing that
were making for port. The Life-Boat was got out in the very

TIMFI.ES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 27
crisis of the storm, and we had the delight of seeing the gallant
fellows that manned her, impelling their craft in the most admi
rable manner through the surf, and picking off half a dozen men
from a brig that had been driven on the rocks a little while
before, and was now going to pieces.
Soon after this happy escape, a ship was seen a mile distant;
making for the harbour, which has a very narrow entrance.
Down she came before the wind, under a close-reefed topsail —
her hull and half her rigging now and then hidden from sight
by some monstrous intervening wave. As she approached we
could perceive either that she was steered unskilfully, or obeyed
her helm very badly, and the sailors on the pier began to be
alarmed lest she should broach to, before she made her port.
On she came, however, labouring and pitching dreadfully in the
terrific sea ; whilst the assembled crowd, holding on their hats
and bathed in the spray and rain, watched her progress most
anxiously. When the vessel came close to the mouth of the
harbour, a tremendous wave, as if determined that the prey
should not escape, burst over the stern, and by its irresistible
force sheered her in a direction straight for the head of the
southern pier, against which, if she struck, she must be dashed
to pieces. " Up helm ! Up helm !" shouted a thousand voices,
silencing for a moment the roaring of the storm : and we saw
three or four sailors obeying the injunction with the force of
desperation. Providentially her fatal course was changed, only
in the very nick of time ; for she actually brushed the pier
head, but passed harmless into the quiet water of the harbour
amidst loud huzzas from the multitude.
Ten modern years produce wonderful changes in this whirl
ing world of ours, and it is not easy to keep up with the progress
of society, even at home, " with all appliances and means to
boot," how much more difficult to march with any liberal science,
away from England and Europe. To endeavour to save his
distance in the race of therapeutic knowledge, and to rub off the
rust contracted during a ten years' absence, the Writer obtained
six months leave, with the intention of passing that period in
London and Paris, enjoying himself amidst the medical schools,
and making " dainty comparisons" between the impressions of
his juvenile years and the more reflective judgment arising from
experience and advancing life.

28 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.

CHAPTER V.

LONDON.-CONFESSIONS RESPECTING PAINTING AND STA
TUARY.— SUNDERLAND.— MARCH TO LIVERPOOL AND
EMBARKATION FOR IRELAND.

" Happy Augusta ! law-defended town ;
Here no dark lanterns shade the villain's frown.
No Spanish jealousies thy lanes infest.
Nor Roman vengeance stabs th' unwary breast ;
Here Tyranny ne'er lifts her purple hand,
But Liberty and Justice guard the Land :
No Braves here profess the bloody trade.
Nor is the Church the Murderer's refuge made." Gay.
Nature, ever wise and beneficent, intended there should be no
idle people in the world, but that occupation and enjoyment
should go hand in hand, mutually enhancing each other. Even
the laziest people must find or make some employment^ and
the gross Yorkshire boor, whose beau ideal of happiness with
f 1000 a-year, was to have nothing to do but " eeat fat beeacon,"
found it necessary to add — " and swing upon a gaeate." Busi
ness is as necessary food to the mental constitution as animal
pabulum to the corporeal ; and when we add a little harmless
pleasure occasionally, to season toil and give it a zest — like
green pease to our roast beef — we ensure a healthy condition.
Acting on some such notion as this, the Writer during this
winter devoted five days in the week to medical observation and
study — the sixth altogether to miscellaneous sight seeing and
theatrical enjoyment, and the seventh to its own peculiar objects.
The mornings of the London pleasure days were spent at
the British Museum, the Exhibitions at Somerset House, one
or two private collections of works of vertu, and the Picture
Galleries of Lords Stafford and Grosvenor, to which he had the
entree. In these the Writer found great enjoyment — not un
mixed with a shock to his anatomical perceptions occasionally,

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 29
on seeing a manifest fracture in the limb of some chef-d'oeuvre
of a great Master, from incorrect drawing. One day he well
recollects he saw Rogers, who was a frequent visitor, frowning
at a magnificent Titian Venus in the Stafford Collection, and
afterwards endeavoured to trace the cause of such misplaced
expression on that pale but placid brow. The Poet's displeasure
was well founded, for the Goddess had her right arm broken
just above the elbow; yet was looking unconscious or reckless
of her misfortune, and smiling with celestial magnanimity.
The Writer is somewhat singular and unfortunate in his
notions respecting Statuary and Painting; which, probably,
after all, are about as valuable as the speculations of a young
gentleman, three years old, concerning the basso relievo in the
moon. For the whole ideal tribe of Jupiters, Junos, Minervas,
Dianas, Apollos, and all other Gods and Goddesses that ever
were invented — Vandal and sinner that he is, he would not give
a brazen obolus. All Olympus, in marble or on canvass, is as
totally worthless in his eyes as the ethnic mythology is fabulous :
the good-looking likeness of one natural human being is better
than all the deities of the Greek Poets. Allegorical represen
tations stand in the same category. All the quaint conceits,
extravagancies and dainty devices of Justices, with eyes blood
shot from tight bandaging — Hopes at single anchor — firm For
titudes—melting Mercies, &c., &c., are not worth a rush.
But, to do himself justice, it should be added that the Writer
is not a total barbarian in these matters. He is an Utilitarian
in painting and sculpture — loving the real and tangible, though
without relish for the ideal. He can look with much compla
cency on a fine Landscape, or an Animal group, admire a
Historical or Battle Piece — dwell with veneration on a Scripture
Painting, and even stand entranced for hours before a Cartoon,
a Last Supper, or a Crucifixion. Here is glorious scope for the
Artist ; for the mighty deeds of the Saviour and his Apostles
are the noblest subjects of the pencil ; and in seeing them start
again into reality beneath his plastic hand, the Painter may
not irreverently consider, that his own work will tend to perpe
tuate the Religion of whose truth it is an evidence, and extend
the sacred influence and inestimable blessings and benefits of
the Christian Faith to unborn generations.

30 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
The Writer joined the regiment in May 1822, at Hull, on
the move for its old quarter, Sunderland. During the summer
the Duke of Sussex came to Lambton Castle on a visit ; and, a
day or two after his arrival there was a grand procession down
the Wear to Sunderland, with much display of flags, pretty
boats and well dressed women — the whole winding up with
great eating, drinking, toasting and speechifying. The Duke
praised the fine bridge and eulogized his liberal Host, and Mr,
Lambton bowed and returned the compliment in neat terms.
This gentleman lived in good style, and at the Newcastle Races
this year, he sported the handsomest equipage in the field — his
four beautiful blood bays in harness, and two mounted by out
riders, harmonizing in colour and shape to a hair.
This summer our worthy old Peninsular Brigadier, Sir John
Byng, now Lord Strafford, who commanded the northern dis
trict, inspected the 66th at Sunderland, At the Mess dinner,
after asking me to take wine, he said — " Doctor, I regret to see
you still in the same rank as when we were acquainted in the
Peninsula" — to which the reply was, " you are very good, Sir
John, but I assure you, you cannot regret it much more than I
do ; at the same time — if you will excuse the tu quoque — I don't
perceive that you have got a slip since yourself," This was a
slight gaucherie on the part of the good Brigadier ; for nobody
likes to be reminded that his name has an Ass prefixed to it in
the Army List,
Lord Strafford is a clever man and a first-rate officer — clear
headed and cool in action, and brave as a lion, as several of us
had more than once witnessed during the Peninsular Campaigns,
and as has been since demonstrated at Waterloo : yet, notwith
standing these good qualities, and doubtless many others— there
is one small shade —

"  Surgit amari aliquid."
His Lordship owes the Writer a sack of oats, with compound
interest, since the spring of 1814.
The case stands thus. On the heights of Garris, near St.
Palais, there was, as has been mentioned already, a brilliant
little affair, and we took a few hundred prisoners— many of
whom were wounded. Next day on our advance, these poor

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 31
people were left in the charge of a very young and inexperi
enced medical officer. Two days afterwards Sir John Byng said
he had misgivings as to the case of these unfortunates, as he
had no confidence in the young Doctor who attended them —
" So Mr. H., I request as a favour of you that you will ride back
to Garris — you have a good horse and can soon overtake us —
see all the wounded dressed and sent carefully to the rear, then
join the Brigade as fast as you can, and I will direct Edwards
the Commissary, to issue you a bag of oats in consideration of
this extra work." The Writer executed his mission with des
patch; returned and reported himself to the General — .but —
ccetera desunt — his horse got no oats.
In the middle of March we received the route for Liverpool ;
there to embark for Ireland. The weather was very cold and
inclement at this time, and in the course of one long and cir
cuitous march to avoid Durham, where an election for a Member
of Parliament was going on, the men were up to their knees in
snow and sleet half the way. In consequence, almost every
man caught a severe cold ; and many contracted bad chest
inflammations ; dangerous at the time, and in some instances
productive of evil consequences in the shape of subsequent con
sumptive complaints.
It is not alone in combatting their enemies in the field that
British Soldiers risk their lives. Here we had four hundred
men at once knocked up by the elements, in obedience to a
municipal regulation, and under the visionary apprehension of
interference with the freedom of election.
Dr. Granville in his Russian Travels, tells a story of a Ger
man Physician in St. Petersburgh, who treated his military
patients in the Hospital of the Russian Guards, in a compendious
manner. At the hour of his morning visit he had them arranged
in line, and proceeded from right to left — " Un, deux, trois,
quatre, cinq, six — saignes — sept, huit, neuf, dix, onze, douze —
purges — treize, quatorze, qainze, SfC, emetique." Whether this
practice was successful or not does not appear — at any rate it
was regular ; and to a certain extent the Writer adopted it on
this occasion. When we reached Leeds the whole regiment
began to cough, as if from one common impulse ; and on exa
mination the great majority were found feverish, with pain of

32 TRIFLES FROM MV PORT-FOLIO.
chest and impeded respiration. The Writer collected all the
sick in the large yard of the Inn where the officers messed, and
having opened a dozen veins at once, he bled them nearly to
a man. This was repeated in some of the worse cases at the
end of the next day's march; and having procured carts for
those who could not march, we took them all with us convales
cent to Liverpool. Now, in this instance Dr. Sangrado fearlessly
asserts " that he did the State some service" — though unfortu
nately they don't " know it."
We stayed a couple of days at Liverpool, admiring the rising
grandeur of that great commercial emporium ; and were then
put on board some miserable schooners, and had a very disagree
able passage to Dublin.

TRIFLES FROJI MY PORT-FOLIO. ."l."?

CHAPTER VI.

DUBLIN.— CAVAN.— CASTLE SAUNDERSON.- ENNISKILLEN.
SLIGO— A LATE DINNER.

" Some sterner virtues o'er the Mountain's breast
May sit, like Falcons cowering on the nest ;
But all the gentler morals, such as play
Through Life's more cultured walks and charm the way.
These, far dispersed, on timorous pinions fly
To sport and flutter in a kinder sky." Goldsmith.
The observation is more true than original that the city of
Dublin is a striking emblem of the country whose metropolis
it is. It exhibits extravagant finery, contrasted with the most
squalid and extensive suburban misery — magnificent edifices,
appropriated to purposes not contemplated at their erection —
enormous squares, with no two houses of equal height — and
grand quays an4 bridges of granite adorning a stream fit only
for a cock-boat.
The transition from English wealth, comfort, cleanliness and
neatness, to Irish beggary, slovenliness and filth, is very painful
to a stranger, but much more to a rational and observant Irish
man. Although by no means disposed to join in the vulgar
outcry against the Saxon domination, nor to place the existing
poverty and misery of Ireland entirely to the English account ;
yet I fear that England is now suffering, in the constant embar
rassment of her relations with the sister Island, for her own
former criminal neglect in one weighty matter. In the course
of the world, from the earliest times of authentic history, we see a
stern and retributive justice punishing national crimes by their
own proper consequences — as we observe, on a small scale,
with respect to the vices of individuals.
England found Ireland the scene of cruel civil wars between
barbarous rival Chieftains, and made an easy conquest of the
VOL, II. F

34 TRIFLES FROM MV PORT-FOLIO.
Island. The Pope blessed the enterprise and liberally gave
over the country to the British Crown ; and the first grateful
act of England, afterwards, was to assist his Holiness in esta
blishing there the Papal supremacy, and in suppressing the
ancient and simpler form of Christianity that had before pre
vailed. But, farther — when the Reformation was spread through
Enoland, and the Protestant Church was firmlv established in
the times of Elizabeth and James the First, the English Govern
ment took the worst possible way to extend its benefits to the
Sister Island. The English Ministers proscribed, according to
the general custom of the age ; and thus made it a point of
honor for the natives to adhere to the Roman Catholic Religion.
After three centuries of coercion, the plan was changed ; but it
was too late. In a word, England might have made the whole
of Ireland what the North now is, had she set about it in a spirit
of mild wisdom and the purest primitive Christianity — studied
the language and customs of the people — sent exemplary Mis
sionaries, like Bishop Bedell, amongst them, and ruled them
with impartial justice. She chose to use force in propagating
a Faith that disclaims and abhors it, and in the just retribution
of a superintending Providence, the turbulence and pauperism
of Ireland are now paralyzing her arm and eating into her heart.
But I must quit these grave matters, and proceed with the
66th to Cavan. This is a poor town, but we found the neigh
bourhood most respectable and hospitable, and many comfortable
houses within an hour's ride of the place — amongst which we
were disposed to place Castle Saunderson in the first rank ; and
the visits of ten days or a fortnight under old Colonel Saunder-
son's roof, are recorded in golden letters in my memory. This
gentleman was advanced in years and of infirm health; the
kindness of his disposition therefore, induced him to attach a
professional character to these visits ; although the numerous
agremens the house afforded, far more than compensated aiiy
little services I might be able to render him. First and fore
most, there was an excellent Library, in which I luxuriated 
often wishing for a Briarean power to read fifty books at once-
then all the Periodicals of note ; with the backs of the chairs
and the fender covered with drying newspapers before the

rulFLES FROM MV PORT-FOLlO. 35
hSazing turf fire when we came down to breakfast. Next a pack
of hounds — then a billiard table — then fishing in the lake — and
a preserve of hares, woodcocks, and snipe, in their seasons. —
Lastly, some pleasant people always in the house; with good
wines, excellent pottheen, and a good table.
I recollect with great gusto, but at the same time a melan
choly feeling, my last visit to Castle Saunderson, accompanied
by a valued friend of some thirty years' standing — Colonel
Goldie. The worthy host was a little deaf, and so was his son.
Captain Bassett Saunderson, of the 44th. It so chanced that
more than any of the party. Colonel Goldie and I found out
the pitch of sound that suited the Governor's auditory nerve ;
and one of us was generally placed at table on his good ear
side — but bad was the best. Although this position was not
particularly agreeable — being the medium of communication
between the master of the house and the company at table ;
and the office no sinecure — yet I liked the old man so much,
that the fatigue of my post, as confidential minister on these
occasions, was not at all regarded. Colonel Saunderson and his
deaf son used, when I sat between them, to complain mutually
of each other's bawling. " Well, I do wish Bassett would
speak a little lower — he thinks I can't hear a bit" — and, " Cer
tainly I should make out the Governor better if he reduced his
voice by an octave — why, I declare he'll split the little nerve I
have left."
Bassett was an excellent Chess-player. After the peace he
went to Paris, and one of his first visits was to the Cafe de la
Regence, the great evening haunt of the Parisian amateurs of
that noble game. Enquiring of one of the waiters, he found
that a number of players had assembled in the chief Salon, and
were already hard at work : when, determined to have a little
fun, he desired the garfon to take in a message that an English
gentleman, just arrived in Paris, requested to have the honour
of a game with the first player in the room. Instead of waiting
until called up by the general voice, as would be done in a more
modest country — instantly six or seven of the players started
from their seats, and a comic scene of pretending to cede the
/?«.? to each other ensued — which my friend witnessed through a

36 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
side door. At length, after five minutes of grotesque gesticu
lations, one gentleman came out and played with the stranger.
The Colonel had several times offered me a fee on leaving
his house, which I always declined, from a feeling that I could
not decently pocket his money after the good things I had en
joyed under his roof. The last morning I left Castle Saunder
son my horse was at the door, to ride down to the bottom of
the avenue to await the mail-coach, when the old gentleman
accompanied me into the hall. In shaking my hand I felt a
bundle of bank notes pressed into it, which I returned to his,
and he thrust them again in mine ; and thus we bandied them
about for half a minute. At last, when he shut both hands
against them, I dropped them at his feet — mounted and cantered
off. Now, I happened to be particularly poor at that precise
time ; and such is the weakness of human nature — or, begging
its pardon, — of mine, that before I reached the high-road I
began to be sorry that I had not the notes snugly filling up the
ugly hollows in my pockets. However, I gulped down the
regret, jumped into the coach, and went off to EnniskiUen,
All the world knows how common rows, as they are termed,
but in plain truth, absolute battles, are at Irish fairs, and how
briskly the shillelahs jump from one head to another. All the
world knows this ; but only a select few have any notion of the
cause why so few heads are broken, or lives lost, on these occa
sions. A friend of mine thus explains it.
Beneficent Nature has kindly accommodated animals in all
countries to the necessities of climate, or other imperious exter
nal circumstances. She turns wool into hair within the Tropics,
and hair into wool, besides making a present of an additional
blanket, towards the Poles. She provides white dresses and
cloaks for creatures that require such covering, to screen them
from notice that might end in their destruction, and for other
good reasons. It would be hard, therefore, if she were not
correspondingly indulgent to the necessities of the Hibernians
since to the inhabitants of hyperborean regions she is so lavish
in her gifts. Accordingly, we find the important physiological
fact demonstrated by Cuvier in his last great work, now print
ing, intituled, " Recherches Physiologiques Nationaux," that
the Crania of Irishmen, or at least of three hundred and eleven

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 37
which he had examined and carefully compared with others, are
nearly double as thick as those of the Celtic tribes generally,
and excel those of the other European races in a somewhat
larger proportion. It is remarkable that this is more noticeable
about the Frontal and Parietal bones, and particularly along
the course of the Sagittal suture, than any where else. Nature
has thus, in beautiful accordance with her operations in hyper-
brumal countries, fortified and defended the skulls of her favour
ites of the " first Flower of the Earth," and enabled them to
stand, without serious inconvenience, the manifold beatings aud
belabourings to which she foresaw they would be liable.
We had the pleasure of witnessing one very respectable fight
on a fair day at EnniskiUen, about three o'clock, when the whis
key was beginning to develop the pugnacious qualities of the
crowd. It w:is very confined in its origin, being only a simple
duel between two men with shillelahs at the door of a public-
house, but the quarrel extended like wild-fire, and soon per
vaded the whole multitude. Thump ! crack ! crack ! whack !
thwack ! crack ! went the sticks on the heads and shoulders of
His Majesty's liege subjects ; but in consequence of the beau
tiful endowment discovered by Cuvier, the thwacks and the
thumps produced no more effect than a racket-ball against the
wall of the Court. In the very height of the battle we saw a
stout man, riding on a strong Punch, threading his way amidst
the infernal tumult, regardless of the din of oaths and execra
tions and wood of sticks — knocking at the sconces right and left,
and every body shrinking and ducking when they saw him.
In five minutes he had cleared the street of the combatants, and
restored peace by his sole exertions. It was impossible to see
the " argumentum baculinum" more energetically or more suc
cessfully used. " He floored the fight in a crack," as my ser
vant had it. This vigorous peacemaker was Lord EnniskiUen.
Loch Erne is the largest Lake, I believe, in Great Britain or
Ireland, and eminently beautiful, but in a style different from
the perfect Killarney. It is full of green and wooded Islands,
and abounds in fish — particularly Pike and Perch ; and Trout
in some parts. Salmon also run up in large numbers from Bal-
lyshannon. The Trout are thinned by the rapacity of that
fresh-water Shark, the Pike ; and the stories told of this rave-

•38 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO,
nous fish's boldness in Loch Erne, are almost incredible. One
day, when landing a Trout of about a pound, a large Pike
darted after it with such force, as to project himself two yards
on the shelving sand ; where he was made prisoner.
My friend. Colonel Nicol, gave a farewell party at Ennis
kiUen Barracks, when we received the route for Boyle, and the
dancing was kept up vigorously till day-light. We marched
early the next morning, and half the population of the town
escorted us for two miles, giving nine hearty cheers at parting.
In May, 1 824, the Head Quarters of the 66th were stationed
at Boyle, with three companies at Sligo ; a flourishing little
sea-port, situated in a semicircular sweep between two moun
tains. A lake called Loch Gill, feeding the river on which the
town is built, is next to Killarney, I think, in all the attributes
of picturesque beauty. Hazlewood, on the north bank, the seat
of Mr. Wynne, is one of the prettiest places in the kingdom.
Lord Palmerston has Estates in the County of Sligo, and in
September 1824, he paid the town the honor of a visit to inspect
their condition, when a large dinner-party was got up for him
by Mr. Abraham Martin, a gentleman of wealth and enterprise
residing in Sligo. The hour was seven o'clock — we came a
quarter after and found the company assembled, but his Lord
ship had not yet arrived. Half-past seven, three-quarters —
eight o'clock struck — still no Lord Palmerston. Then com
menced a new quarterly .series and went on to nine, but still no
Lord. By this time we were all in abominable humour, and I,
for one, was ravenous ; but the appetite of many of the party
had gone off, leaving behind disgust and lassitude and a sense
of personal insult. Cake and wine were now handed round, and
our sufferings were thus made endurable for another hour. But
at the horrid sound of ten o'clock, the whole party rose in open
rebeUion, took the law in their own hands and rushed down
stairs to what should have been dinner.
Half an hour after, when some signs of returning animation
had become visible under the champaigne, in marched Lord
Palmerston, and shuffling up to the head of the table, apolo
gized to the Hostess for his want of punctuality — his hacks had
knocked uji— and then— putting on one of his blandest smiles,
sat down, saying, « But I'm glad you did'nt wait !"

TRIFLES FROM AIY PORT-FOLIO. 39
The regiment moved to Athlone in August 1825. The
Shannon is here a noble stream, and a little way above the
town expands into a fine lake called Loch Rae, studded with
green Islands, like most of the Irish lakes, and abounding in
large Pike and Trout.
From Athlone to Ballinasloe is only a ride, and two or three
of us went to see the Fair. Fancy a huge dusty or muddy
plain covered with twenty thousand cows and bullocks, and a
hundred thousand sheep ; with nine or ten thousand people
poking their hands into their ribs — and you have Ballinasloe
Fair before you.
We marched to Dublin in October.

40 TRIFLES FROM .AIY PORT-FOLIO.

CHAPTER VII.

SIR COLQUHOUN GRANT.— SIR GEORGE MURRAY— DEATH
OF AN OFFICER OF THE 58th.— BIRR.— LIMERICK-
EMBARKATION FOR QUEBEC.

" It is an actual fact that he. Commander
In Chief, in proper person deigned to drill
The awkward squad, and could afford to squander
His time, a Corporal's duties to fulfil." Don Juan.
When we arrived in Dublin in 1825, Sir Colquhoun Grant was
in command of the Garrison; a strict disciplinarian and the
terror of officers commanding corps. " Your men ride like
tailors, and awkward tailors too. Sir," was a remark often applied
by him to Cavalry Colonels — and " Do you call that handful
of men a regiment? Why it is only a detachment, and a dirty
detachment. Sir," would be a poUte speech addressed to a chef
de bataillon of Infantry. Yet, as they would say in his own
country, " his bark was aye waur than his bite ;" and although
he rather seemed to enjoy making a commanding officer of a
regiment tremble in his shoes, or his boots, in front of his men,
he was too upright and honest to do him an injury in a report to
the Horse Guards, unless he richly deserved to be sent about
his business.
Sir George Murray was at this time the Commander of the
Forces in Ireland; a man of rare qualities both civil and miUtary.
I never saw a finer face than his : such a pleasing combination
of inteUigence, sweetness and spirit, with regularity and beauty
of features, is rarely found in human physiognomies. Nor did
the lineaments do discredit to Lavater. He was nniversaUy
respected and loved: and, but for one blot. Sir George would
be very nearly a perfect character.
We were much in society in Dublin in the winter of 1825,
which was a very gay season. The Marquis of Wcllesley,

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 41
then Lord Lieutenant, had fallen in love with a pretty American
widow and married her sometime before. Being a Roman Ca-
thoUc, the proceeding pleased the majority of the metropolitans,
and the lady managed to disarm the Protestants of any different
feeling by her very graceful deportment and fascinating man
ners. The Vice-regal Court patronized the manufactures of the
country, and several large parties were given with this object :
amongst the rest a grand subscription ball was got up at the
Rotunda, under the patronage of the Marchioness of Wcllesley,
where the ladies were all dressed in Irish tabinets. The 66th
officers wore blue scarfs of that peculiar stuff, looped up with
gold cords and tassels ; which according to the first authority in
the room, looked very elegant. We were rather inconveniently
placed for enjoying the gaieties of Dublin, being quartered in
the Richmond barracks, two miles off: notwithstanding, we ma
naged to come in to two, three, and sometimes four parties a week.
About this time the Surgeon of the regiment, having impru
dently indulged at a supper in some doubtful oysters, was
attacked with indigestion which was followed by a bad fever
that cost the poor fellow his life, notwithstanding the assistance
of the Physician General and another Physician. The Writer
succeeded to the Surgeoncy of the regiment.
Whilst we were quartered at the Richmond barracks the 58th
occupied the other side of the square, and the greatest harmony
prevailed between the two corps, who dined frequently together
and had whist parties at each other's Mess Rooms. There was
a billiard table at the bottom of the hill, on the road to Dublin,
where we used often to meet. One day I had been playing
with a remarkably fine young man of that corps, named Bell —
quite an Apollo in face and figure, and much liked by all who
knew him. We played till the dinner bugle sounded, and then
agreed to meet at the same place for a conquering rubber next
day. The morning after I cantered down the canal towards Por-
tobello Strand, where I saw the 58th at ball-practice. As I.
rode up I perceived a group assembled, and individuals hurrying
towards it from all parts. A vague presentiment of evil, which
I have sometimes felt before great calamities, came over my
mind. On reaching the ground I was shocked beyond expres
sion to find my poor friend Bell just breathing his last, with t\»'
VOL. II. ^

12 trifles FROM MY POIIT-FOLIO.
blood streaming from his side ! He had heedlessly passed in
front of some awkward recruits that were firing, with their eyes
intent upon the target, and was shot through the body.
In 1826, we were ordered to Birr— or as it is now called.
Parsons Town, in honor of Lord Ross, the principal landlord,
whose name was Sir Lawrence Parsons. I cannot say much in
its favour, for one of our men had his skull broke by a stone
held in a man's hand, and another was shot whilst on sentry.
The ruffians, however, failed in their murderous object, for
both the men recovered.
Our residence at Parsons Town was enlivened by a certain
fracas between a Catholic Priest named Crotty, and the Titular
Bishop of the Diocese, against whom he had rebelled. Mr.
Crotty had formed a party of the town's people in his favour,
and, to conciliate the Protestants of the place, his adherents
made their band play every night the most notorious Orange
tunes ; which, from them was almost as absurd as the silly act
of pledging the " Glorious and immortal Memory" in a bumper
of Boyne water on the part of Mr. O'Connell. The refractory
Priest told the Bishop that his spiritual instructions were as
little calculated to benefit his Diocese as a farthing candle on
the heights of Dover would be to illuminate Calais. There was
no making Ught of this, so the Bishop excommunicated Mr.
Crotty; but he was supported by the majority of the congrega
tion : and when the new Priest, who happened to be the Bishop's
nephew — arrived at Parsons Town, and prepared to officiate in
the Catholic Chapel the following Sunday, he found Mr. Crotty
already in possession, and could not get in. In this predicament
he applied to Lord Ross, exhibited his credentials and asked for
magisterial support. His Lordship called on Colonel Nicol for
military assistance, and two hundred of the 66th were marched
to the Chapel to put the right man in possession.
The regiment moved to Limerick in December — a good sta
tion, and a place of much inteUigence and enterprise. They
had just finished a new Gaol and Lunatic Asylum ; each a
model in its line. They had an admirable Club, formed after
thc regulations of the Kildare-street Club in Dublin, of which
the Writer became a member. There were all manner of
newspapers and periodicals— Billiards— M'hist, but no Hazard—
an erudite Chrf-de-Ciusrnr, and a good and reasonable Cellar.

TIUFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLlO. 43
On the morning of Christmas Day an express was sent for
the Writer from Killaloe, sixteen miles distant, to see one of
our soldiers, who had his skull fractured in a fight in the streets
the night before. The Surgeon in attendance had bled the
patient, and was preparing to trephine — that is to bore a hole
through the skull, near the injured part, so as to obtain a pur
chase by which to raise the fractured piece pressing on the
brain — but waited for farther advice before undertaking so for
midable a matter. The skull near the top of the head had been
beat in, to the extent of half a crown, by the angle of a large
stone, which a brutal ruffian had used, holding it in his hand ;
as is but too commonly done in Ireland. No bad symptoms
had occurred, and the man was perfectlv sensible, although
there was a hollow in his skull that would hold half a large
walnut. The medico wanted to set about boring his hole im
mediately, secundem artem, but was recommended to keep his
trephine quiet for a little. In the morning he was advised to
put it up altogether ; the man having passed a good night, and
the brain being evidently prepared to stow away its convolu
tions in a smaller compass, and accommodate itself to the dimin
ished space. Finally, the patient recovered perfectly ; though
with an ugly hollow on his head that must sadly have bothered
the subjacent organ of veneration.
One night after a party, as an officer of the regiment who had
lately joined, and myself, were returning to the barracks, we
heard an alarm of fire, and directed our steps towards the light,
which was now beginning to spread far and wide. A large
range of store-houses, seven or eight stories high, was bursting
into a blaze. Immediately after, the Garrison was alarmed,
and troops were put in motion to assist the firemen and protect
property. W^e soon saw Sir C  D-.  Commanding the
District, on horseback, riding about among the crowd, very busy
doing nothing, as was not unfrequently his wont. When he
recognized us, he accosted my young companion — " Pray, Sir,
what's your name ?" " H  y. Sir." " Very well, Mr.
H  y, take that patrol of the 66th, and march them round
yonder angle to protect those barrels of pork. Place a sentry
on the west side of the store-house, one on the south and two
on the north-east— Do you hear. Sir ?" " Yes, Sir ; but I

44 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
don't know how to set about it." " Not know how. Sir— why,
what the d  do you mean ?" « I mean exactly what I say.
Sir C  , I joined yesterday, and have only been six days in
the Service." " Oh, Oh, Mr. H  y, that's very true— you
can't know much about it yet — but get drilled. Sir ; get drilled
quick — in the meantime the Doctor wiU assist you." So the
sentries were posted with all due regularity.
The Salmon of the Shannon bear some proportion in size to
the fine river they inhabit, and in the neighbourhood of Lime
rick they are in full possession of all their marine strength and
vigour, but the stream is so broad that the best casts can only
be fished from a boat. This takes away much of the zest of the
sport ; for when one hooks a fine fish it is pleasant to stand
firmly on the solid rock, or to feel the turf of the bank springy
under one's feet.
In March I commenced my fishing operations, proceeding in
a skiff with an old guide, who was well acquainted with the
haunts of the Salmon. We trolled through some beautiful
holes for an hour without seeing a fish ; at last I hooked one,
but soon perceived, by his want of liveliness and force, that it
was a spent Salmon on his way down the river. I brought him
to the shore, and landed him without injury ; and although the
old fisherman begged him as his lawful perquisite, I had com
passion on his feebleness, and threw the poor valetudinarian
back into the water, with an admonition to make the best of his
way to the sea. Soon after I hooked another of the same de
scription, and turned him also adrift. Next, a large Pike, at
the imminent risk of my fly, which was a beauty of its kind —
this fish was bestowed on the boatman, who appeared somewhat
annoyed by the chivalry towards the distressed Salmon. Good
actions by land or water are not always unrewarded, and the
emancipation of the poor Salmos was recompensed by the good
luck of hooking soon after a noble fish of twenty pounds, strong
and active as a racer, which, after half an hour's interesting
play, we secured ; we then cut his gills and crimped him, and
had him to dinner at the Mess the same day.
In April, we received orders to march to Buttevant, there to
form our Depot, previous to embarkation for Canada. Here
we were inspected by our old friend. Sir George Bingham, who

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLlO. 45
dined with us at the Mess three days following. Poor Sir
George — the grave has since closed over his warm and manly
heart ! He enjoyed himself with us at Buttevant, as one always
does at a meeting with old and valued friends, and we gave him
wine as generous as himself ; for the last dozen of our noble
Madeira, that had sailed with us on the Ganges twelve years
before — ripened at St, Helena, and travelled with us ever
since — here most appropriately exhaled its nectareous spirit.
The regiment embarked at Cove in June, 1827, on board the
Romney, of fifty guns, and the Arab Transport, bound to
Quebec.

4G TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.

CHAPTER VIIL

VOYAGE TO QUEBEC— COD-FISH.— ARRIVAL IN THE ST.
LAWRENCE.— CANADIAN WINTER.

I'll deliver all

And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales." Tempest.

" Meantime the steady breeze serenely blew,
And fast and falcon-like the vessel flew." CoRSAIK.
Every body knows that the voyage from Europe to America is
up-hill work, while that home is like going down an inclined
plane. The reason is, the greater prevalence of westernly over
all other winds ; as is also notorious. But what is not quite
so palpable, is the fact that there is a perpetual cause for this ;
or at least one that will continue to operate as long as the big
Ball we inhabit spins from west to east — which, to us of the
present generation, is much the same thing.
We stretched out into the Atlantic with a fine fair breeze,
and went on all day as favourably as we could desire ; but at
night the wind chopped directly in our teeth, and we were
obUged to stand away to the south. After this we had a suc
cession of calms, and baffling little breezes, and all kinds of
cross purposes, for nearly a month ; by which time we were not
more than two-thirds of our way.
At length we reached the Great Bank and got soundings,
and one day when it was calm commenced cod-fishing. This
was a bit of a novelty, but, after all, miserable angling. How
ever we did much execution amongst these lubberly fish, which
suffered themselves to be dragged out of the water without
making the slightest resistance ; killing three hundred of them ;
of which number twenty-five fell to my share. One of our offi-

trifles from MY PORT-FOLIO. 47
cers amused himself in opening the stomachs, and a very odd
and heterogeneous collection of items he discovered. One
Gadus, who must have been an epicure in his way, had an
oyster-knife in his stomach, but how he used it puzzled us all :
another had a large Cuttle-fish — several had different kinds of
shell-fish, and on examining one of the largest of them all — lo !

¦ iiascitur ridiculus mus '

for a mouse was turned out, perfect, as if recently swallowed —
probably an unfortunate fellow-passenger.
We had here a gale of wind from the north-west, that rattled
our crockery in good style. It lasted only seven or eight hours,
and as the night was clear, with plenty of sea-room, a good
ship, skilful Master and efficient crew — it was more a matter of
enjoyment to most of us than of suffering.
Off the Island of St. Pauls, we fell in with a very gorgeous
Iceberg, about the size of York Minster, and having a curious
resemblance to that grand Cathedral, There were two towers,
but also three extra spires, with half a dozen cascades of clear
water tumbling brightly from the roof, and shining with prisma
tic colours. The cooling effect of this enormous mass on the
atmosphere, was perceptible a couple of miles off.
At length we saw the low, desolate Island of Anticosti at the
mouth of the St. Lawrence, but were a week beating up the
river. The little European rivers hide their diminished heads,
compared with this magnificent stream. As we advanced, the
shores grew bold, and wild, and primeval ; with the pines and
the rocks as they appeared a couple of centuries after the Flood.
This savage uniformity at length became fatiguing to the eye,
for nothing was visible but Firs and Granite — not a morsel of
a clearance, nor smoke, nor human habitation. At length a
straggling house began to peep out of the eternal forest on the
Gaspe shore ; and as we approached Kamouraska the moun
tains on that side receded from the shore, and the country be
came flat and alluvial, but only to an inconsiderable distance
from the water. On the north shore the aspect was still abrupt,
high and bold, and we could just see the extraordinary fissure,
or deep ravine, through which the Saguenay pours its copious

48 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
tribute.. Then begin the long Unes of white houses— and the
narrow selvages of green along the banks, and every seven or
eight miles a shining Church, and the picturesque islands— and
the lofty cascade of Montmorency — tUl we drop anchor in the
fine basin of Quebec.
I have never yet beheld that prospect, or heard that harmony,
or met that celebrated person, or enjoyed that sensation which
had not been previously amplified, beautified and exaggerated
far beyond reality, by that false, but flattering limner — imagi
nation. Quebec had been pictured in briUiant colours, as to its
own appearance — the beauty of its site, and the imposing attri
butes of natural and artificial strength with which it was in
vested. We found the town an ugly cluster of houses, pitched
on the extremity of a bald promontory — the streets narrow and
crooked, and those built on made ground round the base dis-
gracefuUy filthy — with zigzag wharves pushing irregularly into
the noble stream, whose surface vvas dotted with shipping.
But, after a day or two, we find the place improving in our
estimation. We gain the Rampart and ascend to the Citadel,
and are delighted with the glorious views on all sides that
spread themselves out before us. We visit the numerous sweet
spots in the immediate neighbourhood — ride along the pretty
banks of the delicate little river, and luxuriate at the prospect
of Quebec from Lorette — awake the sleeping echoes of that
gem of Lakes — St. Charles — explore the bold rocks of the
Chaudiere — or gaze up with straining eyes at the lofty torrent
at Montmorency. We consider also the historical "memorials
and associations with which the place is rich — as the scene of
the first planting of Civilization and Christianity on this Conti
nent — the toiUng and patient Missionary — the listening and
wondering Savage — then the transference of dominion to Eng
land — the Plains of Abraham — the triumph of the British
arms — the refulgent name of Wolfe ! Last, but not least, we
appreciate it as the impregnable Bulwark of British power, and
at length arrive at the conclusion, that in the mind of an Eng
lishman there is no City in North America so classic or so
celebrated as Quebec.
On our arrival the regiment was quartered in the Jesuits'

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-.roL10. 49
Barracks, with the 79th Highlanders — a corps of great name
and merit.
We found political agitation running very high when we
reached Quebec. The Earl of Dalhousie, the Governor, find
ing the House of Assembly refractory, had just dissolved them ;
but he gained little by this step, as most of the old members
were again returned, and the House once more chose Louis
Joseph Papineau for their Speaker.
This person, since so notorious, had already made himself
conspicuous in 1827, by violent attacks on the British Govern
ment and the Provincial Executive, both in Committees and at
public meetings, altogether inconsistent with the moderation to
be expected from the Speaker of the Assembly. The penetra
tion of Lord Dalhousie saw even then the future Traitor in his
true colours ; for at his own table I well recollect hearing the
Governor say — " Mark my words, gentlemen, that man is a
political incendiary whose ambition will never be satisfied until
he has hopelessly embroiled this Colony with Great Britain,"
" Griefs," or grievances, were the order of the day with the
discontented Canadians in 1827 ; amongst which we discovered
that our occupation of the barracks we lived in was one, and
not the smallest in the long list. This extensive building was
formerly the College of the Jesuits, anji on the suppression of
that remarkable body of talented men in France and her Colo
nies it was vacated, and after the Conquest was occupied by
British troops. The extinguishment of the order having been
nearly simultaneous with the cession of Canada by the French
Crown, not a word was said for forty or fifty years about the
grief in question ; for it was perceived that any reflection on
the British Government in this matter, would recoil against the
Due de Choiseul and the French Ministry, who drove the
Reverend Fathers, the Jesuits, from their halls in Quebec.
But of late years, when .all manner of grievances were got up,
this was too promising a subject to be lost sight of, and it has
had a prominent place in the catalogue ; and been the subject
of virulent abuse against the British Government, session after
session. Truly, our honest troops are somewhat more worthy
occupants of the building in question than men of the like
VOL. II. H

50 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO,
mood, with the clever and unprincipled zealots who educated
Damiens and Ravaillac*
* In 1787, the Government of Lord Dorchester wishing to give an impulse to the
public mind in this Province towards liberal studies, to elevate the character of the
City of Quebec, and, generally, to promote the good of the Canadian people, took
steps to obtain the opinions of the most respectable and influential Canadians, as to
the propriety and necessity of establishing an University in Quebec. It was inti
mated that certain EngUsh funds, formerly appropriated to objects in the Colonies
which had now become independent, would no longer be required in that quarter ;
and might, on application to the Crown, be granted as an endowment to the
University. A grant of Land was also to be expected for the same beneficent
object ; and it was believed, with great probability, that the Government, as soon
as they saw the project maturing, would give up the Jesuits' College for the
accommodation of the new institution.
This very hopeful and beneficent scheme turned out abortive — the Canadians
generally shewed no interest about the matter, and the Bishop of Quebec — although
in the beginning ofhis letter to the Chairman of the Committee of the Legislative
Council, he said — " At the name of an University in the Province of Quebec, my
native Country, I bless the Almighty for having inspired the design, and ray
prayers are offered for the execution of it." Yet, in the course of the same epistle,
he found so many good reasons for opposing the scheme, that he ended by express
ing his opinion that it was quite impracticable — the Province could not support
an University, and was not ripe for it. " A farmer in easy circumstances," says
His Lordship, with moie truth than flattery — " who wishes to leave his children a
comfortable inheritance, will rather bring them up to agriculture and employ his
money in the purchase of lands, than procure them learning of whion he knows
nothing himself, and of the value of which it is scarcely possible he should have an
idea." Monseigneur Hubert concluded, that as long as there was so much waste
land to be reclaimed in Canada, there was no need of an University ; and that as
the University of Paris, the oldest in the world, only dated from the twelfth cen
tury, whereas the Monarchy originated in the fifth ; ergo, it would be time enough
to talk about the proposed institution after the lapse of two or three hundred years.
His Lordship's Coadjutor, M. Charles Francis Bailly, however, was of a totally
difierent opinion, and stoutly and zealously defended the project of the University.
M. Bailly was rather severe upon the Bishop, whose letter he turns into ridicule,
and pretends to believe it quite an imposition. He rather ureverently upsets His
Lordship's chronology, with respect to the time of the foundation of the University
of Paris ; and convicts him of a startling mistake of three centuries on that head,
and three more with reference to Oxford, of whose very existence the worthy
Prelate appears to have been ignorant. The Coadjutor concludes with this honest
peroration. " I conjure you Sir and Gentlemen, by all that is sacred, as one of
the most faithful subjects of the best of Kings, as holding a distinguished rank in
the Church of Canada, as a Canadian attached to his Country by the strongest
ties, to pursue with diligence this great and honourable enterprise, which cannot
fail to add to the joy and satisfaction of all the citizens of the Province, and will
unite their hearts and cement their union for ever. Second the good intentions of
our Governor, that he may see the steps he has taken, crowned with success —
' Et spes et Ratio studiorum in Csesare tantum
Solus enim tnstes tempestate CamEcnas
Respicet. ' 
Juvenal.
What glory for you, gentlemen, to see your names placed at the head of the list
of the first promoters of the University by the hands of gratitude."
It is impossible to avoid reflecting how diflijrent a character the City of Quebec
might now have possessed, had the liberal spirit of M. BaUly animated the narrow-
minded Bii-hop. Learning and Science might here have found their chosen seat,
and iilumm iVoiii all quarters have flocked liithri for education. But as the Coad
jutor Bishop oIisltvps, quoting from St. John— " Et dclexciunt liomiuc.'i tcnebras
inagis quam luccm."

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 51
The winter of 1827-8 came on early, and we prepared to
meet it. At first the sensation of cold in a clear blue sky, illu
minated by a bright unclouded sun, was cheerful and exhilarating;
and our numerous Pic Nic parties, under these circumstances
were agreeable. But when the winter advanced, and the cold
increased, pari passu, and I had my nose pulled half a dozen
times in a friendly way, to wrench it from the sterner gripe of
John Frost — it then was no joke. When the weather was calm
we could bear twenty, or even five and twenty degrees below
zero tolerably ; but with wind this cold was insupportable.
Yet, notwithstanding this Polar cold the Canadian winter is
the healthiest season of the year. With the exception of frost
bites, and accidents from carting or choppiiig wood for the nume
rous stoves, we had scarcely any sick during the two first winters
here. This ought, however, to be qualified by stating that
eruptive diseases among the children, are more common in
winter than summer ; and for several years after our arrival.
Small Po.x was rife in the town and suburbs during some part
of the cold season. Winter appears also to be unfavorable to
canine health, and instances of hydrophobia are not uncommon.
II n'est si grand jour qui ne vienne a vepres. Long winters,
like the most tedious things, must come to an end. In April
1828, it appeared that Nature had made a mistake, and intended
to give us two cold seasons instead of one. But at last, when
" Winter, Ungering, chilled the lap of May,"
a warm breeze stole from the south, melting the frozen air before
it — a genial rain fell in the evening, and at noon next day we
had jumped into a tropical summer without any intermediate
spring. Off instantly went furs and woollens — disbanded were
carioles and sleighs — fast down the eaves and gutters ran the
melted snow, and young mill-streams took possession of the
streets. White trowsers and hats resumed their empire — din
ners and dances and whist clubs were prorogued, and dotible
windows sent to ruminate in garrets. By and bye the white
winged ships came in by thirties and forties, and hundred-
handed commerce bustled through the wharves and streets.

52 TRIFLES FROM MV PORT-FOLIO.

CHAPTER IX.

MONUMENTAL PILLAR TO WOLFE AND MONTCALM.-AVE-
TERAN WHO HAD SERVED WITH WOLFE, PRESENT AT
LAYING THE FOUNDATION—IRISH IN QUEBEC-REV. MR.
McMAHON.— DEPARTURE OF LORD DALHOUSIE AND AR
RIVAL OF SIR JAMES KEMPT.

" 0 fortuuatos nimium sua si bona norint
Agricolas ! quibus ipsa prooul discordibus armis
Fundit humo facilem victum justissima Tellus." VlRGILrUS.
" On commence par etre dupe, on finit par etre fripon."
French Proverb.
On the 15th of November 1827, we were witnesses to a highly
interesting ceremony in Quebec — namely, the laying of the
first stone of a Monument to Wolfe and Montcalm, on a com
manding eminence overlooking the river. The whole of the
Garrison was assembled and fired a salute on this stirring occa
sion ; and the interest of the scene was much heightened by the
presence of one of Wolfe's soldiers, a Mr. James Thompson,
who was in the action — now a fine-looking silver-headed veteran,
a hundred years old. With condescending attention to the
brave old man's feelings, Lord Dalhousie paid him the compli
ment of presenting him the Masonic Mallet, and requesting him
to give the three mystic strokes on the foundation stone.
This Monumental Pillar is finely placed, and in itself chaste
and classic, and ornamental to the city. However, I have heard
it criticised for want of profile by a gentleman of much archi
tectural taste. The " posteritas dedit" has also been objected
to by a friend, as savouring rather too much of Sir Bryan
O'Toole's question, " What the deuce has posterity done for us?"
But the Writer of the terse, and I think, happy inscription, is
an excellent classical scholar ; and I dare say it is all right.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 53
The handsome liberality of dedicating this Monument to
Montcalm, the vanquished, as really and conspicuously as to
Wolfe, the victor, is in fine taste, and every way worthy of
Lord^ Dalhousie, and of the magnanimous country of whose
Sovereign he was the Representative. Notwithstanding, the
French Canadians took no part in this proceeding ; but in a
sordid and unamiable spirit, they deemed the name of Montcalm
only introduced to sweU the triumph of Wolfe.
My Irish countrymen of the lower orders improve much on
exportation ; and in this colony particularly, they become valua
ble members of society. They leave behind them much of their
turbulence and combativeness, as well as of their mendacious
and tipsifying attributes ; work quietly, and honestly, and in
dustriously, and generally speaking, get on very well. Several
flourishing settlements of Irish are to be found in the country
around Quebec ; and in the city there is a very large congrega
tion, who have a good and handsome Church, built a few years
ago — partly by their own funds, assisted by the contributions
of their Roman Catholic brethren in Montreal and Upper
Canada ; and essentially aided by the liberality of their Protes
tant friends. It was remarked that the French Canadians were
of very little assistance in this matter ; for Jean Baptiste is not
very liberal ofhis money, nor has he much to spend — besides he
is not very partial to the Irish,
A virtuous Ecclesiastic, the Rev. Mr. McMahon, of whose
tender and assiduous spiritual attentions to sick soldiers of his
Communion I can bear testimony, officiates amongst his coun
trymen. This gentleman devotes himself to the temporal as
well as spiritual interests ofhis flock, and, I believe, is eminently
useful in inculcating quiet, sober and orderly habits, and res
training excess. Crowds of Emigrants surround his door at the
opening of the navigation, in hopes of receiving advice and
assistance from this good Priest ; and his hand is open to them
all, to the full extent of his limited means. In consequence of
refusing to lend himself to the furtherance of Mr. Papineau's
objects, and of his care in teaching fear of God, combined with
honor of the constituted authorities, Mr. McMahon was long
the object of virulent and calumnious attack on the part of that
person's followers and the newspapers in his interest.

.)4 TRIFLES FROiJ MY PORT-FOLIO.
The short summer of 1828, soon passed away. In the end of
autumn Lord Dalhousie went home, and was succeeded by Sir
James Kempt, an admirable miUtary officer, and a clever man.
The demonstrations of attachment to his high-minded predeces
sor, were strong and general here among the British part of
the community. A general entertainment was given him by
the principal people of the town, a Uttle before he embarked,
and when he sailed, a Steam-boat fuU of Quebec ladies and
gentlemen escorted the frigate which took his family home, a
considerable distance down the river.
The Colonial Legislature met in November, and Mr. Papi
neau was recognized as Speaker of the Assembly, although he
had been solemnly and most deservedly rejected by the King's
Representative the year before. This gentleman had incapa
citated himself for the Chair of the House, by the extreme
violence and acerbity of the line of politics he had taken, and
the hostility he had shewn to every measure of the Home and
Colonial Governments, The Judge, who, over his bottle had
already prejudicated a case of life or death ; or the Juror who
has irregularly given an opinon of guilt before trial — might as
well be permitted to discharge subsequently their important
duties, as a hot-headed partisan, like Mr, Papineau, be allowed
to fulfil a trust requiring forbearance, impartiality and mode
ration. But, after the decisive step of rejection had once been taken,
and on such firm ground, there should have been no backing
out — the wise decision of Lord Dalhousie ought to have been
supported at all hazards by the Home Government, and his
Successor forbidden to reverse his work, by recognizing Mr.
Papineau as Speaker, and thus exhibiting a lamentable proof of
weakness here and at home.
But the truth is, I apprehend, that the British Government
in dealing with this Province, has had for many years the revolt
of the neighbouring States too much in their eyes ; and, like
the magnifying and exaggerating effects of fear on the physical
senses, their moral terrors have confounded and assimilated
the most different objects — the energetic and intelligent Yankee
with the passive and uninformed Canadian — the broad millions of

TRIFLES FRO.M MY PORT-FOLIO. 55
acres of an immense Continent, with two narrow slips of land
along a navigable river.
For some time all was harmony here under the new Governor.
The French Canadians took their cue from the Speaker, and he
condescended to be civil to Sir James, But the cloven foot
would sometimes protrude from under the cloak ; and they who
knew the man well, averred that the pact between him and the
new regime would not be of long duration.
Sir James was a bachelor, and a Governor ought to be a
married man for many reasons — one of which is, that the hospi
talities of his roof would be more agreeable under the auspices
of a lady, than a gentleman. During the winter the pic-nic
expeditions of Lady Dalhousie were a good deal missed. Her
mode of assembling her party on these occasions was to send
round a miniature whip, to be shewn to certain persons whom
she wished to compose it, on the morning of the day selected.
This was the well-known signal for the meeting of the carioles
at the Chateau previous to starting; and the whip, like the
torch of fire, soon produced a gathering.
The motion of gliding over the hard and smooth snow on a
calm clear day, thermometer ten above zero, is very exhilarating
and delightful; and few things in Canada are more joyous than
the first burst of a Tandem Club of a dozen neat equipages,
with good robing, good driving, a previous good lunch, harmo
nious bells, and an object. For the dull routine of driving up
one street and down another, overturning pigs and frightening
old women out of their propriety, does not accord with our
notions of the fitness of things, and savours too much of Cocken-
aye ; yet, it is the usual fashion of the Quebec Tandem Clubs.
But although carioling be thus agreeable, there are, unfortu
nately a few drawbacks — besides restive horses. Owing, as is
believed, to the vicious construction of the Canadian sleigh ; to
which the natives stick with tenacity, as to every other cumber
some feudal relic — the best snow roads are soon intersected with
cahots, or deep transverse ruts, which are an utter abomination
to human feelings — shake out all loose teeth and dislocate
uncompact joints.
In.the beginning of the summer of 1829, we had a visit from

56 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO,
Mr.  the British Ambassador at W  His Excel.
lency soon after his arrival, happening to eat fresh salmon rather
too freely at dinner, with an accompaniment of new potatoes,
au naturel, became indisposed in the course of the evening, and
sent for the Writer. It so chanced that Sir C. and Lady Ogle
from Halifax, were at the same time on a visit to Sir James
Kempt, and residing at the Chateau as well as Mr.  . A
large party was asked to meet the strangers at dinner the next
day ; but the disconsolate patient was kept on spoon diet and
confined to his room by the Doctor. When dinner was over,
the servants had retired, and Sir James was in the middle of a
good story — the apparition of a pale man in a dressing gown
and night-cap, with a bedchamber candle in his hand, and an
expression of suffering in his face, stalked into the room. Lady
Ogle was the first to observe him, and tittered incontinently at
the odd figure : this was soon caught by the rest of the company,
and ended in a loud and general laugh. The uproar brought
the intruder to a stand still — then right about face, and a hasty
retreat. It was the poor Plenipotentiary, who, not yet quite
au fait as to the topography of the Chateau, had wandered into
the dining room in the course of his evening explorations.

TRIFLES FROM .MY PORT-FOLIO. 57

CHAPTER X.

MALBAIE RIVER.- MORAL CANADIAN POPULATION.—
JACQUES CARTIER RIVER.— PONT DAYREE.— SALMON
FISHING.

" But he that shall consider the variety of baits for all seasons and pretty device^
which our anglers have invented ; peculiar lines, false flies, several sleights and
ingenious deceptions, &c., will say that it deserveth like commendation and
requireth as much study and perspicacity as the rest, and is to be preferred before
many of them. Because hunting and hawking are very laborious ; much riding
and many dangers accompany them : but this is still and quiet, and if so be that
the angler catch no fish, yet hath he a. wholesome walk to the brook-side, and
pleasant shade by the sweet silver streams ; he hath good aire and sweet smels of
fine fresh meado-w flowers ; he heateth the melodious harmony of birds ; he seeth
the swans, herons, ducks, water-hens, cootes, and many other fowl with their
brood, which he thinketh better than the noise of hounds or blast of homes, and all
the sport that they can make." Anatomy of Melancholy.

Ninety miles below Quebec, and nearly opposite Kamouraska
on the South Shore, the Malbaie river enters the St. Lawrence.
After an impetuous mountain course of two hundred miles, it
escapes through a gorge, tumbles down a granite rock, and
then winds very prettily along a cultivated valley, six or seven
miles, until it meets the tide. There is a tolerable wooden
bridge at its mouth, whose large abutments, loaded with great
boulders, tell of the formidable floods that sometimes sweep
down the valley.* A respectable Church with its long roof
and glittering spire, and a tall elm or two, stands on an ele
vated point near the junction of the river with the St. Law
rence. A very quiet and moral population of seven or eight hun
dred people inhabit this secluded valley. We are informed
that after the Conquest a number of soldiers of Murray's Regi
ment settled here, intermarrying with the Canadians, and leav
ing traces of their larger stature and pecuUar lineaments, which
* T!u; bridge w as (.¦airied aA-ifty by a flood last spring.
VOL. II. I

58 trifles from my port-folio.
are still visible. Some of the customs of the good habitans,
too— social family worship night and morning, for instance-
may be of Scotch origin : for, however dissipated the life of
a Scotch soldier may have been, he is apt towards the close to
shew the salutary effect of former religious instruction. The
good seed, whose early germination had been checked by the
storms of his profession, seldom loses all vitality, but often
brings forth fruit when the turbulence of a miUtary life is past.
Be this as it may, the cross appears to have improved the breed
considerably : the language of the military settlers, however,
which may have been half GaeUc, half EngUsh — has yielded to
that of the more numerous class, and the whole community now
speak French.
Many of the Malbaie families are very large, and from fifteen
to twenty children are not uncommon. They marry early — get
a stripe of a concession from the Seigneur, and a house is run
up for the young couple, more Hibernico, by their relations.
They are then set adrift, but never separate far from their own
connexions. There is infinite social comfort in this custom ;
but the worst of it is that the bit of land is soon exhausted.
Their neighbours in the Bay of St. Paul, on the other side
of a long mountain, have a very indifferent character ; but the
peasantry of this remote and pretty glen are the most virtuous
people I have ever seen in any country. As to temperance with
regard to spirituous liquors, our good philanthropists who are
endeavouring to reform the world in this way — would find their
labours needless here. Among these primitive people, drunk
enness is absolutely unknown ; and whole famUies pass their
lives without any individual ever having tasted intoxicating
fluids. Some surprising instances of this kind have come to the
Writer's knowledge,
I have been on four fishing expeditions to Malbaie, and
h ope that a short account of one of these may not be tiresome
to the reader.
In the latter end of June, 1830, my friend. Major Wingfield,
of the 66th, and myself, set out from Montreal on a fishing trip
to Malbaie. We embarked in buoyant spirits, well provided
with choice apparatus, and taking with us materiel for preserv
ing our fish— namely ; salt, sugar, spices, and a large cask of

trifles from my PORT-FOLlO, 59
vinegar. A good-natured American General, with his Aide-de-
Camp, were our fellow-passengers in the steamboat to Quebec.
They were heretics of the Utilitarian School, and thought it
not a little extraordinary that we should make so long a jour
ney to catch fish that might be so easily obtained in the market.
On reaching Quebec, we found to our great mortification, the
wind blowing up the river, strong against us, and no steamboat
running whither we were bound. We were therefore obUged
to wait there three days, and then take our passage in a misera
ble schooner from Kamouraska ; the Captain engaging to land
us at our destination on the opposite shore. The voyage was
extremely tedious and disagreeable, lasting four interminable
days and nights, though the distance was only ninety miles.
Moreover, our lubberly skipper very nearly upset us half a
dozen times by bad management during the gale from the east
ward that lasted almost the whole voyage. To add to our mis
fortunes, we were half-starved as well as half-foundered ; for
our sea-stock was laid in under the anticipation of a few hours
voyage, and consisted only of a loaf, a quarter of cold lamb and
a bottle of wine. Thirty or forty dirty habitans from Kamou
raska were on board and occupied the limited space below : we
were therefore obliged to wrap ourselves in our cloaks and
bivouac under the " grande voile" on deck. This was all very
well as long as the weather continued dry, but on the third day
the rain came down in torrents — often extinguishing our cigars ;
but we took fresh ones, still maintained our ground on deck,
and puffed away bravely, in hope of better times. Towards
the end of our wretched voyage, sheer hunger made us pur
chase some bad salt pork, and sausages crammed with garlic,
as our own barrels of provisions were hooped up, and if we
broke bulk there might be a sorry account of them.
At length, with beards like Jews — cold, wet, half-starved and
every way miserable, we reached the mouth of the Malbaie
river, where we had bespoke lodgings, at the house of a Cana
dian named Chaperon.
By a beneficent ordination, our sense of present enjoyment
is keen in proportion to the recollection of recent discomfort or
distress ; but I shall say nothing of the converse of this ; hav-

60 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
ing little to do with that branch of the subject at present,
Dryden has condensed the idea in five words —
" Sweet is pleasure after pain."
Indeed the sensations of my friend and myself, when at length
we found ourselves clean and comfortable in M. Chaperon's
pleasant parlour, were much to be envied. Sweet, very sweet
was our shave, and our bath, and the feel of cool linen, and the
sense of total renovation pervading our whole persons — but,
shade of Apicius ! how exquisite the Gunpowder and Pekoe
tasted after rancid pork and garlic !
On our way from the shore we cast our hungry eyes on a
salmon, just come in with the tide and floundering in a net :
we incontinently licked our lips and purchased him. When
we reached the house our servant handed the fish over to Ma
dame Chaperon, with instructions to broil it for our break
fast — 720^ alive, but as near as might be. Our toilet being
finished we drew the table to the window, into which a rose
bush in full bloom was peering from a flower-garden under
neath. There, amidst the mixt aromata of flowers and fish, we
commenced an attack on a pyramid of toast fit to form a new
apex to that of Cheops — numerous dainty prints of fresh butter,
some half gallon of thick cream, and half a bushel of new laid
eggs — which was kept up vigorously for a couple of hours.
On Monday morning, July the Sth, we engaged a caMche
with a good-looking Canadian boy, named Louis Panet, to
attend us on our daily visits to the Chute, about six mUes dis
tant. The road up the valley is very good, following the wind
ing course of the river, and overhung on the other side by
green globular hills, very steep in many places. These are
covered with a thin soil, which often after rain ,peels off in
large patches, carrying down trees, fences, flocks, and even the
houses, " in hideous ruin and combustion" to the bottom. One
of these frightful eboulements "had fallen across our road lately,
and the country people were still busy in clearing away the
rubbish. From my former experience, the first glance at the river
assured me we should have good sport. Instantly our fishing

TRIFLES FROM MV PORT-FOLIO. Gl
rods were got ready, and taking Jean Gros with us — a habitant
who had accompanied me on former occasions, we descended
the steep bank, got into his crazy canoe, and were ferried across
to the best part of the stream.
There was a large granite boulder in the river, in the wake
of which I had formerly hooked many a fine fish. At the very
first throw here I rose a large salmon ; but although he ap
peared greedy enough, he missed the fly. On these occasions —
particularly so early in the season — the best and most experi
enced anglers will feel a slight palpitation, arising from a strug
gle of opposite emotions — hope of success — doubt of failure —
and uncertainty and curiosity as to the size of the fish. Giving
my finny friend time to resume the position at the bottom he had
quitted, and to compose himself, I then threw the fly lightly
over him — communicating to it that slight motion which imitates
life. He instantly darted at the glittering deception, and ;^I
found him fast on my Une. After a moment's wonderment he
dashed madly across the river, spinning out the line merrily,
and making the reel " discourse eloquent music." This fish did
not stop in his career until nearly touching the opposite bank,
when he turned — made another run for the middle, and then
commenced a course of leaping, a yard or two out of the water.
This is a dangerous time, and here unskilful anglers most fre
quently lose their fish ; for each leap requires a corresponding
movement of the arms and body to preserve the proper tension
of the line. In fact, on these occasions a good angler will make
a low courtesy to his fish. I played this active gentleman fully
three quarters of an hour, when he gave up the contest, and I
gaffed and secured my prize — a beautiful male fish, in fine
season, weighing twenty-five pounds.
We continued at our sport till mid-day, when it became too
hot and clear. By this time my companion had caught a num
ber of large salmon trout, and I had picked up two more salmon
and several trout of the same description : marked with the most
brilliant colours We then crossed to the shady side and reposed
ourselves ; and having discovered a copious spring bubbling
through the gravel, close to the water's edge, we enlarged it
into a well, into which we plumped our fish and a bottle of
Hodson's Pale Ale ; covering it with green boughs. We then

62 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
employed ourselves in collecting strawberries for a dessert to
our sandwich ; and after lunch enjoyed our cigars, and chatted
over our morning exploits.
" Fionde sub arborea, feiventia temperans astia.
When the shade of the high bank stretched across the river,
we resumed our sport, and returned to a late dinner with our
caUche literally full of fish. A goodly shew they made, as they
covered two of Madame Chaperon's largest tables : the sum
total being five salmon, weighing 105 pounds, and 48 trout,
averaging three pounds a piece.
Next morning, after an early breakfast, we started for the
Chute, taking a tent with us, which we pitched on a knoU
overlooking our fishing ground. It proved, however, more orna
mental than useful ; the banks being so umbrageous that we did
not require it by day, and we always returned to our lodgings
in the evening.
Nothing mundane is without its aUoy. Our enjoyments were
great, with one serious drawback — the flies, those volant leeches
that surrounded us — and notwithstanding our defence of cam
phorated oil smeared over our hands, faces and necks — sucked
our blood without compunction. A fly is considered a stupid
creature notwithstanding his powers of observation, but our
Malbaie musquitoes were insects of great sagacity, for they
appeared to watch their opportunity to take us at a disadvan
tage, and when they saw us occupied in playing a fish, they
made play too, and had fifty spears in our skins in half a minute.
The little invisible sand flies, too, teased us extremely, and
those insidious black wretches, who give no warning, like the
honest musquitoe — these crawled about our necks and up our
sleeves, tracking their way with blood.
Another plague that annoyed us not a little, was the dogs on
the road from home to the scene of our sport; who were cer
tainly the most ill-mannered brutes I ever had the pleasure to
be acquainted with. Twice a day had we to run the gauntlet,
and sustain a continued attack ; each cur when he had barked
himself hoarse, handing us over to his neighbour. Horses in
Canada are so accustomed to this that they pay little attention
to yelping, unless some brute more savage thiiii the rest, attempts

TIUFLES FRO.M M\ PORT-FOLIO. 63
to seize them by the nose, when they sometimes get frightened,
and may run away. Once or twice we observed our sagacious
little horse looking a Uttle bothered at the assaults of one fierce
brute, who must have had a cross of the bull-dog in him.
This was a black and shaggy cur of great size, whose wont
was to dart at once at the poor horse's mouth. We had often
flogged him severely but he did not mind it the least, being
protected by his thick woolly hair. One day I put a long han
dle in my salmon gaff for his express use, and when the savage
darted at us, I watched my opportunity and hooked him by the
side, Louis whipped his horse, who by his movements appeared
to enjoy the punishment of his enemy. Away we went at a
rapid rate, the dog yelling hideously, and the habitants running
out of their houses at the noise, and holding up their hands in
astonishment. After a little we stopped and I shook him off,
apparently not much the worse for the discipline he had received.
Next morning in going to our sport we saw him at the door of
his own house ; and certainly no punishment could ever have a
better effect. As soon as the brute recognized us he put his
long tail between his legs — limped into the house as mute as a
fish, and never annoyed us again.
During our second day's fishing I had a little adventure which
was not unattended with danger, though such was the excitement
of the moment that I was scarcely conscious of it. Having
observed a large salmon rising at a fly in the middle of the river,
I got into the canoe and made old Jean Gros pole me out to
the spot ; kneeling as we were often obliged to do, for fear of
upsetting the unmanageable little craft. I soon hooked the fish,
and making my Charon stick his pole firmly into the bottom,
we brought our tiny vessel athwart it, kept our position against
the force of the current, which here ran very strong, and having
a fine range of the open stream I played the fish for half an
hour until he was quite subdued. M. Jean was then desired to
weigh anchor and push for a shelving sandy bank where we had
been accustomed to gaff our salmon. In pulling up the pole,
which was shod with iron, the old man, by some inexplicable
awkwardness, lost his hold of it — away the rapid stream bore us,
whilst the long pole was left standing perpendicularly, vibrating
still and shaking its head at us very ominously.

64 TRIFLES FROJI MY I'ORT-FOLlO.
Jean Gros' shoulders elevated themselves to his ears instantly^
and his wizened and corrugated face was elongated some three
or four inches to the obliteration of manifold wrinkles that
adorned it. It was irresistibly comic, and I could not help a
loud laugh, though it was no joke. We had no paddle nor any
thing else to assist us on board, and were running at six knots
an hour towards the jaws of a dangerous rapid. My old Voya-
geur after his first astonishment, uttered one or two indecent
oaths, like a veritable French Colonist; then, apparently re
signing himself to his fate, became paralyzed with fear and
began to mumble a prayer to some favourite Saint. In the
meantime some good-natured habitans, who had been watching
us playing the salmon, ran down the shore, parallel with us,
when they saw us drifting down ; flinging out to us every stick
they met for the chance of our catching and using it as a paddle.
All this time the salmon remained on the line, and my large
rod occupied one hand entirely, and prevented much exertion
in stretching for the floating timber ; but as for abandoning rod
or fish — neither was to be thought of for a moment. Once I
overstretched myself and canoe and all were within an ace of
being upset. At last success attended us — I secured a piece of
board, and the first employment of it was the conferring a
good sound thwack on Jean Gros' shoulders, accompanied with
" Ramez ! s  , ramez !" The effect was electrical — the
old fellow seized the board and began to paddle vigorously,
steering, as we approached an island, down the smaller branch,
where the rapid could be passed with safety. By great good
luck our co-voyageur in the water, took the same channel, and
down the stream we all went merrily for half a mile. The
rapid ended in a deep and quiet hole where the fish was soon
gaffed ; and after a little rest, and a coup of brandy to the old
man, notwithstanding his delinquencies, he placed the canoe on
his shoulders, I carried the fish and we returned by the bank.
The practicabiUty of passing the smaller rapid being thus
established, Wingfield, two or three days after, having hooked
a large salmon, and not being able to prevent it from going
down, guided it in the canoe through the same branch of tho
river : but, unfortunately the line caught in a rock near the
bottom and thc fish broke off.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 65
We spent a delightful fortnight at Malbaie, killing many
Bne salmon, and a great number of magnificent trout ; whilst
we employed our servant, when we were fishing, in pickling,
smoking, or salting them. But the season became dry — the
river fell, and the fish ceased to run in any considerable num
bers. Towards the end of July we struck our tent, embarked
in a large boat and proceeded twenty miles down the North
Shore of the St. Lawrence, with the intention of exploring a
small salmon stream, caUed " La Riviere Noire," which, it was
said, had never been fished.
The North Shore of the great Canadian Estuary, is an inte
resting field for the Geologist ; and it has not yet been half
explored. Indeed a comprehensive and scientific research
through both these great Provinces is yet to be made ; and
would, I am persuaded, develop great natural riches, as well
as many objects of curious enquiry. At the Falls of the Mont-
morenci, a little below Quebec, that river has cut through the
junction of the sienite with the superincumbent limestone,
and illustrated not a few of the recondite secrets of the early
history of rocks. At Beauport, in the same neighbourhood,
enormous quantities of marine shells in a state of remarkable
preservation — the colours even yet perfect — are found imbed
ded in blue clay. Farther down the North Shore, the country
becomes more purely granitic and mountainous to the very edge
of the St. Lawrence : the bold capes and head-lands increasing
in boldness and altitude, until they are interrupted by the sin
gular and enormous fissure through which the Saguenay runs.
The waters of this gieat tributary, beneath a perpendicular
bank, from six to nine hundred feet high, and only a yard from
the shore, are one thousand feet deep, and in some places no
bottom has yet been found.
It was a fine afternoon when we left Malbaie ; the river was
calm, and the white porpoises, those unwieldy looking creatures,
were tumbling about in all directions. We had guns and tried
a few shots without effect— the balls ricochetting off their
smooth and oily skins, whenever they struck them. As it
approached sunset our Canadian boatmen began a quartetto,
by no means inharmonious, though the voices were rough
enough — and kept it up with great spirit nearly all the rest of
VOL. II. K

66 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLlO.
the voyage. At midnight we arrived at the mouth of the river,
where we found a fine dry sandy beach, with a line of
creamy surf rippUng gently against it, in a wild and uninha
bited country. We landed, found plenty of wood to kindle a
large fire ; ate our supper, which we shared with our voyageurs ;
for which they gave us another song under the exhilarating in
fluence of a coiip or two of brandy. We then wrapped our
selves in our cloaks, looked out for a soft stone for a pUlow,
placed our guns by our sides, put our feet to the fire and soon
fell asleep.
The morning sun awoke us : we started up and took a re
freshing swim in the salt water, whilst our attendants were
getting breakfast ready. When the meal was over we prepared
our rods and set out to reconnoitre the stream, the banks of
which were covered with almost impenetrable jungle ; but, after
great exertions, we explored to the distance of four or five
miles, yet only got one small salmon, which my friend caught,
for our pains. The river, as far as we could reach, was a conti
nuous succession of rapids and falls from one enormous granite
rock to another.
On our return we disturbed a huge bear, who was busily
employed in tearing up a large rotten pine to get at a colony
of ants that inhabited it. We stopped and so did he ; feeling,
no doubt, as displeased as any christian, at being interrupted in
his meal. He then walked away, and as we had left our guns
at the boat, we felt no inclination to follow him.
Next day we returned to Chaperon's, and the following morn
ing visited the Chute, and found that a fresh batch of fine trout
had made their way up the river, low as it was, which afforded
us capital sport ; rising greedily at our salmon-flies, and very
lively and strong on the line — but we could see no salmon until
late in the evening, when we noticed a very large one sucking
in some small flies in the middle of the stream. We embarked
in the canoe, and both covered him, endeavouring to tempt his
palate by various flies resembling those on the water ; using at
the same time a single gut casting line, but all in vain. At
last, just before starting for home, I tried one more cast over
him, when he rose Uke a young whale, and 1 found him firm on
the hook. The tackle was slender, no doubt, but the delicate
fibre that held him prisoner was of the best description, and,

TRIFLES FROM MY POUrFOLIO. 67
though of nearly invisible tenuity, possessed great strength,
which the flexibility of a long and admirable rod materially
assisted. Great was the
"  oerlaminis gaudium."

during the exciting play of that noble fish, and many, many
apprehensions had we of the result. But the staunch O'Shaugh-
nessy kept its hold, and the tenacious gut failed not. Finally,
after a glorious struggle of an hour and a quarter, this magnifi
cent fish lay gasping on the sand. It weighed twenty-eight
French pounds, or about thirty-one English.
On the 3rd of August, we returned to Quebec with two bar
rels of fish, for distribution amongst our friends ; and I guess
if our utilitarian Yankee acquaintances had met us then, we
should have been less the objects of their derision.

FISHING EXCURSION TO JACQUES CARTIER RIVER.
A good deal of rain having fallen lately, we judged the time
favourable for a trip to Dayree's Bridge, a celebrated fishing
ground on the Jacques Cartier River. Accordingly, early on
a beautiful morning, the 5th of August, my friend and I set off
from Quebec for that pretty spot ; distant nine leagues up the
left bank of the St. Lawrence.
There are three roads to the place — that along the shore of
the great river affords one of the finest drives in the whole
Province ; and I particularly recommend this route to strangers
who like picturesque and panoramic views ; and who will not
shy at some tremendous hills they may meet — particularly one
at Carouge, which is like mounting the Simplon, only the road
is not half so good. We chose the St. Foy road, which runs
along the north slope of the elevated plateau between Quebec
and Carouge : from whence the prospect is singularly fine. In
less than four hours the voice of the turbulent river welcomed
us at Dayree's Bridge.
The Jacques Cartier takes its name from the great French
naviffator who once wintered at its mouth. It is as larjfc as

68 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLlO.
the Thames above the tide, but of a very different character.
Like most of the northern tributaries of the lower St. Law
rence, which take their sources from the wild and sterile
mountain regions, running several hundred miles to the north,
north-east and north-west of Quebec, it runs for a long way
through mountain defiles, impeded every where by chaotic
rocks, whose primitive hardness almost defies its power. At
length, escaping from the mountains it subsides into a tranquil
stream, flowing through considerable tracts of alluvial soil for
nearly twenty miles, where some lately established colonies of
Irish emigrants are now thriving. Shortly before the river
reaches Dayree's Bridge, it becomes extremely rapid, descend
ing three hundred feet in the course of little more than a mile.
But it has no longer the sienite or granite to deal with, and has
scooped out for itself a wide, deep, and altogether most singular
bed in the softer limestone, half a mile in length, through which
at all seasons, especially after wet weather, a most formidable
torrent tumbles and rages with the most picturesque impe
tuosity. A high wooden bridge, as handsome as its square outline will
permit, crosses the stream boldly a little below the commence
ment of this extraordinary natural canal. This forms a striking
point in the secluded spot from its height and position ; as well
as its perpendicular supporting beams, looking like a portcullis—
with the characteristic salmon-vanes at the top, Louis Dayree,
the civil lessee of the Fishery, for which — tell it not in Berwick
on Tweed, he pays to the Seigneur £5 a year — resides in a
white cottage at one end of the bridge, and his house is the chief
resort of sportsmen during the fishing season.
This very pretty glen is bounded by high banks, but whose
slope affords soil for a great variety of umbrageous forest trees ;
with here and there a tall pine rising above the thick mass of
foliage. The mountain ash grows in abundance. Part of the
rock, for twenty or thirty yards from the river, is only covered
with dwarf trees and shrubs ; and along its surface innumerable
little streamlets of the purest spring water, each in its tiny
channel, run sparkling from the bank. On one side of the most
rapid part, huge cedars growing out of the fissures of the edge
of the canal, fling their grotesque arms quite across it. Nor are

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 69
floral ornaments wanting in this scene of sylvan wildness and
beauty. Wild flowers are found in great variety and profusion,
Dayree's bridge is six miles from the St. Lawrence, and the
Jacques Cartier continues a most rapid stream all the way. The
poor fish consequently, have a rough journey, and when they
are caught here we constantly find the skin of their snouts white
and excoriated, and their fins and tail more or less split and
injured from being driven against the rocks in the course of
their toilsome voyage. But when they reach the lower end of
the canal cut in the rock their troubles are only beginning, for
there they meet a torrent of such magnitude and force as no
piscine power can surmount, unless when the water is low. They
are there obUged to wait, as at the Malbaie Chute, until a more
favorable state of the river may permit them to pass.
Alas, poor salmon-kind ! Like the hapless flying-fish which
escapes, the albatross and gull only to fall into the jaws of the
bonito and albacore — when they have evaded the tempting
snares of the angler, surmounted the lower rapids, and worked
themselves with immense labour through the terrible canal to
the very top, they find there is still an absolute cataract to leap
up, worse than all the past. Here there is a circular and lateral
recess at the bottom, worn out by an eddy, and forming a com
paratively quiet hole, where they are forced to stop for breath
before attempting to overcome the last grand impediment. —
Whilst quietly reposing at this place, dreaming of no evil, and
only occupied with their fluvial difficulties, they are mercilessly
scooped out by Louis Dayree with a pole net, carried alive and
with care to a reservoir of water, fed by a copious spring from the
bank, and only a few paces distant : into this they are plumped,
and left to moralize over their hard fate with their companions
in misfortune.
Here the captives remain a week or two, until a sufficient
number is collected to be sent to the Quebec market. Although
they have nothing to eat, and would not eat if they had, there
is no perceptible loss of flesh ; for like generous animals they
bear their imprisonment with philosophic fortitude, and never
repine. Yet captivity to them, accustomed to roam through the
vast deep, and make an annual migratory tour into the interior
of every Continent, must be a dreadful calamity. If cautiously

70 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
approached whilst swimming about in the reservoir, and then
gently handled, they will permit many liberties to be taken with
them. They Uke to have their skin rubbed or scratched,
inclining their bodies to the hand as a cat does; and 1 have
frequently availed myself of this penchant— scratching them
smartly, bringing away even their scales, playing with their tail
and fins, or putting my fingers under their gill-covers, where
they are most sensitive, and into their mouths without disturh-
ing'them. Considering that I have been all my life one of their
greatest enemies, it argues no little magnanimity to have for
borne on these occasions from giving me a snap.
The Canadians have given odd names to different holes, or
remoux formed by the eddies of this powerful stream. Imme
diately under the bank of Dayree's garden is a recess, worn deep
in the rocky bank, and generally shaded by the impending
precipice, called the " Troux noir." This is close to the bridge,
from whence the fish in it may be distinctly seen. A Uttle
lower down on the opposite side, the bank slopes at about an
angle of 45°, to within eight or nine feet of the water ; and
there the fish lie in a tolerably quiet eddy, where one may hook
them sitting on a ledge immediately over their heads. This
is caUed the " Grand Rets." Lower down is the " Petit Rets,"
and at the lower end of the canal, where the river expands, is a
famous fishing hole, called " I'Hopital," where the wounded
salmon are supposed to wait to be cured of their cuts and bruises.
For half a mile below this the fishing is good — the best being
immediately above a .sloping rock running quite across, where
the water makes a chute, or rather runs violently down a long
inclined plane, at an angle of about 20 degrees.
Having breakfasted and prepared our tackle, we proceeded to
our sport — taking different sides. During the season the place
is much frequented by the Quebec anglers ; but on this occasion
we had the river to ourselves.
The rain had swollen the river much ; consequently neither the
Grand Rets, which had always been a favorite hole, nor I'Ho
pital, were in a state to be fished. At last wading to mid-thigh
and in a powerful current, I tried the top of the Chute, and there
hooked a heavy fish at the third rise.
Sir Humphrey Davy was fond of salmon fishing, as every

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 71
philosopher ought to be, and has left his " brethren of the angle"
" Salmonia," a scientific and delightful little book, from the
same benevolent principle as prompted the gift of his safety
lamp to the Miner. Nevertheless, I opine that he could not
have been a top-sawyer in this art, since he forbade, and never
practised wading ; for it appears as incomprehensible that a first
rate salmocide should be at all hydrophobic as it would be for
a duck. But " aliquando bonus Humphrianus" — or whatever
is the Latin of Humphrey — " dormitat ;" and our amiable and
illustrious brother must have been very somnolent when he
placed his ban upon wading.
For my own humble part, I am half a fish from long habit ;
and though not worthy to carry the gaff of the great man just
mentioned, 1 presume to differ from him in this point, " toto
ccelo." My maxim is — if you are sound, wind and limb, (and
if not you should try some other amusement) don't be afraid of
the water, but wade up tc your shoulders if necessary to secure
your object, and the stream permits you — still with this impor
tant proviso — keep moving — don't sit down on the bank, and be
sure to change your clothes on reaching home.
But, revenons — hooking a large salmon on the very brink of
a water fall or strong rapid is a very nervous affair. Fortunately
you have the instinct of the animal in your favour, for he keeps
continually ascending the stream till his object is accomplished ;
and has, besides, in all probabiUty a particular objection to
retrace his steps down a difficult place, recollecting the toil it
cost him to get up, and how vexatious it would be to have it all
to undergo again. But a hook in his jaw would disturb any
body's power of ratiocination ; we need not therefore wonder if
Mr. Salmo gets at last somewhat bothered, and when he cannot
extricate himself any other way, if he borrows the aid of the
current and makes a race down the river.
I stood, as was said, mid-thigh deep on the ledge of a rock
and in strong water, when I hooked this fish on the very crest
of the Chute. So slippery was the smooth limestone, polished
for ages by the current, and so strong was the momentum of the
stream, that the question admitted of some doubt, whether the
fish would run down with the man, or the man up with the fish.
Certainly the water appeared to be growing stronger every

7-J TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLlO.
minute. Having a powerful rod, strong silk line, and treble"
gut casting-line, I immediately gave butt, as we technically call
easing the Une by a particular manipulation of the rod — and
found to my satisfaction that the fish was held fast in his original
position. After tiring him somewhat by a strain on his mus
cles for two or three minutes — one foot was slowly moved up
the ledge about an inch, and then the other, and thus we cau
tiously stole up the stream at the rate of a snail in good wind,
who might make three inches a minute. At length a foot, and
then a yard, was gained, and having now decidedly the mastery,
I began to wind up, and succeeded in conducting the gentleman
to a safe distance from the Chute. Then followed the usual
course of racing, leaping out of the water, &c., and once he
nearly got back to his old dangerous position. At last he suc
cumbed, and I flung him from the gaff on the dry rock. He
was a very good fish, fresh from below, weighing seventeen
pounds. My friend on the opposite bank hooked a salmon when I had
just caught mine ; and when resting for a minute or two, I had
the pleasure of seeing him play and gaff his fish in very good
style. After a morning's good sport, we returned to our lodgings to
dinner. Our fish were tumbled into a large cask of cle^
spring-water, fed by a little aqueduct, running across the bridge
from the opposite bank, which also served to cool our wine.
We then changed our clothes and sat down to dinner ; and I
need scarcely add, that, although we had provided ourselves
with the usual condiments, our sport and exercise furnished a
sauce for our broiled, or boiled salmon, which was infinitely
better. In the evening we killed three more fish and two or three
large trout. Before retiring we solaced ourselves with a cigar
or two, seated on the bridge, which, from the constant current
of air, created by the rapid river, always furnishes a cool posi
tion, and one commanding a good view, up and down of this
romantic ravine. The evening was beautifully clear and fine,
with the columns of the Northern Lights commencing their
varied and mysterious evolutions : and as we bestrode our bench
and returned the polite salutations of the passing habitans, we

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT'FOLIO. 73
enjoyed not a little of the legitimate " otium cum dignitate."
There was something piquant too, in replenishing our temper
rate glass of brandy — pawney, as the Orientals call it, from the
delicate aqueduct beside us ; whilst a torrent that would sweep
away St. Paul's, roared and raged beneath. When we retired
to rest, the voice of the river was softened to a lullaby — a piece
of very superfluous music.
Next day was Sunday — a day not to be desecrated by a
christian angler. After breakfast and a walk in the garden we
strolled along the river side, picked wild raspberries, examined
the curious traces and remains of old organized existence that
abounded in the limestone, collected bouquets of HairbeUs, or
borrowed its pitcher- from the provident Sarracenia. After a
long and pleasant walk we sat down on a high bank, command
ing an extensive view of the stream. The morning was deli-
ciously clear and calm — even the leaf of the Mountain-Ash was
motionless, and every object around us appeared to harmonize
in deep quiescence with the boon of Sabbatical rest, conferred
by its Creator on a toiling world. Beneath us flowed the now
placid river — its low and endless monotony telling of that
energy which first set it in motion, and bade it be
"  in omne volubilis asvum,"

as long as time should continue ; whilst the occasional twitter
of the Kingfisher, as it shot along the surface of the water, like
a line of blue light — the distant sound of the cow-bells, and the
cooing of the wild pigeon amidst the thick foUage of the banks,
joined in pleasing and appropriate harmony —
" Through glades and glooms the mingled measure stole,
Or o'er ' our favourite stream' with fond delay —
Round an holy calm diflfusing,
Love of peace and lonely musing —
In hollow murmurs died away."
But this was no scene for melancholy ; who, with a clear con
science could feel otherwise than happy and tranquil where
every object around — bird, tree, flower aud stream, and the
stainless azure that o'er-canopied the whole — breathed peace
and serenity — the holy repose of nature !
VOL. II, L

74 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
The rock through which the Jacques Cartier runs, abounds
in transverse and perpendicular and every kind of fissures,
which the severity of the winter frost and the action of water
have worn into curious caves and long subterranean passages,
such as are commonly met with in soft limestone. Into one of
these a branch of the river dips, about half a mile above the
bridge, and gushes out of the face of the bank, forming a pretty
cascade, the same distance below. For ages this stream had
brawled away " at its own sweet wiiy unvexed by man, and
formed one of the many natural beauties of the place. Now,
however, the avaricious barbarism of a new Seigneur, regardless
of the sacrilege committed against the " genius loci," has laid
profane hands on its cool and crystal waters, and turned them
into a mill-stream — tearing up and undermining one of the
most secluded and picturesque points to lay a foundation for
his mill. " Even now the devastation is begun ;"
the axe is lopping the verdant honours of the beautiful bank,
and the Naiads and Dryads, frightened at the Vandalism, are
preparing to leave the spot for ever.
For the greater part of its course, from hence to the St.
Lawrence, the river runs through a deep ravine, with steep,
precipitous banks, and a belt of forest on each side. Hence,
when the water is at all high, it is impossible to follow it to
any great distance below the bridge ; consequently, although
there must be many good holes, affording resting places for the
fish, and sport for the angler— they are Uttle looked after ; and,
short as the distance is, it has never yet been fully explored.
Having heard of a new place with the fine name of the
« Remoux St. Jean," I set out on Monday morning to pay it a
visit, accompanied by my host, Louis. At one part we were
obliged to creep for three or four hundred yards along a narrow
and crumbling ledge of the half-rotten limestone, with a high
perpendicular cliff over our heads, through which the numerous
springs poured on us like a shower-bath, and a boilino- rapid
under our feet. It was rather perilous work ; for in some
places the narrow footing, which the edge of a decaying stratum

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLlO. 75
afforded us, had been worn quite away, and we were forced to
cling as we might to the side of the precipice, something after
the fashion of a fly on the ceiling. We had taken the precau
tion of putting our shoes in our pockets, and the powers of
adhesion of our wet woollen stockings — like suckers — assisted
us admirably. At length after a long struggle and some un
pleasant slips, we weathered the point — cut our way with Louis'
axe through the forest, near the hole we sought, and were
rewarded for our trouble by a couple of good fish.
Although probably in our whole lives, considering the zest
its accompaniments gave it, we had never enjoyed a dejeuner so
absolutely perfect as that at Chaperon's after our disastrous
voyage to Malbaie — yet our breakfasts here were capital ; and
as we always started for our sport very early in the morning,
and had plenty of salutary exercise in running through the
woods, mounting and descending the steep banks of the river,
exclusive of the fishing itself; we returned with an appetite no
ploughman could surpass.
On the return from the Remoux St. Jean, the animal part
of our nature became very troublesome and clamorous, and I
could not help contemplating the certain sweetness of some
Yauxhall slices from the admirable Westphalia we had for
dinner the day before. The waking vision of their sweet dia
phanous fat, and high-flavoured lean, even haunted me when
shaving, and flitted between my eyes and the glass. But when
that disgusting operation and its concomitants were over, nature
could bear no longer without possible injury to the gastric
coats, and we sat down to table. There — " horresco referens !"
was every thing else — but —
" In the middle a place where the jambon was not,"
O, misery of miseries — the whole succulent and delicious ham —
manifest product of a high caste, gramnivorous pig, which had
lived all its amiable life under the shade of oaks and chesnuts,
browsing upon their nuts — had been feloniously abstracted from
the larder by some vile Philistine !
Next morning one of our best salmon was stolen from the
tub. O, Louis Joseph Papineau ! to our dying day will we hold

76 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
thee responsible for this outrage. Whilom, before thy pesti
lential politics corrupted thy simple countrymen, ironmongers
and locksmiths groaned and starved, for in the rural districts
doors were only latched. Securely reposed our clothes drying
in the garden, or before the oven— our viands in the open
cupboard, and our fish in the tubs— for theft was not. But
when thy compatriots were taught— and thou didst sedulously
instil and re-instil the lesson— that they were oppressed and
plundered by the strangers who had conquered them, and that
resistance to the " base Bretons"— as thy followers did igno
rantly denominate the English — was wise and patriotic — when
thou didst urge them to retaliate on their oppressors in every
safe and practicable way — to cease all commercial transactions
with them — to contribute nothing to their revenue — to cause a
run upon their banks — to confound right and wrong — call evil
good, and good evil — to prompt and shield military and civil
crime — desertion and smuggling — to loathe and scorn the Go
vernment — to sophisticate, lie, plot and rebel — is it strange — is
it not a palpable induction that they should have filched our
much regretted ham ?
Safely and cheerfully before thy fatal ascendency did Jean
Baptiste plough and sow his own land, and gather his grain,
and drain his sugar from the liberal tree — and carry his produce
to market and enjoy in his quiet home the comforts, and
even the luxuries of agricultural life. No avaricious Intendant
fleeced him as in days of yore — no tax-collector crossed his
threshold — no despotic mandate tore him from his family — no
wrong oppressed him, for the sway of a mild Government
watched over and shielded him from injustice. Decently on a
Sunday morning did he don his best clothes, get into his ca-
leche or his sleigh and take his family to Church ; and then,
after Mass, visit his Uttle circle of friends, and laugh, and joke,
and smoke, and fiddle, and fuddle, and dance all the evening,
and return to his white cottage as happy as a prince. But
when thou, evil tempter, didst with wicked industry disturb
the peaceful tenour of his life, and instil discontent with his lot,
and ungrateful disaffection to his guardian Government — the
uninformed simpleton listened, and believed, and was perverted
and undone !

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLlO, 77
By the middle of the week the river had fallen sufficiently to
allow fishing in the " Grand Rets," out of which I picked seve
ral salmon ; but one large fellow, who had been there for some
days, would repeatedly come up to the fly — reconnoitre it care
fully, and then dip into the deep water again, evidently not
liking its appearance. Where 1 sat on the edge of the rock,
was not more than eight or ten feet from the surface of the
hole, so as to enable me to see his motions very distinctly. I
tried various flies to tempt his palate, and even dressed some
for his express use — but all in vain. The fastidious gentleman
would tantalize me by darting at the fly, turning one eye to
examine it more closely — even touching it with his nose — but
he would never open his mouth.
Now, this was mighty provoking — and, unreasonable man
that I was — I often abused this wise fish for his entomological
talents, and, abandoning for the time every other object, a so
lemn resolution was made to catch him, by hook or by crook.
On the third day of the campaign, a most captivating Mal
lard's wing and Grouse's hackle was prepared — with a small
black head — two party-coloured antennae and the most natural
tail imaginable. Waiting till the shadow of the umbrageous
bank opposite fell on the hole, I took off my shoes, stole quietly
along the rock and sat down on a ledge close to the brink.
After a little, I dropped the new fly within a couple of inches
of the water, and bobbed it up and down, as if the insect medi
tated alighting, but did not much relish the thought of wetting
its deUcate wings and feet.
No salmon that ever swam could resist the temptation. Up
came my friend with open mouth — darted his huge muzzle out
of the water — took the fly in the air ; and then disappeared in
the depths of the eddy,
I was prepared for a desperate struggle, but not exactly for
what followed. After I struck and found him fast on the line,
he made a rush out of the hole into the main rapid, and, appa
rently having lost all command over himself in the frenzy that
followed the first prick of the hook, seemed determined to run
down. But when he had proceeded about forty or fifty yards
to where the stream slackened a Uttle on one side, and the eddy
forming the hole first began, I stopped Mr. Salmo and brought

78 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
him back into the hole, almost by main force ; at the same time
hallooing lustily to Louis to bring the gaff to my assistance.
For more than an hour I played this fine fish— bringing him
frequently to the edge of the rock lower down the hole, on
which Dayree stood, gaff in hand, ready to plunge it into his
side. At last, in a moment of comparative quietness, my Aide-
de-Camp attempted to use the gaff, but missed the proper part,
and only tore the skin near the tail, thus doing mischief unin
tentionally and maddening the fish, which made one desperate
running leap out into the mid-torrent and down the tremendous
rapid he went, at the rate of High-flier or EcUpse.
In anticipation of the possibUity of such an event, I had;
whilst he was yet in the deep hole, moved round a difficult
part of a recess in the bank, under some impending trees, and
was now ready for a run as well as the salmon. As soon, there
fore, as the line on the reel was reduced to its last turn, fisher
man and fish commenced a race ; in which the former would
have had Uttle chance, had not the latter relaxed his speed ;
and, apparently apprehensive of foundering against some unseen
rock, turned his head up the current, and thus dropped down,
tail foremost. I could then easily keep up with him, and even
wind up some of the line. After six or seven hundred yards,
we both arrived tolerably flurried and out of breath at the hos
pital, in which fine hole the fish brought up, and in three or
four minutes was gaffed by Louis,
After a week's good sport we returned to Quebec, and there
took the boat for Montreal the same evening ; which we
reached in high spirits, delighted with our expedition, in aug
mented friendship towards each other ; and feeling as honest
anglers ought to feel— in good humour with all the world.

TRIFLES FROM MV PORT-FOLlO. 79

CHAPTER XL

RICH VERNAL AND AUTUMNAL TINTS OF THE CANADIAN
WOODS— THREE RIVERS.— FALLS OF SHUANAGAM—
MILITARY EXECUTION AT CAPE DIAMOND.

¦ how profound

The gulf ! and how the giant element
From rock to rock leaps with delirious bound !"
Childe Hahold.
Both the spring and autumnal colouring of the vegetable world
are richer and fresher here than at home. Vegetation, long
oppressed by a severe winter, bursts at once into luxuriousness
and liberty, with the apparent gusto of animal sensation, as if de
termined to enjoy the genial but transient summer to the utmost.
In the autumn the juices are not dried up in the leaves by a slow
sereing process, as in England, before they fall off shrivelled
and discoloured ; but the first smart night frost in September,
changes the foliage at once ; with much of the sap still circu
lating vigorously, into red, brown, yellow, or other tints, as if
by a direct chemical or dyeing operation. All shall be green
during our evening walk, and in the morning the aspect of the
forest may be entirely metamorphosed, and we are presented
with the most rich and varied picture of different, but harmoni
ous hues, according to the nature of the leaf — its smoothness of
surface, strength of texture, and the age of the branch from
which it proceeds. The woods at this season present one mag
nificent and unrivalled Mosaic painting. The birch and the
white ash turn brown and yellow in a night — the butternut tree
adopts a buff livery — the maple becomes of a rich blood red —
every family has its own peculiar colouring, while the hardy
pine tribe leaf defies the cold, and preserves its green unaltered
amidst the general change. The nice grades of colour vary
infinitely according to the age and position of the trees, the
quality of the soil, the earlier or later cold weather, the severity

80 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
of the frost; with many other causes that have hitherto escaped
observation. There is no place near Quebec where the mellow and beauti
ful tints of the declining year are seen to more advantage than
the fine woods surrounding Lake St. Charles. This sweet little
lake has more the aspect aud softness of Italian, than the rug-
gedness and wildness of Canadian scenery. It is shaped like an
hour-glass, with a fine echo at the narrow part, a superb belt of
wooded hill coming down to the edge, and a grand back ground
of a triple mountain sierra. The pretty River St. Charles runs
out of it, and there can be few pleasanter rides than along its
banks from Lorette, as it tumbles in picturesque cascades, and
then winds easily through the valley ; spending its short life in
frolicksome meanders before its waters are lost in the St. Law
rence. In the month of September 1829, the Honorable Matthew
Bell, a gentleman residing at Three Rivers, took me up in the
Boat to see his eldest son, who was in a bad state of health.
Three Rivers is a straggling town, built on a sandy bank a little
above the confluence of the St. Maurice with the great river,
and deriving its name from the three mouths of this tributary.
My kind host has a comfortable, well kept, and English-looking
establishment here ; and is the Lessee of the Government Forges,
an Iron Foundery five miles up the right bank of the St. Mau."
rice, where he has a little colony of three hundred Canadians to
whom he gives employment.
Two days after our arrival we nsited the Forges. These are
situated in a ferruginous tract of country, containing a conside
rable quantity of superficial patches of bog iron ore, lying in the
vicinity of a forest which contains hard wood for charcoal. Mr.
Bell obligingly conducted me over the premises, and pointed
out aU the mysteries of washing the ore, fusing, casting and
hammering; processes on a smaller scale, but differing little
otherwise from what the Writer had before seen in Scotland.
Mr. BeU's workmen appeared contented and comfortable : they
occupied good cottages with a small plot of garden attached to
each. When we had seen all the lions of the place, we went to
dinner in an old French mansion, finely perched on a high bank
of the river, where wc joined the ladies of the family.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 8l
There was talk during the meal of a bubbling spring at the
bottom of the bank ; and the Writer hazarded an opinion that
the well might contain Carburetted Hydrogen, and would pro
bably ignite if fire were applied. When the gentlemen were
over their wine, the ladies, acting on the hint, made the workmen
carry down a pan of live coals from one of the fires, and when
we joined them afterwards, we found the spring blazing away
briskly, surrounded by a large group of the Canadians with the
greatest astonishment depicted in their black phizzes.
There are some fine Falls on the St. Maurice, about twenty-
five miles from Three Rivers. On expressing a wish to see
them my host sent for a canoe with a couple of voyageurs ; and
the next morning his son William and myself embarked early
in the morning above the Forges, and proceeded up the river.
The country through which we passed was one continued
forest, quite uninhabited, though the soil in many places was
richly alluvial and the timber consisted of fine hard wood trees.
We passed two considerable Rapids and at each were obliged
to make a " portage," when it was pleasing to see with what
facility our boatmen jumped out, took the light birch bark vessel
on their shoulders, and moved up through the woods, no more
encumbered than if they were carrying an umbrella.
The Falls of Shuanagam, seen when the river is in full stream,
are very grand ; and rank, perhaps, next to Niagara in this
part of the world. When the water is low there are three dis
tinct streams, tumbling finely over a granite bank; but, every
spring two of these join about half way down, and then as the
mighty torrents rush into each other's furious embrace, I don't
remember ever seeing any thing more magnificent. They
appeared about 200 feet high ; and the accompaniments of enor
mous rocks, thrown about in the most singular confusion — deep
caves in the bank, fine trees growing to the very edge, and the
utter solitude, and distance from any human habitation, give a
character peculiarly striking and interesting to these remote and
unfrequented Falls.
After admiring the secluded wonders of the place for a couple
of hours, I commenced fishing for our dinner. When half a
dozen of black bass had been caught, our voyageurs lighted a
fire aud fried them near the mouth of a hnge cavern, hung round
VOL. II. -M

82 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
with Stalactites, and the bottom studded with stalagmites like
enormous nails, point uppermost. The whole place is lull of
treasures for the Geologist; but our journey had made us most
unscientifically hungrj ; and for the present more inclined to
scan the interesting stratifications in our basket of provisions
than cold stone. Accordingly we set to, con amore, and opened
the first bottle of Claret that had probably ever divulged its
ruby contents in our romantic grotto ; and when George the
Fourth's health was given in a bumper, we had a Canadian duet
in honor of the Toast, from our friends at the fire. We shot
down the stream and the rapids at a glorious rate in the evening,
and arrived before ten at the Forges.
Our third winter in Canada commenced early and continued
long, without, however, favouring us with a pont across to Point
Levi, which is a great desideratum at Quebec. In politics, the
aspect of matters did not improve — on the contrary the financial
difficulties began to thicken. The Home Government were
willing to give up the King's Revenue, amounting to about one
third of the fiscal income of the Province, to the disposal of the
House of Assembly, on the reasonable condition of a small Civil
List for the King's life, being voted ; which should assure a
certain degree of independence to the Governor, the Judges and
three or four principal officers of the Government. But this
arrangement, however rational and equitable, by no means
suited Mr. Papineau, whose object was to concentrate all power
in the Assembly, and to have every officer, from the Governor
downwards, dependant for their bread on the
" Sic volo, sic jubeo — stat pro ratione voluntas.''
of himself.
Towards the end of the session, it was plain to close ob
servers, that Sir James Kempt was beginning to be not a Uttle
disgusted with Mr. Papineau, and to perceive that his own posi
tion, notwithstanding all the flummery and flattery at the begin
ning of his administration, was becoming daily more difficult.
Foreseeing little good to be done in the work of reconciliation,
where one of the parties was pre-determined to continue hostile,
like a wise man he abandoned the scene of present strife and
future mischief, and asked for permission to go home.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 88
Desertion is a military crime of painfully frequent occurrence
in the corps quartered in the Canadas. The vicinity of the
States and the high price of labour there, are sufficient induce
ments with the worthless characters that will be found in all
regiments, to overcome all considerations of honour, all sense of
duty and allegiance, and all fear of punishment. We suffered
less than several other regiments : but still we lost many men,
although every exertion was made to put a stop to this disgrace.
It would be the interest of the Government of the United
States, as much as ours, to enter into some inter-national ar
rangement for the discouragement and eventual suppression of
desertion, by mutually giving up deserters. They suffer even
in a greater proportion than ourselves ; for according to several
reports of different Secretaries at War, which the Writer has
read, the number of desertions has averaged more than one-third
of their whole Standing Army, for the years embraced by these
official documents.
We had one execution — the extreme penalty of desertion —
in the Quebec Garrison in 1829 ; for the crime had been
attended with circumstances of violence, and an attempt at
murder. At five o'clock of a beautiful June morning, the whole
Garrison of Quebec was assembled in the Ditch of the Citadel,
to witness the awful ceremony. When the fatal moment ar
rived, the prisoner, attired in white, and supported by two
Roman Catholic Clergymen — with his coffin carried before
him — moved slowly out of the gate of the Fortress into the
fosse, and proceeded past the long line of troops ; whilst the
band played a funeral dirge, and the tiring party brought up
the rear of the melancholy procession. The sound of the
mournful music was heard by the assembled Garrison long be
fore the head of the party became visible — thus the doleful tones
of the Dead March had full time to produce their utmost effect
on all present, before the prisoner came in sight ; and certainly
nothing could have been more impressive than the whole pain
ful scene. When the sentence of the Court Martial had been
read, and the last reUgious rites were concluded, the poor wretch
knelt on his coffin, two yards from the muzzles of a dozen loaded
muskets. The Priests retired — the awful word, " Fire !" was
uttered, and the lifeless body lay doubled across the coffin !

TRIFLES FROM MV PORT-FOLIO,

CHAPTER XIL

MONTREAL.— ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL.— RELIGIOUS
SCANDAL.— PICTURESQUE ROUTE TO KINGSTON.

" Homo sine religione sicut equus sine frseno." Sabell
In May 1830, the regiment left Quebec for Montreal. Dur
ing the stay of three years, the conduct of officers and men had
been exemplary, and the Magistrates addressed a highly com
plimentary letter to the Commanding Officer at its departure,
to this effect. The evening was fine when we embarked ; and
as the steamboat passed under the Citadel, its lofty ramparts
were crowned with the soldiers of the Garrison, and crowds of
the inhabitants, who cheered us repeatedly as we shot up the
river. These affectionate demonstrations were echoed and pro
longed from the heights above the Coves, amongst numerous
spectators, for a considerable distance above Quebec.
Montreal is a city of great merit and promise, built at the
limit of the ship navigation ; though even for this it is a little
too high. It rejoices in the pretty little mountain from whence
it derives its name — the pleasing Island of St, Helens — .great
intelligence and commercial enterprise, and a grand Roman
Catholic Cathedral of modern erection, which towers superbly
over the whole city, and is, I believe, the most majestic Church
on this Continent, east of Mexico. Montreal is built on the
southern side of a large island, formed by the Ottawa and St.
Lawrence at their junction. These two streams, although at
last they blend harmoniously, keep a separate estabUshment for
the first three or four miles after their union ; and at Montreal,
about a hundred yards from the bank, the line of demarcation
between the clear water of the St. Lawrence and the dark cur
rent of the Ottawa, is very conspicuous,

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 85
There is great rivalry between Quebec and Montreal, the
Queens of the St. Lawrence. If Montreal boasts of her moun
tain and her beautiful St. Helens, Quebec is no less proud of
her walls, her Citadel, her noble position and her magnificent
basin. The former may glory in one unique Cathedral — the
latter possesses two — such as they are. The drives round the
mountain, and through the He Jesus, along the Ottawa, may
be very attractive ; but Quebec points e.xultingly to half a
dozen cataracts and lakes within a morning ride : and if the
trottoir of Notre Dame and St. James's-streets, and the poplar
shades of the Place d'Armes be delectable for pedestrians —
what are they, compared to the walk round the ramparts ?
In the middle of May a little ephemeral fly, the Tipula plu-
mosa, makes its appearance at Montreal and the neighbourhood,
in prodigious numbers ; and at the same time the shad-fish
begin to run up from the sea, and are caught by hundreds in
the Ottawa and St. Lawrence. Although the fly and the fish
have about the same relation to each other as Tenterden
Steeple and the Goodwin Sands, yet, such is the force of a
coincidence, that the latter has given its name to the former,
which is only known as the shad-fly.
The water of the river here disagrees with strangers, and
produces unpleasant effects for the first week or two. Our
regiment experienced this to a certain extent on our first arrival,
but the inconvenience soon went off, and we found Montreal a
healthy and agreeable quarter. Yet, according to statistical
information collected by my friend Dr. Kelly, of the Royal
Navy, from authentic sources, the duration of human life is
shorter here than in Quebec, and both places are considerably
behind the large towns in England, in point of salubrity. The
violent extremes of temperature in the atmosphere, must here
try the integrity of the weather organs, such as the lungs ; and
can scarcely fail of being unfavourable to longevity.
The Roman Catholic Cathedral at Montreal, even imperfect
and unfinished as it is, with its two truncated towers — is a very
noble building. The interior, I regret to say, falls far short of
the majestic outside, and is finished in paltry taste. The stained
windows and the imitation of the Scagliola marble in the wooden
pillars are very wretched. Yet the vast space — the ever-bum-

86 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
ing lamps — the doors alvvays open — the gorgeous altar — the
pictures, and the constant presence of kneeling penitents, far
apart, each in his own little isolated circle of solitude — are, as a
whole, exceedingly impressive and imposing to the strongest
minds— how much more to the mass. Cleverly has the astute
genius of the Roman Catholic religion availed itself of the orna
mental arts to charm the imagination, and through the eye and
the ear, to captivate the heart.
The Hotel-Dieu both here and in Quebec, is admirably ma
naged by the good Nuns. I love French Nuns. They are a
distinct and superior race to all the other European Sisterhood —
most active and never to be fatigued in their beneficent labours,
and of pure morals. Indeed such was the utter vileness of the
other half of France at the Revolution, that the country might
have now formed a lake similar to that of the Cities of the
Plain, but for the redeeming virtue of many of the better sex.
The Canadian Religieuses have not degenerated ; and, notwith
standing the lying aspersions lately circulated, the establishments
of these Sisters of Mercy here are the bright points on the
aspect of French-Canadian society. " The early history of
Canada teems indeed with instances of the purest religious
fortitude, zeal and heroism ; of young and delicate females
relinquishing the comforts of civilization to perform the most
menial offices towards the sick — to dispense at once medical aid
to the body and reUgious instruction to the soul of the benighted
and wondering savage.*"
During our residence of a year at Montreal, I witnessed a
scene of great religious scandal with much pain. A quarrel
took place between two Presbyterian Clergymen officiating in
the same Church, and there was a violent contest in consequence
between their respective partizans as to the possession of it. One
party had got in — early on a Sunday morning, too ; barricaded
the door, and there were blockaded by the other, who endea
voured to starve them into submission. But the besieged held
out stoutly, and a supply of provisions having been obtained
through a window in the course of the night, they shewed a
determined front in the morning. All this time the crowd of
Canadians in the street were laughing disdainfully at these dis-
* Hawkins's Picture of Quebec.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 87
graceful proceedings, and enjoying this extraordinary spectacle
as a good joke. It was by no means agreeable to my Protestant
feelings to see persons of the greatest respectability committing
themselves in this serio-comic manner; and when I beheld a
most estimable medical friend, with whom I had dined the day
before, figuring as a ringleader in the fray, he appeared like the
blind Sampson making sport for the PhiUstines.
It is but justice to the clerical gentlemen concerned, to add
that they disapproved of these unseemly practices, and took no
part in them.
Early in May we left our pleasing Quarter for Kingston, in
the Upper Province. The route from Montreal to Kingston,
is exceedingly interesting and full of beauty. As an introduc
tion, the Lachine Rapids are fine objects at starting — then the
pretty Lake St. Louis, and at its head the confluence of the
dark and sluggish waters of the Ottawa with the silvery Cascades
of the St. Lawrence. From this point to the Cedars, the glories
of the latter majestic river develop themselves beautifully; and
at the Rapids below Coteau du Lac, the richly wooded pyrami
dal islands, standing firmly in the midst of the boiling stream,
as if defying its utmost force, are wonderfully fine.
Lake St. Francis is a broad, but unpicturesque sheet of
water — the shores tame — with one or two interesting Indian
villages. The course of the river, now become deep and narrow,
winds boldly up to Cornwall; and from thence to Prescott, is
graced with numerous rich islands, and full of varied beauty — the
finest object along the whole route being, beyond all question,
the stupendous Rapids of the " Long Sault," perhaps the grand
est on the face of the Globe.
They shewed us Chrystler's Farm, a scene of some bloodshed
in the late war, where the invading Americans were defeated ;
and our Cicerone appeared to suppose that this slight affair was
as well known to Fame as Marathon or Waterloo. At Prescott
we embarked in a Steamboat, and how we managed to steer by
night through the nineteen hundred and odd rocks, that are
called the Thousand Islands, without bumping against some of
them, puzzles me much. They are said to be beautiful, and
every body admires them, and travellers make a point of pas
sing by day Ught to see them. I could see little to admire. In

88 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
their prodigious number they are objects of curiosity; yet this
archipelago of sugar loaf islets, with a tuft of pine and rock on
each, is monotonous and tame. As an Irishman may say — they
are all twins ; for there is the same uniform abruptness of out
line — the same rocks and trees, and the same combination of
rock and tree, ad infinitum.
But we are now in sight of Fort Henry — presto — we are
abreast of it. Anon the three deckers on the stocks, and the
miserable remains of the St. Lawrence of 104 guns, make their
appearance — we now round Point Frederick and the Dock Yard,
and broad across the fine bay stretches a huge wooden bridge.
Before us is the good Town of Kingston.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 89

CHAPTER Xin.

kiNGSTON.— BASS-FISHING ON LAKE ONTARIO.— FALLS OF
NIAGARA.

" Thy walks are ever pleasant ; every scene
Is rich in beauty, lively or serene —
Rich is that varied view with woods around,
Seen from the seat within the shrubbery bound ;
Where shines th'erpanding Lake, and where appear
From Forests bounding, unmolested Deer." Crabbe.
Kingston, finely situated on a rising ground at the north
eastern and lower extremity of Lake Ontario, and at the upper
end of the extraordinary Rideau Canal, is a town possessing
great local advantages from this favorable position, and from the
deep water of the harbour, which is sufficient for the largest
ships. From these physical reasons — to say nothing of the
strength of the military defences of Fort Henry, or the excel
lent character of its inhabitants, Kingston must always be a
place of note ; and by and bye, when the wild land in the back
Townships around it is brought into cultivation, the shores of
the beautiful Bay of Quinte made the resort of emigrants, as
they ought to be, and the impediments to the navigation of the
Trent removed — this loyal and respectable town must participate
largely in the general prosperity of the neighbourhood.
The bridge is a substantial wooden one, six hundred yards in
length; spanning the neck of the Bay, with a draw-arch for
craft passing up to the Rideau. The sail to the first batch of
locks, commands a prospect of finely wooded banks, of mode
rate elevation ; and on each side patches of cultivated land and
good farm houses appear in rich and luxuriant relief. This
riant aspect is strongly contrasted with the gloom and melan
choly of the view on entering the Canal. The black stumps
of the half-burned trees sticking out of the drowned land — the
VOL, II. N

90 trifles from my port-folio.
solitude of the literally " dismal swamp"— the shallow, inky,
and fetid water, with its unhealthy associations, are utterly
disagreeable to the eye, and excite the most distasteful and
nnpleasing ideas : and it must be confessed that however advan
tageous to the Province this additional internal communication
and artery of trade may be, the inundated shores of the Rideau
add nothing to its beauty.
John Bull may have faults and weaknesses, but his generosity
and kindness to his own family, admit of no dispute. He con
structed this canal at an expence of a milUon and a quarter, at
least, of sterUng pounds, for the convenience of one of his
youngest sons, who lived a great way off, and complained of
being annoyed by the aggressions of a powerful neighbour.
When the work was completed, John, honest man, thus ad
dressed his child : — " Now, my good boy, your wish is grati
fied — the canal is finished, I make you a present of it ; only
stipulating that myself and my servants may take a sail on it
when we please, and that you and your people, for your own
benefit, will keep the locks in order, and not permit a work to
fall into decay on which I have laid out so much money."
What ought to have been the answer of Master Canada Bull ?
Surely the most grateful thanks and immediate acquiescence.
What was it only last year ? " Much obliged to you Papa,
but as you dug the canal you must keep it in order yourself —
all I shall undertake will be to make use of it."
This has been for many years an Artillery Station. We
found two companies quartered in a neat little barrack, clean
and very comfortable ; as that superior and most respectable
arm of the service soon makes itself every where — with a snug
cottage on a pretty eminence for the Commandant, and the
officers' mess-house on the ridge above, commanding a glorious
view of the lake and the bay from the windows.
Our regiment occupied three points here — the Tete du Pont
Barracks, Fort Henry and Point Frederick. For the first
month or two we were very healthy, but as the summer advanced
the malaria from the Rideau swamps began to act on the men ;
and we had a good deal of intermittent fever, generally of a
mild description, and that yielded readily to medicine.
After a few weeks, when we had looked about us a little.

trifles FnoJi .MV port-folio. 91
and reconnoitred our position, we began to bethink us that Lake
Ontario was celebrated for its fish ; and to take measures of
hostiUty against the black bass, which we heard highly spoken
of, as affording lively sport on the line and making a capital
dish at table. So I bought a skiff, prepared minnow tackle,
struck the top-gallants of my salmon-rods ; and, one fine day in
June, crossed over to Garden Island, sitting in the stern of my
pretty little craft, whilst my servant plied a tiny pair of oars.
I had a rod and line at each side, at right angles with the
skiff, and another Une astern. Having attached a minnow and
a gaudy fly to each, I commenced trolling along, with the stern
line rolled up as far as was necessary, on a stick in my pocket.
We had not gone a hundred yards when one reel spun away
merrily, and there was a bass of a couple of pounds on the min
now-hook, leaping out of the water most vivaciously. Before I
had secured this gentleman I felt a tug at my pocket, and disco
vered that another about the same size was fast on the stern-
hook. I caught him also ; and thus we went on, amusingly
enough, for three or four hours ; and returned in the evening
with three dozen of good bass, a few of which were four pounds
weight. The bass is an excellent fish — firm, white and sweet at table,
and very lively on the hook ; leaping out of the water like a
salmon. They are good either boiled or fried — at breakfast or
dinner, and make an admirable curry. During our stay on the
shores of Lake Ontario, I caught some thousands of them, and
ate them constantly without satiety.
In settled weather, we had a pleasant breeze from the lake
every day at eleven, which continued to blow regularly from the
south-west tUl evening : the cooler air from the surface of the
water rushing along to fill the vacuum, occasioned by the rare
faction of the atmosphere over the land. As the three principal
streets of Kingston are broad, and at right angles with the bay,
this lake-breeze played through the houses refreshingly during
the warm weather.

92 trifles from my port-folio.

NIAGARA.
I am now of a calm and subdued temperament, the result of
long effort and much reflection on the nonsense of giving way
to strong emotions, except on the most urgent occasions ; and
have for several years curbed my animal hilarity and natural
spirits with a mental martingale ; for, to change the figure, I
had been so often in danger of evaporating altogether in the
dog-days of my youth, that it was necessary to be well stopped
and wired. But, when I walked through the Pavilion Garden
towards the Table- Rock, and beheld an ocean of water moving
over the edge of the precipice, and flashing and gliding into the
milk-white and enormous pool below, with all the ease of a star
shooting through the sky — all mental restraint gave way, and
my inmost spirit burst out in long, loud and enthusiastic admi
ration. I have visited the Falls of Niagara four times, and on three
of these occasions, in company with ladies — for the view of any
thing grand or sublime in nature or art, is not worth two-pence
in selfish solitude, and unembellished by the sex — and have
noticed that the predominant feeling at first, is the inadequacy
of language to express the strength of the emotion. One of
the ladies alluded to, of a refined mind and ingenuous nature,
after gazing for the first time, with a long and fixed expression
on the sublime object before her, looked for an instant in my
face, and burst into tears. There are others so constituted as
to be fascinated by the spectacle to such a dangerous extent, as
to feel a strong desire to throw themselves into the abyss. A
lady of mature age assured me that this impulse became so
strong and overpowering, that she was obliged to recede rapidly
from the edge of the Table Rock, for fear of the consequences.
Here, the mind must have been momentarily deranged, by the
awful grandeur of the scene.
All grand objects, natural or artificial, grow greater under
prolonged observation. The vault of Heaven becomes more
immense to our conception, in proportion as the faculties are
educated to comprehend its vastness. So, on a smaller scale—
.St. Paul's— the Dome of St. Peter's — the Alps— the Ocean—

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 93
and eminently so, Niagara. I confess that, from early bias, my
first emotion at beholding this most stupendous and sublime
sight, soon subsided into a feeUng of profound awe and devotion
at the greatness of that Being, who poured Niagara " from the
hollow of his hand," and before whom its flashing mass is as
" the small drop of the bucket." In its calm, but terrific subli
mity, it absorbs, delights, fascinates and totally engrosses all the
senses. The ear is never stunned by the sound of the plunging
waves, nor the eye tired and- sated in beholding its majestic
course. It is ever the same, though eternally changing its
aspect, like the coronary glory of the Iris that serenely hovers
over the tumultuous waters ; as if mankind required here, more
than any where else, to have their diluvial apprehensions soothed,
and to be reminded of the merciful covenant of the bow in the
cloud. Buonaparte's favourite quotation respecting the close neigh
bourhood of the sublime and the ridiculous has here its most
remarkable exemplification ; for this glory of the Western Con
tinent and of the world, and sublimest of all natural sublimities,
is sadly desecrated by human absurdity. Every wall, and tree,
and door, and window, in the vicinity, is covered with initials,
and names, and dates, and details, and eulogies, as contributions
from the innumerable visitors. Lines, distiches, paragraphs,
pages and volumes of trash — in prose and verse, and all the
thousand gradations of doggerel, are diamonded upon panes,
and pencilled upon window frames and doors, and hacked and
hewed into the walls and benches and trees; both on the British
and American side, so as to overwhelm the whole neighbour
hood. In fact, I do not believe there is any spot on the Globe
where the true sublime of Nature, and the ridiculous of Man are
brought into such strong contrast and close juxta-position.*
There is a difference observable in these inscriptions, illustra
tive, perhaps, of some distinguishing traits of national character.
I noticed that the English visitors had been generally content
with leaving their initials, date and address ; whereas the Ame
ricans far more frequently appended some expression of feeling —
* The Pavilion has been lately destroyed by flre ; and thus some half a million
of commemorative aspirations after wooden celebrity and immortality, are swept
into oblivion hy the ruthless flames.

94 TRIFLES FROJI MY PORT-FOLIO.
original or in a quotation. The French, Germans and Italians
were unmerciful in their admiration, and sad monopolizers of
space. Some of the couplets and verses were respectable enough ;
but all the writers appeared to sink under the magnitude of their
theme. The majority of the original effusions, however, were
the most utterly abominable trash ; and after an ardent and
protracted gaze of intense admiration at the moving mass of
sapphire water, the eye probably rested on some such scribble
as the following, on the back of the bench : —
Father and I went to the FaUs
Along with Captain Goodwin,
And there we saw the knaves and fools
As thick as hasty pudding. T. OLIVER,
Boston, July Ist 1S21.

or

Good fellows, after all.
What is it but a small
Tarnation big water fall. J. BROWN, Syracuse.
May 25—1828.
and loathing started back to the Cataract.
The sensation in passing under the Fall is unique, and as if
the world was splitting to pieces about your ears. The tremend
ous voluminous mass of roaring water, shaking the deep-rooted
rock with strong vibration — the ghastly light — the whizzing
sound — the whirlwind of spray — the perilous footing and the
total isolation — are, altogether, inexpressibly grand and awful.
It is provoking that one can go no farther than Termination
Rock. Why might it not be blasted and a passage made to
Goat Island ? We see modern science effecting greater wonders
than this; and I throw out the hint for Mr. Brunei's conside
ration after he has finished his present undertaking. A Tunnel
here would be the fitting climax to the Thames.
The boating, not merely in crossing at the Ferry, but close
up to the English Fall, is perfectly safe, however perilous such
a vicinity may appear. The water boiling up from the abyss
has such a superincumbent quantity to penetrate that it is nearly
calmed before reaching the surface, aud reduced to such a state

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 9,';
of comparative quiescence as to be navigable by a skiff, out of
the immediate vortex of the great cauldron.
The view of the edge of the Schlosser Fall on the American
side, as you mount the long steps, is extremely grand and
extraordinary, and the curve of the Cataract appears so near
that you think you can dip your hand in it. The quantity of
water is not, probably, one-fifth of what passes down the British
Fall ; and the sheet is so thin that in the sunshine one can see
the rock in minute profile all the way across. This Fall is
somewhat higher than its mighty neighbour, but is ugly at the
bottom, where there is not water enough to cover the black,
unseemly rocks. A crescentic curve is forming in the middle,
from the sronger action of the central stream, and the reflux of
the thick spray from below, as in the great Horse Shoe Fall.
The bridge at Goat Island is itself a curiosity, and the man
who first pushed out into the dangerous Rapid to lay its foun
dations required the " oes triplex" much more than Horace's
navigator. Once, when staying at the Eagle, after two days'
easterly winds which dammed up Lake Erie, there was a great
flood in the river, and the water was still rising so fast that there
was much ground for apprehension, when we were crossing to
the Island, that the bridge would be carried away before our
return, and our communication thus be effectually cut off from
the world. The ladies of the party only laughed at the idea.
Dear souls ! they fret and fidget enough, sometimes for a trifle,
it is true, and the sight of a wasp or a spider might elicit
a scream or a fit ; but here they could look in the face the
mighty Niagara rising in its wrath, and threatening to isolate
them from humanity and not quail in the least. But Fate did
not decree such magnificent imprisonment — the bridge stood
firm — we paid our quarter dollar each and roamed about till
dinner-time. Never were any poor trees so barbarously treated as those in
Goat Island. They are carved and cut all over with tens of
thousands of names. We noticed one gentleman's appellation,
thirty feet up the stem of a very large maple, where there were
no branches to hold by, and which was too big to be embraced :
he must therefore have brought a ladder half a mile to climb to
immortaUty. The name of this aspiring hero is Phinehas Jamrs,

96 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
of Philadelphia, and the date of his elevation, 10th June 1830.
Who knows if he will not find a more enduring niche in my
book ?
Every thing is great or Uttle by comparison. The Rapids
above the Falls — so magnificent and admirable — are here lost
and eclipsed. In every attribute of grandeur, however, they are
inferior to the Long Sault near Cornwall, The burning spring
is fed by a column of sulphuretted hydrogen.
Our party found Whitney's Hotel much more comfortable
and retired than the bustling PaviUon ; yet the view from the
top-galleries of the latter is splendid indeed ; and I have sat
there for hours by moonlight, in a state of admiring abstraction ;
meditating and musing on the glorious objects before me, sof
tened and mellowed by the silver light. Then would discursive
fancy wander amidst the past scenes of life — cross the ocean —
weather the Cape, and revel in Hindostan — raising with her
wand the graceful and soldierly figure of my inimitable Hooke-
badar, Basthee Rhamm, with his magnificent mustachios and
reverential obeisance ; who, standing on the highest gallery
would hand me the silver-mouthed tube, wreathed in snowy
muslin, lined with the young bark of the Persian apple tree,
and redolent of the fragrant Nicotiana and the Rose. Whilst his
master would puff and gaze, and gaze and puff again ; until he
had finished the second chillum !
But chills, without chillums, being much more likely to be
met with in a cool north-west breeze at midnight — the riveur
descended from his altitudes and sought his couch, as the novel
ists say — and found it too ; phrases not exactly synonymous at
Mr. Forsyth's.
We drove one evening to the " deep cut" of the Welland
Canal : the road ran through a richly cultivated country, covered
with peach and apple trees. As we approached the canal, we
saw traces of malaria in the countenances of the people we met ;
and close to the bank, when we entered a house, we found the
man and his wife lying shivering in the cold fit of tertian ague,
which they had had for a fortnight. The poor people had
neither children nor friends, nor attendants to assist them.
After getting them some water to drink, I wrote a prescription
with a piece of burnt stick on a board, in default of ink and

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 97
paper, after the fashion of the stylus and waxen tablet — which
the man said he could get an apothecary at St. Catharine's to
make up.
At Buffalo, we saw a prodigious and most heterogeneous
assemblage of emigrants from Europe, on their way up Ijike
Erie. Except Spain and Portugal, every nation seemed to
have furnished a contingent.

VOL. II.

98 trifles Fl!O.^I MY PORT-FOLlO.

CHAPTER XIV.

MALIGNANT CHOLERA AT KINGSTON IN 1832,

Another plague of more gigantic arm
Arose ; a monster never known before
Reared from Cocytus its portentous head.
 with incessant toil.
Desperate of ease, impatient of their pain.
They tossed from side to side. 

¦ but naught assuaged

The torrid heat within, nor aught relieved
The stomach's anguish — then a ponderous sleep
Wrapt all the senses up : they slept and died." Armstrong.
The question whether the pestilence, which under the name of
Asiatic Cholera, had spread through the British Islands in 1831
and 32, would be able to force its way across the broad barrier
of the Atlantic, was mooted in this remote Province with much
interest, some apprehension and a great difference of opinion.
The generality of my professional brethren, with myself, thought
the ocean was too vast to be passed ; and that the new world
would continue happily exempt from the plague that was devas
tating the old.
Unfortunately these sanguine hopes and speculations turned
out unfounded. The cholera crossed the Atlantic, and poured
over Canada and all North America, like a destroying flood.
Indeed the mortality attending it was proportionately much
greater than in the mother country, or any part of Europe ; and
at Montreal the disease was, for the population, four or five
times more deadly than at Paris.
On the Sth of June, the pestilence made its first appearance
in Quebec, having been apparently imported with a ship full of
emigrants from Ireland. It proceeded up the river to Montreal,
where it burst out like a volcano on the 1 1th. Its course was

TRIFLES FROM MV PORT-FOLIO. 99
capricious and uncertain ; some intermediate villages being-
ravaged, and others passed over altogether. At Prescott, two
deaths occurred on the 15th, and on the 17th it reached King
ston. The Director General of the Medical Department, Sir James
McGrigor, mindful of the maxim, " venienti occurrite morbo,"
had providently issued orders to his officers early in the year
respecting the proper steps to be taken in preparing, as we,
as possible, for the approaching mischief; which my friend, Du
Skey, at the head of the department here, was indefatigable in
enforcing ; with the addition of such local directions as his per
fect acquaintance with these Provinces, and long general expe
rience elsewhere, might suggest. I have not the slightest doubt
but that many lives were saved in the Canadas, by the preven
tive measures then taken throughout this command.
As soon as it was known that malignant cholera had really
appeared in Quebec, it was plain enough that it would find its
way to the shores of Lake Ontario. My old friend. Colonel
Nicol, was our Commandant at Kingston ; and I well knew
what fearless energy might be expected from him in the midst
of any epidemic, however deadly. We first had the barracks
and hospitals most carefully cleaned and whitewashed : the
duties and fatigues of the soldiers were lightened as much as
possible, and they were daily inspected with great care by their
medical officers. The canteen was placed under vigilant super
vision, and preparations were made to isolate the barracks, and
to remove the married soldiers resident in the town, with their
families, to a camp on the other side of the bay.
On the morning of the 17th of June, a fatal case of un
doubted cholera having occurred in the town, these precautions
were carried into effect. A camp was formed on the hill near
Fort Henry, and the barrack gates were shut.
Although the cholera raged in the town for the next fortnight,
we had no case in the regiment till the 4th July, when two
grenadiers were attacked with frightful spasms — I was sent for
on the instant — bled them both largely, and they recovered.
Ten other men of the regiment were taken ill, and treated
in the same way : the agonizing cramps yielded to the early

100 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLlO.
and copious bleeding, as to a charm, and they also all recovered.
Encouraged by the result of thess, and several similar in
stances amongst the poor people of the town, I began vainly to
imagine that this plan of treatment would be generally success
ful ; and wrote confidently to this effect to Dr. Skey : but I
was soon to be undeceived. Three men and a woman, of the
66th, were attacked the same night. I saw them immediately ;
and the symptoms being the same to all appearance, they were
bled like the others, and all died within twelve hours of the
first attack. The spot which their barrack at Point Frederick
occupied, was a promontory near the dock-yard, the air of
which was vitiated by the neighbourhood of the rotting ships.
The company quartered there was removed to camp on the hill
the next morning, and had no more cholera.
The fact is, I believe that we had two different diseases, con
founded together under the common name of cholera, to contend
with : one of these maladies having very much the character of
tetanus, or locked-jaw. This genus was marked by early, se
vere and universal spasms, affecting every muscle, and causing
great torture. This appeared to be easily curable, and the
early bleeding in this peculiar and sthenic type wrought mira
cles, when judiciously and fearlessly employed. In the other
more dangerous form, when the malady stole on more quietly,
the patients sank early into hopeless debility, and here medi
cine was of very little avail.
We all heard wonderful accounts of the effects of transfusion
of saline fluid into the veins, and Dr. Sampson, the principal
practitioner in Kingston, and a man of talent, was determined,
as well as myself, to give it a fair trial.
We used it in twenty bad cases, but unsuccessfully in all —
though the first effect in every instance was the apparent resto
ration of the powers of life ; and in one remarkable case of a
poor emigrant from Yorkshire, life was protracted seven days
by constant pumping. Here the man almost instantaneously
recovered voice, strength, colour, and appetite ; and Sampson
and myself, seeing this miraculous change, almost believed we
had discovered the new eUxir of life in the humble shape of salt
and water.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 101
The appearance of Kingston during the epidemic was most
melancholy — " While the long funerals blacken all the way"
Nothing was seen in the streets but these melancholy proces
sions. No business was done, for the country people kept aloof
from the infected town. The yellow flag was hoisted near the
market place on the beach, and intercourse with the Steamboats
put under Quarantine regulations. The conduct of the inhabi
tants was admirable, and reflected great credit on this good
little town. The Medical men and the Clergy of all persua
sions, vied with each other in the fearless discharge of their
respective dangerous duties ; and the exertions of all classes
were judicious, manly and energetic: for the genuine English
spirit shewed itself, as usual, undaunted in the midst of peril,
and rising above it.
We had thirty-six cases of bad cholera — besides a host of
choleroid complaints, in the regiment. Of these we lost five
men and two women. No child suffered.
During the prevalence of the disease it seemed to me that a
number of errors in diet were generally entertained and acted
on in our little community. Because unripe fruit, or excess in
its use does mischief, all fruit was now proscribed by common
opinion ; and vegetables of every description were placed under
the same ban, so that the gardeners saw their finest productions
rotting unsaleable. This was folly ; for the stomach was more
likely to suffer than to benefit from the want of its accustomed
pabulum of mixed animal and vegetable substances. It was
proper to live temperately — to avoid supper eating, or eating
late in the day — as eight-tenths of the attacks came on in the
night — to eschew excesses of all kinds — but, above all to be
fearless and place confidence in Providence.
If, amidst so much distress, ludicrous ideas could be enter
tained, there was enough to excite them on this subject of
abstinence from vegetables. Huge Irishmen who had sucked
in the national root with their mother's milk, and lived on it all
their lives, now shrank from a potato as poison. I heard a
respectable and intelligent gentleman confess that he was temp-

102 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO
ted by the attractive appearance of a dish of green pease, and
ate one pea, but he felt uncomfortable afterwards, and was sure
it had disagreed with him.
The disease ceased entirely, and the usual intercourse was
restored between the Garrison and the Town in the middle of
October.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 103

CHAPTER XV.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS.- MONTREAL RIOT.— BURNING OF THE
CASTLE OF ST. LOUIS.— SOLITUDE OF CANADIAN
WOODS.— BASS FISHING.

- nee bellua ssevior ulla est

Quam servi rabies in libera coUa furentis." Claudian,
The course of public affairs in the Canadas had been lately
proceeding at an accelerating pace from bad to worse. Sir
James Kempt went home like a wise man when he found he
could do no good, and was succeeded by Lord Aylmer, a frank
and honest soldier, of a kindly nature. At first, as usual, every
thing proceeded quietly and harmoniously — the Governor told
the Legislature in his inaugural speech, that his first thought
when he awoke in the morning was, what he could do that day
for the good of Canada. This was, very probably true ; still
the formal announcement of his private feelings, a la Titus, was
unnecessary and unwise, for few would believe the romantic
assertion. But Lord Aylmer soon made a much greater mistake than
this Uttle bit of betise — he suspended a very talented man,
James Stuart, the Attorney General, from his functions, on an
address from the House of Assembly. That body was now
palpably engrossing all the power of the Province ; but as its
strength increased so did not its wisdom, for the violence of its
proceedings defeated their object. Its course of action towards
the objects of its dislike, Mr. Christie for instance, was barba
rously penal ; and after a fashion only paralleled by arbitrary
courts some two centuries past. " Castigatque auditque," was
the motto of the House ; for it punished first and tried after
wards ; though, as a favour — it sometimes granted no trial at all.
The British Government, although they condemned Lord

1"^ TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
Aylmer for suspending Mr. Stuart on the address of one House
of the Legislature, declined reversing the act, and that gentle
man went to London and fought his own battle with great
abiUty against successive Colonial Secretaries, for a period of
two years. In the published correspondence between him and
the Colonial Office, there was evidence of much talent; and
many persons believed he had the best of the argument. At
any rate they offered him a seat on the Bench in Newfound
land, which he declined, and came back at length to practice his
profession as a Lawyer in Quebec*
On the 21st May 1832, during an election riot at Montreal,
the mob became so extremely violent, and were proceeding to
such extremities in pulling people's houses about their ears, that
the Magistrates, having the recent burning of Bristol in recol
lection, called out the military and read the Riot Act. The
multitude did not regard these proceedings with any apprehen
sion, they believed either the soldiers had no ball cartridges or
would not use them. Under this impression they became more
and more outrageous, and began to pelt the troops with stones
and brick bats. The men bore this patiently for some time;
but finding the chances of having their brains knocked out
increasing every moment, at last fired and shot three of the
crowd, who then dispersed. The officers and soldiers behaved
with coolness and forbearance and fired no needless or wanton
shot. But for this well timed and energetic military interpo
sition, at the lawful request of the civil power, Montreal would
in all probability have shared the fate of Bristol.
The Canadians bad thus the first specimen of the dangers
into which Mr. Papineau's seditious harangues were hurrying
them ; but this act of painful though necessary severity, was too
good a " grief" to be overlooked by the Grievance Monger
General. He wrote on the instant to Lord Aylmer, denouncing
the Military, the Magistrates, and all concerned in what was
called " the Montreal massacre," as murderers, and peremptorily
demanding special inquiry and exemplary punishment. The
Governor was naturally offended by the insolent tone of this
communication, and declined availing himself of the Speaker's
iMi. Stuart was made Chief Justice by Lord Durham, on the retuoment of the
venerable and learned Clucl Justice SewcU,

TRIFLES FROM .AIY PORT-FOLIO. 105
proffered services in investigating the matter ; which was left to
the ordinary tribunals. Bills of indictment for murder, founded
on a Coroner's Inquest, were exhibited against two officers of the
15th Regiment, but thrown out by the Grand Jury of Montreal;
thus acquitting these gentlemen of any criminal imputation.
The Governor, very properly took no notice of the business
until the accused parties thus stood clear; and then, in his
capacity as Commander of the Forces, he issued a General
Order, in which, after regretting the painful circumstances of
the case, he praised the troops for their steadiness, coolness and
forbearance on this trying occasion.
The slight done to Mr. Papineau, in declining to follow his
advice in this matter, was the signal for open war on his part
and that of his adherents against Lord Aylmer. He was abused
as a bloody-minded tyrant, and every opprobrious name was
showered on him ; whilst the newspapers in the interest of the
Speaker put their columns in mourning when the Governor
came to Montreal. The Assembly, of course, took the business
in hand, and proceeded in Committee of the whole House to
enquire into the affair, which they had already pre-judged, even
by the appellation of the Montreal massacre. Witnesses,
chiefly on one side, and only for inculpation, were brought
down to Quebec, and kept there at great expense during the
session. On the prorogation in 1833, the enquiry was put off
till the next meeting of the Provincial Parliament, and then
resumed, and the witnesses again brought down. Notwithstand
ing all these prolonged and costly proceedings, the whole affair
died a natural death, for no report was ever made.
Previous to this unfortunate business, the Governor had un
wittingly given offence to the leaders of the Assembly, by the
plain honesty of one of his messages about the eternal " griev
ances." As he happened to be then making up a packet of
these numerous non-descripts for the edification of the Colonial
Office, he naturally wished to collect all he could before he sent
them to England. The House had furnished him with a good
batch ; but, there being still a vacant corner in the bag, he
good-naturedly requested them to rummage carefully every
hole and cranny, as some little unfledged imp might be over
looked, and prove afterwards a " grief" of magnitude ; and it
VOL. II, p

106 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
was his earnest wish to transmit the whole black brood to the
foot of the Throne. Poor Lord Aylmer then little knew that
grievances are indigenous here, and jump from the soil as thick
as grasshoppers.
In the foUowing winter the celebrated Castle of St. Louis,
perched most picturesquely on the top of the precipice above
the Lower-Town of Quebec, and for many years the residence
of French and English Governors, took fire in broad day-light ;
and although thousands ran to its assistance, yet the day was so
cold that the water froze in the hose of the engines — all attempts
to extinguish the flames were useless, and this remarkable build
ing was burned to -the ground. The conspicuous position of the
blazing edifice rendered the fire visible from a great distance ;
and when night set in, it cast its gorgeous reflection far and
wide on the basin of the St. Lawrence.
The Governor in Chief notified the calamitous event by an
official message to both Houses of the Legislature, then in ses
sion. The Legislative Council made, as was natural, a condol
ing and courteous reply — the House of Assembly did not deign
to answer.
But, a truce to politics. Let us change the subject for one
infinitely more agreeable — snipe shooting.
In some parts of Upper Canada this sport is enjoyed in great
perfection ; and even close to the town of Kingston there are
marshes where one may pick up twenty couple of good fat
snipes, in a forenoon of October or November. But it is hard
fag — the marsh being an extensive quagmire, covered with
long, tough, matted grass, which gets entangled about one's
ankles, and sometimes requires great exertion to burst through.
Besides, if by a heavier step than usual, your foot penetrates
the quaking stratum of thin soil, dovvn you go, and the extended
arms and the gun thrown across, are necessary to prevent dis
appearing altogether.
Nothing strikes a stranger more than the mute solitude of
the woods in Canada ; for no sound, except the chirp of a
squirrel or the croak of a frog, is ever heard in the interminable
forest : and these but rarely. Even woodpeckers are found on
the skirts of the woods only, close to cultivated ground, where
the sun vivifies thc insects on which they feed. Yet thc cause

TRIFLES FROM .MY PORT-FOLlO. 107
is obvious — the severity of the winter drives away the feathered
tribes, and the migrating races either remain in the cleared
country during the summer, or retire to breed in the most se
cluded depths of the mountain forest, far away from the haunts
of man. An oppressive feeUng of melancholy comes over one
in passing through the gloomy recesses of a Canadian forest ;
seeing at every step the decay of vegetable nature — bestriding
the rotten trees, and perceiving the Uving ones half-choked by
pressure and confinement, and contending with each other for
air and sunshine. No gay creepers entwine their trunks — no
flowers gem the ground at their roots — no turf covers the earth
about them. All is cheerless, and unadorned, and monotonous
gloom and silence.
In the young woods near the towns, the case is different.
Animated life and abundance of wild flowers will here be met
with, and the sportsman will find woodcocks and partridges in
respectable numbers.
During the summer our officers had good bass-fishing at
Kingston. The shores of Garden Island, Simcoe Island, Long
Island and Snake Island, afforded capital sport ; but the best
fishing ground was at the entrance of the Bay of Quinte, close
to three wooded islets exactly alike — called the Brothers. My
plan of operations was to start at day-light in my skiff with a
servant, and a little ark in tow to bring home my fish alive —
proceed trolling along the very pretty coast of the lake — pick
up every stray fish by the way — land to breakfast and spend the
day at the Brothers, and return in the evening — the distance
being only eight miles.
One clear morning in July, I set off from Kingston at sun
rise — rods all set — with three lines, mounting two of my
gaudiest salmon-flies, and a live minnow on each. When
abreast of the Provincial Penitentiary, I hooked a large pike of
fourteen pounds and caught him, to my annoyance — hating to
have any thing to do with his fraternity. He was put into the
ark, where he could swim, but not turn, and I went on my
way — securing now and then a bass or two, and tumbling
them into the same floating prison. The pike very soon shewed
symptoms of impatience, as the intruders dropped in ; and at
length became savage and attacked them. Then ensued a most

108 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
grotesque scene of fighting and splashing — for the bass is a
courageous fish : until in the course of the day there were so
many new arrivals that the voracious " dispeopler of the lake,"
as Gay terms him, was jammed in so effectually that he could
do no mischief, but lay at the bottom of the fish-boat — with
scarcely room to breathe ; like some cruel and deposed tyrant
fettered by his insurgent subjects.
I had excellent sport that day, and the lively recollection of
it still gives me pleasure. About two o'clock, we landed on
one of the round, verdant little islands, set in its shining circle
of white sandy shore — I roamed about, collecting a dessert of
wild strawberries, whilst my servant kindled a cedar fire and
fried fish for our dinner. We resumed our amusement soon
after ; and at one place got amidst a large shoal of bass, eight
of whom were on my Unes at a time, jumping about in the
most lively manner, and splashing in all directions. This was
too much of a good thing, for the lines got entangled, and I
lost time in setting them to rights ; so that we were a little
embarrassed by our good fortune, and obliged to take off three
flies, reducing our baits to six. We reached home at nine
o'clock, with ten dozen good bass and the pike.
The winter in the Upper Province is about six weeks
shorter than in the Lower ; but is much too cold to be agreeable
in both. They do not defend themselves so well against the
severe weather here as there : and double windows, so generally
used in the Lower Province, are not often put in at Toronto
and Kingston.
Our regiment soon became popular at Kingston. We flat
tered ourselves that we were well conducted, and it is certain
that the people were staunch in their British feelings, and well
disposed and friendly to the military. Thus the main elements
of kindly sentiments on both sides being in existence, it was
easy to bring them into operation, and a degree of mutual at
tachment sprung up. We spent two years very pleasantly in
our quiet quarters, partaking of much attention and hospitality.
The first winter made us quite acquainted with our new friends ;
and the second would have been still more agreeable, had it not
been shaded a little by the recent ravages of the cholera.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 109

CHAPTER XVL

TORONTO.— SIR JOHN COLBORNE.— HUMiMING BIRDS.-
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.

" If thou canst hate, as Oh ! that soul must hate
Which loves the virtuous and reveres the great ;
If thou canst loathe and execrate with me
That Gallic garbage of philosophy.
That nauseous slaver of those frantic times
With which false liberty dilutes her crimes.
If thou hast got within thy free-born breast
One pulse that beats more proudly than the rest.
With honest scorn for that inglorious soul
Which creeps and winds beneath a mob's control ;
Which courts the rabble's smile, the rabble's nod.
And makes, like Egypt, every beast its god." Moore.
In May, 1833, the 66th were ordered to York, now Toronto.
We embarked in the fine steamboat the Great Britain, amidst
loud and long continued cheering from our kind-hearted Kings
ton friends, and arrived the next day in the capital of Upper
Canada. The Indian names of places, are not only soft and liquid, but
exceedingly expressive ; generally condensing in one musical
word, the distinctive and permanent local features. Toronto,
in Mohawk, means " trees growing in water," and is happily
significant of the appearance of parts of the lake shore near the
town. This is a long straggling place, recently redeemed from the
forest, running two miles along the lake, where an inlet pro
tected by a peninsula, forms a good harbour. The water, how
ever, is scarcely deep enough, and depositions from the small
and sluggish river Don, a Uttle to the eastward of the town,
and the debris of the crumbling clayey b&nks, threaten to fill it

110 TuIFLEs fROM MY POKi-IOLIO.
up at no very remote period, if not prevented by some scientific
interposition. In 1794, the Duke de Rochefoucalt Liancourt visited York,
which then only contained twelve small wooden houses, whose
inmates, the Frenchman adds, were not of the best character.
A more questionable authority, Mr. Gourlay, sneeringly says
they have not improved much since. But this is a great mis
take. The population of Toronto, in common with the vast
majority of Upper Canada, is highly moral and respectable ;
and, so long as fidelity, forbearance under cruel injury, and ex
alted moral principle are esteemed in the world — this Province
must possess a high and honourable name. When returning to
the barracks from late parties in the town, our officers have
often been struck with the profound quiet of the streets.
The view of the city in sailing up the harbour, is pretty and
imposing. There are several good-looking buildings, a fine
high shore — much planting, and a grand back-ground of tall
forest — all rising scenically from the lake. But on a nearer
approach, I regret to add, that the eye has much fault to find —
principally with the architecture of the public buildings, which
are far more substantial than ornamental erections. The Par
liament House, built of brick, looks very heavy ; and has a
deep and disproportioned cornice — somewhat after the fashion
of a grenadier's cap on a child's head. The College has the
aspect of a manufactory, but will be soon hidden by thriving
planting in front. The Court House and Gaol are utterly abo
minable ; and I am sorry to say that St. James's Church,
although a large, weU finished and handsome Temple internally,
and always filled by a most respectable congregation — is, as to
its exterior, only in keeping with the rest.*
The Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada in 1833, was
Sir John Colborne, a man, according to the historian, Napier,
" of an extraordinary genius for war," and not less admirably
adapted for the discharge of the civil duties of a Governor.
His attention to public business — the devotion of his whole
time and all his energies, bodily and mental, to the improve-
• This large and commodious Church was unfortunately burned last winter but
IS now fast ns.ng from its ruins. The congregation has increased so much that
another Church will soon Ul- necessary for their accommodation.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. Ill
ment of this rising Province — his exertions in fostering emigra
tion, and assisting and locating emigrants — were so conspicuous
and unremitting, that they could not be denied by his most
virulent political enemies. His affability, hospitality and pri
vate virtues, and the wide spreading charity of his excellent
wife, though devoid of all ostentation, were necessarily well
known in a limited society like that of Toronto ; and the esti
mation in- which he is held in the Province, was signally
demonstrated by the universal tribute of respect paid to him all
along the road, when leaving his Government, on the arrival
of Sir Francis Head. In fact, his journey, contrary, I believe,
to his own wish, had more the character of a triumphal proces
sion, than the quiet progress of a displaced Governor.
I never had the pleasure of seeing Sir John before 1833,
although he was Lieut. Colonel of the 66th in the Peninsula,
and I had often heard there of an extraordinary and hazardous
incursion he had made into Andalusia in 1811 ; carrying his
Brigade through the very centre of the French cantonments —
marching by night, magnifying his force, and causing general
alarm and the concentration of large masses of French troops,
and thus producing a valuable diversion in favour of our opera-
lions before Badajoz. When we first dined at Government
House, we were struck by the strong resemblance he bore to
the Duke of Wellington ; and there is also a great similarity in
mind and disposition, as well as the lineaments of the face. In
one particular they appear to harmonise perfectly — namely ;
great simplicity of character, and an utter dislike to shew and
ostentation, I believe there never was a soldier of more per
fect moral character than Sir John Colborne — a Bayard without
gasconade, as well as " saws peur et sans reproche."
Our Regiment had its Head Quarters in the barracks at To
ronto, with detachments at four or five out-stations. The bar
racks are poor buildings, but agreeably situated on the bank of
the lake, a mile and a half west of the town. All the principal
people of the place called on us soon after our arrival ; invita
tions followed quick ; and our Commanding Officer, Major
Baird — being a veteran of fine appearance and most gentle
manly manners — the other officers, also, quite what they ought
to be, and the soldiers sober and well behaved — we found our-

112 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
selves in a short time far advanced in the good opinion of the
provincial metropolitans, and becoming favourites here, as we
flattered ourselves had been the case at other quarters. To this
desirable object the goodness of our band, which played pro
bono publico, two evenings in the week, did not a little contri
bute. For, notwithstanding the " segnius irritant animos de-
mis sa per aures," of Horace — people are caught by the ears.
There was an old gentleman. Sir W  C  , formerly
Chief Justice, a patient of mine at Toronto, who was sinking
in a general decay of nature. But his mind retained its powers,
and as he took very little medicine it became necessary to admi
nister a dose of politics in its place, by a visit for a couple of
hours' chat, two or three times a week. In common with most
intelUgent men here, he deprecated the policy of the Home
Government, in the countenance they gave every needy and
noisy demagogue who went home and brawled against the Pro
vincial Administration. My old patient informed me that he
had presided at the trial of the young gentlemen who had so
unwisely, and — for the interests of the Province, so unfortu
nately—burst into Mackenzie's office, and destroyed his Press
and Types for libelUng their friends in his paper, just as he was
on the point of leaving Upper Canada. One of these young men
was the Judge's nephew; and Mackenzie had often said that he
knew Sir W  would charge the Jury unfavourably for
the Plaintiff. His surprise, therefore, must have been conside
rable when he heard the outrage stigmatized as it deserved to
be from the Bfench, and the Jury advised to give Mr. Mackenzie
ample damages for the destruction of his property.
My worthy patient became very weak towards the end of the
year— his nights were restless— his appetite began to fail, and
he could only relish tid bits. Medicine was tried fruitlessly, so
his Doctor prescribed snipes. At the point of the sandy penin
sula opposite the barracks, are a number of Uttle pools and
marshes, frequented by these delectable Uttle birds; and here
I used to cross over in my skiff and pick up the Chief Justice's
panacea. On this deUcate food the poor old gentleman was
supported for a couple of months: but the frost set in-the
snipes flew away, and Sir W  . died.
There is a prodigious migration of pigeons in summer from

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 113
the Southern States of America to the Canadian forests. Cros
sing over the upper end of Lake Ontario, innumerable columns
of them hit the land close to the barracks, and continue to pass
over in quick succession of flocks for three or four days. Many
of these poor birds are quite young — the down on their bodies
being still visible, and their tails not grown. The young birds,
yet fearless of man, used to fly so close to the ground as to be
knocked down by the soldiers with sticks ; but the old ones,
known by their long tails, kept their course high in the air.
The slaughter about the barracks, and on the large common
between them and the town, was enormous, and the whole
country was covered with sharp-shooters during the time the
birds were passing.
We had a garden belonging to the Mess at the barracks, in
which there were a good number of fruit trees ; and when we
arrived these were in blossom, and appeared to be objects of
great desire to the humming birds. I watched their manoeuvres
every morning with great pleasure, about one large pear tree,
although these beautiful little creatures flit about so rapidly as
to require sharp sight to follow them, and manage to rifle the
blossoms and flowers of their treasure always on the wing.
What a pity the tiny beauties do not sing. It is also matter of
regret that the early poets were ignorant of their existence.
How delicately Shakspeare would have handled them — arranging
them, perhaps, in a band, with Ariel as their leader, ethereal
enough even for Oberon and Titania.
Salmon ascend the St. Lawrence to Lake Ontario, and are
often speared or caught in nets on its shores. I ate of them
several times at Toronto ; but the fish is much deteriorated by
the fatiguing journey up the rapids, and loses much of its pink
colour and fine flavour. There is a large trout in the lake that
resembles the salmo salar a good deal, and passes for that
princely fish with the uninitiated. To the practised eye the
difference is at once apparent in the greater size of the head —
the duller colour — the different number of rays in the fins, and
the shape of the tail.
The Provincial Parliament met in November 1833, and our
officers frequently attended to hear the debates. The former
^'0L. II. Q

Ill TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
House of Assembly had been of what are called liberal politics;
but at the late election, a number of the members had been
displaced, and this House had a conservative character.
Mr. Mackenzie having foully libelled the whole of the Le
gislature in his newspaper, which he had the impudence to
transmit to every member of the Assembly — was expelled the
House ; again elected two or three times, and as he shewed no
contrition and would make no apology, he was as often expelled.
Finding that he could not accomplish his object in the regular
way, nor induce Sir John Colborne to dissolve the Assembly,
he came down at the head of a mob to take possession of his
seat, vi et armis. But the Speaker was firm— the gallery was
cleared, and the House went on coolly and regularly with its
proceedings. A day or two after, this pertinacious creature, watching an
opportunity when the Serjeant at Arms was off his guard, glided
into the House unnoticed by that functionary, and took pos
session of his seat; when I chanced to be present, and was
infinitely amused by the scene that followed. As soon as the
stout, and rather stern-looking Sergeant at Arms discovered the
trick that had been played upon him, he advanced with a for
midable frown on his brow towards the intruder's chair, with
the evident intention of taking him into custody ; but Mackenzie
started up and ran towards the door, and attempted to make bis
escape. It was in vain — the Serjeant secured his prisoner, and
giving him a shake to keep him quiet, led him to the Bar, and
awaited the pleasure of the House.
The Writer for some time stood next the culprit, and seldom
saw a more contemptible looking little man. The only features
in his face that shewed any power or expression were his eyes,
which immediately brought to mind the optics of our old friends
the Cobras de Capello ; for they had exactly the same red ap
pearance, fierceness and malignity.
At this time Mackenzie was very desirous of reacting a Uttle
poUtical martyrdom, and dying to be sent to prison. But the
House knew their man and his object, and would not gratify
him by any severe measure. He was merely reprimanded and
discharged.

TRIFLES FRO.M .MY PORT-FOLIO. 115
When we were at Toronto, Mr. Bidwell was, notwithstanding
his "  Nasal twang heard at conventicle,"

the best speaker in the House : Mr. Hagerman was said to be
an orator of considerable power, but he was in England. In
the Legislative Council the Speaker, Chief Justice Robinson,
shone conspicuously as an orator and a highly talented man. He
is moreover, most pleasing and gentlemanly in private society —
a man who would distinguish himself any where, and might in
England aspire to the Woolsack.
However it has been decried from political reasons, I am
persuaded that the College of Toronto is most highly respecta
ble — under wise regulations, affording both good and cheap
education, and altogether of vast utility to the best interests of
the Province. Several of the alumni have risen to literary dis
tinction. The annual recitations and distribution of prizes were
usually honoured by the presence of the Lieutenant Governor,
and many of the respectable inhabitants of Toronto. One thing,
however, is much wanted here, a chartered Medical Institution;
and as there are several able men, and good clinical facilities at
the hospital, it is to be hoped that those parents who wish to
train their children to the Healing Art, may not be much longer
obliged to send them to the States for this purpose.*
We were ordered back to Kingston in Ma)' 18-34. The regi
ment embarked in the most perfect state of order and sobrietjr,
and returned in the middle of the month to our good and quiet
quarters. * Faculties of Physic, Surgery, &c., have been organized by Statute at Toronto
lately, and Sir John Colborne has graced the close of his Administration in the
Lower Province, by laying the first stone of McGill College at Montreal ; which
will also, I hope, embrace Medical Professorships, and be endowed with legal
power to grant the highest therapeutic degrees and honors. This celebrated city
too, with its able Medical men, fine port, large population, and well conducted and
capacious hospitals — altogether constituting pathological and surgical facilities far
superior to Toronto, and equal to Montreal — must soon, in like manner, I trust,
possess within itself the means of obtaining a Professional Education of the first
order. This ought to be deemed an object of the highest interest — such Institutions
being not only valuable to the community, considered with relation to health, but
reflecting lustre on comparatively obscure places, and raising others, already of
note, to the greatest distinction. .To the Medical School of Edinburgh, that beau
tiful city is mainly indebted for its present prosperity, and the eminent men who
filled the Professors' Chairs — the CuUens, Munros, Gregorys, &c., were the real
aichitects of those superb stieets and squares that aie unrivallud in Grtal Britain.

116 TRIFLES FROM MY FORT-FOLIO.

CHAPTER XVn.

CHOLERA OF 1834.-BEAUTIFUL BAY OF QUINTE.-EM-
BARKATION FOR QUEBEC.

" Nothing but lamentable sounds was heard.
Nor aught was teeii but ghastly views of death :
Infectious horror ran from face to face.
And pale despair."  Armstrong.
Our numerous friends in Kingston received us on our return
with a warm welcome. Our former stay of two years in their
kind-hearted town had produced an almost affectionate inti
macy. The place had improved in appearance, and several
substantial houses, including a bank, had been built in the in
terval of our absence.
Again the two Provinces were destined to suffer severely from
an invasion of cholera ; and once more there were very discor
dant opinions amongst medical men as to the probable mischief
it would occasion. Many persons supposed that the character
of the disease was changing, and that its malignancy was on the
decline generally throughout the world — consequently we should
have it Ught this year. Besides, it was natural to suppose that
its pathology was now better understood than formerly, and that
the practice would be more successful. Now, though the com
munity, generally, were less frightened than during the first
epidemic, and paid more attention to preventive measures and
the premonitions of the malady, and perhaps the practice was
better — it turned out that the second attack of the pestilence
was more fatal than the first. This town, with a population of
about five thousand, lost two hundred in 1832, whilst not less
than three hundred were carried off in 1834.
According to my own observation, the latter epidemic had
more of the asthenic character than the former — that is to say, it

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 117
was more marked by symptoms of debility and jirostration im
mediately after the first attack, and less by violent spasms and
extreme distress. It was thus more insidious and dangerous,
and the patients sank sooner into a state of utter hopelessness.
The same general feeling of discomfort and malaise was preva
lent as before, and every one complained of loss of appetite and
vigor, with nocturnal restlessness, or sleep without refreshment.
I again noticed a ferruginous taste in the air ; and this was
observed in Paris and some other places in 1832. Fortunately
the disease broke out late in the summer : the first case occur
red at Kingston on the 26th of July.
Warned by the experience of 18.32, no time was lost in iso
lating the Garrison as much as possible. When the first case
of malignant cholera took place in the town, the barrack gates
were shut as formerly — the married soldiers living in lodgings
with their families, were encamped near Fort Henry, on the
same ground as before. The Royal Artillery having become
sickly, were also sent to camp. These measures proved highly
useful — the health of the numerous women and children was
preserved, and that of the Artillery restored.
A strict hygeian police was established and sedulously main
tained in the regiment, with the object of watching and crushing
the first germ of the malady. Any deviation from the men's
ordinary habits was at once noticed by steady non-commis
sioned officers appointed for this purpose, and reported to the
surgeons. They were directed to observe the men at their
meals carefully, and give notice if they should perceive loss of
appetite in any individual. Drills and parades were disconti
nued, and all duties made as light as possible ; but the men
were marched a short distance in the cool of the evening by the
Adjutant, after medical inspection. On hot days they were
permitted to amuse themselves, and cool the barracks by water
ing them and the square in which they stood with a fire engine,
in which they enjoyed themselves much, making jets d'eau in
the air ad libitum. Cleanliness of person, clothing, bedding
and barrack rooms, was strictly enjoined and maintained. The
men were allowed to take reasonable rest in the morning, and
their sleep at that hour, which is generally the most refreshing
after a hot night in a barrack room, was not abridged under a

118 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
mistaken notion of the advantage of extreme early rising. No
fastidiousness was practised as to their diet, wliich was not
changed— the Writer conceiving, as before mentioned, that the
stomach would be more liable to get out cf order if deprived of
the vegetables grateful to it, and to which it had been accus
tomed, than if they were permitted to be used. The canteen—
that fruitful source of regimental mischief— was placed under
strict watchfulness, and intemperance prevented as much as
possible. It ought to be added that in this respect, and indeed
every other, the conduct of the soldiers of the regiment during
both epidemics was eminently good.
With these precautions, and early attention to premonitory
abdominal disturbances, the disease touched us Ughtly, and we
had only eight adult cases of cholera out of seven hundred and
sixty-nine individuals. However, we had, besides, a host of
bowel complaints, many of which, no doubt, would have merged
in the pestilence but for early treatment. This was a ratio
about twenty-fold less than amongst the civil population ; and
our total loss was fifty-fold less, or thereabouts ; being only one
man and two children.
There was a material difference at Kingston between the
practice of 1832 and 1834. Laudanum, brandy and other sti
mulants, were administered now much more sparingly than
before ; when, probably, they had been used too freely. Bleed
ing, also, was not so common ; for those violent tetanic spasms
which it had so frequently relieved in the former year, were not
now so general. Calomel had been given then very largely,
but was now used less indiscriminately. In 1834, acetate of
lead was employed in some nearly hopeless cases with benefit,
and Dr. Sampson, a clever and most worthy man, to whom I am
under great obligations for professional assistance, found it
highly useful in the last stages of the disease.
The Writer's favourite remedy was castor oil combined with
a small quantity of laudanum, given in some grateful and demul
cent fluid, as hot as possible — making the patient Ue on his right
side for the assistance of gravitation towards the pylorus. In
some hundred cases, on this and the former occasion, he wit
nessed the most exceUent effects from this remedy ; and, more
over, experienced them himself in the early stage of two attacks

TRIFLES rRO:\l .MV PORT-FOLIO. I 19
of cholera he had at Kingston. Once, when attending a gentle
man who died of the disease, the Writer was conscious of the
very moment when he contracted it by the patient's bed-side —
instantly went home and to bed, and took the oil and lauda>
num — when five minutes' delay might have cost him his life.
For some time there was a terrible internal conflict — the heart
and whole system laboured tumultuously, and the balance ap
peared to vibrate between the fatal rush of serum, or the thin
fluid of the blood, to the coats of the intestines, and a salutary
determination to the exterior. All this time the pulse could not
be counted, and the feeling of anxiety and oppression was
dreadful. At length the circulation became calmer ; the shriv-
eUing skin swelled out with grateful heat and warm moisture,
and the crisis was past. Here, and in many similar instances,
like oil on a stormy sea, this invaluable medicine soothed the
internal commotion and effected a calm.
As on the former occasion, the conduct of the manly and
intelligent community of Kingston was becoming the character
of their town. Nobody shrank from kind offices to the sick —
nobody ran away — a health committee sat daily, and the Doctors
and Clergy of all persuasions did their duty nobly as before.
Although we have seen cholera following roads and rivers,
and the great lines of human intercourse in various parts of the
world, it has often left some favoured spots untouched in a very
capricious and unaccountable manner. In England, Exeter was
never visited by the disease, though it prevailed in the neigh
bourhood. During the invasion here in 1834, the south shore
of Lake Ontario was exempt, but not the north. Opposite to
Kingston is a village on a height, called Barriefield, where
numerous deaths took place from cholera ; and another village
or hamlet, half a mile distant and on a level with the lake, where
the malady did not shew itself at all. We found it sticking
pertinaciously to some houses, and occurring in them again and
again ; and those elevated parts of the town which had always
been considered the most healthy suffered the most. By the
middle of September the health of Kingston was restored, but
half the inhabitants were in mourning.
It was necessary to relax and refresh a little after the anxieties
and duties of those frightful times, when life was held by a

120 TRIFLES FROM MY POR'l -FOLIO.
tenure little better than a day's, or even an hour's purchase.
I went, therefore, on a visit to some friends residing on the
Bay of Quinte, having been promised good snipe shooting in
that quarter.
The shores of this extensive and beautiful arm of Lake Ontario
are beyond all question the most pleasing and best cultivated
section of the whole Canadian coast of the lake. But this has
been settled for many years, and the farms approach those of
England and the south of Scotland in their appearance, and in
skilful husbandry : on all sides we see neat and warm farm
houses, extensive orchards, abundance of cattle, good fences, and
a general air of snugness and comfort. Whilst staying with my
friend, the Rev. Wm. Macaulay at Picton, I was much struck
with the appearance of that pretty village at the head of a
navigable creek ; sheltered in the bosom of a high, bold, and
richly wooded hill — with its imposing Court House, modest
Church and quiet Parsonage. From the top of this fine hiU, or
rather mountain, is a most extensive view of the diversified
shores, promontories, creeks and sinuosities of this great Bay.
The day after my arrival, another gentleman and I went to
shoot in a marsh near the village of Wellington, seven miles
from Picton. The day turned out singularly dark and gloomy,
though without rain — the sky was like bronze, with here and
there a patch better polished than the rest. We could scarcely
see the snipes sometimes, but still had good sport — meeting
with an extraordinary number, of great size and fatness — of
which we bagged forty couple. After the first shots we disco
vered two hawks attending us, who continued our companions
the whole day ; hovering around as if on the watch for any birds
we might miss : in fact they pursued and killed some of them
before our eyes, though they always managed to keep out of
range themselves. The falconry sometimes was most interest
ing — the snipes flew strong and swiftly, and doubled beautifully;
but their fine condition for the table was against them ; they
were thick winded and far too fat for a race.
1 afterwards spent a week with the Rev. John Grier, at the
Carrying Place ; a Clergyman whose humble and secluded man
sion, happy family, exemplary life, diligent ministrations, and

FRIPLF.S FROM MV PORT-FOLIO. 121
affectionate intercourse with his rural flock, realize in his remote
circle the well known picture of Goldsmith's Minister :
" The service past, around the pious man
With ready zeal each honest rustic ran ;
Even children followed with endearing wile.
And plucked his gown to share the good man's smile.
His ready smile a parent's warmth eiprest.
Their welfare pleased him and their cares distrest —
To them his heart, his love, his griefs were given,
But all his serious thoughts had rest in Heaven.
As some tall cliff  ."*
Until these visits, I had an imperfect idea of the extent of
cultivation and general fertility of the country adjacent to the
Bay of Quinte. Yet such is the unwise ardor for pushing on
tothe far and unhealthy West of a strange and foreign country,
that this quiet, salubrious and fertile nook, with its moral popu
lation, thousands of acres of wild land calling for the axe, and its
admirable steam-boat communications with Kingston, has been
hitherto almost entirely overlooked by emigrants.
The banks of the river Trent, which runs into the head of the
Bay, are covered with hard wood, indicating a strong soil, and
the current is very rapid, which promises a healthy neighbour
hood. This must at no remote period be the opening of an
extensive line of internal communication with Lake Huron,
through Lake Simcoe and Rice Lake, throwing open immense
tracts of good land to the enterprise of the settler.
In May we received the route for Quebec. The Magistrates
of Kingston complimented Colonel Nicol and the 66th very
highly on their departure after so long a residence amongst
them — which was duly and courteously answered. We em
barked amidst a burst of cheering ; were towed to Prescott by
a steam-boat, shot down the rapids beautifully, and returned to
Quebec after an absence of five years.
* In the course of a second visit to my exemplary friend last year, I found him
exulting in the good conduct of his flock during the troubles of the previous winter.
A hundred of them had marched to the frontier, maintained the most exact dis
cipline, and were models both in appearance and conduct to the militia force
assembled at Chippawa.
Shortly before my arrival an impudent American Methodist Preacher iiad visited
the neighbourhood, and requested permission to call upon Mr. Grier to prove to
him, as his letter stated, " That he was a wolf in sheep's clothing, and in the gall
of bitterness and bond of iniquity." Leave was courteously given, but after a long
conference this zealous Yankee, who thumped the table as he had probably for
many years hammered his lapstone, left my friend as he found him.
VOL, II. R

122 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.

CHAPTER XVIIL

CANADIAN POLITICS—DEPARTURE OF LORD AYLMER
THE GOVERNOR.

" Le mensonge subtil qui conduit ses discours
De laverite meme empruntantle secours." Henriade.

• S 'death :

The rabble should have first unroofed the city
Ere so prevailed wilh me : it will in time
AVin upon power and throw forth greater themes
For insurrection's arguing.  "
Sh.\kspeare.
We found a great change in the Canadian capital, and in society
generally throughout the Province, which was by no means for
the better : the rage of poUtics was felt every where, and more
and more estranged the French Canadians from those of British
origin. Besides, and this was painful, there seemed a growing
distrust of the wisdom of the British Government in the minds
of many of the most loyal and respectable people; who ex
claimed against its policy as timid, vacillating and infirm of
purpose under every successive Administration, whig or tory.
They averred that the oily and conciliating plan, adapted to hon
est and generous natures when swerving from the right, would
never answer with Mr. Papineau and the other leaders, who on
each concession would found claims for a dozen more ; and that
the French Canadians, generally, were not yet sufficiently steady
or enlightened to comprehend and to practice rational liberty
under the representative system. They farther maintained that
the Government must speak out, and use soft language no lon
ger ; since it only emboldened Mr, Papineau and his friends,
and filled the minds of good subjects with undefined but painful
apprehensions as to the future. They insisted on tbe absurdity
of anticipating any disturbance from the quiet rural population

TRIFLES FRO.M .MV PORT-FOLlO. 1-23
of the Province; and if the incessant stimulants of the dema
gogues should move any of the more unruly urban mobs to
revolt, it would be instantly subdued by the co-operation of the
loyal people with the power of Great Britain.
The situation of Lower Canada, when the regiment returned
in 1835, was extraordinary and anomalous. Public affairs were
fast verging on anarchy, whilst the great mass of the population
was in a state of perfect quietness and order. The refusal of
the suppUes for the public service by the House of Assembly,
for about two years and a half, had spread a great deal of dis
tress amongst the officers of the E.xecutive Government, who
had now been long working without pay — had diminished their
respectability and usefulness, by throwing them deeply in debt ;
and was altogether painful to witness. For, whilst it gratified
the malignant passions of the Speaker and his friends, it in
volved innocent persons in great anxiety and suffering, and was
very derogatory to the character of the British Government.
But the mischief did not end here. The daring and ignorant
political empirics who had employed this dangerous remedy —
only justifiable as a last resource — when no vital malady was
present, and no probable danger menaced the Constitution, little
knew or little recked of the actual social disease their quackery
engendered. Their panacea turned into poison, for disorder
and confusion pervaded the body politic. The police of Quebec
betrayed the first symptom of the approaching disorganisation ;
for no funds were forthcoming to protect the peaceable inhabi
tants from the midnight robbers, nor even to Ught the streets.
The imperfect legislation of the Province bore hard on the
partial and defective municipal institutions just created ; for in
a spirit of making laws from band to mouth, (Uterally as well as
figuratively,) the town of Quebec was made a city for two years,
and then went out like the lamps. The gaol was full of crimi
nals, and the walls of the building were so thin that the felons
bored holes and escaped continually. The soldiers who guarded
it had no ball-cartridges— which the rogues knew well— and
when an offer was made by the Commandant to place a suffi
cient quantity at the disposal of the Civil power— there was a
demur— a criminal might be shot in breaking out, and this
would assuredly bring all tlie venom of the Assembly to bear

124 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
on the head of the Sheriff. Thus the King's subjects could not
put their noses outside the gates of Quebec at night without
being robbed, and the reign of foot-pads revived every where.
Two of our officers were rifled of their cash and stripped of
their clothes, close to the St. Louis Gate. Crime raised its
audacious front rampant every where ; and the respectable
body of thieves and pickpockets drank Mr. Papineau's health
with great propriety for producing general confusion, and cre
ating for the fraternity such glorious saturnalia.
Here were real, tangible, abominable grievances ; whilst the
silly legislators were up in the clouds, hunting after those
visionary ones which they were permitted to see through Mr-
Papineau's telescope.
The House of Assembly in the past winter had passed a set
of seditious resolutions, no less than ninety-two in number. As
it does not come within the scope of my light and desultory
work to enter deeply into any of the subjects therein glanced
at, I can only hit a few salient points of Canadian politics, and
have neither inclination nor space to analyse this congeries of
Jesuitical sophistry and impudent bullying — a tissue of studied
false assumptions, impotent threatenings, exaggerations and
misrepresentations — covered with a thin veil of professed loy
alty. The framers of these resolutions took special care to
embody in them their hate to Lord Aylmer ; and moreover hit
him as hard as they could otherwise, by erasing his speech from
their Journals. At the same time that they committed this
petty insult, they offered a similar indignity to one of Mr.
Stanley's despatches ; and this insolent act — the contumelious
erasure from their records of an official letter of a Secretary of
State of the mighty realm of England, was  passed over
unnoticed. The loyal people of the Province seeing that the British
Government thus allowed itself to be bearded with impunity by
the Speaker and his obsequious followers in the Assembly,
and also perceiving that their vital interests were threatened by
certain meditated measures of Ministers, respecting their staple,
the timber trade, took the alarm, and proceeded to form them
selves into two grand Constitutional Associations at Quebec and
Montreal, with several smaller affiliated societies in connection.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 125
These bodies comprised a great mass of talent, property, moral
worth and respectability — in fact, they embraced almost every
respectable person of British origin in the Province, except the
Judges and other pubUc officers, who kopt aloof — ex officio —
with no small number of Americans and a few French Cana
dians. Their public declarations breathed warm attachment to
Great Britain, sentiments of manly and rational freedom, and
the most kindly feelings towards their fellow subjects of French
origin. They complained of the hardship of contributing so
very largely to raise the provincial revenue, which was mainly
dependent on their commercial importations, whilst they were
virtually unrepresented in the House of Assembly. They ex
claimed against the monstrous injustice of seeing their money
lavished by that body on an agent in England, who was doing
all in his power to sap the foundation of their mercantile pros
perity. Notwithstanding, they avowed their veneration for the
, Constitution of the Province, and bound themselves solemnly to
resist in every proper and legal manner the encroachments on
it, now openly avowed by the House of Assembly.
The Colonial Minister, Lord Glenelg, stiU did not despair
of pacifying Lower Canada, nor even of converting Mr. Papi
neau — which indeed were nearly synonymous terms — but, as a
preliminary step, the Ministers judged it proper to recall Lord
Aylmer, the Governor. Some of this nobleman's poUtical
errors have already been freely noticed, which, at first, lost him
a large share of the esteem and confidence of the British popu
lation. However, after he had become the butt for the brutal
calumnies and insult of the Speaker and his party — when they
saw this gallant soldier and honourable man outraged in the
low and ferocious spirit of the canaille of Paris in 1793, they
rallied round him, and he recovered his popularity amongst his
countrymen. Shortly before his departure, a grand ball and
supper were given him and Lady Aylmer in the theatre of
Quebec, which was very elegantly fitted up for the occasion ;
and this was tbe most tasteful and splendid entertainment ever
enjoyed in this city. A large escort attended him to the King's
Wharf on his embarkation, and when he stepped into the boat
to go on board the Pique frigate, the yards were manned, as
well as those of three other frigates in port, a salute was fired,

126 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
and there was great and prolonged cheering from the assemblec!
multitude. It so chanced that our beautiful basin of Quebec was enli
vened at this time by the presence of four fine frigates — the
President, the Belvidera, the Forte and the Pique. After
cruizing amongst the torrid Islands of the West Indies, a
voyage to this more temperate spot is very renovating and
refreshing ; and its delightful accompaniment, a trip to the
Upper Province and Niagara, is always eagerly enjoyed by all
the officers who can be spared from their ships. The town was
quite animated by the presence of the true blues, and we were
pleased to see at the 66th Mess, two or three worthy fellows
whom we had known long ago in St. Helena ; amongst the rest
the Honourable Captain Rouss.
It happened at this period that there was a kind of mutiny
amongst the raftsmen at Quebec, who had become violent, re
sisted and repulsed the poUce, and one gang of these unruly
fellows actually ran away with a valuable raft of timber which
had been sold ; but they carried it off with the tide in the teeth
of the law. The magistrates sent a naval and miUtary party
after the culprits, and the achievements of the tars on this
occasion, were matters of special wonder to the Canadians.
Amongst the rest there was one active sailor whose exploit in
securing a runaway, was much talked of. A man of the Belvi
dera, cutlass in hand, chased a mutineer along the beach, who,
being hotly pressed, took to the water ; but his amphibious
pursuer was not to be foUed in his own element. He plunged
in also, and when the raftsman dived. Jack put his cutlass across
his mouth and dived after him. Both were invisible for some
seconds ; but the staunch tar soon re-appeared on the surface
with the fugitive in his clutch.

TRIFLES FliOM MY PORT-FOLIO, I'i?

CHAPTER XIX.

ARRIVAL OF LORD GOSFORD.— MR. ROEBUCK.— ELEVATION
OF MR. BEDARD TO THE BENCH.— HOSPITALITIES AND
CONVIVIALITIES OF THE CHATEAU.

" Why, my Master, kind soul, said the Corporal, has'nt the heart to hurt a fly."
Sterne.
Lord Aylmer was succeeded in the Government of British
America, by the Earl of Gosford, an Irish nobleman of great
worth and popularity. Lord Gosford was, besides, chief Com
missioner of a Board appointed by the King, to inquire into the
alleged grievances in the Canadas. The other Commissioners
were Sir Charles Grey, a retired Indian Chief Justice — a talen
ted and most gentlemanly man — and Sir George Gipps, a clever
officer of Engineers ; with their Secretary, Mr. Frederick Elliott,
a young Diplomatist of promise.
From the circumstances of the new Governor having retired
early from the ball given to Lord Aylmer, to which he and the
other Commissioners had been invited, and of having declined
accompanying his Lordship to the wharf when he embarked for
England ; evidently from an apprehension that his politics might
be identified, in limine, with those of his predecessor ; observing
persons predicted a total change of policy — and they were right.
As to the early departure from the ball, it was decorous and
proper ; but most people believed that the civility of escorting
Lord and Lady Aylmer to the wharf, could scarcely have any
political misconstruction, and would only be deemed a mere
compliment; and moreover was what Lord Gosford owed Lord
Aylmer, who had personally received himself there on his first
arrival. There were, to be sure, placards posted in Quebec at
the time, calling on Lord Aylmer's friends to muster strong and
escort him to the wharf; and I have no doubt but that these
public notices, which ought to have been disregarded, did in fact

128 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
deter the new Governor from paying this parting civility, and
thus induced him to act contrary to his own kindly nature. His
ExceUency was herein badly advised by the Engineer Com
missioner. The benevolence of .disposition and warm honest Irish heart
with which the Earl of Gosford was richly endowed by nature,
soon shewed themselves in the most affable demeanour towards
aU classes, and in the exercise of a most liberal hospitality.
There was a most fascinating bonhomie about him in society,
which was quite unostentatious and unpretending, and calcu
lated to make all his acquaintances personal friends and well-
wishers. Yet was there much to be desired by those that loved
him, on the points of dignity and discrimination. He dimin
ished the value of his attentions by their undistinguishing
diffusion. And when I observed this good man " coining his
cheek to smiles," from innate benignity, in a crowded ball-room,
full of very miscellaneous company — many of whom
" Wondered how the d  1 they got there,"
and going his rounds shaking hands heartily with .six or seven
hundred people, I could not help feeling some commiseration for
the probable condition of the good-natured muscles of his right
arm and shoulder on waking next morning.
The Provincial Parliament met in November, when the
Governor opened the Session by an unusually long speech. He
told them that public affairs had come to such a stage in the
Province that the arm of the Government was paralysed — the
course of justice impeded, and society threatened with a dissolu
tion of its bonds and a return to anarchy, from political dissension.
He had arrived in Canada determined to discharge the duties of
Governor and Chief Commissioner with honesty, impartiaUty
and firmness. The King's instructions had directed him to
investigate faithfully, all real causes of complaint on the part of
the people of this Province ; some of which, when proved to be
just, it would be competent to himself to redress; but others
must necessarily be referred to the supreme authority of the
Imperial Parliament. He compUmented the Canadian popula
tion on their many virtues, and assured them that England had
no intention of disturbing that state of society, and those insti-

TRIFLES FROM .MY PORT-FOLIO. 129
tutlons under which they had long enjoyed so much " tranquil
bliss." His Excellency then adverted to an address he had recently
received from the Constitutional Association of Quebec; in
answer to which he asked how it was possible to suppose that
England, a nation whose greatness was bas(^d on her commerce,
could ever desert the interests of the commercial community in
Lower Canada? He told both Houses that their contingent
expenses would be issued, and earnestly advised them to forget
past heats and causes of mutual estrangement and acrimony,
and now try to work harmoniously together for the general good.
His Lordship added, that two courses were before them — name
ly, that of heartily responding to the generous and conciliatory
policy of the Mother Country, which would most certainly
promote the welfare and happiness of the Province ; or, on the
other hand, of thwarting and opposing her benevolent intentions,
and thus, perhaps, running into unknown but certain danger.
He announced his determination to discountenance and do away
with all proved abuses, to put an end to appointments involving
incompatible pluralities, where the salaries were considerable ;
and added that he would consider the confidence of the great
body of the people, an element of the first importance in con
stituting eligibility to any public office. Lord Gosford read
this long speech distinctly ; and it may be added, with a spice
of Irish accentuation, which the unenlightened call brogue, that
was to my ear very characteristic and agreeable.
Neither House was in a hurry to answer the speech. The
first act of the Assembly was a bill for their English Agent,
Mr. Roebuck's salary, which they well knew the Legislative
Council would never pass without stultifying themselves, and
committing political suicide, since that gentleman had repeatedly
denounced the Council, and called for its extinction.
Mr. John Roebuck is well known in this Province, and much
better known than liked. I have heard that by the patronage
of Lord Dalhousie to his relations here, he was enabled to
work his way through Lincoln's Inn ; yet, in one of his
speeches in Parliament, he assailed his benefactor in very viru
lent terms. A pamphlet published in 182^, at the time the
Union of the Provinces was in contemplation, is attributed to
VOL. II. s

130 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
Mr. Roebuck's pen, who was then a young man : this every
where breathes sentiments of attachment and gratitude to Great
Britain, in a tone very different from that of his later writings
and speeches. " When," he says, " by the fortune of war,
this Province became subject to England, its situation could not
entitle it to be the envied country it now is. Groaning beneath
the iron scourge of miUtary despotism, and the no less rigorous
though less palpable dominion of the Church, she seemed
doomed for ever to the oppressive burthens of bigotry and ra
pine. From this state England rescued us, broke these bonds
asunder and annihilated at once and for ever, this system of
oppression ; for the lawless dominion of a Military Commander,
she gave us the mild and regular administration of her own
laws, and for the capricious mandates of the Grand Monarque,
her own unrivalled Constitution. By these successive events
we became a free people." How it has turned out that this gen
tleman has so thoroughly changed his politics, we may gather
from a descriptive passage in the same pamphlet, in which the
writer has not infelicitously given us a sketch of himself.
" The zealots of party," wrote Mr. Roebuck, " are not always
the patriots they profess. There are some whose whole aim is
opposition without reason, whose whole delight is railing with
out argument, and whose poUtical enmity arises from the fruit
ful source of private pique. The first spark of patriotism in the
bosom of the devoted advocate of his country, can often be
traced to the offspring of offended pride ; and from that moment
we find him opposed to every measure of Government, however
beneficial, and decrying all those in power, however worthy ;
and thus, sacrificing his country that he seems to defend, to his
own private malice, he stands a striking monument of the dupli
city of party, and shews at once how easily a patriot is made,
and the reliance that ought to be placed on his professions."
Both Houses appointed Committees, as usual, to draught ad
dresses in answer to the speech ; but that from the Assembly was
ready first, and was by far the cleverer of the two. This intensely
sophistical and Jesuitical document took good care — like every
other emanation from the same source — to concede nothing, to
pledge the House to nothing on any important point, whilst it
adroitly availed itself of every favourable admission of the

TRIFLES FROM .MY PORT-FOLIO. 131
Governor as an " instalment," after the Irish lashion, of the
political debt due by England to the Canadian people. It was
complimentary to His Lordship, personally ; but it advisedly
and carefully omitted all recognition of the Chief Commissioner,
or the Board over which he presided. Itself, the House of
Assembly, was the legal and constitutional organ through which
Lower Canada spoke to England ; and the Royal Commission,
constituting any other medium of communication, ought only to
be viewed as an insult to the Assembly, and one grievance the
more. The House of Assembly then drew their " Contingencies,"
amounting to twenty-one thousand pounds, including certain
salaries of their agents, which Lord Aylmer had declined pay
ing, unless these items and one or two others were deducted ;
but which Lord Gosford paid " cheerfully." For this expres
sion he was much blamed by the English party at the time ;
though, as it appeared afterwards, the obnoxious word had been
used by the Colonial Secretary with reference to the very
matter to which the Governor applied it. The House then
proceeded to business — organizing its Committees — five or six
of which commenced operations forthwith in framing charges
against several Judges, Sheriffs and other public officers — all of
British origin or British sentiments ; and these penal measures
so entirely engrossed the House that no attention was paid for
three months to the Governor's urgent message, about the in
dispensable necessity of voting the supplies for the public
service. A vacancy on the Bench at Quebec happening to take place
at this time, the Assembly worried the Governor to fill it up.
His Excellency took some time to deliberate, and then ap
pointed a young French Canadian Lawyer, named Bedard, the
leader of a section in the Assembly, to the vacant seat. This
gentleman had moved the celebrated Ninety-two Resolutions
in the House, and was believed, on good grounds, to be their
author, in conjunction with a Mr. Morin ; but afterwards, hav
ing been captivated by Lord Gosford's kindness and hospita
lity, (with perhaps some hope of promotion,) he shewed a dis
position towards moderate measures, with a tendency to support
the Government ; for which he fell under the unsparing lash
of the Speaker.

132 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
During this time, Mr. Papineau and the Members of both
Houses were constant guests at the Governor's most hospitable
table ; and all was apparent blandness, good humour and recon
ciliation. They praised and flattered his urbanity and con
descension ; and some of the weaker Members of the Assembly,
fuddled a Uttle by the unwonted good cheer, went occasionally
to laughable extremes. One of them who chanced to sit nest
to the host one day at dinner, vented his warmth of feeling
towards His Excellency by a fervent slap on the back, accom
panied with the compliment — " Milord vous etes Men aitnable."
Lord Gosford's reply was — " Pardonnez, c'est le vin."
Notwithstanding these auspicious circumstances, most well
informed people in the Province anticipated no eventual good :
and the Writer of these pages thus presumed to vaticinate, in a
letter to Lord Gosford, which was published in the newspapers
in the very height of the good cheer and fine doings at the
Chateau. " My Lord, I have observed the kindness of your nature
shewn in many ways. I have witnessed your urbanity and affa
bility to all, and you will, I hope, pardon me for adding, that I
have also been cognizant of your extensive private charities.
You have undertaken the task of reconciling conflicting inte
rests, passions and prejudices, and you have thrown into the
endeavour all the cordiality of a generous Irishman. Would
to God that your praiseworthy attempts to calm the waters of
political strife may not all be thrown away.
" Yet I am deeply pained in fearing, as I do fear, that you are
in fact and truth deceiving yourself in the honesty and genero
sity of your own heart. My Lord, I fear that you are expend
ing political courtesies and private conviviaUties with a lavish
hand, and " coining your cheek to smiles" in vain.
" There is one fatal and insuperable obstacle in your way.
There is one man whom you cannot convert, because he is abso
lutely unconvertible. I have treasured up in my memory the
black catalogue of his anti-British sentiments — his ferocious
malignancy against the name, and fame, and power, and gran
deur, and institutions of the country, which turned him and his
forefathers from being the abject slaves of an " Intendant," or
the Mistress of the « Pare aux Crfs," into the inheritors of

TRIFLES FROM -'\IY PORT-FOLIO. 13.3
the free patrimony of centuries. From eight years' observation
of this person, I have drawn the certain conviction that aU your
kindnesses in private, as well as every public act of conciliation,
wUl be lavished fruitlessly on him. By a wrong-headed and
melancholy alchemy, he will transmute every public concession
into a demand for more, in a ratio equal to its extent ; whilst
his disordered moral palate, beneath the blandest smile and the
softest language, will turn your Burgundy into vinegar. The
Ethiopian shall sooner change his skin, or the leopard his spots,
than Louis Joseph Papineau will descend from the height he
now occupies, into the safe and sober course of a loyal British
subject. " This individual distingushed with ' bad eminence,' has been
consistent with himself during the present session. His conduct
this winter has only been a little less offensive, because more
frank and open. In the intoxication of the coming triumph, he
thinks the cloak of loyalty no longer necessary, and he boldly
casts it off. He publicly declares himself a republican, and
avows that he is preparing Lower Canada for democratic insti
tutions — and this from the Speaker's Chair of the House of
Assembly, under King William the Fourth ! I doubt whether
all history furnishes a parallel to this piece of the most consum
mate audacity, except, perhaps, in some of the strange antics
of the insane Massaniello."

134 TRIFLES FRO.M MY PORT-FOLIO.

CHAPTER XX.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS IN UPPER CANADA.— APPOINTMENT OF
SIR FRANCIS HEAD AS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR.-MU-
TINY IN HIS EXECUTIVE COUNCIL— PROROGATION OF
PARLIAMENT IN THE LOWER PROVINCE.-SHORT SES-
SION OF SEPTEMBER 1836.

¦ What, are the rank tongues

Of this rude herd grown insolent with feeding.
That I should prize their noisy praise or dread
Their noisome clamour .'"  Byron.
" How smooth and even they do bear themselves.
As if allegiance in their bosoms sat
Crowned with faith and constant loyalty." Shakspeare.
The winter of 1835-6 was the longest and the coldest that had
been known here for half a century. The cold set in early in
November with extraordinary violence and without any grada
tion. By the coalescence and cohesion of a number of shapeless
blocks of blue ice, each as big as a house and thrown together
in the greatest confusion and chaos, a bridge was formed over
the St. Lawrence at Quebec; which did not finally breakup
until a week after a May pole had been planted on it. At the
beginning of the season many accidents occurred amongst the
shipping of the port, when leaving the river, from being caught
in the early and cruel frost; and such is the want of commu
nication in this country in winter — especially along the lower
banks of the St. Lawrence — that the ship Ottawa, which had been
ice-wrecked and driven on the Island of Anticosti, 300 miles
from Quebec, was for a long time believed to have foundered at
sea. At length, seven months afterwards, when the navigation
opened, the crew arrived — many of them badly frost-bitten :

TRIFLES FRO.M MY PORT-FOLIO. 135
having been as much shut out from all assistance from hence or
any where else as if they had been at the North Pole.
It is the rigorous climate that is in fault, which no human
exertions can subdue or modify, and which appears not softened
in the least by the partial cultivation of slips of land here and
there, that bear so small a proportion to the remaining millions
upon millions of wild and irreclaimable surface in the north —
the eternal domain of cold. When these unfortunate people,
after great and painful exertions, had reached the land, it ap
peared only a commutation of one mode of death for another
more prolonged and painful. Starvation, great fatigue, intense
cold, and many kinds of misery were yet to be encountered
before they could arrive at a post, where there was a chance of
obtaining shelter and provisions in that desolate and wretched
Island. Amongst the passengers were a couple recently mar
ried ; and the poor young lady, who was a pretty young lady
too, was obliged to spend her honey-moon and the long and
dreary winter in an ice-hut : still by dint of strong resolution
and affection, and the devotion of her husband, she overcame all
her calamities.
New Year's Day is a happy day in the Canadas, as it is in
France, Scotland and other countries. The eldest born of the
year finds on his arrival every body in excellent humour, paying
and receiving visits, eating cake and sipping liqueur, and scat
tering cards and compliments. This is an admirable custom,
and one that has important moral effects on society ; for it affords
a graceful opportunity of refreshing fading friendships, recon-
ciUng little jars and coolnesses, and piques, and slights, that
will happen in the best regulated famiUes ; confirming old and
forming new attachments, and fifty desirable things besides. It
is also a profitable season for the pastry 6ooks ; and, moreover,
whilst every gentleman is out paying his sixty or seventy visits,
it presents the dear womankind in a very proper and becoming
light — attired with morning elegance, dispensing sweets, shower
ing smiles, and receiving the homage of the rougher sex. Thus
the year is begun in this country ; and thus here, as in all
Christian communities, should it go on till its close.
In the beginning of 1836, and in mid-winter. Sir John Col
borne was superseded in his Lieutenant Governorship of Upper

1.36 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
Canada ; and Sir Francis Bond Head, a traveller and an author
of some distinction, was appointed in his place. The former
officer demurred at some instructions from the Colonial Secre
tary, most prejudicial to the true interests of the Province, and
personally disrespectful to himself— and requested to be relieved.
His desire was complied with in rather unseemly haste, consider
ing the climate and unseasonable time of the year for removing
his family ; to say nothing of the awkwardness of disturbing the
Head of the Provincial Government whilst the Parliament was
in session.
In the autumn of 1834, a general election had taken place in
the Upper Province, and the reformers secured a smaU majority
in the House of Assembly, where Mr. Bidwell had been chosen
Speaker. This House, expressing the sentiments of the reform
party in the Province, were loud at first in their applause of the
new Lieutenant Governor ; but this only lasted a short time.
Sir Francis, soon after his arrival, had re-organized his Executive
Council ; and as a compUment to the liberals, had selected three
or four of their leaders and paid them the honour of electing
them Councillors. The new members, headed by a clever but
unprincipled intriguer a certain Doctor Rolph, soon set about
doing mischief in the Council by exciting discontent. They were
but too successful in the attempt; and at length had the adroit
ness to make the old hands believe that they stood in a false
position, were not treated with sufficient respect by the Lieute
nant Governor, and that a plan of systematic slighting of their
advice had been resolved upon — that the Council were not to
be consulted in any business of importance, but only in minor
matters and in affairs relating to the Land-granting Department,
where it was specifically laid down as a duty of the Executive to
ask their opinion. Very vague notions of the duties of this
Council appear to have been entertained in the Province, of
which the new Councillors availed themselves cleverly to mystify
the other members. They raised for the nonce some chimera
of responsibility to the people of the Province for the measures
of Government, investing it with the character of a sovereign
state, and themselves with the attributes of Ministers; which
liliantoms had the eft'ect they wished, of frightening the elder

TRIFLES FROM ^tY PORT-FOLIO. 137'
gentlemen " from their propriety." These very simple per
sons — three or four of whom held lucrative situations under the
Crown — were so inconceivably unwise as to join the radical
Johnny Newcomes in signing a round Robin, expressing their
dissatisfaction, lecturing the Lieutenant Governor on the proper
functions of the Executive Council, and threatening to resign
if he did not mend his manners and treat them better.
This proceeding was considered a coup de maltre by its in
stigators ; and it was confidently expected that the poor little
man, a stranger, almost isolated in the wilds of Upper Canada,
would be frightened by this bold manoeuvre into an unqualified
surrender to this formidable coalition, and henceforth would
obey implicitly the commands of the insurgent Council. But
the conspirators reckoned without their host ; or rather, they
found the able man they were attacking, a host in himself ; for
they most signally caught a Tartar, and were dismissed on the
instant. The House of Assembly immediately took fire and threw
themselves on the side of the discomfitted Councillors ; impu
dently catechising the Lieutenant Governor respecting the
whole proceeding. He answered them with great tact and
temper, and sent them copies of the correspondence between
himself and his late confidential advisers, in which he had tho
roughly demoUshed their sophistry. In fact, his answer to their
round Robin was a master-piece of perspicuous and logical rea
soning. Finding Sir Francis Head's position unassailable, the
House then lost all temper and all sense of self-respect, as well
as respect for the Lieutenant Governor— became vulgarly inso
lent — suspended all business and stopped the suppUes for the
Civil Government of the Province, in humble imitation of Mr.
Papineau and his Gallo-Canadian insenses of Lower Canada.
Soon after his arrival in Toronto, in the beginning of 1836*
Sir Francis Head had candidly imparted the instructions he
had received at home, to both Plouses of the Provincial ParUa
ment. The Colonial Secretary had authorised him to commu
nicate the substance of these instructions ; but the honest man,
wishing for no reserve, sent the whole. This frank proceeding
had important consequences at Quebec, and such as Sir Francis
Uttle dreamed of. At this very conjuncture. Lord Gosford's un-
VOL, II. '^

138 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
remitting attentions and assiduous hospitality had caused a split
in the Assembly on the question of the supplies — the moderate
party, headed by Mr. Bedard, the Judge in petto, being opposed
to the Speaker in this matter. A kind of compromise had just
then been concluded between the parties, founded on a vote for
the said supplies, with certain specified reservations ; to which,
after great difficulty, Mr. Papineau had been brought grumb-
lingly to accede. But when the Lieutenant Governor of Upper
Canada divulged the line of conduct prescribed to Lord Gosford
and himself by the British Ministry ; which had never been
communicated to the Assembly of the Lower Province ; and
when the principles laid down by the Colonial Secretary were
found too conservative of the King's authority and of the domi
nion of the mother country — the bubble, so nicely soaped and
gilded, burst at once. The passionate demagogue at the head
of the Assembly now disavowed all compromise, recommenced
his old abuse of the British Government — accused Lord Gos
ford of low trickery in suppressing what Sir Francis Head had
published, with the object of cajoling the representatives of the
people out of their money — vituperated the Royal Commission
ers, and declared open war. Soon after the Members of the
Assembly began to desert — neither House could form a quo
rum — and the Governor confessed in a short speech, savouring
of sorrow more than anger, that no good had been done, and
prorogued the Parliament.
The firm and manly conduct of Sir Francis Head, under
circumstances of great difficulty, was duly appreciated in the
Upper Province ; although the disclosure of his instructions, so
mal a, propos for Lord Gosford's success in obtaining a supply
bill, was much censured by that nobleman's friends in Quebec.
Numerous meetings were held in Upper Canada, at which
addresses were voted, complimentary and encouragino- to the
Lieutenant-Governor ; and he was very strongly urged to dis
solve the Assembly which misrepresented public opinion in the
Province, and compromised its best interests by their factious,
splenetic and disloyal proceedings. These he answered with
ready talent ; cleverly exposing the mischief the leaders of the
House of Assembly were doing, and fomenting by these pithy
compositions the rising indignation of the public against it.

I';!IFLES FROM .MY PORT-FOLIO. 139
For several weeks Sir Francis Head declined acting on this
advice ; but when the reaction in the public mind had become
stronger and more palpable daily — he took on himself the res
ponsibility of dissolving the Assembly. At the next election
about two-thirds of the most prominent liberals and republicans
were unseated, and their place supplied by good men and true.
To the great satisfaction of the well disposed in both Pro
vinces, Sir John Colborne, who had proceeded to New York to
return to England, met there a despatch from home, compli
menting him on the close of his labours as Lieutenant Gover
nor, giving him the local rank of Lieutenant General, and
offering him the military command of both Provinces. This
was the amende honorable, and was frankly accepted ; although
I have reason to know that the health of this truly patriotic
man was suffering at the time, under a complaint for which he
was advised by his medical friends to repair to a milder climate.
Well was it for every loyal British subject in these Provinces
that his departure from America was thus critically prevented.
Soon after the opening of the navigation the Governor in
Chief and the other Royal Commissioners proceeded to Mon
treal in furtherance of the objects of their mission ; and from
thence in the course of the summer His Lordship went to dif
ferent interesting points of the neighbouring country : was
present at the opening of a railroad from Laprairie to St. John's,
visited several of the fine Eastern Townships, and returned to
Quebec to open a session of the Provincial Parliament on the
22nd of September ; being an unusually early period.
His Excellency told the Parliament that he had assembled
them at this unwonted time for the purpose of communicating to
them the whole of the instructions he had received from His
Majesty's Government : and more especially to lay before the
House of Assembly the King's answer to their address of the
last session. He said that His Majesty having perceived that
they had only voted a supply for the public service for six
months, was inclined to believe that they had thus acted under
some misconception of isolated portions of Lord Gosford's in
structions, which the perusal of the whole document would, he
trusted, do away. The Governor added, that as it was palpa
ble no Government could go on without the means of paying its

b

140 TRIFLES FRO.M MY PORT-FOLIO.
officers and necessary executive expences, he hoped that the
House would act with liberality, and vote the arrears and the
sums required for the current year. He said it afforded him
much satisfaction to find that His Majesty's Government had
approved of the line of conduct he had followed since he came
to this country ; that he had been pleased at the reception he
had met with in his late tour through the Province : that he
persisted and would still persist in his earnest endeavours to
smooth political asperities, conciliate adverse parties, promote
peace, and do aU in his power for the good of the Province.
Should he succeed, the result would be a subject of the warmest
gratification ; and if, unfortunately, he should fail in the arduous
task he had undertaken, he would still have the reflection of
pure motives to console him.
The Legislative Council returned a respectful answer to the
Governor's speech ; and though the majority disapproved of
his policy, the futility of which every day's experience more
fully confirmed — they yet carefully avoided any thing condem
natory of it, whilst they also steered clear of expressing confi
dence or approbation.
The House of Assembly in a short address reiterated every
part of their former pretensions — exclaimed against the British
Government as usual — repeated every thing objectionable, and
avoided all direct allusion to the supply question — the gist of
the Governor's speech. They persisted in their firm demand
for an Elective Legislative Council, and vituperated the present
House with the most embittered acrimony. They were cour
teous to the Governor, personally — told him they believed in
the sincerity of his professions ; but added that, by assisting the
people of the Province to obtain elective institutions, he would
prove himself their permanent benefactor. They slurred over
his representations of the fiscal difficulties of the Province ; but
expressed their intention of deUberating on that and other sub
jects when they should receive the promised message, with the
King's answer to their address.
The whole tone and temper of this reply were offensive ; in
asmuch as it was filled with open abuse of a co-ordinate branch
of the Legislature and fierce demands for its extinction. Think
ing people were not a Uttle chagrined at the blandness of Lord

TRIFLES FROM MV PORl-IoIJO. 141
Gosford's answer to this intemperate address. His Excellency,
according to precedent, from which it did not appear expedient
to deviate, " thanked the House" for their reply : though cer
tainly the sharpest siglited people with the best microscopes
could perceive nothing in it to make him, or any body, thankful.
The House of Assembly then passed a bill for the appoint
ment of Mr. Roebuck as their agent in London, before proceed
ing to any other business ; as they had done last winter. So
far so well. But their next proceeding was not a little start
ling, and nearly tantamount to a declaration of independence.
An Act of ParUament of the third year of William and Mary,
distinctly forbids any Colonial meddling with Imperial legisla
tion. It expressly states that any act whatever of a Colonial
Legislature, contrary to, or interfering with a statute of the
British Parliament shall be, ipso facto, null and void. In the
very face of this act, Mr. Morin, a young protege of Mr. Papi
neau, brought in a bill to set aside an Imperial Statute, and in
no less a matter than the very Charter of Canada — the Consti
tution of the Province ! A bill for altering and repealing the
Act 31st, Geo. Ill, insomuch as it related to the composition
of the Legislative Council, and for rendering that body elec
tive by the people, instead of being nominated as heretofore
by mandamus from the Sovereign — passed the House by a large
majority, notwithstanding strenuous opposition from the clever
est lawyers in it.
In a few days the Governor sent his promised message, which
turned out to be an inane despatch from Lord Glenelg, as
suming, without any reasonable grounds, some misapprehen
sion on the part of the Assembly, of certain isolated portions of
the Governor's instructions on quitting England. This vision
ary misconception being an excuse ready made for the refrac
tory proceedings of the last session, with rather an absurd as
sumption that the House would recover its good humour and do
business satisfactorily when it had perused the whole of the said
instructions. This was followed the day after by another message from the
Governor, containing a second despatch from the Colonial Se
cretary, respecting the appointment of its Law Clerk by reso
lution of the House, in November, 1835. It appeared that

142 TRIFLES FROM iMY PORT-FOLIO.
this office had before been uniformly in the gift of the Crown
and the patronage of the Governor. The mode of appointment,
however, had been always delicately subservient to the choice
of the House ; and it was usual to send a blank authority to
the Speaker, to be filled up with the name of the person he, as
its organ, should select. This, one would suppose, ought to
have been sufficient ; but not so — the virtual power of confer
ring the office was not enough : Mr. Papineau must have sha
dow as well as substance ; accordingly, the situation was con
ferred by resolution of the House on the Editor of a French
newspaper in the Speaker's interest.* This irregular proceed
ing was in keeping with the whole conduct of the Assembly,
and with its progressive usurpation of the power of the Execu
tive Government.
In this despatch the Colonial Secretary, somewhat simply,
directed Lord Gosford to ask the Assembly for their reasons for
taking this step. Amiable man — their reasons ! As if a
House full of sharp and hungry lawyers could not, if they chose,
give reasons — and plausible reasons too — for any thing. But
though they might have them at command as " plenty as black
berries," Lord Glenelg would get none " on compulsion." On
the contrary, his pusillanimous despatch would only be consi
dered a violation of their undoubted rights and privileges, and a
" grief" of the greatest magnitude.
But, to go on with the story — the Assembly having given a
brief consideration to the documents sent them by the Gover
nor, drew up and presented to him a long supplementary ad
dress, intensely machiavelian and sophistical ; and framed,
apparently, with intentional obscurity to puzzle and bewilder
the understanding in a maze of intricate verbiage. This, as a
literary composition, was a clumsy performance — the construc
tion periphrastic and the sense only to be made out with diffi-

* This newspaper, " Le Canadien," with its significant vignette of two beavers
gnawing the Canadian branch from the British oak, bids fair to rival the defunct
Minerve and Vindicator in promoting sedition. The sufierance of a print with
such a treasonable frontispiece — to say nothing of the animus guiding its politics —
is the strongest proof of the mild sway of Great Britain. Any where else such an
insult to the loyal feelings of the community dare not be oflfered. Assuredly, if
any thing analogous were done in France, Mr. Editor would be in durance vile
before a second number of his paper could see the light. In the States he might
only be tarred and feathered.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 143
culty — whilst the sentences were involved and of interminable
length. The tenor was precisely the same as every emanation
from the Speaker's violent clique for the last four or five years.
The proverb is no less true than trite —
" Quem Deus vnlt perdere prius dementat " »
This is the demonstration. Instead of gladly embracing the
proffered terms of kindness of the mother country, and availing
themselves of the pacific opening afforded them once more by
the Colonial Secretary, this frantic House of Assembly said
there had been no " mal entendu" whatever. They had de
manded of the English Government an Elective Legislative
Council, the repeal of the Tenure Act, and of the Lower
Canada Land Company's Charter — the appropriation and con
trol of the whole of the pubUc revenue of the Province, and
the management of all the waste lands therein. To these de
mands they still unflinchingly adhered, and would adhere ; and
though in their liberality, and out of personal respect to the
Governor, they had last session granted a six months' supply,
they did not feel themselves justified in making any appropria
tion for the public service at the present time. They denounced
the Royal Commission, as illegal and void of constitutional au
thority, and anathematized the Commissioners. Farther, they
resolved that they would adjourn and transact no business until
the whole of their demands were granted. The House con
cluded this ferocious address with some personal complinients
to Lord Gosford ; to pre-suppose the acceptableness of which,
in the present distracted state of the Province, was at once an
insult to his heart and understanding.
Next day the Parliament was prorogued after a short session
of twelve days.
Thus then, vanished into thin air, as most thinking persons
here expected, the hopes of settling the differences in Lower
Canada, under Lord Gosford's kind and paternal administration.
The great concessions of the British Government — the ameni
ties of the Chateau — the public declarations and private kind
nesses of the Governor — the conciliatory proffer of the Colonial
Secretary and the supplemental session — forbearance with Ca

144 TRIFLE.S FRO.M MY PORT-FOLlO.
nadian petulance to the verge of pusillanimity— were all laboUf
lost— pearls before men stultified into swine— charming the
deaf adder.
Under this amiable Governor, and with the sanction of a
liberal Whig Ministry, compliment, concession and conciliation
were the order of the day, and no pains were spared to prove
by deeds as well as words, the kind and generous feeUng to-
wards the majority of the population in things important as
well as indifferent. A larger number than usual of French
Canadians were made magistrates in the new commission, and
appointed to local offices as Commissioners throughout the Pro
vince. The only vacancy on the bench was filled from the same
quarter. Delinquencies were not overlooked, and two British
Legislative CounciUors were obliged to quit the Council — one
for financial defaults, and the other for malversation in a lucra
tive office, which was taken from him. Pluralities were dis
countenanced. An ominous movement of the English party at
Montreal to form an armed force, which was hostile to Mr.
Papineau, and that was believed to have a tendency to com
promise the peace of the city, was put down ; and the Gover
nor had thus the pain of rebuking by his proclamation, many of
the most loyal and respectable people of the place. In short,
the Royal Commissioners — the Governor — the Colonial Secre
tary — the whole Ministry, and William the Fourth himself,
who had passed some of his happiest youthful days in this
Province — were all eminently, warmly and disinterestedly Philo-
Canadian. Yet all this aggregation of kind and pure feeling
generous intentions and overt acts, was lavished to no purpose.
The stormy wave would not yield to the oil, but demanded and
obtained the sterner stilling of the cannon.
Such are the unfortunate results of forcing free British institu
tions, the matured result of centuries of progressive improvement,
on uninformed husbandmen trained to feudalism and serviUty ;
without instruction, enlargement of thought or shadow of pubUc
opinion, and formed by custom and habit to be passive tools of
their petty notaries — the monoculi inter ccecos, or some leading
demagogue above them. Such is the crab fruit of the Repre
sentative, engrafted on the old stock of the Feudal system.
And who \\ere the eighty-eight Canadians who thus at length

TftlFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. l45
thought they might safely defy the power, after abusing for
several years the forbearance of Great Britain ? What were
their qualifications and means for carrying them successfully
through this terrible contest which they were provoking?
Lower Canada was chiefly represented in the House of As
sembly by two knots of lawyers and notaries; one of which had
its head quarters at Montreal, the other at Quebec. These
formed about three-fifths of the members, and the remainder
was made up of four or five Doctors, rejoicing more in politics
than in patients ; a certain proportion of country shop-keepers —
one or two masters of sloops for the shipping interest — two or
three simple habitans, and a sprinkling of small seigneurs 
The English members were not more than seven or eight in
number : and this small minority, amongst whom were one or
two men of ability, could do little more than protest against the
proceedings of the House.
As relates to that general inteUigence and information apper
taining usually to persons of like station at home, or in the
United States, many, and I believe the majority, were very
defective ; though all could read and write, except two, who had
been only taught, as I have been informed, to sign their names.
Yet they wrote their own language very ill. During Lord
Dalhousie's, Sir James Kempt's and the Earl of Gosford's
Administrations, I have at different times seen the answers of
the members of the Lower House, to cards of invitation to the
Chateau, and wretched ill spelled scrawls they generally were.
The great majority were very poor men, to whom the allowance
they received was an object of consequence. Although the
electors were obliged to possess a small qualification, by a strange
anomaly the members required nothing of the kind ; and of late
years all that was necessary for them was insolence towards
England and passive obedience to the Speaker.
Such were the persons, who, by dint of big words and long
speeches of Mr. Papineau and three or four others, with an
annual storm of declamatory resolutions and addresses — favoured
by the balanced state of the great parties at home — had long
imposed on the British Ministry and Nation. These Uttle
creatures had shewn their teeth, and bristled up, and snarled,
and looked fierce, and barked and insulted with impunity the
VOL, II. ^J

146 TRIFLES FRO.M MY PORT-FOLIO.
powerful sleeping animal, long beUeved to be a lion ; conceiving
from his quietness and gentleness, and forbearance that he had
^ degenerated into a less noble creature.
Owing, in the first instance, to a religious adherence to treaty,
and afterwards, perhaps, to some grave errors in the English
policy after the conquest of Canada — all of which were referable
to great indulgence towards the Canadian people — there has
been little fusion of the population into the great mass of Bri
tish subjects. The French Canadians have continued a distinct
people, retaining their language, habits, dress and pecuUar
customs the same as before their nominal incorporation with the
English. With equal tenacity they have stuck to their old
haunts and the narrow strip on each side of the St. Lawrence,,
and the mouths of a few tributary rivers ; rarely dipping into
the forest to reclaim any considerable portion of the wild land
in the back ground of their old settlements. They have, I
understand, evinced generally the same predilection for their
old and clumsy implements of husbandry, their road-rutting
sleighs and the ruinous and unskilful farming of their lands
as their forefathers before them. In all these respects, and
many others, the firmness with which they have clung to customs
now obsolete, has been a clog on their prosperity analagous to
the caste of the Hindoos.
These habits are not peculiar to the Canadians, but we see
the same indisposition to profit by the lights of the age and the
same want of persevering energy characterizing the progeny of
old Gaul all over this Continent. They may have assimilated
with the Aborigines better, learned their languages with greater
facility, and converted them to civiUzation and Christianity
with more adroitness and success ; but they could not maintain
their ground when the more energetic quaUties of the Anglo
Saxon family were brought into rival action. In civilizing a
Continent three centuries ago, as in their attack of a legionary
position in the times of the first Csesar— in the invasion of
Naples in the 16th century, as of Spain in the 19th — in Egypt
as in Russia — almost ab urbe condita — from Brennus to Napo
leon, our clever friends the Gauls have been always dashing
and successful in the beginning — but they could never keep it up.
In the American settlements we see their colonists every where

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 147
distanced in the career of enterprise and improvement by the
descendants of England. On the upper shores of Lake Erie,
as in the valley of the Mississippi, and on the banks of the St.
Lawrence — at New Orleans and Detroit, as in Quebec and
Montreal, the contrast between the rival races in wealth, intel
ligence, energy of character and public spirit, is very striking.
Yet notwithstanding this palpable inferiority in the chief
attributes constituting social distinction, the Canadians have not
the less fondly cherished the pleasing notion of nationality, even
as an English Provinoe ; and this predilection has been adroitly
used by Mr. Papineau and his friends — the magic words. Nation
Canadienne, being the talisman that enabled them to mould this
passive people to the furtherance of their own designs. During
the last ten years, as the differences with England became more
and more serious, we have witnessed the constant process of
pandering to this prejudice; and it has been carefully flattered
and cherished by the leaders in the Assembly, and followed out
by the newspapers in their interest. At the same time every
thing in modern history deemed prejudicial to the character of
Great Britain, has been carefully selected and published with
notes and comments of the most depreciating tendency. Every
repulse her arms have sustained for three or four centuries —
and they have not been numerous — every severity her troops
have inflicted— which have been equally rare — every ^fajY disre
putable to private English society — every incident unfavourable
to the national cliaracter — has been gloated on, and published,
and re-published by Mr. Papineau's papers.
We have lately witnessed the painful result.

148 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.

CHAPTER XXL

AMERICANS AT QUEBEC— BRIGADE FIELD DA^ ON THE
PLAINS OF ABRAHAM.— PROGRESS OF DISCONTENT
AMONGST THE CANADIANS.— PUBLIC MEETINGS OF A
SEDITIOUS CHARACTER.— SHORT SESSION OF PARLIA
MENT.

" Why, it cannot choose be a noble plot."
" Most shallowly did you these arms commence,
Fondly brought here and foolishly sent hence." Shakspeare,
Quebec is the " ultima Thule" of our good friends the travel
ling Americans in their annual migration to the north ; where
they begin to arrive a little after the swallows. It is pleasing to
see them crowding the steam-boats and hotels, and hastening
through the streets to visit the Citadel and fine Ramparts ; stare
at the regularity and precision of the military parades, and
admire the Bands. Notwithstanding that they have been a little
naughty of late, one cannot help being gratified at viewing an
occasional reunion of branches of the great family to which we
both belong ; and every lover of his species must earnestly
desire that all sources of mutual bitterness may soon be dried
up ; and the only rivalry be henceforth which shall do most good
to each other and tbe world.
Our fair Yankee visitors would be sometimes amusingly saucy.
" We are very much obliged to you," a sweet girl from Boston
one day said to Colonel Nicol — '• for all the trouble and expense
this fine Citadel has cost you, and for the care you take of it —
we are really ; you knotv it's all for us." Great was the pity
that my excellent friend, whose single demerit consists in being
an old bachelor, did not try to secure this fair hostage for the
future good behaviour of her countrymen.
Jn September 1836, we had a Brigade Field Day of three

TRIFLES FRO.M MV PORT-FOLIO. 149
Regiments of the Garrison, the Royal, the 66th and 79th, ou
the celebrated battle ground, the Plains of Abraham. It attrac
ted a very large number of spectators, and as the town was full
of Americans, Brother Jonathan and his family mustered strong,
and the female members were well dressed and looked very
pretty — shewing no silly timidity but great good sense and
courage during the firing. Altogether, considering the three
good regiments — the scene of their evolutions — the character
of the man who commanded, and the number of respectable
people present-^it was a fine sight. Unfortunately the elements
appear to take no interest in such military spectacles — or, rather,
would seem to feel a pleasure in spoiling them ; and before there
was time for a dozen manceuvres the rain came down pitilessly
and caused a general " sauve qui peut."
The winter of 1836-7, compared with the preceding one,
passed off rather heavily in Quebec. It was plain that no good
had been done, notwithstanding every exertion ; and undefined,
yet dark and ominous shadows of future mischief began to rise
in the near horizon. In the meantime, public attention was
directed to the proceedings in the House of Commons, before
which the Report of the Royal Commissioners had now been
placed by the Ministry.
This Report embraced ten or eleven questions of great im
portance, namely — the Constitution of the Legislative Council —
the Representation of the Province — the Civil List — the Reve
nue — the Responsibility of the Executive Council, sought by
the Assembly — the Seminary of Montreal — the Wild Lands
and King's Domain — Tenures of Land — Registry Offices —
Education — the British American Land Company and the Court
of Impeachments. Now, although the Commissioners seem to
have injured the general character of their Report, by needlessly
obtruding on the public eye their differences of opinion on most
of the above subjects — this document shews great industry and
research, and possesses much value. In one matter they were
unanimous, namely, the necessity of paying immediately the
arrears due to the civil servants of the Province.
The Resolutions of Lord John Russell in the House of Com
mons, founded on this Report, and passed by such large majori
ties, were carried through the different stages in a tedious and

150 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
somewhat slovenly manner; thus losing much of their moral
effect in Canada by the delay attending their being matured into
a Bill. Even the good reason assigned for stopping proceedings
in the matter, namely, the death of William the Fourth, and the
unwillingness to make the first proceeding of the young Queen's
reign a measure of severity and coercion, was wilfuUy miscon
strued, and Mr. Papineau told his credulous dupes that the
Ministers had — - back recoiled, they knew not why.

Even at the sound themselves had made.'
Here was a new and fruitful theme for the fervid declamation of
this gentleman ; and above all others, the eighth Resolution, to
pay the public servants in Lower Canada, was fiercely assailed,
as constituting a " grief monstre."
Immediately a war against the Revenue was resolved on by
the leading agitators, who took their cue from Mr. Roebuck,
and determined to rival the Boston tea heroes of the American
Revolution. Numerous public meetings were held, beginning
in the Montreal District ; at most of which Mr. Papineau at
tended, under circumstances highly flattering to his pride. He
was generally followed to and from the point of assemblage by
an imposing train of vehicles, filled with applauding habitans,
and escorted by armed men firing a feu de joie as they might.
There his long and impassioned harangues, breathing the most
open sedition, were heard with devout reverence, only inter
rupted by vociferous cheers.
It would far exceed my limits to advert in any detail to the
violent proceedings of these meetings, which were generally
held on Sunday, after mass, when a crowd could be more easily
collected; but I must give one or two Resolutions as speci
mens. At the meeting of the County of RicheUeu, held at St.
Ours on Sunday the 7th of May 1837, it was resolved — " That
we have seen with deep indignation the Resolutions of the
House of Commons of the 6th of March last." Third—" That
under these circumstances we can only look upon the Govern
ment which has recourse to injustice, to force, and to a violation
of the social compact, as an oppressive power and a government
of force, to which the measure of our submission should be

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 151
henceforward judged by our numerical force, joined to the
sympathy we find in other quarters." Seventh — " That, consi
dering the law of trade as of no effect, we look upon the trade
usually designated contraband to be perfectly lawful — we regard
this traffic as perfectly honourable — and will do all we can to
favour it — we will support those who pursue it, as deserving well
of their country, and will hold those to be infamous who may
inform against them." Ninth — " That in order to effect more
speedily the regeneration of this country, it is desirable, after
the manner of Ireland, that we should rally round one man.
That man has been stamped by God as a political chief, the
regenerator of a nation : he has been endowed for this pur
pose with a force of mind and eloquence not to be surpassed —
a hatred of oppression and a love of his country that neither
promises nor threats can shake. That this man is Louis Joseph
Papineau. This assembly considering also, the happy effects
in Ireland from the contribution called ' the O'Connell Tribute,'
is of opinion that a similar contribution ought to be made in this
country under the name of ' the Papineau Tribute.' The com
mittee of the anti-importation Association will be charged with
raising the same."
I may here observe, in passing, that this fine sounding fund,
" The Papineau Tribute," has never realized one shilling.
Jean Baptiste takes a little more care of his sous than the libe
ral children of the Green Island.
The St. Ours meeting was followed by a number of others —
increasing in violence as the people ascertained their numerical
strength. At every assemblage the EngUsh Government and
the colonial administration were grossly abused — the evil pas
sions and distinctive national prejudices of the French Canadians
stimulated — their numbers exultingly detailed — the success of
the North Americans in their struggle for independence com
placently narrated, and no act or device of seditious and sophis
tical oratory left untried to excite the habitans to insurrection.
These proceedings excited some apprehension, and a procla
mation against seditious meetings was issued by Lord Gosford
on the 15th of June. This document was framed in a spirit of
mUdness and kindness ; but the language was too bland and
gentle to have much effect, and it was altogether disregarded.

152 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
Some more vigorous measures to suppress these pernicious
meetings were taken ; and several of the leaders and movers of
violent resolutions were deprived of their commissions as Jus
tices of the Peace or Officers of Militia. Amongst others, the
great agitator himself, Mr. Papineau, who was a Major of
Militia, was questioned by Mr. Walcott the Civil Secretary, if
he had not been present at the meeting held at St. Laurent on
the 15th of May, where resolutions recommending a violation
of the laws had been passed, and if he had any explanation to
offer in the matter. The answer was characteristic.
" Montreal, 14th August, 1837.
" Sir,— The pretension of the Governor to interrogate me
respecting my conduct at St. Laurent on the 15th May last, is
an impertinence which I repel with contempt and silence.
" I, however, take the pen merely to tell the Governor that
it is false that any of the resolutions adopted at the meeting of
the County of Montreal, held at St. Laurent on the 15th of
May last, recommended a violation of the laws, as he in his
ignorance may believe, or, as he at least asserts.
" Your obedient Servant,
" (Signed,) L. J. Papineau.
" Samuel Walcott,
Civil Secretary."
A stern spirit of resistance to these detestable proceedings
began now to pervade the British population of the Province.
A great meeting of five or six thousand people assembled at
Montreal on the 6th of July, condemning the conduct of the
disaffected, and declaring their determination to preserve with
their lives and fortunes the connection of this Province with
the mother country. This was a magnificent affair : it was
held in the Champ de Mars, to which the inhabitants proceeded
with military regularity, under various loyal banners and em
blems. Another grand meeting took place in Quebec on the
31st July. The scene of this large and most respectable assem
blage was an open place called the Esplanade, immediately
adjoining the rampart of the fortification. About six thousand
people were present to take a part in the proceedings ; whilst
the slope of two bastions embracing the point of union — the

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 153
rampart to a great extent, and every window and eminence
was crowded with spectators.
As at the Montreal meeting the people marched regularly
with numerous banners. A miniature ship from the builders
excited much admiration ; and the printers of the city actually
carried a press to the ground, and struck off on the spot an
animating declaration of their loyalty and determination to sup
port the Government.,
In the meantime representations of the threatening and
feverish state of affairs were sent home ; but, up to a late pe
riod. Lord Gosford did not appear to apprehend any very
serious disturbances. However, orders were forwarded to Hali
fax to send the 83rd regiment here as a reinforcement.
One more opening was now given the House of Assembly
to reconsider their proceedings ; and on the 18th of August the
Legislature was again assembled at Quebec : all intelligent
persons foresaw to little purpose. The Governor's speech in
formed the Parliament that it had been deemed proper once
more to convene them before the resolutions of the House of
Commons should assume the binding shape of a law, to give
them another opportunity of reflection and re-consideration.
The Government had with much reluctance brought forward
these resolutions, which, however, had not yet been perfected
into an act of Parliament. It hoped they might yet be induced
to meet the wishes of the home Legislature, and vote such
supplies as would pay off the arrears of Government, thereby
rendering the eighth resolution of the House of Commons nu
gatory. The Governor reminded them that the business of the
country was at a stand still — that several acts of Parliament,
affecting extensive and valuable interests in the Province, were
about to expire and called for renewal — that anarchy was ap
proaching — he therefore implored them to concede what was
requested of them to the united voice of the British people.
A short time previous to the meeting of Parliament the intel
ligence of the death of King William the Fourth had arrived
in this country ; and it became necessary to administer the
oath of allegiance to the members of the Legislature. Some
doubts were entertained at Quebec whether the Plouse of As
sembly might not demur to the oath ; as their Speaker, when
VOL. II. X

154 TRIFLES FROM -MY PORT-FOLIO.
invited at Montreal to attend with the other dignitaries of the
city at the proclaiming of Queen "Victoria, had declined being
present. The oath of allegiance and fealty was, however, taken
by the Speaker and all the memheTS— constituting the most
blasting perjury of modern times.
It was noticed that no allusion was made in the Governor's
speech to the seditious meetings which had been denounced by
proclamation, although the chief actors at those assemblages
were then coUected before him. Thus a character of insince
rity, almost ludicrous, was given to the whole proceedings,
which appeared a hollow farce. But the blame of this should
not altogether attach to Lord Gosford : the Colonial Secre
tary — good easy man — wished the House of Assembly to have
one last trial, in which the kind-hearted Governor willingly
acquiesced. The answer of the Assembly was what every reflecting per
son anticipated — abusive of Lord John Russell's resolutions,
characterising them as destructive of the laws and institutions
of this Province, and as " violating by force with respect to us
the most sacred and solemn engagement." It broadly asserted
that the Government was now only a Government of force, to
which the allegiance of the subject was but an affair of calcula
tion — thus echoing one of the most obnoxious of the St. Ours
resolutions. In short, it breathed nothing but menace, defiance
and open war.
The Governor's reply was as follows :
" Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly—
" The Address which you have presented to me I shall lose
no time in transmitting for the information of Her Majesty's
Government. I cannot, however, refrain from expressing the
deep concern and regret I experience in learning from it that
you persi.st in the determination to deprive the country of the
benefits of domestic legislature until all the demands you have
urged shall have been granted — demands which it is not in the
power of the Executive Government to grant; and which on
being submitted at your request, to the highest authorities of
the Empire, they have solemnly declared it is inexpedient to
grant. " The voluntary and continued abandonment of your func-

TRIFLES FRO.M MY PORT-FOLIO. 155
ttons as one branch of the local Legislature, notwithstanding the
assurance you have received from the high authority to whom
you have appealed, that improvement will be made in the Exe
cutive and Legislative Councils, while it daily increases the
evils under which the Province labours, is at the same time a
virtual annihilation of the Constitution under which that Legis
lature derives its existence.
" Being thus unhappily denied that assistance which I had
hoped to receive from the Representatives of the people, for
relieving the country from its pressing difficulties, it only re
mains for me to assure you that I shall exercise to the best of
my judgment, the powers vested in me as the Representative
of our Sovereign, for the preservation of the rights and the
advancement of the interests of all classes of Her Majesty's
Canadian subjects."
The Legislature was then prorogued.
A great change had taken place in the external appearance
and dress of the members of the Assembly, which was by no
means for the better. In their silly and impotent war against
the Revenue, the Speaker and majority of the members had
proscribed and disused English broad cloth, and donned the
coarse Canadian homespun ; and although he, a good-looking
man, might stand the change, the low appearance of many of
the members was only made more conspicuously vulgar by this
degradation of their habiliments. After all, it was only petty
and piebald spite, rendered ludicrous by the absurdity of wear
ing a coat and vest of patriotic cloth, whilst the hat and shirt
and half a dozen other articles of dress were still, maugre Mr.
Papineau, of British or Irish manufacture.
In consequence of the vote of the House of Commons, that
the arrears due to the civil servants of Government here should
be paid out of moneys remaining in the hands of the Receiver
General, measures were taken now to effect this; and these
gentlemen, many of whom had suffered the greatest inconve
nience, were at length enabled to satisfy their creditors, who
for the most part had shewn great forbearance.

156 TRIFLES FRO:\I MY PORT-FOLIO.

CHAPTER XXIL

ACCELERATING PROGRESS OF DISTURBANCES IN THE PRO-
VINCE.— MEETING OF FIVE COUNTIES.— FILS DE LA LI-
BERTE.— ASSEMBLY OF ARMED MEN AT ST. ATHANASE.—
RESCUE OF TWO PRISONERS.— GENERAL INSURRECTION
ALONG THE RICHELIEU.— AFFAIRS OF ST. DENIS AND
ST. CHARLES.

¦ fearful war

To diet rank minds sick of happiness." Shakspeahe.
Under the mild sway of England the population of Lower
Canada had now increased from sixty thousand to six hundred
thousand souls. Their religion, language, customs, property
and liberty, laws and institutions, and every thing they revered
and valued — had been scrupulously maintained and respected.
With scarcely any solicitation on their part, they had been ele
vated by an act of national liberality from the abject condition of
French serfs, to the possession of the franchises and liberties of
Englishmen ; had been endowed with a Constitution framed by
the greatest men of the age, and had thus inherited the patri
mony of long ages of freedom. At their own wish the remains
of feudal barbarism in their criminal laws had been retrenched,
and replaced by a milder code. Their staple productions were
protected by high duties at home — their territory defended
without costing them a penny, and there was an annual outlay
of half a million sterling amongst them. British merchandize
was brought to their doors fifty per cent cheaper than their
neighbours the Americans could obtain it. No tax collector
ever visited their dwellings. For eighty years they had been
sheltered under the British flag from the troubles and storms
that for a great part of the time had been raging every where
else. British skill, enterprise and capital had embellished their
cities and covered their noble river with steam-boats and ship-

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 157
ping. They had individually and collectively enjoyed more
domestic and practical happiness than any other equally nume
rous body in any part of the world. Yet, notwithstanding all
this, many of the French Canadians, seduced by the fierce and
eloquent declamation of one passionate and mischievous man,
were now prepared to rise in rebellion against a beneficent
Government, in utter contravention of their own true interests.
The seditious feelings and practices, now extending in all
directions throughout the Province, received a new impulse by
the breaking up of this second short ParUament: the members
having returned to their homes, for the most part, even more
bitter than before. Yet there were indications of apprehension
in the Assembly before they broke up; and on one occasion
their fears sweUed the minority in favour of a more moderate
course than the Speaker insisted on, from eight or nine against
sixty or seventy, to thirty-two against forty-seven. The agita
ting meetings continued ; deriving on each successive occasion
additional confidence from the impunity that attended their
proceedings. At length a plan was conceived of collecting at
one central and convenient point the united population of the
most disaffected Counties, and making their proceedings the
guide, and their organization the nucleus, for the rest.
In the meantime two newspapers in Montreal — The Vindi
cator and La Minerve, which had long laboured, with industry
worthy of a better cause, to produce discontent and disaffection
to the Government; began now to promulgate open treason.
They carefully chronicled the proceedings at the public meet
ings, and exaggerated the numbers who attended — embellished
the efforts of the speakers or even made speeches for dumb
orators : instructed the country people how to avail themselves
of local defences, and of their numbers in the approaching
contest — depreciated and diminished the miUtary force in the
Province, and exhorted the soldiers to desert; at the same time
pointing out to them the high wages and great advantages they
would have in the States, contrasted with their miserable shil
ling a day.
A sort of central organization was now created in Montreal,
and a permanent Committee formed for the purpose of corres
ponding with County Committees of the same kind, and ex-

158 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
tending the growth of disaffection. A society of young men,
caUing themselves the " Fils de la Liberte," amounting to se
veral hundreds, was incorporated there also, which in its first
address to the young men of the North American Colonies,
avowed the design of " disfranchising their beloved country
from all human authority, except the bold democracy residing
within its bosom." These young heroes then resolved to train
themselves forthwith in military manoeuvres, and play at sol
diers every Sunday until farther orders.
The Roman Catholic Clergy in the Province, who had so
long enjoyed the paternal protection of the British Govern
ment, at a period too when their order underwent the most
sanguinary proscription in France, and whose superior intelli
gence could appreciate its genuine liberality — began now to
take the alarm. A " mandement," or pastoral letter, was ad
dressed to his flock by the R. C. Bishop of Montreal, which
was calculated to do good, although strangely blemished by
some unwise allusions to Luther and the Waldenses — topics by
no means of happy reference — in bad taste, and totally irrele
vant. With scarcely an exception this highly respectable body
of Ecclesiastics have behaved with exemplary propriety during
the troubles of the last two winters.
Any other line of conduct than that of undeviating loyalty
and integrity would be unnatural to the Church of England ;
and her Clergy and members, under the learned and pious
Bishop Mountain, maintained their honourable character with
out a single stain. Yet was this truly Christian Clergy suffer
ing great privations, in consequence of the stopping of the
usual grant from Government to the " Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge," by which, chiefly, they had been paid,
and whose missionaries they for the most part were. The
Church of Scotland rivalled her venerable sister in the good
cause ; and though contending and grumbling a little about au
equal claim to the Clergy Reserves, she now cooled at once,
postponed the consideration of this delicate question till a more
convenient season, and entered the lists, heart and hand, in
defence of law and order. The British Methodists, and other
Briti'ih Protestant sects, were not backward, but, on the con
trary, most zealous on the same side ; and my warm-hearted

TRIFLES FROiM MY PORT-FOLIO. l.'if)
Roman Catholic countrymen devoted all the honest ardour of
their nature to the support of the Government.
The plot now began to thicken apace. On the 23rd of
October a large meeting of five confederated counties was held
at St. Charles, a village on the Richelieu, about thirty miles
from Montreal, which was soon destined to obtain an unenvia
ble celebrity. Here, in 1830, in Sir James Kempt's time
there had been a meeting, expressing dissatisfaction with his
administration, when all the rest of the Province was busy
complimenting him ; and another similar assemblage in 1831.
Here, also, had flourished a seditious newspaper — the " Echo
du Pays" — perverting and corrupting all within its circle.
This, then, was the very centre and focus of disaffection, now
ripening fast into treason : and in the signal chastisement here
first inflicted, we may without presumption recognize a mea
sure of that retributive justice, which is seen occasionally to
interpose in regulating the affairs of the world.
Mr. Wolfred Nelson, a distiller of St. Denis, was chosen by
Mr. Papineau to preside at this meeting, on account of his in
fluence in the neighbourhood, ardent character and English
name. Here the representatives of five counties, under salutes
of cannon and musketry, in language the most treasonable,
bound themselves to form one great confederation, as a centre
of union for the whole Province — to oppose the Government as
far as they safely might — to elect their own magistrates and
militia officers — enrol and arm themselves, and invite all the
rest' of Lower Canada to join their patriotic league. Amongst
other ferocious resolutions there was one urging the soldiers to
desert, and pledging the Canadians to assist them, which was
pre-eminently infamous — but even more silly and impotent
than wicked.
Mr. Papineau knew not the character of the British soldier
whom he wished to make a recreant perjurer like himself.
When exposed to great sufferings and privations, the instant
there is a prospect of action he ever rises superior to the sur
rounding difficulties ; his conduct purifies itself in danger, and
is always best when his fuU energies are called into play. The
same imminent personal risk that enfeebles and paralyses
weaker natures, only brings him up to the full tension and vigor

160 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
of his faculties, mental, moral and corporeal. Desertion in
time of peace is, unfortunately, too common in the Canadas ;
but after this open and disgraceful incitement, it ceased as if by
magic. Throughout the first winter there was scarcely one
solitary instance, and this public outrage on the character of the
British Army stands on record only as a piece of brutal and
useless folly. It has been deeply atoned. One short month
after the insult was offered — and on ihe very spot — it was ex
piated in blood !
The St. Charles meeting caused some sensation, yet few
persons could be brought to beUeve that the big words used
here and elsewhere were more than the harmless gasconades to
which the French Canadians had a kind of hereditary right.
But the secret enrolments were going on steadily, and the
habitans were importing rifles from the States — nightly meet
ings for military training were taking place ; and resignations
of their commissions by militia officers and magistrates — some
forced, but many voluntary — were sent in great numbers to the
Governor. Meanwhile the civil authorities, sticking to necessary but
tedious forms, which in ordinary times shield the liberty of the
subject ; and embarrassed for want of evidence, did little more
than warn the people against the dangers they were madly
running into. However, the magistracy about this time under
went an important revision. At the beginning of Lord Gos
ford's administration several injudicious appointments had been
made in the spirit of conciliation then reigning ; and not a few
unworthy persons now abused the powers with which they had
been entrusted. A new commission excluded a good number
of magistrates of this description and filled their place with
belter men.
The Commander of the Forces, Sir John Colborne, foresaw
the coming storm and prepared to meet it. At once assuming
a heavy responsibility, he directed the fortifications of Quebec
to be repaired and thoroughly armed — ordered horses to be
purchased for the Artillery, magazines of provisions and ammu
nition to be established — barracks to be built, and new corps
of loyal men to be raised. He sent for troops from the Upper
Province and New Brunswick, and concentrated thc small force

TRIFLES FROil MY PORT-FOLIO. 161
he had in hand at Montreal, as the chief point d'appui of his
operations. Nor should it be passed unnoticed that Lord Gos
ford, though less apprehensive of mischief, and as incredulous
of the evil intentions of Papineau as Sir Francis Head was
afterwards of the power of M'Kenzie — yet gave his cordial
support to these well timed measures of wise anticipation.
In the beginning of November, as the shipping dropped
down the St. Lawrence, the disaffected began every where to
assume a more insolent tone, particularly in that populous tract
along the River Richelieu, and on the banks of the Lake of
the Two Mountains ; a bold expansion of the Ottawa. Bands
of armed men, masked and disguised, now began to roam about
the country at night, terrifying their more quiet neighbours
into enrolment amongst the illegal confederacy, and extorting
by violence the resignation of commissions — to be inserted in
the next Minerve or Vindicator as voluntary acts.
There is every reason for believing that Mr. Papineau had
no wish to carry matters farther, for the present, than these
minacious demonstrations — to be adroitly used afterwards in any
treaty between Government and himself : and no general in
surrection, in all likelihood, would have taken place until a
better organization of the habitans had been effected. Hap
pily, a premature contest began almost by accident, and the
arch-traitor then found, as might be expected, the evil spirits
he had evoked, soon beyond his control. The mine exploded
prematurely and the engineer was blown up " on his own
petard." A band of five or six hundred of the " Fils de la Liberte"
had been accustomed to meet on three or four successive Sun
days for military training, in a field adjacent to the city of
Montreal ; and had once or twice marched through the streets
at night to display their strength, until the magistrates at length
interfered and forbade the assemblage. A corps of opposite
politics, called the " Doric Club," had also been for some time
enrolled, though without the same offensive parade of their
numbers, who longed very much for an opportunity of inter
changing a few hard fisticuffs with the young heroes of liberty.
At length the collision took place — the juvenile patriots made a
sorry fight and were beaten out of town. Several excesses
VOL. II. Y

162 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
were committed by both parties— the Vindicator Office was
broken into and the press and types destroyed ; and Mr. Papi
neau's house was only saved by the military, who were called
out in strong force to put down the riot. The destruction of
the Vindicator press was, no doubt, richly merited, but should
not have thus taken place. Violence is always wrong— creates
a factitious sympathy for its objects, and thus defeats its own
ends. The arm of the law ought to have suppressed this nefa
rious print long before.
On the 10th November, Sir John Colborne having moved his-
Head Quarters to Montreal, ordered a small body of volunteer
cavalry to patrol as far as St. John's. They discovered some
armed habitans at St Athanase, on the other side of the Riche
lieu, who forbade their advance, but dispersed the next day on
the approach of a Company of Infantry from Montreal.
On the 16th November a constable, escorted by a small party
of volunteer cavalry, proceeded to St. John's, with warrants for
the arrest of Messrs. Demaray and D' Avignon, accused of trea
son. Having accomplished this object they were attacked on
their return by a large body of armed men, posted judiciously
behind the fences on each side of the road : the prisoners were
liberated, and the cavalry driven back — a few of them being
wounded. Men's minds had been gradually preparing for violence and
bloodshed, yet this outrage excited intense interest in Montreal.
No time was lost in endeavouring to avenge it, and next morn
ing Lieut. Colonel Wetherall commanding the Royal Regiment,
with four companies, two guns and some cavalry, was ordered
to move from Longueuil to Chambly, scouring the country as he
went along. Some of the volunteers who bad been wounded
in the affair of the day before, accompanied this expedition.
The Colonel dispersed one or two armed bands, taking a few
prisoners, but his chief difficulty was the bad road.
A degree of artificial confidence had now been raised in the
minds of the vain peasantry in the neighbourhood ; and the
slight success of liberating two state prisoners and repulsing a
handful of cavalry, puffed them up with the most extravagant
ideas of ultimate success in the approaching struggle with the
Government. In the mean time warrants had at length been

TRIFLES FROM MV PORT-FOLIO. 163
issued for the apprehension of Papineau, O'Callaghan and seve
ral otiiers, who immediately repaired to the great rendezvous
ordered at the village of St. Charles.
The news of the rescue of Messrs. Demaray and D' Avignon
was rapidly spread along the populous banks of the RicheUeu,
and excited great rejoicings amongst the habitans. Large
masses of them soon began to assemble at two points on the
right bank — St Charles and St Denis. At St. Charles twelve
hundred rebels, as we must now term them, took possession of
the Seigniorial Mansion of Mr. Debartzch, a wealthy and talen
ted Canadian gentleman — a Legislative Councillor, and formerly
a great friend of Mr. Papineau; but who had abandoned him
soon after the arrival of Lord Gosford, and attached himself to
his Administration. During Mr. Debartzch's popular career he
had the misfortune, and I must add — the folly, to patronize for
some time, the seditious newspaper of which mention has been
made before — the " Echo du Pays," and now reaped the bitter
fruit of seed sown by himself. For it is but reasonable to sup
pose that the savage spirit amongst his own vassals, before which
he fled at the risk of his life to Montreal, had derived very
much of its venom from tbe atrocious doctrines inculcated by
the Gazette of the " Village Debartzch ;" although it may be
true that he at length suppressed the paper. The insurgents
now, commanded by an American named Brown, commenced
stockading the village, cutting down Mr. Debartzch's beautiful
trees for this purpose ; kiUing and salting his cattle, luxuriating
amongst his fat poultry, and regaling themselves with his wines.
At St Denis, seven miles down the river, Wolfred Nelson,
learning that a warrant was out for his apprehension, collected
a large mass of the neighbouring habitans, variously armed, and
made preparations to resist the law. The number of men under
his command cannot be easily ascertained, as reinforcements
were constantly arriving; but it is believed at last to have
amounted to eleven or twelve hundred — the majority bearing
firearms. These Mr. Nelson posted in the strongest houses
!n the village, distributed an ample allowance of his whiskey
amongst them, and bade defiance to the Government.
Mr. Papineau, O'CaUaghan, and two or three other leaders
repaired secretly to this neighbourhood as soon as they found

164 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
measures taking for their apprehension; and continued at St
Denis or St Charles until the approach of Colonel Wetherall's
column, when Papineau crossed the river and remained on the
other side during the action. In this he took no part person
ally — having been always —
" A dog in forehead, but in heart a deer."
After the calamitous result, which he must have witnessed with
feelings of torture and agony, if any vestige of humanity re
mained ; he concealed himself for some days, and then with
much difficulty made his escape to the States.
Under these grave circumstances, with the whole dense popu
lation of the six Counties, perhaps of the whole Province, ripe
for insurrection, no time was to be lost in attacking these strong
holds. A combined military movement was therefore ordered
by the Commander of the Forces ; and on the 22nd November,
two columns of troops, as strong as could then be detached from
Montreal, were directed to move from Chambly and Sorel, on
St. Charles and St. Denis.
At Sorel the navigable river Richelieu joins the St Lawrence.
The detachment ordered hence on St. Denis, eighteen miles
distant on the same bank, consisted of nearly three hundred
men of the 24th, 32nd and 66th regiments, with a few volunteer
cavalry and a howitzer, under the command of Colonel Gore,
the Deputy Quarter Master General : having a small steam
boat at his disposal for the conveyance of ammunition and pro
visions. Colonel Gore commenced his march at ten o'clock of a very
stormy night ; making a detour to his left when leaving Sorel
to conceal his object. .. The weather was as bad as possible — the
cold benumbed, and the thick snow-drift blinded the men, whilst
the tenacious mud of the execrable road pulled off their boots and
mocassins. The column, however, persevered, and on approach
ing St. Ours, avoided that village, and turned up a Concession
road to the left. After a most toilsome and miserable night-
march of twelve hours the troops arrived half frozen at St Denis.
Here they were received by a hot fire from the outskirts of the
viUage, which warmed and animated them ; and in the excite-

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 165
ment of combat the fatiguing exertions of the dreary night were
soon forgotten.
The enemy's chief strength lay in some high stone houses at
the east end of the village, from the numerous windows of which
they poured an incessant fire. The defenders were well covered,
and the officer of artillery could make little impression with his
light gun ; although one lucky shot, entering by a window,
killed a dozen of the rebels. In the mean time several men had
fallen amongst the troops ; and an officer of the 32d, named
Markham, distinguished by his romantic gallantry, was pierced
by four balls, yet without mortal injury. The whole detachment,
covering themselves as they might, persisted bravely in their
endeavour to overpower the fire of their adversaries ; and the
66th Light Company being good marksmen, in an effective
position, and commanded by a cool and brave man, Crompton,
brought down a number of the enemy. Amongst others less
distinguished, Mr. Ovide Perrault, a Member of the Assembly,
fell under their fire.
After gallantly, though fruitlessly, persevering for four hours,
until his ammunition began to fail ; whilst additional numbers
were pouring in from the neighbourhood to reinforce the insur
gents — Colonel Gore found himself unable to carry the village
with his small force, and retired to Sorel ; having the mortifi
cation of leaving his gun behind sticking in the frozen mud,
and with a loss of twenty men, killed and wounded.
It may be somewhat presumptuous in the Writer to criticise
military operations, yet an old Peninsular Officer cannot avoid
expressing his regret that Colonel Gore should not have econo
mised his men's strength more on the advance. Brought up in
the Wellington school, and distinguished for personal intrepidity
in the Peninsula, he was eager to push on in obedience to his
orders to join Colonel Wetherall : yet physical impossibilities
are not to be surmounted, and orders however peremptory, must
be sometimes discretionary. Had he kept the line of the river,
in communication with his boat, and rested his column at St. Ours,
instead of avoiding it — thus bringing the troops comparatively
fresh into action, there would have been, in all probability, a
different result. As it was, the consequences v.ere most cala
mitous — the whole detachment wos put hort^ dr combat, the gun

166 TRIFLES FROM .MY PORT-FOLIO.
was lest, and the .':team-'boat being fired on at St Ours, wasonly
saved bv the good conduct of an officer of the Commissariat,
who overawed the cowardice or treachery of the Canadian
Master, and conducted the boat back safe to Sorel.
Yet good arose from the evil. The check at St. Denis gave con
fidence to the rebels at St. Charles, and tended to make the chas
tisement they received there, the more exemplary and complete.
And here I must pause a moment to deplore the fate of
Lieutenant Weir of the 39d regiment. This fine young man
had been despatched by land from Montreal to Sorel ; but from
the badness of the roads could not reach that place until some
hours after Colonel Gore's column had set out. He then started
in a caleche in pursuit of the troops ; but fatally followed the
high road, passing them in the dark, who were then struggling
through the Concession road far to his left; and on reaching
St. Denis was made prisoner by Nelson. This man, however
misguided, is of a generous nature and treated the officer with
courtesy; but on the approach of Colonel Gore, he directed
him to be convejed to St. Charles under the charge of a person
named Jalbert. Mr. Weir was most barbarously murdered in
the village, and his mutilated remains were afterwards found
sunk under a load of stones in the river. They were removed
to Montreal and honoured by a distinguished public funeral. —
The general character of Wolfred Nelson, and his kindness to
some wounded soldiers who were made prisoners, repel the
supposition that he was privy to this atrocity. But they who
wantonly release men from the restraints of legal and social
obligations are morally responsible for the excesses they com
mit* Colonel Wetherall's detachment when leaving Chambly, con
sisted of four Companies of the Royal Regiment, one of the
66th, two six pounders, and a detachment of Montreal Cavalry,
amounting to about 350 men. They too started on the same
dark and tempestuous night, and so great were the difficulties
of moving troops at such a season that the ammunition wagon
broke down on the short road to the upper ferry, and the column
' Jalbert was lately tried in Montreal for the murder of Mr. Weir, but the Jury
composed of nine French Canadians and three of British or American origin,
could not agree and were dismissed. The evidence on the trial appeared strongly
criminatory of the prisouer.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 167
took five hours to cross t!ie river. It reached St. Mathias at
4 A, M. having been four hours in marching three miles. —
Here, the troops being already exhausted by fatigue, the Col.
halted for two or three hours — resumed his march at 7 a. m.
on the 23d November, and reached St. Hilaire at 11. Concei
ving that Col. Gore must have experienced the same difficulties
as himself, and was probably halting at St Ours, a messenger
was now despatched to inform him of the position of the Cham
bly column, and that Colonel Wetherall intended attacking St.
Charles, eight miles distant, the next morning.
At 2 a, m, on the 24th, the messenger returned, not having
been able to pass St, Denis, bringing the disastrous news of the
repulse of the Sorel people, which Colonel Wetherall could
scarcely credit — yet prudently acted on its truth ; sending a
courier with the intelligence to Montreal, and directing Major
Warde of the Royal to join the column immediately with the
Grenadier Company from Chambly, This order was obeyed
with great expedition, boats having been found to bring the
men down the river.
At 7 p, M, Colonel Wetherall made a feigned march of a
couple of miles towards St. Charles, with the object of alarming
the enemy, discovering their signals and harassing them by
keeping them on the alert The troops then returned and
enjoyed a good night's rest, whilst the rebels were watching all
night Thus the ruse succeeded admirably.
At 10 A. M. on the 25th November, no intelligence having
been received from Montreal, Colonel Wetherall marched on
St. Charles. He found all the houses along the road deserted
and barricaded, and all the bridges broken down. The last
bridge crossed a deep ravine with wooded banks — affording a
good military position, which had been stockaded and occupied
immediately before the arrival of the troops — the rebels' dinners
being found on the fires. Half a mile farther on was another
skilful stockade which was also deserted.
When within half a mile of St Charles the column was fired
at from the other side of the Richelieu and from some barns.
The fire was returned by the advanced guard and a barn was
burned. Colonel Wetherall then halted to reconnoitre, and
was immediately received by a loud cheer of defiance from the

168 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
stockaded village, Mr. Debartzch's house and the opposite bank
of the river, followed by a heavy fire.
The Lip-ht Infantry were now extended to the left of the
road, and the main body of the column moved to the right;
whilst one gun was playing with cannister and grape shot on the
stockade to the left, and another with round and grape on the
loop-holed house ; from whence a well directed fire was kept up,
but with little effect, as. the men were well sheltered.
Thus things continued for half an hour, when the whole
column was advanced to a rail fence and ditch about a hundred
yards from the stockade. A body of sixty or seventy jebels
now had the temerity to advance from their cover and attempt
to turn the Colonel's right flank, but were repulsed with loss :
and the fire being now very hot from the stockade, and every
mounted officer having had his horse killed or wounded, a gene
ral charge and advance was ordered, and after some fifteen
minutes' smart work, the stockade was stormed, the loop-holed
houses set on fire, and nearly two hundred of the rebels bayonet-
ted or shc^t.
From a Journal found in the house of Mr. Blanchette, the
Priest of St Charles, it appeared that the insurgents, alarmed
by Colonel Wetherall's feigned march from St. Hilaire, had
been under arms the whole night in expectation of an attack.
It was also established that this recreant Clergyman had assem
bled the rebels in the Church of St. Charles the morning of the
action, and given them his benediction.
Sunday, the 26th, was employed in burying the dead ; a few
of whom were given up to their relations who came to seek
them. In the course of the day several despatches were re
ceived from St. Hilaire, stating that a strong force of the rebels
was assembUng in that neighbourhood, prepared to cut off
Colonel Wetherall's retreat from Chambly. It now became a
question, therefore, whether the Colonel should follow the fugi
tives to St Denis, or attack the more formidable body in his
rear. After due deliberation be decided on the latter, and
marched early on the 27th.
Having carefully conducted his wounded to St. Hilaire, and
left a guard to protect them, Colonel Wetherall, on the morn
ing of the 28t!i, advanced on a body of one thousand insurgents

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 169
strongly posted near St Mathias, with two guns, which he
attacked and dispersed, with the loss of their guns and four or
five killed. He then re-crossed the Richelieu and returned to
Chambly the same evening.
Colonel Wetherall is a very fortunate man, but also one of
the class who deserve good fortune. At this critical time the
fate of the Province may be truly said to have depended on his
capacity and exertions, and he proved himself equal to the
responsibility. Throughout this perplexing march — cut off from
all communication with Head Quarters — deprived of the co
operation of his colleague, and isolated amidst masses of a
furious insurgent peasantry, his conduct commands unmixed
admiration. In the determination to attack St. Charles alone,
even when the rebels were flushed with their recent success,
and in the actual assault, we recognize sagacity and intrepi
dity — the firm nerve and undisturbed judgment of a consum
mate soldier.
Nor should an humbler name be passed unnoticed. Lieut.
Johnston who led the company of the 66th, (left being in front)
was the first officer, and nearly the first individual, who cleared
the fence, cheering on his men beautifully, and eliciting from
the high-minded Commander the compliment — " Well done
66th !"
The news of Colonel Gore's disaster diffused the greatest
alarm in Montreal, for it was coupled with the expectation of
a general rising throughout the Province. In fact, the most
fatal consequences might have followed but for the instanta
neous corrective afforded by the success of Colonel Wetherall.
As soon as the news arrived much uneasiness was felt at Head
Quarters respecting the latter officer, and courier after courier
was despatched to recal him : happily they were all intercepted,
and the silly captors, who rejoiced as the successive messengers
fell into their hands, little knew what irreparable injury they
were thus doing their own cause.
On the Sth of December, Martial Law was proclaimed in the
District of Montreal, and rewards were offered for the appre
hension of Papineau and several of the instigators of the rebel
Uon. Early in the month. Colonel Gore, eager to revenge ind
VOL. Ii. ^

170 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
retrieve Lis misfortune, entered St Denis and St Charles at
Vie hfi.i! (jf a stronger force; recovered his gun and some
wounded, and found the dead body of poor Weir. He then
burned the houses of the chief rebels, penetrated to St. Hya-
cinthe, collected arms, received the submission of many of the
habitans, pacified all that country and left garrisons in some of
the most disaffected villages.
After the route at St Charles some of the rebel chiefs fled
across the lines into the United States, and were received
with open arms by the inhabitants of the border towns of Ver
mont. Subscriptions were raised for them — arms supplied —
including two brass guns stamped with the American Eagle,
and the fair borderers taxed themselves to provide the patriots,
as they called themselves, with colours. In fact, the ladies of
Swanton worked a handsome pair, which they presented to Mr.
Bouchette, son of the Surveyor General of Lower Canada, who
had ungratefully espoused the rebel cause. These, with Bou
chette himself, who was wounded, the guns, several muskets
and some treasure, were captured by the gallant yeomanry of
Missisquoi Bay, Lake Champlain, on the first irruption of the
rebels and their American friends into the Province,
When the repulse at St. Denis was known at Montreal,
emissaries of mischief were despatched from thence to different
parts of the Province, but without raising the population any
where except in that disaffected section of country about the
Lake of the Two Mountains. Throughout the rest of Lower
('anada, the Clergy, the principal Seigneurs and most influen
tial French Canadians discountenanced these criminal proceed
ings ; and only the immediate circle about Papineau, contami
nated by his sedition, awed by his boldness, fascinated by his
eloquence and perverted by the long impunity attending his
career — rose in rebellion : the rest of the Canadians maintained
a passive integrity.
In the meantime the men of British origin and the Ameri
can settlers in the Province behaved nobly. The latter came
forward prominently to warn their brethren in the States against
joining the insurgents ; to disabuse them of the erroneous no
tions they had entertained respecting British rule in Canada,
and to pledge themselves to support the just and mild Govern-

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO, 171
ment under which they lived. The English, Irish and Scotch,
acted with characteristic energy and rose against this foul
rebellion as one man. Corps of volunteers were enrolled every
where ; and in Montreal and Quebec five thousand brave men
were armed, trained and put on garrison duty in the short
space of a winter month. There was much moral beauty and
interest in this simultaneous burst of genuine patriotism ; and
it was delightful to see these ardent civilians drilling diligently
even amidst the intense cold of this hyperborean climate, and
afterwards rivalling in steadiness and military proficiency their
companions in arms of the line.

172 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO,

CHAPTER XXIIL

AFFAIR OF ST. EUSTACHE.— ARRIVAL OF THE TROOPS
OVER LAND FROM NEW BRUNSWICK AND HALIFAX.—
JtlACKENZIE'S INSURRECTION IN UPPER CANADA.

" Gently stroke an angry nettle
And it stings you for your pains ;
Grasp it like a man of mettle —
Soft as silk it then remains.
" 'Tis the same with vulgar natures ;
Use them kindly — they rebel —
But be rough as nutmeg graters.
And the rogues will serve you well."
The Head Quarters with two companies of the 66th remained
during the winter in Quebec, whilst the other four had been
sent up the river in October, and had done good service in the
affairs of St. Denis and St. Charles. Our old friend and Com
manding Officer, Colonel Nicol, was promoted in the brevet
of 1837, and in quitting the corps bore with him its warmest
g-ood wishes and affectionate regfret
The county of the Lake of the Two Mountains had been
one of the chief scenes of Mr. Papineau's declamations during
the summer, and the population was so generally perverted,
that at the meeting of the five counties their arrangements for
military enrolment, the election of magistrates, and other illegal
acts, were highly praised, and made the model for the rest
Thither, therefore, after the St. Denis repulse a certain Swiss
adventurer, named Girod, repaired ; making St Eustache, the
principal village, his Head Quarters : where by exaggerations
and lies, and promises of the plunder of Montreal, he soon in
duced a large number of men to raise the standard of rebellion.
For some weeks M. Girod met with no interruption, for the
operations to the south of the St Lawrence absorbed aU the

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 173
disposable troops. Many excesses and robberies, consequently,
were committed on the few loyal people in and about St
Eustache, who mostly fled to Montreal, terrified by M. Girod's
threats and exactions. As soon, therefore, as the organization
of the volunteers was well advanced, and that important place
could be safely left to their guardianship. Sir John Colborne
resolved to do this daring bandit the honour of marching against
him in person.
Accordingly, on the 13th December three British Regiments,
the Royal, 32nd and 83rd, a squadron of Volunteer Cavalry, a
Corps of Infantry and Rifles, with six guns and a Rocket Bri
gade — forming a force of sixteen or seventeen hundred men,
marched out of Montreal amidst the rapturous cheering of the
British population. Besides the main body from Montreal,
two companies of the 24th Regiment, (a corps indefatigable in
its exertions this winter,) quartered at the Carillon Rapids of
the Ottawa, with some miUtia and volunteers, were directed to
move on Grand Brule, a post of the rebels, and co-operate
with the principal force.
One bridge over the branch of the Ottawa, between He
Jesus and the Island of Montreal, had been secured by a de
tachment ; but another over the northern arm was destroyed by
Girod. This, however, during operations in a Canadian winter
is not of much consequence. Two short marches brought the
troops to the broken bridge, when it was found necessary to
move three or four miles farther down the river to find a gent
ler current, with ice strong enough to cross. By good fortune
it had frozen very keenly the preceding three days, so that
little difficulty was experienced. Indeed the weather had been
most adverse to the rebel cause throughout, so that the super
stitious habitans had some reason for their peevish and impious
exclamation — " Le bon Dieu n'est pas patriote !" The winter
aopeared to relax his grasp on the St. Lawrence, on purpose
that troops and munitions of war might be conveyed from
Quebec to Montreal much later than usual ; and now a severe
frost occurred exactly when necessary for the furtherance of
military operations.
Before crossing the river some shots were fired on the troops
from the Church of St Eustache, which had been barricaded

1 74 TUiFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
and strongly garrisoned. Some other buildings were also occu
pied, but the stone Church was the rebel-citadel. Six or seven
hundred armed men mustered in the place that morning ; how
ever, on the approach of the troops, three or four hundred of
the faint-hearted fled ; and it vvas thus a melancholy spectacle
to witness so hopeless a struggle.
As soon as the Artillery crossed the river arrangements were
made for the assault of the place, and two of the guns were
planted against the Church. The greater part of the Infantry
was placed in cover, and different houses and positions around
the town were occupied to command the fire of the insurgents
and intercept the runaways. The guns were light and could
do nothing against the massive walls or their defenders, except
disturbing and blinding them with dust, when a bullet entered
by a door or window and pulverized the thick plaster coating
the inside. This must have been one reason why the garrison
fired so badly ; for, though the guns were within half-musket
range, no Artilleryman was touched during the last half hour.
At length the Sacristy and the Church itself were set on fire
and stormed by Major Ward and the Royal Regiment, with
scarcely any loss. The rebels then attempted to escape, but
about a hundred, with Dr. Chenier their leader, were killed
and many taken prisoners. More than half of this beautiful
village was now reduced to ashes.
M. Girod abandoned the poor wretches he had betrayed soon
after the beginning of the action, wandered about the country
for some days, but finding it impossible to escape, shot himself.
Girouard, a principal chief and instigator of the rebellion, with
one or two others, were soon after apprehended and lodged in
gaol. Next morning, the 15th of December, the Commander of
the Forces marched to St Benoit, a disaffected village, where
he found a body of three hundred penitent rebels drawn up in
line — many on their knees ; with grounded arms, each having
a white rag in his hand. The arms were secured and the habi
tans pardoned and dismissed.
Almost immediately after the arrival of the Montreal troops,
the column of the 24th from Carillon made its appearance ; a
simultaneous precision that would have been of considerable

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 175
importance had Girod defended the post of Grand Brule as
was expected.
The insurrection here being thus effectually crushed. Colonel
Maitland with the 32nd Regiment and two guns was sent on
to St. Scholastique and St Therese, two rebel villages, to
receive the submission of the peasantry and collect arms. The
insurgents here also surrendered unconditionally and were par
doned — the salutary severity of St Eustache, like the chastise
ment at St. Charles, having pacified all the neighbourhood.
Sir John Colborne then returned to Montreal ; the whole busi
ness having only occupied four days.
Soon after his return a large portion of the prisoners taken
in action, against whom uo previous charge could otherwise be
alleged, were liberated from gaol. Indeed the utmost clemency
on the part of the Government and its civil and military offi
cers, was a pleasing and marked characteristic during the whole
of the first rebellion ; and justice vvas only permitted to claim
a portion of her rights at the close of the second, because the
previous mercy had been so grossly abused.
Quebec, under its vigilant Commandant, Colonel Rowan, en
joyed comparative quiet during these stirring times. Early in
November five or six French Canadians were apprehended on
charges of sedition, put in gaol four or five days, and then
released on bail. On their liberation a crowd of their country
men — principally from the large suburb of St Roch — collected
to cheer them, when a riot on a small scale took place between
the Irish and Canadians — a few heads and windows were broken,
and after a desultory skirmish the suburbans were chased out
of the gates. The Magistrates then interfered and prohibited
all assemblages in the streets.
One dark and gloomy morning about an hour before day
break, tbree alarm guns were fired from the ArtiUery Bastion,
which were answered immediately from the Citadel, according
to previous arrangements. The Garrison turned out instantly—
the Volunteers mustered and repaired to their alarm posts— the
bombardiers stood to their guns— the guards at the different
gates listened for the approaching enemy— mounted officers
repaired to the Commandant for orders— and every body longed
for day-light. Day at length broke, but no enemy appeared ;

176 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
and it turned out that all this pother arose from the servants of
the Hotel-Dieu having set fire to some straw to scald a pig.
Early in January 1838, the 43rd, and then the 85th and 34th
arrived from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, after a toilsome
march of four hundred miles. They suffered little until approach
ing Quebec, when several of the men contracted pulmonary
inflammation from sleeping in the woods at a temperature of 20
or 25 deofrees below zero of Fahrenheit, But at most of their
halts temporary huts had been prepared for them, and provisions
got ready by the exertions of the Commissariat, whose good
arrangements in all parts of the two Provinces have essentially
contributed to the early suppression of both rebellions.
Some uneasiness was felt as to the reception the troops would
meet from the Canadians along the Kamouraska road, and it
was even feared that they might be opposed at one or two strong
points; but these apprehensions turned out groundless, and
much cordiality and even kindness were shewn them on the
march. When the first division of the 43rd arrived at Point Levi,
opposite Quebec, the river happened to be very smooth and
free from floating ice — the day was clear and fine, and the little
fleet of canoes, each with its tiny red-cross flag, came across
very regularly. Considered in all its bearings the scene was
spirit-stirring in no slight degree. The troops of the line,
volunteers, and innumerable other spectators lined the wharves;
and when the first canoe touched the shore, two military bands
struck up the national air, but the music was soon drowned in the
thunder of the cheering — which was reflected after a few seconds
from the high bank opposite, and again was heard re-reverbera
ting and dying away among the rocks of the lofty Citadel —
the fitting asylum of the last loyal echo. The division then
formed and marched to the barracks, escorted by the Quebec
Volunteers, and preceded by the music, where, in the enjoyment
of the good cheer prepared for them by their comrades of the
Garrison, they soon forgot the toils of their long and dreary
march. Great manifestations of loyalty now broke out amongst the
French Canadians, and numerous meetings were held through
out the Province, from which warm, and even fulsome addresses

TRIFLES FROM .UY PORT-FOLIO. 177
were sent to the Governor, which he interpreted as favourably
as they could desire. It was amusing to contrast some of these
with their Papineau resolutions three or four months before.
However, it is wise not to be too inquisitive as to motives when
the overt act is correct, and men are sometimes kept honest by
the beUef of their integrity. The fact is certain that the Dis
tricts of Quebec and Three Rivers have remained quiet, whilst
only the serfs of Papineau, in a part of the District of Montreal,
rose in rebelUon ; and as the others might have done so too, yet
did not — though a simultaneous revolt would have been very
embarrassing — the population of the good sections of the coun
try — constituting the great majority of the inhabitants, should
not in justice be deprived of their character as loyal subjects of
the Crown.

INSURRECTION IN UPPER CANADA.
Mr. Joseph Hume in a letter to Mr. Mackenzie, dated Bryan-
stone Square, London, 29th March 1834, made use of the
following language: "Your triumphant election on the 16th,
and ejection from the Assembly on the 17th, must hasten that
crisis which is fast approaching in the affairs of the Canadas, and
which will terminate in independence and freedom from the bane
ful domination of the Mother Country."
Pursuant to this advice, conveyed in the imposing language
of prophecy, Mackenzie during the summer of 1837, had been
labouring with zeal and energy worthy of a better cause, to
fulfil the prediction. He travelled many a weary mile through
the country, collecting public meetings, haranguing mobs, and
disseminating seditious placards ; producing batches of violent
resolutions and urging in direct terms a simultaneous insurrec
tion in support of Mr. Papineau's operations in the Lower
Province. There are some base natures that after being spurned
will fawn the more ; so this man appeared now the more zealous
in behalf of the demagogue of Lower Canada, because he had
been slighted and cut by that proud person at Quebec, the year
before, as himself has since complained in a letter to O'Callag
han, who had also insulted him.
VOL. II. - ^

178 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
At several of these meetings Mackenzie found himself in a
minority and received rough treatment, but at others he car
ried his point His principal strength lay about Lloyd Town,
and two or three Townships on Yonge street, a straight road,
thirty miles long, connecting Lake Simcoe with Toronto. —
These Townships had been mostly settled by Americans or
Germans; and with a few others in the London District, whose
population was also of foreign origin, were eager to imbibe his
political poison.
In October and November, Mackenzie's paper, oddly named
" The Constitution," had rivalled Mr. Papineau's prints in incul
cating open treason. Meetings of armed men for military drill,
were held along Yonge street; and dark and threatening ru
mours of a general rising of the disloyal began to disturb the
peace of the Province, now left without any military force by
the recent withdrawing of the troops to Lower Canada.
Still beUeving that Mackenzie's adherents were a mere hand
ful compared with the great body of the population, he was
not disturbed in his operations, and the Lieutenant Governor
permitted him to proceed unchecked, with rather hazardous
incredulity of his power to do mischief. However, Proclama
tions were issued, forbidding the military trainings, and a Gene
ral Order called out the Militia on the 4th December.
Mackenzie feared the militia and determined to anticipate
their assembling. He resolved therefore to collect his despera
does, make a bold push on the defenceless city, set it on fire in
different places, seize the person of the Governor, the money in
the Bank, and profit in every way by the confusion of the sud
den attack.
Accordingly, Mackenzie the chief leader, with Gibson, Lount
and a bold ruffian named Anderson, assembled a body of four or
five hundred armed men at Montgomery's Tavern, four miles
from Toronto, on the 3rd December, and prepared to enter the
city the same evening, where all was yet quietness and fancied
security ; for though warned of the danger. Sir Francis Head
could not be induced to believe that a real attack was impending.
But some reportsof approaching mischief beginning to circulate,
two gentlemen of the city went out to reconnoitre in the Yonge
street direction ; and about a mile from the northern suburb.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 179
encountered Mackenzie, Anderson, and one or two others on
horseback, who stopped and ordered them to surrender. One
was taken prisoner ; but the other, Mr. Powell, shot Anderson
and escaped to Toronto, communicating to the Lieutenant Go
vernor and the citizens, the momentous intelligence of the near
approach of the rebels.
Sir Francis Head, who from incredulity had been somewhat
supine before, now bestirred himself. The citizens flew to
arms, and all classes joined enthusiastically to repel the enemy
and to fight literally « pro arts et focis." The Governor loaded
his double-barrelled gun— the Chief Justice shouldered his
musket like a fine and gallant fellow as he is ; whilst Judges,
Lawyers, Doctors and the most respectable people in the place,
followed the patriotic example. The point of assembly was the
Town Hall, where there was a small depot of arms, which were
now distributed ; and here the citizens kept watch for the
rebels all night. A garrison was thrown into the Bank — barri
cades were hastily erected, and messengers were sent in all
directions for reinforcements.
The long-expected morn at length dawned, but Mackenzie
came not He and his followers were alarmed by the death of
Anderson, whilst the ringing of the College bell gave note of
preparation in the city. But to treason, murder and arson
had now been added by this atrocious viUain. A most respec
table gentleman, Colonel Moodie, formerly of the 104th Regi
ment, was shot in passing along the road to Toronto ; and the
house of Mr. Home, an officer of the Upper Canada Bank, was
burned to the ground under Mackenzie's immediate direction,
for no other reason than the hatred he bore to this institution.
During Tuesday, the Sth December, the defensive arrange
ments of the town were perfected, and additional numbers of
the citizens supplied with arms, whilst Sir Francis Head hu
manely sent messengers to the insurgents, imploring them to
disperse, and offering them in that case a free pardon. But
one of the messengers. Dr. Rolph, with the most nefarious
treachery, betrayed the confidence reposed in him, and urged
on the misguided rebels to an immediate attack. He is now
wandering in the States, a contemptible outcast ; affording a

180 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
Striking example of the danger of possessing talent without
moral principle.
On Tuesday evening Mackenzie again advanced at the head
of his forces within a mile of the city ; but on getting into fire
with an advanced picket their hearts once more failed thein, and
they retired to their former position near Montgomery's Ta
vern. This was another anxious night in Toronto.
In the course of Wednesday strong reinforcements poured
into the town from the Gore District, Scarborough and other
places, which were organized for an attack on the rebels next
day. Confidence now began to revive, and the citizens looked
forward without apprehension to something decisive on the
morrow, which should put an end to the harassing vigils of the
two last nights.
On Thursday morning, tbe 7th, the Lieutenant Governor
placed himself at the head of a force of one thousand men, and
marched out to attack the rebels. After about an hour's desul
tory skirmishing they were defeated and dispersed in all direc
tions — the houses of some of the leaders were then burned, and
after a pursuit of five or six miles the loyal defenders of Toronto
returned in triumph to the city.
In the London District three or four hundred insurgents had
been collected by a certain Dr. Duncombe, an American Mem
ber of the Assembly, who had gone to England to accuse Sir
Francis Head and pour his griefs into Mr. Hume's sympa
thising breast ; but did not dare to substantiate the calumnies
he circulated when he returned to the Province. Mr. Joseph
Hume may be a loyal subject of the Queen ; yet, if so, he is
peculiarly unfortunate, for his bosom friends from this country
have hitherto sadly discredited his instructions and all turned
out traitors. But, to resume — Colonel McNab, the Speaker
of the Assembly, who had hastened to the aid of Toronto at the
head of his brave men of Gore, was now despatched against
Duncombe, and soon accomplished his mission — dispersing and
disarming the insurgents, who abandoned their leader, threw
down their arms and implored pardon.
But although this contemptible etneute was so easily crushed
without the assistance of a single regular soldier, it has been
attended with consequences of great importance as affecting

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 181
the international relations of Great Britain and the United
States, and seriously compromising the growing amity between
these kindred nations.
From the beginning of the disturbances in the Lower Pro
vince in November, 1 837, an unfriendly feeling towards Eng
land had been shewn aU along the frontier of New York and
Vermont. The American press teemed with exaggerations and
falsehoods respecting the supposed defeat of the Queen's troops,
and the triumphs of the insurgents. Most atrocious statements
of cruelties perpetrated by the soldiers on their prisoners were
conspicuously inserted in the border journals, and thence co
pied, con amore, into the thousand newspapers of the Union.
Imaginary executions for treason also figured in their columns •
and, so notoriously false were all the accounts of the rebellion
that in most of the Canadian papers there was a space appro
priated to them under the title of " Lies of the American
Press." The frontier population did not content themselves with pub
lishing imaginary successes of the " patriots" — they received
them with open arms — assembled at large meetings to ex
press admiration for their cause and detestation of their Eng
lish oppressors — cherished, fed and clothed them ; supplying
them with money, arms and ammunition in the very teeth of
the proclamations of their own Governors, the laws of their
own choice and the orders of the General Government So
high raged this excitement that for a considerable period no
loyal subject of the Queen of England could travel in the States
adjoining Canada, without the greatest risk of insult or violence.
This untoward state of things was, no doubt, as painful to
honest Americans as Englishmen ; but unfortunately by the
constitution of their Government the well principled few can do
little or nothing against the vicious many — the influence of the
multitude, which is, when reduced to its elements, the ascen
dency of brute force directed by evil passions, is a predominant
and uncompensated power in the States. Mob-law or Lynch-
law is only a local development of the broad principle on
which the great federation is based — the volition of " the fierce
democracy" — the powerful but unruly main-spring of all re
publics, past and present, which, at length acquiring dispropor-

182 TRIPLES FRO.M .MY PORT-FOLIO.
tioned and enormous strength, shatters the rest of the machinery
to pieces.
Acts of a still more unfriendly and hostile character, were
soon after committed in Buffalo. Thither Mackenzie fled in
disguise on his defeat at Toronto ; and the next evening after
his arrival found fifteen hundred admiring Americans waiting to
receive him with acclamations at the theatre, and to hail him as
the " Champion and Martyr of Liberty." A guard of honour
was organized for his defence— ;-recruiting for him was openly
carried on in the streets ; the ladies sent money and clothing to
his hotel — the merchants contributed pork and flour — the mob
robbed the State Arsenal for him with the connivance of the
guard — and West Point Academy furnished him with a Ge
neral. In a few days, by another turn of the wheel of fortune, this
singular mountebank found himself a person of consideration
and the President of a RepubUc — in posse — at the head of a
respectable force, with a formidable Artillery, posted in the
natural fortress of Navy Island — a narrow wooded spit of Bri
tish territory, in the centre current of the Niagara, two miles
above the Cataract. Here Mackenzie amused himself in organ
izing a Government for Upper Canada, and in devising means
of attracting adventurers to his standard ; making liberal pro
mises of money and land to all who should repair to Navy
Island to emancipate the Canadas ; and as Sir Francis Head
had offered £1,000 reward for his apprehension, he retaliated
by promising £500 for seizing Sir Francis.
These antics after the Massaniello fashion did not disgut the
Americans : on the contrary they repaired in considerable num
bers to Navy Island, bringing arms, provisions and money. A
small steam-boat, named the Caroline, destined to be the most
famous of her class, was cut out of her winter quarters in the ice
at Buffalo, taken into the service of the patriots on hire, or
served them for love ; and commenced by conveying recruits and
artillery, and military stores from the main land at Schlosser to
Navy Island.
As soon as the Governor of the State of New York and the
President found their attention necessarily called to these un
lawful proceedings, they took certain languid and ineffectual

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-F( i [.10. 183
measures to recover the national arms from this piratical assem
blage. However, thus early, there is much reason to believe
that their heart was not right in the matter ; at any rate their
officers could do little against the popular will at Buffalo, and
were obliged to content themselves with feeble remonstrances,
from inabiUty or unwillingness to go any greater lengths. —
Some of their chief agents on this occasion, evinced a disgraceful
ignorance, or a criminal recklessness of the usages and law of
nations, in recognizing military rank in Van Ransellaer, a
manifest pirate, fighting against one peaceful country and a
felon against the laws of the other.
But a startling incident awoke the American authorities from
their lethargy. The Caroline was cut from her moorings at
Schlosser, on the night of the 29th December, by a party of
Canadian Volunteers, commanded by Captain Drew of the
Royal Navy, set on fire and sent flaming down the Cataract !
Viewed with its natural and necessary associations, this must
have been a grand and awful spectacle. The blazing boat, shoot
ing down like a portentous meteor — now feeling the awakening
power of her own engines — now tossed with mad fury from
one enormous rapid to another, whose white manes were for
the first time tinged with fiery hues — the prompt punishment
of a criminal enterprise — the gnashing of teeth from the Island,
and the cheering from Chippawa — the possible future war in
perspective — finally the sudden extinguishment of the flame in
the boiling abyss — had, altogether, much moral and physical
sublimity. The frontier population, already hostile to Great Britain,
were frenzied by the burning of the Caroline. Forgetting all the
provocation that had led to it — their recent and flagrant violations
of their own laws, the obligations of good faith and friendship,
the recognized law of nations, and the moral law of God, and
conscience — they breathed nothing but vengeance and abuse of
Great Britain. Numerous meetings were held, in which Judges,
Generals, Senators, Magistrates and Clergymen took part, where
violent resolutions were passed by acclamation, couched in the
most insulting terms, and imbued with a spirit of deadly hostility
to the English Nation and Government. The Governor of the
State of New York made the matter the subject of a special and

184 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
angry Message to the Legislature ; but the joint Committee of
the Senate and Representatives shewed good sense in declining
to act in the basiness and referring it to the jurisdiction of the
General Government. The Secretary of State wrote a tempe
rate letter on the affair to the British Minister at Washington,
to the effect that the American Government would demand
redress from England ; and the negociations still continue. It
is not likely that any satisfaction will be obtained, since our Go
vernment has expressed admiration of the intrepidity displayed
in the attack of the boat, and has honoured Mr, McNab, who
directed the enterprise, with marked distinction.
The man who injures another is afterwards, if a bad man,
proverbially implacable against him, and thus it often is with
proud and vain nations. In the matter of the Canada insurrec
tion the United States had put themselves notoriously in the
wrong ; yet on this check to their course of violent aggression —
done in necessary self-defence — they have stormed and blus
tered from high to low, as if their hands were clean and they
were palpably in the right.
It requires no very intimate acquaintance with Vattel or
Puffendorf to know what is the Law of Nations and the dictate
of natural equity in this matter. The question would seem
altogether to hang on the point — did the boat convey miUtary
munitions to the pirates in forcible possession of British terri
tory? If she did — and of this there can be no doubt — she was
a partaker in their guilt — an accessary, and denationalised. It
was, no doubt, a delicate point to touch her in the American
waters, yet as there is abundant evidence that Schlo.sser, where
she lay, was in the actual occupation of the Island adventurers
or recruits going to join them, whom the American authorities
were unable to dispossess — that place must be viewed precisely
in the same category as the Island and the boat, and deemed to
be unprotected by the jurisdiction of the States, which there,
de facto, was powerless. No man has a right to harbour in his
house the incendiaries who are plotting to destroy his friend's ;
and if he has not power nor inclination to oust them himself, it
must be done for him. This was General Jackson's law, and
Secretary Adam's law with the Spaniards in Florida; and is
perfectly consonant with_ the dicta of the authorities and with
national justice.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 185
Stimulated by the feeling that originated from the affair of
*he Caroline, the United States Government began at length to
act with some energy. The President officially confessed that
the laws were defective, and that it was not in his power to
maintain relations of amity with a friendly nation, pursuant to
treaty. A bill slowly passed the Legislature, giving him the
additional powers ; proclamations were issued, and General Scott
was sent to the agitated frontier to keep the peace.
The cunning traitor at Navy Island chuckled at the destruc-^
tion of the Caroline, affording as it did a chance of embroiUng
the two nations: his infuriated foUowers kissed the points of
their weapons, in imitation of the Paladins of old — and swore a
deadly revenge. But being now deprived of their chief means
of crossing to the Canada side, and seeing the miUtia clustering
there in great numbers, they remained for some days inactive,
keeping up a feeble cannonade, but not knowing what to do.
In the mean time a strong force of Artillery being assembled
at Chippawa, a vigorous fire was directed on the Island during
the nights of the 14th and 15th of January, with much effect.
On the evening of the 16th the place was abandoned, and the
pirates were disarmed by the Americans.
Whilst this invasion was thus exploding, our frontier was
assailed in a new quarter on the Detroit river, where some
adventurers played the same game as at Buffalo, stultifying the
people, collecting recruits, money and provisions, issuing flaming
manifestoes, robbing the arsenals and seizing an Island, But
General Sutherland who commanded here, was unsuccessful in
his operations, and one of his schooners containing his Heads
of Departments, Artillery and materiel, was taken by the gallant
Yeomanry near Amherstburgh, The Authorities of Michigan
shewed great supineness and seemed rather friendly to the pa
triots at first, but as soon as they saw the demonstrations of the
General Government against them, they also began to bestir
themselves, and arrested Sutherland.
It is not easy to account for the hostility shewn to Great
Britain by the Amerieanfl during the whole of the late distur
bances, for we had done nothing whatever to deserve it, but
the contrary. Until the other day there was every appearance
of growing amity between the countries, and English travellers
VOL, II. 2 b

186 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
in the States, and Americans in England, concurred in their
accounts of the pleasing progress of this happy state of interna
tional relations. The two Governments had been cordial — the
Presidential Messages had of late years noticed England, gene
rally, first on the list of foreign nations, and mentioned her in
respectful and friendly terms; and the compliment had been
returned in the speeches of our Ministers, and other influential
persons in Parliament We had lately behaved handsomely in
the matter of the quarrel with the French, and had materially
assisted in settUngit; much against our own interests. The
interruption of these friendly relations, therefore, is every way
deplorable ; and the more particularly as the bitter spirit raised
on both sides is not likely soon to be allayed.
1 fear there is a sordid feeling of envy of the greatness of
England, and a desire to abase it at the bottom of all this ; and
that the recent outburst has been only an ebullition of deep and
long cherished dislike, instilled by educational institutions, fos
tered by early prejudices and national vanity, and imbued with
an additional tinge of acrimony every 4th of July. I believe,
that notwithstanding their assertions to the contrary, they wish,
from high to low, to push us altogether from this Continent,
They are very wrong, for we would be quiet and useful neigh
bours if they would let us ; and British influence once extinct
here, there would be anarchy of a frightful description for some
years — then probably, after much bloodshed, the merging of the
Canadas and Lower Provinces in the Eastern section of the great
Republic; which thus reinforced, and provided with the magni
ficent estuary of the St. Lawrence, would soon give laws to the
Union, and eventually break it up. True American patriots,
therefore, on this hypothesis, should not covet Canada : as it is
they have hard work in keeping the abolitionists and slaves in
order, warding off the Indians, and generally in managing their
overgrown Republic. But notwithstanding the obligations of
national faith and the more stringent influence of self-interest —
if they will persist in bullying and reigning paramount in North
America, John Bull will probably shew that he has still enough
spirit left to make his gra.sp of it the firmer, and notwithstand
ing his present' low condition, pluck up strength to deal some
hard cuffs to any body who would wrest it from his hold.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 187

CHAPTER XXIV.

DEPARTURE OF LORD GOSFORD AND ASSUMPTION OF THE
GOVERNMENT BY SIR JOHN COLBORNE.-FRESH DIS-
TURBANCES ALONG THE FRONTIER.— REINFORCEMENTS
FROM ENGLAND.— ARRIVAL OF LORD DURHAM.

" Some, peradventure, have on them the guih of premeditated and contrived
murder — some of beguiling virgins with the broken seals of perjury— some, making
the wars their bulwark, that have before gored the gentle bosom of peace with
pillage and robbery." Shakspeare.
After an Administration of two years and a half the Earl of
Gosford was recalled at his own request, and left Quebec in the
end of February 1838. This Nobleman was himself an im
personation of the conciliation principle; and if kindness and
amiabilty of nature could have sufficed to compose poUtical
strife, his Government would not have turned out a failure. He
appears never to have correctly appreciated the difficulties he
had to contend with, arising from the perfidious character of
Papineau and his friends ; and went away somewhat incredulous
to the last, of their evil designs. Even after the recent extin
guishment of an actual rebeUion, which one party raised, and
the other mainly assisted to suppress, he left the Province under
the erroneous conviction that there was more reason to dread
the men of British than of French origin. Had not Papineau,
notwithstanding his declamatory talent, proved himself a sorry
politician, he might nearly have made his own terms with the
Government of Lord Gosford, and established French Canadian
ascendency firmer than ever. But the impetuous passions of
the man ever overcame his judgment, and he lost the golden
opportunity. No doubt the transition from the turbulent politics
of Lower Canada to the quiet and congenial pursuits of a good
landlord and hospitable nobleman at Market-hill must be most
agreeable to Lord Gosford.

188 TRIFLES FROM MV PORT-FOLIO.
Sir John Colborne now assumed the government, ad interim,
to the great joy of the British party, who got up a grand illu
mination at Montreal on this occasion.
The Canadian refugees in the United States, failed not to
make use of the destruction of the CaroUne as a strong circum
stance in their favour, and were soon able to excite fresh
disturbances along the frontier. Dr. Robert Nelson, a Surgeon
at Montreal, foolishly abandoned his profession for the strife of
arms ; raised a corps of Canadians with a few Americans on the
New York border — published a pigmy Declaration of Indepen
dence, and entered Lower Canada a mile or two, on the 28th
of February. His band of patriots, however, became alarmed
at the preparations making to attack them, re-crossed the Line
immediately and were disarmed by the American authorities.
Similar demonstrations were made in the Upper Province, where,
on the coasts of the great lakes there are always in winter a num
ber of idle and demoralized people fit for any mischief. These
now, incited by prospects and promises of plunder, enlisted
freely to invade Canada ; and found means, through the richer
Americans, friendly to the cause, to provide themselves with
money and provisions ; whilst they stole, or took openly, the
national arms and ammunition from the ill-guarded depots and
arsenals. Gananoque and Kingston were threatened by bodies of these
brigands in February 1838, who took momentary possession of
a British Island, but abandoned it when they found a force from
Kingston approaching. At the same time a body of two hun
dred and fifty started from the neighbourhood of Buffalo with
two guns, intending to cross the ice and land above Fort Erie,
but they were pursued by Colonel Worth and disarmed. Simul
taneous irruptions took place higher up, and a force of three or
four hundred adventurers moved from Detroit and took posses
sion of another British Island on the 26th of February, from
whence they were immediately driven by a detachment of the
82nd and 83rd regiments, and a body of militia commanded by
Major Townshend 24th foot. These marauders Were also dis
armed when they reached the American shore, but not before
they had abused the protection it afforded by firing from thence
on the British.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 1&9
A more serious attempt than any of these predatory irrup
tions was made at a large British Island at the head of Lake
Erie, called Point Pele Island, which is twenty miles from the
Canadian shore. Here a body of about four hundred American
brigands, armed to the teeth with rifles, pistols, bayonets and
huge carvers, called bowie knives, landed on the 28th of Febru
ary, seized the few Canadian inhabitants and plundered them,
and made preparations to cross to the vicinity of Amherstburgh.
But there was a vigUant officer there who anticipated their
attack. Colonel Maitland commanding the 32nd, having pre
viously sent Captain Glasgow of the Royal ArtUlery — an officer
of ubiquitous service this winter — to see if the ice was still
passable, moved with a strong detachment from Amherstburgh,
and after travelUng all night in sleighs, a distance of forty miles,
at a temperature below zero, arrived at the Island about day
break. Here the Colonel detached Captain Browne of the
3Snd, and two weak companies of that regiment, to the south
shore, with a view to cut off the retreat of the invaders to the
American side, whilst himself with the main body slowly pene
trated through the deep snow at the northern end, in quest of
them. The band of plunderers finding themselves in danger
of being surrounded, boldly determined to concentrate their
force and attack Browne's detachment — not one hundred strong ;
thus opening their way back to Sandusky. They accordingly
advanced in regular military order — threw out skirmishers, and
being secured by huge blocks of ice along the shore, opened a
hot rifle fire on the 32nd. Browne was not slow in returning
their fire, but finding himself greatly outnumbered, and seeing
his handful of men faUing fast, he formed line in extended order
and thus charged his assailants, who, though four to one in
number, immediately broke and ran into the wood. Soon
after, they took to their sleighs and escaped to the American
shore, with the loss of four of their chiefs and sixty or seventy
killed and wounded. The 32nd had thirty men put hors de
combat. Now this was a very briUiant little affair — most honourable to
the steadiness of the 32nd, and their intrepid leader Browne.
MiUtary writers have observed that the English is the only
Infantry accustomed to charge with the bayonet two deep —

190 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
other armies forming their charging lines of double strength —
which probably they require. Here we have a novelty suited
to the emergency — a charge of a far superior force two deep
and in extended order; and it is pleasing to observe that Cap
tain Browne on this critical occasion in ordering it when he did,
and in spreading his files to eke out his scanty front, proved
himself the man of resources, presence of mind and firmness —
giving promise of future fame, and demonstrating that the lesson
he received early in life at Waterloo had not been forgotten.
About this time inteUigence reached the Province of the
suspension of the Canadian Constitution by an Act of the Im
perial Parliament, the appointment of Lord Durham to be
Governor General of British North America, and the prepara
tions for sending out strong reinforcements to the Canadas.
The appointment of Lord Durham did not give entire satisfac
tion ; as many of the most intelligent and estimable people
here feared the democratic tendencies ascribed to this noble
man : yet as he was believed to be of undoubted talent, high
character and great wealth, they could not withhold from him
their respect The demonstrations of vigor in the embarkation
of troops for Canada were applauded unanimously by the Bri
tish party, whilst the French Canadians quietly submitted ; now
that the Ministry appeared determined to put forth the strength
of the nation in the outraged cause of Law and Government
Pursuant to the Act of Parliament vesting the legislative
functions for Lower Canada in the Governor and a Special
Council to be nominated by him, Sir John Colborne constituted
his Council in the beginning of April and summoned it to
meet at Montreal. It was composed of twenty-two gentlemen
of respectable character, abiUty and property, selected on the
whole with commendable impartiality from the two great classes
in the Province. The Council commenced its labours on the
18th of April, passed twenty-one acts — many very judicious
and useful — and was prorogued on the Sth of May.
On the 9th of May, Quebec was enUvened by the arrival of
the Edinburgh 74, the Inconstant frigate, and the Apollo and
Athol troop-ships, having on board Major General Sir James
Macdonell and a Brigade of Guards, composed of the Grena-

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 191
dier and Coldstream Regiments. Soon after, these splendid
BattaUons disembarked and marched to the Citadel and Jesuits'
Barracks, where they took up their quarters as the permanent
garrison of the city. In thus sending some of the elite of her
troops to occupy the chief bulwark of her power on this Conti
nent, Great Britain gave no uncertain pledge of her determina
tion to exert her strength for the preservation of this valuable
portion of her vast Empire.
As soon as this fine Brigade reached Quebec, the regiments
quartered there were sent up the river. Our Head Quarters
moved to Three Rivers, where they remained during the sum
mer. Troops now poured into the St. Lawrence — two Regi
ments of Cavalry — several Corps of Infantry, with strong rein
forcements for those already in these Provinces, arrived in the
early part of the summer ; and our rural and quiet quarters at
Three Rivers were animated by the frequent passage of the
steamboats, covered with red coats, and musical with bugles
and bands. Including the regiments from Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick that had arrived early in the year, the addi
tional force amounted to about ten thousand men.
On the 27th of May, the Hastings, of 74 guns, anchored at
Quebec with the new Governor General, the Earl of Durham,
on board. His Excellency did not land until the 29th, when
he was received as became his high rank by Sir John Colborne,
Sir James Macdonell and a large Military Staff. Immediately
after being sworn in at the Council Chamber, he issued a pro
clamation couched in terms of decision and energy, but in a
somewhat tumid style, indicative of no small self-esteem and
self-importance. The Castle of St Louis having been burned, and there be
ing no private mansion in Quebec fitted to accommodate the
new Governor with his family and suite, the vacant House of
Assembly was appropriated to this purpose ; and thus, by a
curious reverse, Uke a freak of retributive justice, those halls
which had long echoed to eloquent declamation against the
pride and pomp and tyranny of England, and where legislators
clad in homespun garments and preaching republicanism had
lately met, were now to be ornamented and occupied as a scene

192 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
for the most gorgeous luxury and festivity by one of the proud-'
est of the EngUsh aristocracy.
Scarcely had Lord Durham established his Government
when news of a vile act of piracy and arson was received at
Quebec. The Sir Robert Peel, a British steamboat on Lake
Ontario, when stopping at night to take in wood at an Ameri
can Island, was boarded by a band of armed and disguised
ruffians, the passengers, including several ladies, were robbed
and maltreated, and the boat was burnt.
The Governor General immediately issued a spirited procla
mation offering a large reward for the apprehension of the
criminals, and assuring the loyal people on the frontiers that
they would be protected in future by an adequate military force,
and that an application would be made for reparation of the
injury to the American Government.
Shortly after Lord Durham's arrival congratulatory and very
flattering addresses began to be sent in to him from various
parts of both Provinces, and at length arrived so fast that it
required no mean tact to vary the answers — necessarily of the
same purport — and avoid tautology. The same overweening
self-esteem, to which allusion has already been made, characte
rized His Excellency's replies ; accompanied with much raagni.'
loquence and many fine promises.
On the 31st of May, the Governor dismissed the Executive
Council of the Province by a courteous letter to each member
from Mr. Buller his chief Secretary, and soon after formed
another, composed of his own Secretaries, the Provincial Secre
tary and the Commissary General — being five persons. On
the 28th of June a new Special Council was appointed — also
composed of five members.
The first ordinance of the Special Council, dated the 28th
June, banished eight poUtical criminals to the Island of Ber
muda, and threatened them, together with Papineau and fifteen
others with death, if they entered the Province without permis
sion. The second ordinance pardoned all the other prisoners,
and liberated them on giving security for good behaviour. All
the refugees from Lower Canada, with the above exceptions,
were permitted to return to their homes on the same conditions.
Now, however despotic and severe this first measure of the

rniFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 193
Government of Lord Durham was made to appear afterwards
in England by the special pleading of the lawyers, it was pro
bably the wisest and most humane mode of disposing of the
eight prisoners, taken for the most part in flagrante delicto,
and who had confessed their guilt — with whom, moreover. Lord
Durham's administration ought not to have been embarrassed.
The threat to the fifteen outlaws constituted a statute, analogous
to the ordinary procedure at home, in the case of felons return
ing from transportation before the expiration of the sentence ;
and was imperatively demanded by the necessity of the case«
The two ordinances, largely considered, were framed with due
regard to the temperance of the claims of justice by a great
preponderance of mercy ; and their repeal at home from a
petty technicality — which should have been there amended —
was, I presume to say, most unwise. The ministry, parliament
and people, did not sufficiently understand or consider the per
plexing difficulties surrounding the disposal of these criminals.
Early in July the Governor General proceeded on a tour to
the Upper Province, accompanied by his family. His Lord
ship was received at Montreal with acclamation, and a most
complimentary address was there presented to him. Proceeding
on his journey he visited Cornwall, Prescott, Brockville, King
ston and Toronto, and arrived at the Falls of Niagara, much
pleased with his reception in Upper Canada. Here he spent
a few days, exercising a liberal hospitaUty and shewing much
attention and civility to the Americans. After reviewing the
43rd Regiment and holding one or two short conferences with
the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, Lord Durham
returned to Quebec on the 27th July.
He now engaged heartily in official business, and publicly
and privately laboured with sedulous diUgence to make himself
perfectly acquainted with the internal economy of the Pro
vinces of his Government— under one unhappy bias and presup
position, however, that before his arrival whatever was, was
wrong. Commissions to obtain information on half a dozen im
portant subjects were instituted. The Lieutenant Governors of
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward's Island, with
certain influential persons delegated from the Lower Provinces,
were summoned to Quebec ; and a grand scheme for a federa-
VOL. II. 2 ^-

194 TRIFLES FROM MY FORT-FOLlO.
tion of the five British Provinces into one General Government
was submitted to their consideration.
Amidst much that was purely theoretic, and not a little that
was visionary. His Excellency also busied himself with the tan
gible and directly useful ; and conferred at least one solid be
nefit on the cities of Quebec and Montreal by establishing a
good Police in each — moreover His Lordship embelUshed both
cities a little. He could not command funds to raise the old
Chateau of St. Louis from its ruins, but he removed those un
sightly remains which disfigured Quebec, and formed a hand
some planked terrace on that commanding site, affording a
cheerful and healthy promenade for the inhabitants, with a fine
view of the river and a wide sweep of the surrounding country.
This has been named the Durham Terrace.
But about the middle of September the important intelligence
arrived that the very first measure of Lord Durham's Govern
ment, namely, the ordinance transporting the eight criminals to
Bermuda, had been disallowed by the Queen — which at once
put a stop to all his plans of real or imaginary reform and im
provement, for he instantly declared his intention of resigning.
This was not to be wondered at He had often complained
that the Ministry had not supported him in ParUament in a
cordial and manly way on questions connected with the appoint
ment of some of his officers ; and now by this vital blow at his
consequence and authority, they degraded the Governor Gene
ral so much that no man with proper respect to his own charac
ter — still less a proud and vain man like Lord Durham, could
submit to the treatment. The only wonder was, how any Mi
nistry could suppose he would.
The news produced consternation amongst loyal people
here, and numerous meetings were forthwith held in both Pro
vinces, expressing deep regret at the prospect of losing Lord
Durham, with some indignation at the conduct of tbe Ministry
and the House of Lords ; accompanied at several of the meet
ings with a request that the Governor would magnanimously
overlook the bad treatment he had received, and not abandon
the Province in the critical circumstances in which it was now
placed. The answers to all these addresses were nearly the
same — consisting of peevish and somewhat undignified com-

TRIFLES FRO.M MY PORT-FOLIO. 195
plaints of the House of Lords and the Ministry — lamentations
over the ruin of splendid plans of improvement here, and pro
mises of great exertions in Parliament.
On the 9th of October a long proclamation of the Governor
General was published in Quebec, which was framed in a much
worse spirit than these puling replies, and was altogether a
most extraordinary and unstatesman-like document It was
imbued throughout by the most offensive and egotistic tone of
wounded pride ; and in thus formally appealing to a distant and
distracted colony against the official affront he had received
from the Supreme Government, the Earl of Durham forgot his
duties as a British subject, and behaved like a man bereft of
all sense of allegiance and all considerations of propriety by
the desire of revenge. The intimation to the outlawed traitors,
contained in the proclamation, that they might now safely return
to the Province, at the very time that an extensive conspiracy
of invasion was on foot, might have been, and was calculated to
be, infinitely mischievous.
A dinner was given to Lord Durham by the Brigade of
Guards at Quebec a day or two previous to his departure, of
which some notice was afterwards taken at home. It was
merely a courteous and valedictory acknowledgment of his hos
pitality to the officers ; was devoid of all political bearing, and
deserved no such reprehension as it received from party-spirit
in England. On this occasion Lord Durham shewed good
taste, and perhaps some magnanimity, in proposing the Duke
of WelUngton's health after what had recently happened in the
House of Lords.
On the 1st of November, the Earl of Durham having thrown
up his Government from personal pique, embarked for England
in the Inconstant frigate, leaving the country of his own mere
will, and without lawful authority, on the very eve of a second
rebellion. Yet was his departure good for the Province ; for
the presence of a Civil Governor of such large self-importance
would have seriously impeded Sir John Colborne in the deci
sive measures which the exigencies of the times required.

196 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.

CHAPTER XXV,

FALLS OF SHUANAGAM IN FULL FLOOD.— OUTBURST AND
SUPPRESSION OF THE SECOND CANADIAN INSURREC
TION.— COURTS MARTIAL.— LORD DURHAM'S REPORT.

" This apish and unmannerly approach
The King doth smile at, and is well prepared
To whip this dwarfish war, these pigmy arms
From out the circle ofhis territories." Shakspeare.
The 66th passed a quiet summer at Three Rivers and Sorel.
At the former place the King's Dragoon Guards — a superb
corps recently arrived from England — were also quartered.
The River St. Maurice being very high after the melting of
the winter snow, a party of our officers in company with Mr,
Greive, a gentleman of Three Rivers, started to visit the
Shuanagam Falls, under these favourable circumstances. We
slept in Mr, Bell's house at the Forges ; crossed the river there
early next morning, and proceeded ten miles through the woods
on the left bank to a small stream called the Cache, which falls
into the St. Maurice. Here our intelligent and enterprising
friend had lately founded a little settlement — seized the impe
tuous river by the beard — wharfed the shore — anchored huge
beams athwart the turbulent waters to guide the course of his
logs — formed a dam and built a saw-mill, which was now vigor
ously at work, cutting up enormous logs as easily as we would
peel a rush. On the hill above the ravine was an incipient
farm in the first year of its existence, where the delicate blades
of the young wheat were luxuriating and triumphing over the
prostrate forest. Here the infant " power of cultivation" might
rejoice at "  the wonders ofhis toil,"
though, as long as the black stumps stuck out in rather too

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 197
Strong and high reUef, the said pow;er had stUl a great deal
to do.
After breakfasting in our friend's neat Uttle cottage, our
party, four in number, embarked in a new birch canoe, manned
by four active voyageurs, and proceeded merrily up the river.
This was no easy task, for the water was very high and the
current powerful. We first shot across in nervous proximity to
the immediate suction of a tremendous rapid, and then keeping
close to the edge, brushing the trees now standing deep in the
water, and pulling ourselves along by their branches, we slowly
ascended to " the Greys" Rapid, where we were obliged to
make a long portage. Here the St Maurice tumbles over the
rocks and rushes between the wooded islets very grandly ;
and we spent half an hour in admiring the wild and varied
beauties of the place as much as a host of hungry mosquitoes
would permit. Again embarking we proceeded on our way,
amidst roars of laughter of our voyageurs at the queer stories
of one of them, who had been a great traveller, and gone
down the Columbia River to the Pacific. Then would follow
song after song, until, after a pleasant voyage, we reached our
destination at three o'clock.
I had seen these beautiful falls nine years before, as already
mentioned ; then, however, the water was low. Now, this
large river was full to overflowing, and the " giant element"
was leaping " with delirious bound" in the finest style from
rock to rock, and huge granite rock too. A couple of enor
mous streams — distinct under other circumstances — had, half
way down the precipice, now mingled their foaming waters ;
and where the opposing cataracts met there was indeed an awful
conflict The third branch pitched boldly by itself over the
high bank, and then bounded down two hundred yards, roaring
and raging until it joined the others, when aU three united in
one stupendous rapid — sweUing, surging and thundering like a
stormy sea, and requiring a long level space to compose it into
quiescence. It is to be deplored that on occasions like this, when, after a
five hours' journey, we gaze with unsatisfied delight on any
magnificent object before us, the vile animal within, unsatisfied
with the gape-seed, will gnaw and pinch and become clamorous

198 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
for more substantial food. This is one great inconvenience of
our material nature. For a full hour we bore up against or
stifled the sensation ; but the wolf at length prevailed, and all
that was refined, or mental, or sentimental, surrendered at dis
cretion. We made our voyageurs carry the basket of provisions to a
point on the bank, commanding the best view of the falls,
where Lord and Lady Aylmer had formerly lunched ; and
found the rural benches and table, prepared for them by the
civility of Mr. Bell, stiU in existence, though very ricketty.
In coming up the steep hill one of our men unfortunately made
a slip, and he and the basket bearing all our hopes disappeared,
tumbling over each other reciprocally. We gave up our drink
ables for lost, not considering the friendly trees, against which
man and basket cannoned Uke billiard balls, and were finally
brought up by a large maple. We had only to lament the
breaking of our tumblers and glasses ; but substitutes were
soon found, and we drank our Champagne out of birch-bark
goblets with infinite gusto. The return voyage down the
stream was gloriously exciting, and its rapidity in fine contrast
with our slow morning progress.
Towards the end of autumn reports of coming disturbances
began to thicken, and intelligence to crowd in from all quarters
of a dangerous and wide spread plot against the peace of these
Provinces. Extensive preparations had been for some months
going on in the border States for a fresh invasion of the Cana
das, and this formidable conspiracy was no longer confined to
the demoralized rabble on the frontiers. Respectable persons
in all classes of society at once considered themselves released
from the obligations of morality, the restraints of conscience
and the specific engagement of the national faith, in a treaty
of friendship with England. Large sums of money were
raised — depots of arms and provisions prepared — numerous
secret societies, with fictitious names and objects, formed— and
sixty thousand names enrolled in Vermont, New York, Michi
gan, Ohio, Kentucky and one or two other States, with the
object of wresting the Canadas from the dominion of Great
Britain. But many traitors, as might be expected, were found

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 199
amongst this wicked confederacy, and the base covetousnesg
which first set it on foot defeated its own objects. Sir John
Colborne and Sir George Arthur soon had secret and accurate
information of what was going on, and made their preparations
accordingly. The Writer bets seen several communications of
this description received from various persons Uving far apart,
but all concurring ; and on the whole no less than thirteen or
fourteen documents — some of much length — were received from
persons residing in the States above-mentioned, who were sworn
members of the lodges ; not from any proper motive, but, as
they all confessed, for the sake of a reward, though at the risk
of their lives. In these very minute statements were given of
the numbers, means, arrangements and objects of the conspira
tors ; and it was remarkable how nearly they all agreed in the
great outlines of the plot. Several civil and military officers of
the United States and of the State Governments, acting from
honourable motives, furnished corroborating intelligence of the
wide-spread confederacy, whilst they lamented their own inabi
lity to put it down.
Simultaneously with this vast conspiracy numerous emissa
ries traversed the Lower Province, exciting to rebellion, exag
gerating the great preparations making in the States, and
threatening all who would not swear to rise when warned, with
proscription and death. About thirty thousand habitans in the
Montreal District are believed to have been included in the list
of insurrection — bound solemnly to rise in arms when they
should receive the order ; and many others were intimidated
into a promise to remain quiet and make no opposition.
The Earl of Durham sailed down the St. Lawrence, felicitat
ing himself on having effected " tbe cessation of American sym
pathy with any attempt to disturb the Canadas, and the restora
tion of good-will between them and a great and kindred nation ;"
to use his own words. Scarcely, however, was his back turned
when important events contradicted this statement — a new re
bellion burst forth, and the border Americans sympathised with
the rebels more ardently, and helped them more effectually
than before.
The second insurrection, like the first, broke out prematurely.
Late in October, Sir John Colborne had gone to Quebec to

200 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
take over the Government on the departure of Lord Durham,
and it was believed that this duty would detain him there a
week. The conspirators fixed on Saturday, the 3rd of Novem
ber, for a general rising throughout the western part of the
Montreal District ; and it was intended to collect an over
whelming force, attack the garrisons of Laprairie, St. John's,
Chambly and Sorel, and obtain miUtary possession of all the
right bank of the St. Lawrence, from the boundary line
to the mouth of the Richelieu, before the Commander of the
Forces would have returned from Quebec, or any military
strength could be sent across from Montreal.
But the war-worn chief with whom they had to do was too
vigUant and too active for their calculations, and before they
supposed half his work was done at Quebec, he suddenly ap
peared at Montreal on Sunday morning, the 4th of November —
instantly proclaimed Martial Law, caused several suspected
persons to be arrested, and began preparations for crossing the
river at the head of a strong force.
On Saturday night the bulk of the population in the County
of Laprairie, along the Chateauguay river, and the greater part
of L'Acadie and Beauharnois, rose in arms. They attacked the
houses of several isolated loyalists, murdered a man named
Walker, at La Tortu, near Laprairie ; invested the seignorial
mansion of Mr. EUice at Beauharnois, captured his son, his
agent, Mr. Brown, and some ladies ; and soon after got pos
session of a steamboat which touched at the village. On the
morning of the 4th November, some bands of insurgents from
Vercheres, Contrecoeur and that neighbourhood, moved towards
the Richelieu, expecting to find depots of arms in the villages
along its banks, as had been promised, and hoping to raise the
people. An enterprising fellow named Malhiot, was at the
head of this movement, and intended, it was said, to attack Sorel
if he could muster the force he anticipated.
We had the 66th, about six hundred strong, at this important
post, together with a hundred volunteers, A good deal of alarm
was felt by the population at the vicinity of the rebels, who
remained five or six days in possession of St Ours, and even
pushed an advanced guard within five miles of Sorel : several
of the French Canadians, in consequence, ran away from the

TRIFLES FROM .MY PORT-FOLtO. 20l
village. But there was little ground for apprehension ; for with
proper military management of such a garrison, no number of
miserable half-armed insurgents could have taken the place,
nor was it very probable that they would presume to attack it
The rebels soon found they could gain few recruits in the valley
of the Richelieu, where the serious results of last year's attempt
were still freshly remembered ; and not meeting the arms that
had been promised, nor any American assistance, they began to
melt away and return secretly to their homes. Malhiot per
ceiving his followers diminishing fast, conducted about three
hundred who remained faithful, to a strong position, at a mill on
the side of the Boucherville mountain.
Sunday the 4th November, was a day not soon to be forgot
ten in Montreal. The real successes of the rebels, with the
usual exaggerations of rumour, were soon bruited through the
town — the loyal inhabitants flew to arms simultaneously, and
the place resounded with martial preparations. The Garrison
got ready for action — the chief avenues to the town were barri
caded — guards were placed at the most commanding points, and
stationed to defend the Banks ; and when evening fell, the
Magistrates caused the houses to be illuminated. Throughout
that exciting night few persons thought of sleep ; and as the
groups of arm.ed figures, casting fantastic shadows, were moving
continuaUy and in all directions through the streets — rapid horse
men hurrying to and fro, and the heavy wheels of ArtiUery
rattling along — the whole scene resembled some vast phantas
magoria, or the assembling of an army when going forth to
battle — " And there was mounting in hot haste : the steed,
The mustering squadron and the clattering car.
Went pouring forward with impetuous speed.
And swiftly forming in the ranks of war."
In the course of the day inteUigence was received that the red
children of the forest had given the first check to this second
rebellion ; and soon after, sixty or seventy prisoners, taken by
the loyal Indians of Cochnawaga, afforded ocular proof of the
fact. The grateful Aborigines thus repaid the paternal protec
tion of the Government: whilst the white man, stupified and
9 n

VOL, II,

202 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
paralysed by his guilt, lost his wonted superiority when he be
came a criminal, and surrendered without resistance.
Robert Nelson, who took the chief command of the rebel
force, now established his Head Quarters at a village in the
County of L'Acadie, called Napierville, where he collected a
body of about five thousand men. He arrested and disarmed
the loyal inhabitants ; formed a Commissariat and Magazines of
provisions, and with the assistance of two or three French and
Polish adventurers, began to divide his motley army into squads,
companies and battalions, and give them a hasty organization.
He now endeavoured to open a communication with his Ame
rican friends ; and some armed bodies of loyal militia having
repulsed Cote and Gagnon, two of the patriot leaders at LacoUe,
with the loss of their gun, Nelson moved in person on the Sth
of November, at the head of a thousand men to attack them
at Odell Town, These gallant men, far inferior in number,
under the able guidance of Lieutenant Colonel Taylor, threw
themselves into a Methodist Chapel, and defended their citadel
with such determined resolution as to beat off Nelson with much
loss, after a hot affair of four or five hours. The captured gun
here did much execution amongst the insurgents.
On this occasion Nelson was accused by his own people of
want of personal courage, and of having kept out of the heat of
the fire under pretence of affording professional assistance to
his wounded followers. He was in consequence grossly insulted
by his discomfited troops, who even threatened to deliver him
up to the British authorities. When this doughty General,
bearing the name of Nelson, abandoned his peaceful profession
for the strife of arms, he ought to have recollected that a Sur
geon, not less than a soldier, should have a lion's heart, and that
one of the sacrificial animals of the god .^sculapius, was a cock.
For three or four days troops of all arms were pouring across
the St Lawrence, and coUecting at St, John's, On the 8th
November, two fine Brigades, under Major Generals MacdoneU
and Clitheroe, advanced on Napierville where Head Quarters
arrived on the 10th; but, a few hours before, all the rebels had
dispersed. As soon as the Glengarry colonists on the north shore of Lake
St Flancis heard of the rising at Beauharnois, and the capture

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLlO. 203
of the steam-boat, in which some of their friends had been taken,
they assembled with extraordinary promptitude, crossed the
river at Coteau du Lac, and advanced on Beauharnois, assisted
by a detachment of the 71st regiment. After some slight skir
mishing the village was taken, and the greater part of it burned
the same night. On their approach Mr. EUice and his compan
ions in captivity were ordered to Napierville. but on the way
the rebel guard having heard of the dispersion of their friends,
set them at liberty.*
On the Sth November we received orders at Sorel, for the
advance of the 66th up the valley of the Richelieu, to clear it
entirely of Malhiot's bands, and open the communication with
St. John's. It had rained incessantly for nearly three days, and
the streets of the village and the roads were more navigable for
a skiff than passable for pedestrians. In seven or eight hours
after the receipt of the route. Lieutenant Colonel Johnston, at
the head of a strong column, composed of the 66th, half a bat
tery of Artillery under Captain Tylden, which had arrived from
Quebec the day before, and a detachment of Volunteer Cavalry,
marched or rather waded out of Sorel in the direction of St
Ours, in admirable order — as far as the knees. As the column
was leaving the village a steam-boat came to the wharf, with
some companies of the Grenadier Guards on board, on their
way to Montreal, who began to cheer merrily. This was
answered by our people, and repeated and re-echoed by the
Guards, the other passengers, and a crowd of spectators, until
the troops were out of hearing ; whilst in the mind of the Wri
ter this stirring scene linked itself with reminiscences of battle
fields of days of yore,
Malhiot occupied a strong position on the Boucherville
Mountain, but the hearts of his people quailed on the approach
of the troops, and they abandoned their post. The 66th found
* Much obloquy has been cast on Sir John Colborne for unnecessary severity in
the numerous burnings of houses during both rebellions. These accusations have,
I believe, no farther foundation than that buildings from whence the troops had
been fired on, were destroyed by the orders of the officers in command, according
to military usage. But nineteen-twentieths of the burnings arose from the reaction
of unresttainabie passions amongst the volunteers, many of whom were smarting
under recent loss and ill treatment, and all anticipating greater calamities should
the insuigents be successful. The guilty incendiaries were those who first lighted
the torch of this unnatural rebellion.

204 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
three guns, some muskets and pikes, and a considerable quan
tity of ammunition.
This absurd insurrection being effectually quashed, prisoners
were brought in, in great numbers, and the Montreal gaol was
soon filled. The great lenity of the Government on the former
occasion having been so grossly misunderstood, and so crimi
nally abused, it now became an act of the clearest necessity as
well as justice to make some examples. As it was plain that
proceedings in the ordinary courts would be nugatory, and no
dependence could be placed on the sanctity of an oath with a
French Canadian Jury, when a political bias could influence
them — as a recent trial for the murder of a man named Char-
trand had proved — a military court was ordered to assemble at
Montreal for the trial of the most guilty of the prisoners.
Here one cannot refrain from noticing the moral degradation
that has taken place in the character of the Canadians of this
district since 1765. Then a terrible fire laid the city desolate
in a few hours ; destroying property to an enormous extent.
England, as usual, extended her liberal hand in relief — the
Governor, Murray, investigated the loss ; and such was the
honesty of the new subjects of Great Britain, and perhaps their
gratitude for her exertions in recovering from Louis the Fif
teenth a large proportion of the sums out of which they had
been cheated by his Intendant, Bigot, that the majority of the
sufferers when called upon to state their losses on oath, under
rated the amount considerably, from tenderness of conscience
and strict regard to truth.
The Court Martial consisted of fourteen Field Officers and
Captains in the Army, with Major General Clitheroe, their
President. It met on the 19th November, sat nearly four
months, was abused by an injudicious and violent press for the
cautious regularity of its proceedings, and tried one hundred
and twelve prisoners, ninety-nine of whom were convicted of
high treason and rebellion on the clearest evidence. Twelve of
the most criminal convicts were executed — two of whom had
been implicated in the murder already adverted to — several
were pardoned and fifty-four had their sentence of death com
muted into transportation.
Although most of the prisoners were instructed to protest, in

TRIFLES FRO-M MV I'ORT- FOLIO. 205
limine, against the jurisdiction of the Court Martial, such was
the perfect fairness of the trials, that there was not a breath of
complaint from any quarter, as to the solemn and equitable
manner in which its proceedings had been conducted.
The American friends of the Canadian insurgents were not
idle in aid of their attempt, but their operations were confined
to the Upper Province — no assistance of any consequence being
afforded in the Lower. On the 12th of November a large
party of armed men embarked in a schooner, and in the United
States, an American steamboat at Oswego, which took them
down to Ogdensburgh. Here they obtained possession of the
boat and crossed over direct to Prescott ; but finding opposition
likely as they approached the wharf, they dropped down the
river a couple of miles and then landed. These invaders, two
hundred and fifty in number, under the command of a Pole
named Von Schoultz, immediately occupied a strong stone
windmill and some houses, and built a breastwork on a com
manding position for three guns they had brought with them :
they then looked anxiously for reinforcements from the oppo
site side. But the activity of a couple of armed British steam
boats, and of Colonel Worth of the American Army, prevented
any aid from passing the river, and these daring brigands now
found themselves cut off from the American shore — no indivi
dual joined them ; but on the contrary the neighbouring mili
tia assembled promptly to destroy them. They were attacked
almost immediately with the greatest gallantry by a combined
force of MUitia, a detachment of Royal Marines and another
of the 83rd Regiment, commanded by Major Young, then on
particular service at Prescott The invaders fought well, but
were obUged to abandon their exterior defences and confine
themselves to the windmill and a couple of stone houses, which
they maintained with bravery and resolution. Finally, the
miUtia were forced to retire from the attack ; first planting a
line of investing pickets— after sustaining a loss of about eighty
men. A very gaUant officer of the 83rd, Lieutenant Johnston, and
a brave militia officer, named Dalmage, here lost their lives,
and the whole loss was much greater than any yet sustained in

206 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
repelling these piratical incursions. The body of poor John
ston was shamefully and brutally mutilated.
It now became necessary to wait for the arrival of heavy
Artillery from Kingston ; and on the 1 5th November, Lieut
Colonel Dundas, commanding the 83rd, brought down a wing
of his regiment and two eighteen pounders, whilst Captain
Sandom, the Naval commander on the lakes, also brought some
heavy guns. The result was the capture of the remaining in
vaders with scarcely any loss : one hundred and sixty-two of
them were imprisoned at Fort Henry, near Kingston.
This affair was, perhaps, more demonstrative of the boiling
bravery of all parties thfin of much military talent ; for it might
and ought to have been foreseen that a substantial, circular
stone windmill, with outworks of stone houses, defended by
Artillery, would not be likely to yield to musketry — particu
larly when garrisoned by desperate men in sufficient number.
Strong covered posts of investment, therefore, to hold in check,
harass and prevent predatory incursions, would have answered
every purpose until proper Artillery arrived ; and thus many
valuable lives might have been saved. However, it ought to be
added, that nothing is more difficult than to restrain the ardor
of brave but undisciplined troops, and the circumstances of this
invasion were calculated to elicit it in no common degree.
During the action the wharves and shores at Ogdensburgh
were covered with spectators, taking the most lively interest in
what was going on, and cheering their friends in the windmill
when they saw the militia retiring from the attack.
Another irruption of Americans took place soon after on this
devoted frontier. A body of three or four hundred marauders
crossed the Detroit River, near Windsor, surprised a small
party of miUtia, exhausted by long vigilance and burned their
barracks. They also burned a British steamboat and committed
two or three wanton murders ; one of which was of a very sa
vage description. Assistant Staff Surgeon Hume, a young
man of extremely mild and humane character, being short
sighted, had the misfortune to mistake these brigands for a body
of militia, and rode up to them with unsuspecting confidence.
He was instantly pierced by a dozen balls, and after his fall
the miscreants cut up and mutilated his body with their Bowie

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 207
knives, as was done to Lieutenant Johnston at Prescott. These
were diaboUcal atrocities, which at the present time would cer
tainly not be committed by large bodies of men belonging to
any other people of the earth claiming civilization — .scarcely
even by the most savage race.
It is painful to write thus, yet I cannot retract, although I
may mortally offend my American readers. What is said is
truth ; and it is impossible to hear of such fiendish deeds, per
petrated to force RepubUcanism on a British Province, by the
citizens of a country that vaunts so highly of her institutions,
without a shudder of intense disgust Nor can I contemplate
other dreadful anomalies between theory and practice therein
without contemptuous indignation. Truly would it become this
self-adulating land to lower her lofty pretensions, or to mend
her manners. The great Republic appears now to be morally
retrograding every where, and at an accelerating pace. The
population of the remote interior is already far advanced into
savagery — a barbarousness more sanguinary and odious than
that of the aboriginal American — being the apostacy of civiliza
tion. Away from the large cities every man does that which
is right in his own eyes — revenges his own wrongs — arms him
self to the teeth, and pours out blood Uke water.
The career of the Detroit invaders was short. They were
attacked by the militia, and all killed, made prisoners, or dis
persed in the woods, where many perished miserably ; but a few
were picked up half frozen by the Indians. Three or four were
shot immediately after surrender, by order of Colonel Prince,
who commanded the British Militia ; an inhumanity which can
not be justified, for they should have had trial before execution.
Sir George Arthur ordered Military Courts Martial to assemble,
pursuant to a Provincial Statute, and the prisoners taken here
and at Prescott were tried before them. Fourteen or fifteen
were hanged, a large number, after some months detention in
gaol, were pardoned and sent home to the States at the expense
of the British Government, and eighty-two had their sentence
of death mitigated into transportation to AustraUa.
In the course of this eventful winter an unpleasant rupture
took place in the Lower Province between the Executive Go
vernment and the Judiciary Bench. Soon after the breaking

"208 TRIFLES FROM JIY PORT-FOLIO.
out of the insurrection an Ordinance of the Special Council had
suspended the habeas corpus ; but two of the Quebec Judges,
Messrs. Panet and Bedard, and afterwards Judge Vallieres at
Three Rivers, took upon themselves the weighty responsibility
of pronouncing officially, that in this matter the Governor Gene
ral and Council had exceeded their legal power, and consequently
the Ordinance to this purport was null and void, and undeser
ving of obedience. Acting on this belief Judges Panet and
Bedard issued a writ of habeas corpus in the case of a man
named Teed, confined in the gaol of Quebec for some treasona
ble practices ; but he was removed to the Citadel before serving
the writ Then ensued an unseemly conte.st between the Judges
and the Commandant, Lieutenant Colonel Bowles, Coldstream
Guards, who shut himself up in his Citadel and defied them ; so
they were fain to punish the Gaoler, whom they imprisoned in
his own gaol. Following their example, the Three Rivers Judge
liberated a man confined in gaol there on a seditious charge,
in the face of the Ordinance forbidding bail to be taken. Final
ly, the Executive, finding its authority vitally compromised by
these daring proceedings, and the disaffected in the Province
beginning to take courage from this irregular and factious
conduct of the Judges, suspended the contumacious triumvirate
from office, and referred the matter home.
The Writer pretends to Uttle ability to judge in this matter
as to the law of the case ; but even granting that there was
some ambiguity in the wording of the Imperial Statute which
defined the powers of the Special Council, it would appear in
the view of common sense that the two Quebec Functionaries
shewed an unbecoming eagerness to grapple with so important
a question, and were too prompt in deciding it The judicial
settlement of so momentous a point should not have hung on
the opinion of a bare moiety of the Bench, given in vacation,
and without consultation with the Chief Justice. An intimation
to the Executive, previously, of regret at being obliged to sap
the foundation of its authority by their decision, would also have
been only decorous. Besides, considering how very recently
he had figured as a poUtical partizan, the bosom friend of Mr.
Papineau, and opposed, toto ccelo, to the Government, it was
scarcely decent in the junior Judge, Hedard, to take a prominent

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 209
part, en amateur, in the matter. Altogether, taking into con
sideration the previous consultation of the Quebec Judges with
their brother in Three Rivers, the affair had a very suspicious
appearance ; and there seems little reason to doubt that these
three French-Canadian Judges, under the shield of their official
sanctity, had conspired to aim a sudden furtive, and deadly blow
at the Administration of Sir John Colborne.
Soon after their suspension an Ordinance of the Council
quashed the decision of the three Judges ; whilst three of their
brethren, including the Chief Justice of Quebec, gave an official
opinon that they were wrong in their law ; which view of the
case was also taken by the British Government and Law Officers
of the Crown in Enoiland.
A number of false alarms were got up along the frontier
during the remainder of the winter, and several incendiary
forays took place, in which isolated loyaUsts on the British
side had their houses and barns burned by Canadian refugees,
assisted by their American friends. Consequently the duties of
the regular troops and militia became very harassing — the men
being kept constantly on the alert to repel any serious invasion
or hunt the incendiaries, who generally escaped. But any com
bined or extensive plan of offensive operations against these
Provinces appeared to be now out of the question — the exiles
being quite dispirited by their repeated defeats and destitute of
funds or munitions for any fresh attempt Their American
allies, too, began to cool in their sympathy and to feel a Uttle
di-sgusted at the useless outlay of their money ; and the Presi
dent, seeing the case hopeless, was proportionately unfriendly
to it. The more respectable portion of the American press*
had always viewed the causeless insurrection, and its bearings
on the national relations with England, in a proper light; but
* I cannot abstain from adverting to the most valuable services of the JVew
York Mbion m ihe gooi cause during the late troubles ; and indeed to English,
and I may add, American interests, since its first establishment by my friend Dr.
Fisher, many years ago. Under the able guidance of Dr. Bartlett it has risen to
the highest character as a literary and political Journal ; and whilst it maintained
unswerving fidelity towards England, it has never needlessly offended the Govern
ment that protected it ; but on the contrary, by its courteous, impartial and gentle
manly tone, the Albion has always acted the noble part of peace-maker between
the kindred countries — smoothing asperities, softening difficulties, pointing to the
notice of each their mutual good qualities — in every way promoting harmony.
and most honourably endeavouring with much tact and talent to keep John Bull
and his strapping son Jonathan good fiiends,
VOL. II. 2 E

210 TRIFLES FROM .MY PORT-FOLIO.
now the philo-patriot Journals also were becoming rational, and
beginning to recover from their absurd hallucination. Under
these favourable circumstances, when peaceably disposed people
on both sides of the Lines were preparing for better times, all
at once new subjects of colonial and international mischief were
started — Governor Fairfield of Maine, threw down his Boundary
gauntlet, and Lord Durham flung his firebrand Report into
the arena.
The Braggadocio of Maine was restrained from provoking
a fatal collision of arms by the good sense of the American
Secretary of State, Mr. Forsyth, probably under the direction
of the President ; aided by the personal counsels of General
Scott, who repaired to that part of the frontier to keep the peace.
Thus the evil day has been put off for the present, and it is
possible that this interminable question may yet be settled by
mutual compromise : but of this there is the less chance since
Maine has been irregularly permitted to be a party in the
negociation. But the other source of evil is still welling copiously. The
Earl of Durham, who had returned to England without permis
sion, on the eve of a rebellion in the Colony of which he was
Governor, and breathing rage and defiance to the home authori
ties for disallowing his proceedings, presented a voluminous
Report of the State of the Provinces he had left, shortly after
his arrival. In this long and laboured production, every public
abuse that had existed there for scores of years antecedent to
his Government was minutely detailed, although most had
been corrected or were in process of correction — every good
quality or official virtue on the part of the English or Provincial
Government was denied, underrated or slurred over — whatever
was, had been wrong — whereinsoever the people had com
plained, they were right Every Governor, except himself, had
misruled ; and all departments before his advent had been
shamefully conducted. All these political errors, crimes and
blunders — real or imaginary — were gloated over with morbid
satisfaction and placed in strong contrast, when the case admit
ted, with the admirable arrangements in the United States res
pecting analogous matters : receiving deeper shade from this
juxta-position. All was represented as the perfection of human

TRIFLES FRO-M .MY PORT-FOLIO. 211
wisdom in the great republic — all the quintessence of asinine
folly in the monarchical colonies ; and the noble painter appears
to have felt strange enjoyment in daubing thick black on every
thing British, and glaring whitewash over all that was American.
Notwithstanding, let us see how stands the case in reality,
comparing the actual advance of the five British Provinces with
that of the United States during the last forty years. In a
work like this I cannot copy long statistical tables of population,
and revenue, and imports and exports : I can merely glance at
the result of an examination of authentic documents of this des
cription. From these data, then, it appears that notwithstanding
the Utopian perfection on one side — assisted by enormous emi
gration and borrowing of English money ; and the awful mis-
government on the other — these British Provinces, since 1791,
have increased in external and internal trade, shipping, revenue,
population and consequent prosperity, as fairly inferred there
from, in a ratio of about five to four over the simultaneous ad
vance in trade, shipping, revenue and population of the United
States, on a general average of the whole.
It is true this rapid progress has received a check lately ; not
from the fault of the Government — unless too great kindness
and subserviency to the petulant humours of the colonists be
deemed a fault — but from the political and suicidal vice of a
portion of the uninformed population.
With regard to Lower Canada, this Report, although it con
tains much truth, strongly expressed, gives an unfair represen
tation of the differences between the two great classes or races,
which it exaggerates into the most deadly animosity. This is
a false view of their social relations— at least the Writer, who
has lived in the Province twenty times longer than Lord
Durham, has observed no such deadly hatred between those of
French and British origin. Again, the loyalty of the great
bulk of the French Canadians is offensively and totally denied ;
a libel to which Mr. Papineau has also set his seal in a late
publication. But I cannot reconcile this supposition with the
recent facts, that during the two insurrections in the Montreal
District, the influential Seigneurs, the Clergy, the rich mer
chants and traders every where, and eight-tenths of the habitans
remained faithful, when there was nothing to prevent the rebel-

212 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
lion from spreading down the valley of the St. Lawrence, had
this strong and general spirit of disaffection existed.
The High Commissioner's statements are especially incorrect
respecting the political condition of the Upper Province. Lord
Durham himself knew npthing of Upper Canada, and was un
fortunate in his choice of an agent to procure him the necessary
information ; in the ."same way as he had been unlucky or un
wise in the selection of two persons of damaged moral charac
ter for confidential employment in his administration at Quebec.
Mr. Charles Buller, an English radical lawyer, the Governor's
chief Secretary, was sent to the Upper Province to make him
self acquainted with its political and social condition. This
gentleman arrived in Quebec, convinced that all tbe evils of
these Provinces had arisen from misgovernment ; brim-full of
democratic prejudices and levelling tendencies, and with eyes
politically jaundiced even more than his master's. He spent a
week or two about Niagara and a couple of days at Toronto,
associating chiefly with the reformers and disaffected, as he had
done in Quebec, and concocting the Report, afterwards signed
by his master, from their exaggerations and falsehoods. It was
stated in the newspapers at the time, without contradiction
since, that I know of, that Mr. Buller was in the habit then of
eending his servant into the low taverns, in both towns above-
mentioned, to glean what he could from the conversation of the
people frequenting them ; and that the drunken gossip thus
obtained, figures prominently in the Report as the public opi
nion of the Province,
Although acknowledging that the term " Family Compact,"
as applied to the Government there is a mere brutum fidmen,
without any foundation in fact, the Report, with strange incon
sistency, reasons on the truth of this false postulate throughout ;
and deduces much of the discontent — which it grossly exagge
rates — and the insurrection itself — which it disloyally palliates —
to this imaginary cause. There is not a word of acknowledg
ment of the admirable conduct of the population in purging
themselves, unaided, of the imputed taint of Mackenzie's trea
son by crushing instantly his contemptible emeute ; and when
he was backed by the border Americans, destroying, or captur
ing, or repeUing them ignominiously from the Province again

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 213
and again. As no exultation is felt in their success, so no
regret is expressed for their hardships, privations and sufferings,
or those of their families. The tears of wives and children se
parated from their husbands, fathers and brothers ; who in the
midst of the dismal winter had left them unprotected at the
call of Government — the harassing march — the exhausting
vigil — the waste of property, and the actual loss of life, elicit
not a syllable of praise or sympathy in this ungenerous and un
worthy Report No. Mr. BuUer's and Lord Durham's sym
pathies are all on the other side ; reserved for bloody-minded
felons and incendiaries, taken in the fact fairly tried and most
justly punished. By a strange and lamentable moral perver
sion, their feelings only harmonize with what is evil and revolt
from what is good ; and whilst no tear is shed for Colonel
Moodie or Captain Ussber and their distracted families, the
noble Commissioner's pity overflows for Lount and Matthews,
convicted traitors and murderers.
When he first landed. Lord Durham announced a grand plan
for a general federation of the five British Provinces, as the
panacea for all the political evils of this country. According to
the original draught of this scheme the Legislative Council was
to be abolished ; and there was to be only one General Assem
bly, with the Governor, to constitute the legislature. But
finding this enormous concession to the rampant democracy of
the age rather startling. His Lordship changed his machinery
and graciously permitted the Council to remain as a chief
spring. On consultation, however, with the gentlemen from
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward's Island, who
had at his bidding repaired to Quebec, he found that even thus
modified the plan would not answer — many physical obstacles
being in tbe way— and abandoned it altogether. Lord Durham
then contented himself with strongly recommending a Legisla
tive Union of the two Canadas, with Council and Assembly,
and a Board of the heads of departments for ministers, under
the old name of Executive Council ; but, with the Governor,
bound to consult the popular colonial wiU in all their acts, and
guide themselves by it, under penalty of the displeasure of the
home Government
Now, however the Earl of Durham, or rather Mr. Charles

214 TRIFLES FROJI MY PORT-FOLIO.
Buller, might pride himself on the simplicity and originality of
this scheme — which is now called "Responsible Government"
and of which Lord John Russell has since in a speech in the
House of Commons demonstrated the nonsense and impractica
bility — neither, certainly, has any claim to the merit of the dis
covery. It had been for seven or eight years the pith and
essence of the demands of Papineau and the House of Assembly
of the Lower Province ; the cherished object of Bidwell's de
clamation in Upper Canada, and the open aim of Mackenzie
and Rolph, for which they rushed into rebellion. They all
called out either for a Legislative Council chosen by the people,
or a provincial administration responsible to the will of the
people, and removable when it should cease to please the peo
ple. The " vox popidi" was to be every thing in the Govern
ment, et preterea nihil. Within my recollection of twelve or
thirteen years in these colonies, every needy and greedy dema
gogue who began with smooth and glossing words as a reformer,
and ended by grumbUng himself into a traitor, has, in some
shape or other, advocated " Responsible Government," or be
ing interpreted — " Colonial independence of the checking hand
in England" — at the same time mystifying their dupes with
fine sounding words of " reformation of abuses" — " spirit of the
age" — " loyalty" and " attachment to British connexion" —
" signifying nothing."
Lord Durham's Report was made the subject cf official notice
by the Legislative Council and House of Assembly of Upper
Canada in the spring of 1839, and of the Lieutenant Governor,
Sir George Arthur, in a letter to the Colonial Secretary. The
former Lieutenant Governor, Sir Francis Head, has also ani
madverted upon it, and numerous vital errors in its assertions
as respects that Province have been pointed out. I believe I
am authorised to say that Sir John Colborne and the great ma
jority of intelligent and influential people here — even includ
ing a member or two of Lord Durham's Executive Council —
designate this far-famed Report, a most imprudent, unpatriotic,
erroneous and inflammatory document — lament its publication ;
and whilst they believe that some good will result from it, are
of opinion that the evil will greatly preponderate.
It is certain that His Lordship has unwittingly furnished the

TRIFLES FRO.M MY PORT-FOLIO. 215
disaffected with a powerful lever to upset so bad a Government
as he has exposed -however distorted and false may have been
the likeness he has drawn. It cannot be very satisfactory to
him to find that his elaborate Report has been copied and circu
lated with avidity by the disloyal in both Provinces, and has
now become the very manual of treason— lowering the character
of the British nation, the British Government and the Colonial
Government— perverting the weak-minded by its sophistry and
seducing the well-affected or filling them with doubt and des
pondency. It has unquestionably re-animated the drooping
courage of the traitorous and of the exiles in the States, and
kindled anew the almost extinct sympathies of their American
friends, who have engraved the name of Lord Durham on the
blades of their Bowie knives, in demonstration of their idea
and of the certain result of " Responsible Government"*
* It has been often remarked that those public men who are the most violent
deolaimers on popular topics, and whose speeches and professions teem the most
with fine and generous sentiments concerning " liberty," " the public good" and
so forth, are often, when possessed of power, extremely arbitrary, overbearing and
unjust in their social relations, and very tyrants in the domestic circle. There may
he many bright exceptions ; though, certainly, the Earl of Durham is not one of
the number. With fine sounding words and phrases, and specious and, beneficent
theories, perpetually on his lips, there never was seen in Quebec so vain, impe
rious, passionate and unreasonable a person filling his high office ; and although
considerable allowance should be made for bursts of temper under the irritation of
bad health — still, making every fair deduction on this score, there remains a large
number of those " fantastic tricks," played during his Canadian " brief authority,"
which are said to cause gtief in superior natures at witnessing the follies of man
kind. With his immediate suite. Lord Durham maintained the etiquette of ultra-regal
state ; even making them perform those menial offices which are usually discharged
by domestic servants, such as waiting on his company at their arrival, to doff' and
receive the ladies' wrappings — fetching his hat or cloak when he wanted it ; and it
is averred — even on one occasion, holding his stirrup. He appeared to consider
his Aides-de-Camp as so many slaves ; and certainly kept them in as much awe
as any planter ever inspired into a gang of negroes. Once at a ball on board the
Hastings, a young lady who was dancing with Captain Conroy, was horrified at
finding her partner called off to get the Governor his hat when he wanted to retire.
He was heard and seen in his own drawing-room rating Mr. Buller soundly for the
gaucfierie of spilling some coffee on a Westminster Review, probably containing a
panegyric on himself ; and not content with inflicting this public reprimand for so
grave an offence, the Governor called his chief Secretary into an anti-room and
was heard continuing the jobation. A key of one of his cabinets bad been lost,
unknown to him, and fearing his temper, some of the family sent for a smith to
pick the lock and make a new one. Unluckily His Lordship chanced to come into
the room when the man was busy, and without giving him a moment's time for
explanation, he pounced on him like a tiger, dragged him through the door and
gave him a good kicking : but a subsequent douceur to the astonished mechanic
hushed the matter up.
Previous Governors, comparatively poor men, and Lord Gosford m particular,
had been charitable to the needy to the extent of their means ; but Lord Durham
hated the sight of a beggar. The ancient usage of associating contributions for tbe
poor with religious worship^so becoming the occasion and so venerable for its

216 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.

CHAPTER XXVL

FISHING VISIT TO JACQUES CARTIER RIVER— SALMON
LARCENY ON A LARGE SCALE.— POLITICS.— VALEDICTO
RY SUGGESTIONS.

"  For a long time I lived a single life and abhorred marriage ;
nay, more, railed at marriage and did heap up all bitter sayings against women.
But now I recant with Stesichorus — " Palinodiam cano, nee pcenitet censeri in
ordine maritorum." I approve of marriage — I am glad I am a married man — I
am heartily glad I have a wife — so sweet a wife, so young a wife, so chaste a wife,
so noble a wife, so loving a wife ; and I do wish and desire all other men to marry,
and especially scholars ; that, as of old, Martia did by Hortensius, Terentia by
Tullus — Calphurnia to Plinius ; PudeiitiUa to Apuleius — hold the candle whilst
their husbands did meditate and write ; so theirs may do to them as my dear
Camilla doth to me." Beroaldtts.
" Prince, thou art sad — get thee a wife — get thee a wife."
Shakspeare.
Books must end, dear reader, and the best friends, like you
and me, must part. You have been most attentive to my little
antiquity — reaching even to the apostolic times— --was, apparently, deemed an obso
lete absurdity by His Lordship ; for, after putting in his sovereign once or twice,
when the cbuichwarden on a subsequent occasion approached his pew wilh the
poor-box, he repelled him with a forbidding gesture : consequently so vulgar a
thing was never again intruded " between the wind and his nobility."
His Excellency was very indignant at the Rev. Mr. Mackie, the Bisliop of Mon
treal's Curate, a pious and talented young man, for some allusions to the theatre
and race-course in one ofhis sermons ; strangely construing the latter reference into
a personal insult to hunself, and insinuating that as the Queen and Lord Durham
patronized racing, it was the height of presumption in any Clergyman to open his
lips against it in his presence. Althougli in this case no personality was intended,
yet the propriety of this specific preaching against amusements, such as dancing
and the like, which are not in themselves morally evil, and which many exceUent
men enjoy with a pure conscience, maybe fairly questioned. However this may
be, when we know that the admonition emanates from the best motives, although
we may conceive it to be a little ultra, if we are reasonable people we listen to it
wilh respect. Not so did Lord Durham. In the spirit of an Inquisitor he com
plained to the Bishop and insisted on his outraging the liberty of a Protestant Pulpit
by silencing his exemplary Chaplain. This, of course, was declined ; and the
result was that the Governor General absented himself ever after from Church and
commanded the Military Chaplain to officiate every Sunday at his residence.
Many amusing stories are in circulation in Quebec of His Lordship's adventures
during his short excursion to the Upper Province.
At Kingston he was very A\roth because there was no guard of honour to receive
him in the middle of the night, and, I believe, never forgave the Commandant,
Lieut. Colonel Dundas, of the 83id, nor that good town, for this and one or two

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 217
Story, and I really begin to regret that our growing attachment
is to be disturbed so soon. But my sorrow at parting with you
would be diminished if I could think I left any little " trifle"
in your memory as a keepsake, or that you had picked up some
minute portion of information or innocent enjoyment from the
perusal of my insignificant pages. We will now, if you please,
take one short fishing excursion together ; and after winding
up with a page or two of poUtics, I must return you my best
thanks and make my bow.
Not as whilom in the days of joyless ceUbacy did the Writer
on this occasion visit his old and favourite haunt on the river
Jacques Cartier. Every bachelor, like every other sad dog, has
his day, and this time was past. It is not merely not good, but
decidedly bad, for man to be alone after the seventh or eighth
lustre — or even earlier; and we aU know that the greatest
philosophers and lawgivers, ancient and modern, have inculcated
early marriages ; attaching premiums to them, and conferring
fiscal privileges and exemption from taxes on young husbands.
The thoughtful Franklin and the impetuous Napoleon concurred
in this matter; with the important difference that the latter,
who had always a spice of Orientalism about him, would permit
men to have wives in succession, ad libitum ; the attainment of
other ideal slights. He absolutely forbade all smoking on board the steamboat in
Lake Ontario, and sent the Captain to hunt out an audacious offender once when
he perceived the smell of a cigar. The search was unsuccessful and a report,
accordingly, was made to His Excellency. " Go back. Sir, and discover who is
smoking, instantly — at your peril." A second time the Captain went in quest of
the caitiff, and at length found Admiral Sir Charles Paget solacing himself in some
remote corner with his accustomed enjoyment. " Humph," said the great man —
" I suppose we must let him smoke." The Admiral took good care not to come
back in the same boat wilh the Governor.
On his return the steamboat Neptune was engaged for His Lordship's sole use,
to take him and his family and suite from Cornwall to Coteau du Lac. Lord
Durham arrived at Cornwall on Saturday and immediately embarked. There
chanced to be a Presbyterian Clergyman, the Rev. Mr. MoNaughien, a man of
great respectability and superior attainments, at Cornwall, who was in the habit of
visiting Lancaster, a village half-way down Lake St Francis, to preach there On
certain Sundays. Next day being one of the stated periods of his ministry, he
asked permission from an Aide-de-Camp to take a passage. — the boat always
touching at Lancaster to drop the maU. Leave was courteously given, but Mr.
McNaughlen was cautioned to keep out of His Excellency's sight. During the
voyage. Lord Durham discovered that the Minister was on board and got into a
great passion— rebuking the Captain of the boat, and the Clergyman himself, in no
measured terms, for this intrusion on his privacy. When the boat approached
Lancaster, the Captain wished to stop for five minutes, as usual, to drop his mail-
bag but was sternly forbidden by the great Uttle man, who, as a punishment,
carried off Mr. McNaughten to Coteau, at the lower end of the lake, some forty
Miles out of his way ; and as no boat returned till Monday, altogether defeating
his object.
VOL. II. ^ ^

218 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
the age of thirty, or thereabouts, on the part of the lady, being
alone a valid reason for claiming a divorce by the husband : but
as this is a part of his code which he kept to himself, and that
is not very Ukely to be admired by the ladies, we need say no
more about it. To this conclusion, matrimony, then, most of
us come at last ; and our former inconsiderate railing at the yoke
serves no good purpose except furnishing a satisfactory reason
for the woman-kind to fit it on the tighter.
On a pleasant morning in August, my wife, little boy, and
myself started from Quebec and drove along the Ste. Foi road.
The day turned out very fine — the new-mown hay perfuming
us a great part of the way, and the " wavy corn" refreshing the
eye as it swayed beneath a gentle south-west breeze. After a
very agreeable journey we reached Dayree's bridge.
A great change for the worse had taken place in the appear
ance of this pretty valley, for two tremendous floods had
devastated its banks in 1837 and 1839; rising ten or twelve
feet higher than the highest water mark of any spring flood for
fifty years : bearing down large rocks and trees, and the ruins
of wooden houses and broken bridges, and denuding the wild
and beautiful banks of every thing verdant to a considerable
extent from the main channel. One enormous pine came
rushing down at the top of the flood, and hitched athwart the
eastern pier of the bridge, battering the masonry like a Roman
Ram, as the stream acted on the top branches and long lever
of its stem. The damage then done to the bridge had been
repaired in the summer of '37 ; but last spring a flood, higher
even than the former, broke up every thing again, and quite
spoiled the fine glen — carrying away or prostrating a great
number of the trees along the bank, and killing several others
by barking them near the root. The tiny channels, worn by
the innumerable springs along the rock, were still filled as usual
with the cool and crystal streamlets ; but the fringe of shrubs
and grass, and most of their floral garniture were gone, and all
from the bridge to the top of the chute, was little better than
a waste. In ten minutes after our arrival I was seated on the ledge of
the rock above the " Grand Rets," cautiously dropping my fly
into thc dark eddy below ; the favourite resting place of fish

TRIFLES FROM MV PORT-FOLIO. 219
after surmounting the canal rapid. At the second cast I hooked
a salmon ; but from his brown colour it was plain he was not in
season, and had been a long time in the fresh water, I played
him, therefore, carelessly, and after a few leaps he dashed out
into the torrent and broke off, to the great grief of my son
and heir, who was watching the proceedings from the high bank
of the garden opposite, attended by his mamma. However,
after dinner the young gentleman was gratified by witnessing
the veritable capture of a fish.
It began to rain in the evening and continued raining heavily
all night: next morning the river had risen much, and was still
rising very fast. By mid-day the water approached the reser
voir, which then contained about sixty live fish ; and soon after,
as the stream began to trickle over its rocky margin, and threa
tened to liberate these unfortunate prisoners, they were all
scooped out, put to death, and sent off to the Quebec market,
to furnish the citizens with a good Friday dinner.
For two days the Jacques Cartier tumbled and raged very
grandly in its rocky channel, and we had no fishing; but on the
third the water began to fall, and I re-commenced my sport after
breakfast with success — killing five salmon in about two hours.
Iri the evening I caught three more ; and then, after changing
my wet clothes, indulged in the luxury of a genuine Havannah,
seated on the airy and pleasant bridge —
" Cum duris venatibus otia miscens. "
with a manly little boy playing about my knees ; and as dark
ness closed in, bidding his papa good night
O thou desolate and discomfortable Ccelebs ! Uttle knowest
thou the delights of paternal affection, or the sweetness of thy
child's fragrant kiss as be parteth with thee to press his little
couch ; or again, before thou retirest to rest, the happiness thou
mightest enjoy in seeing him nestled in tranquil and rosy sleep —
thine own Uneaments, softened and beautified, stamped upon
his innocent face— sure of hearing his beloved voice the first
sound in the morning, O miserable man !

Tristem juventara solve ¦

- cur toro viduo jaces ?

- optimos vilEB dies

Effluere prohibe.

220 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO,
Why on thy solitary couch repose ?
Get thee a wife to banish lonely woes :
Let not thy morn of life unbless'd expire.
But be of sons and daughters happy sire.
Although it is a right and lawful thing, after fatigue, to indulge
jn the luxury of a cigar or two, with a temperate accompaniment
of diluted stimulus — vinous or alcoholic — or what is far better,
out of the restorative cup that
"  cheers but not inebriates,"

Still I must here enter my strong and solemn protest against the
pernicious abuse of immoderate smoking, now so general — morn
ing, noon, night, midnight, eternal smoking. It is impossible
but that this vile adoption of a vulgar foreign sensuality, and
unceasing stimulation of Brain and Heart, must weaken nervous
power, clog the secretions, impair the digestion, stint the growth
of the young, and shorten the days and brutify the understand
ings of both young and old,
" Revenons a nos saumons." There is a hole some conside
rable distance below the chute, of diflScult approach, in which I
caught the first salmon, and several afterwards ; all of large size.
This place has been hitherto anonymous, but, by the custom of
the angling fraternity, I have a right to give it a name : it is
therefore, with the permission of my brethren, to be hencefor
ward designated the Remoux aux gros saumons. To reach this
hole it is necessary to wade along an oblique ridge of sloping
and slippery sandstone, polished into a glassy surface by the
strong current; which at one or two places can scarcely be
stemmed, and when there is much water in the river the attempt
to cross would be useless. One morning before breakfast,
having put my shoes in my pockets, I proceeded along this
nervous path, clinging to the smooth rock with my wet woollen
stockings, and using my toes like a Hindoo or native Australian,
The gaff-handle was always very useful as a point d'appui to
leeward on these occasions. The hole consists of a strong cur
rent on the farther side, overhung by a high precipice, crowned
with wood, and a deep eddy on the nearer ; at the commence
ment of which — ^just where the stream begins a long course of
rapids — is a comparatively quiet spot, where the fish are much
jn the habit of resting after surmounting the strong water.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. '221
When the sun began to shew a glimpse or two of his radiant
morning face through the branches of the trees, on the high
bank opposite, I here hooked a large salmon, which at first
aUowed me to lead him captive a hundred yards up the stream,
and away from the dangerous neighbourhood of the rapids. —
But, as I was beginning to think I should have Uttle trouble
with this quiet gentleman, all at once he got into a towering
passion — flung himself half a dozen times out of the water,
shaking his head violently to get rid of the fly ; and then made
a desperate race to his old berth at the top of the rapid. Here
I thought it probable he would bring up— and he did halt for a
few seconds — but then, down the boiling stream he darted, until
he had run out a line of two hundred and forty yards. When it
had reached the last turn on the reel I proceeded after him as far
as I could ; wading deep along a rocky ledge ; but when the
water got up to my elbows I began to consider the case as nearly
hopeless — stopped and gave butt — whilst Mr. Salmo was plun
ging and making summersaults so far down the river as to be
reduced in apparent size to one third of his bulk. All at once,
to my great surprise, he bet;ame suddenly quite passive, and I
wound up the long line without difficulty, having only the vis
inertia of the fish and strength of the current to overcome.
Back, therefore, we both came to the head of the rapid, and then
to the deep hole, the fish turning up his white belly and appear
ing much distressed. He was soon gaffed, and turned out a fine
shaped salmon of seventeen pounds, quite fresh from the St,
Lawrence. The secret of his sudden succumbing and quietude
when he had it all his own way was this — when tumbling in the
stream he had somehow twisted the casting line three or four
times round his head and snout; knotted it then very ingenious
ly, and thus gagged and half suffocated himself — the water
necessary for breathing not being able to enter and pass to
the gills.
As the river fell the fish were able to mount the impetuous
canal rapid, so strangely excavated out of the live rock, and
were caught in considerable numbers by Louis, at his " Peche"
near tbe bridge, and then deposited alive in the clear pond,
which had been formed for their reception under a copious
spring, gushing out of the neighbouring bank. Here they swim

222 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
about freely, although the space Is limited, apparently uncons
cious of their captive condition ; seeking the coolest and deepest
part of the reservoir where they can enjoy a little shade. They
do not appear to suffer or lose flesh from confinement and want
of food, or from the difference between the purer water of the
river, and the hard spring in which they are now placed.
We frequently visited this reservoir, and my little boy would
amuse himself flinging crumbs to the poor prisoners, but to nc^
purpose, as they have never been observed to eat any thing.
Often would he scream with delight to see one of the salmon
dart through the pond, at the rate of thirty knots an hour, when
he touched his tail with a rod — disturbing all the rest, and
causing such a splashing of the water, as frequently gave us a
good sprinkling when standing near the brink. The last even
ing we were there we counted forty-five finny captives, and
Dayree talked of sending them in next morning to the Quebec
market. Morning came, and when the poor man went to the
reservoir to take out his fish, he was horrified to find that forty-
three of them had been stolen during the night, and only two
little ones remained.
Alas, this secluded and romantic glen has lost very much of
its Arcadian innocency. The social perversion arising out of
the political disturbances has reached our favourite valley, and
Uke the natural flood has swept away much of its moral grace
and beauty. Yet, after all, there is some reason for hoping that
foreign Philistines have been the thieves. As far as I have
observed during my various fishing expeditions here, the pea
santry, like the mass of the unsophisticated Canadians, are
courteous, cheerful, moral and industrious ; after their own
fashion. The soil of this tract of country is light and sandy —
the farming wasting and unskilful, and the land soon gets out
of heart ; notwithstanding, the habitans, though poor, appear
contented and light-hearted. This season having been wet has
exactly suited their thirsty soU, and their crops have been re
markably good.
The Writer caught only thirty salmon this summer, having
been unable to visit the river during the best week of the season.
All our angling achievements in these parts lately have been
ecUpsed by the success of a Quebec gentleman, Mr. John

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO, 223
Strang, last July, He repaired to the Esquimaux River — a
stream on the North Shore, thirty miles below the mouth of the
Saguenay — and having arrived in the very nick of time, just as
a shoal of salmon had come up from the sea, he prepared his
tackle, set to work, and killed fifty good fish with the fly in two
days and a half ; throwing the whole fisherhood of Quebec into
paroxysms of astonishment, with, perhaps, a spice of envy.
But this is a despicable feeling, unworthy of a generous salmo
cide, who would rather rejoice that in these evil days so much
happiness fell to the lot of any of the sons of Adam,
In the course of the winter and spring several stipendiary
magistrates were appointed at various places in the Montreal
District, and a rural Police was also estabUshed in some of the
populous villages — both being, measures of great importance in
protecting person and property, and guarding the habitans
within their superintendence from the seditious practices of the
emissaries of mischief.
Early in the summer of 1839, the important intelligence
arrived that the legislative union of Upper and Lower Canada
was to be made a Government measure, and the draft of a bill
to this effect was sent out from England, On this subject the
Writer feels his own incompetence to speak otherwise than
with great doubt and diffidence ; but one thing seems pretty
certain, that the advocacy of this measure by the leading organs
of the French Canadians, which is now beginning, proves that
they expect an accession of strength from this provincial incor
poration, and hope at no distant period to erect " une grande et
puissante nation" on the St, Lawrence, The philosophers of
this school, however, have never been remarkable for their saga
city, and their calculations now may be as erroneous as hereto
fore. Like the Spanish Generals in the great Peninsular
struggle, who were always annihUating the French Armies in
their despatches, although they never could stand before them
for a moment in the field, these gentry are perpetually gloating
over the ruin of British influence on this continent ; and the
utter defeat of every successive attempt to accomplish it has no
curative effect on their poUtical monomania.
" Destroy his web of sophistry ; in vain.
The creature's at his durty work again,"

224 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO,
In shaping out any course for the future Government of
these Provinces, it should not be forgotten that it is a choice
of difficulties. The union would form, to appearance, a pow
erful Province — too powerful, the disaffected hope, to submit
long to England. But local interests and difference of race
would probably soon split the Legislature into two great sec
tions, and the judicious fostering of extensive emigration might
in a few years give the decided preponderance to the English
half. With an equalization of the number of members from
either Province, and a qualification — some change in the fran
chise favourable to the mercantile interest ; and as a sine qua
non, the exclusive use of the English language in the official
transactions of the Legislature, and after a given period, in
courts of justice — the union may be a permanently beneficial
measure. But I humbly conceive that no such tremendous concession
to the democratic principle, as the novelty of a Legislative Coun
cil sitting for eight years, is required. Those cumbrous appen
dages, the five district municipalities or subsidiary assemblies,
too, might be spared. Indeed with these bodies and the urban
corporations, taking all the work of internal improvement out
of the hands of the House of Assembly, it would have very little
to do.
Our summer this year has been a quiet one in Lower Canada.
In the Upper Province the poison of Lord Durham's Report
has continued to operate, and the disaffected, under the abused
name of reformers, availing themselves of its sophistry, have
held poUtical meetings in several places and passed resolutions
in harmony with its dogmas. To such persons in both Pro
vinces this document has been invaluable, and they have used it
cleverly ; mystifying even intelligent and loyal men, and per
suading them that a colonial responsible ministry would cure all
the evils under which these Provinces labour ; bring back the
refluent tide of emigration, diffuse capital, quiet discontent and
work all kinds of wonders.
It is not surprising that these people should follow their old
trade ; but it is strange that good and sensible persons should
join them in renewed agitation to build some doubtful political
theory, at a time when the Province wants repose so much,

TRIPLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 229
&nd when men's minds are yet inflamed by violent passions.
At a time, too, when a neighbouring frontier is stUl full of law
less and desperate men, who wish nothing more than the revival
of party strife in Canada, and are ready to use the torch and the
knife on responsibles and anti-responsibles indiscriminately,
when they find opportunity.
Some atrocious acts of incendiarism were perpetrated in the
Upper Province during the summer by villains from the State
of New York ; and others meditated, but frustrated. A darino-
plot to burn the town of Cobourg and murder some of the inha
bitants, was detected by the providential contrition of one of
the conspirators, who possessed a little more humanity than the
rest. Threatening notices of death were served on many loyal
and influential individuals ; and from the neighbouring friendly
State, the miserable outcasts launched with impunity every
weapon of annoyance against the country that had spurned
them from her bosom.
That a better feeling prevailed towards the interior and on
the sea-board of the United States was proved by several facts*
Formerly in acts of aggression on the British Provinces, the
American courts of justice yielded no redress ; for either no
conviction could be obtained or no punishment followed. But
this year, Mackenzie and Van Ransellaer were both tried, found
guilty of making war on Great Britain, fined and imprisoned.
In the course of a tour to the Canadian frontier during the
summer^ the President every where inculcated lessons of peace,
oblivion of the past, moderation and good neighbourhood ; and
lectured the people of Oswego especially, on the great risk the
nation had run of engaging in an unjust war with England,
from the bad conduct of the borderers.
I believe that the authorities in these Provinces have acted
with scrupulous good faith and delicacy towards the States'
Governments and the Washington Cabinet during the troubles
of the last two years. Yet when any international difficulties
occur, it is no easy matter to preserve peaceful relations ; not so
much perhaps, from the fault of people in power on either side,
as from the peculiar constitution of the Federal Government,
and of the different sovereignties of which it is composed.
VOL. II. g2

226 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
There are so many fine lines, distinctions and gradations be
tween the jurisdiction of the United States and that of particular
State; and thus so many choice faciUties of shuffling incon
venient foreign questions from one to the other, that, although
a Governor may desire to act conscientiously, the gentlemen
of the black robe, who have an interest in it, will not let him ;
but will probably puzzle and perplex the honest man into the
line of conduct they desire. On the other hand, if he does not
wish to act up to the golden rule towards his neighbours, he has
only to transfer the business, whatever it may be, to the General
Government, and say it is no affair of his. The General Go
vernment, again, may decline to act, averring that they have no
proper jurisdiction in the matter.
Governor Marcy of the State of New York was requested by
Sir Francis Head to deliver up to justice Mackenzie, who had
just committed robbery of the person, robbery of the mail, arson
of a dwelling house, and had been an accessary in murder.
Governor Marcy, being resolved for political reasons, to screen
this great criminal, replied, " No ; if he had been simply a rob
ber, incendiary, or murderer, I might give him up ; but as he is,
moreover, a traitor, and our laws shield foreign traitors the same
as the English laws: and our people, besides, view them as
political martyrs — you shall not touch a hair of his head." A
determination which, considering what has since followed. His
Excellency Governor Marcy has no doubt much regretted.
Governor Jennison of Vermont was asked by Sir John Col
borne last summer to give up a felon named Holmes. This
man, after seducing the wife of a Canadian gentleman, named
Tasche, travelled in mid-winter two hundred miles to murder
himself, and accomplished his purpose by shooting him through
the head, having first inveigled the unfortunate man into his
cariole by promising to give him news of his wife and family.
The murderer then carried his victim, yet bleeding, some miles
in his carriage, until he found a retired place to hide the corpse.
The Governor of Vermont, finding no reason to doubt Holmes'
guilt — full evidence of it having been laid before him — gave
orders to deliver him up to the Canadian Executive. But the
lawyers got hold of the case — procrastinated it as long as they
could in the Vermont Courts ; and as a last resource, appealed

TRIFLES FRO-M MY PORT-FOLIO. 227
to the Supreme Court of the United States, which issued a
habeas and prevented this honest Governor from doing what
was right Thus a diabolical villain will probably escape the
gallows ; and what makes the case the more remarkable, is, that
at this very time, on the requisition of the Executive of Ver
mont, Sir John Colborne gave up to the American officers of
justice some common delinquent who had fled into Lower
Canada. In the course of the summer two or three Uttle scenes of an
interesting nature were exhibited to Her Majesty's loyal Ueges
at Montreal. A handsome and valuable piece of Plate had
been voted by them to Colonel WetheraU of the Royal Regi
ment, for his eminent services at St Charles, and ordered out
from London. The ship Colborne conveying it was wrecked
in Carlisle Bay, on the coast of Gaspe ; the greater part of the
crew perished, and the Plate was given up for lost — the vessel
having gone to pieces. Several weeks afterwards a box was
picked up, on the other side of the bay, forty miles distant, con
taining the identical Plate, only slightly tarnished by the salt
water. A flattering address accompanied the presentation of
the well earned trophy; and some imaginative pen may yet
make the incident a subject for song or sonnet, and represent
honest Neptune as indignantly refusing to appropriate this tri
bute, which accident had placed in his power.
The distinguished officer second in command here. Major
General Sir James Macdonell, had been appointed a Knight
Commander of the Bath, but no opportunity of personal inves
titure with the insignia of the rank had yet occurred. Early in
September this ceremony took place at Sir John Colborne's
residence, with the usual imposing accompaniments of Guards
of Honor, waving banners, a splendid cortege, and military
music. With much grace and propriety, one eminent soldier
was thus the Royal Representative in conferring this honor on
another gallant companion in arms ; and that well tried sword
which had led the 52d to victory on many a hard fought field,
and finally waved before them when they routed a column of
Napoleon's Guard, on the evening of Waterloo, was now most
fitly employed in bestowing Knighthood on the stalwart and
indomitable defender of Hougoumont

228 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
As an appropriate sequel, it should be added, that immedi
ately before Sir John Colborne's embarkation for England, Sir
James Macdonell returned the compliment by investing him
with the Grand Cross of the Bath; accompanying the ceremony
by a short but very good speech.
Contrasted with these attractive military spectacles, but far
more intrinsically important in its ulterior bearings, though des
titute of their splendour, was the ceremony of laying the first
stone of an University at Montreal, for the endowment of
which Mr. Peter McGill, a patriotic gentleman of that city, had
bequeathed a large sum of money. Herein, I am confident
that a virtuous man, like Sir John Colborne, would feel infi
nitely more enjoyment and happiness than in receiving any
personal honor himself; convinced that thus by his last public
act in this Province, as by his establishment of numerous
Rectories, to be centres for the radiation of Christian instruction
(in harmony, it is to be hoped, with other sources of spiritual
illumination,) before quitting the other, he had been instrumen
tal in promoting the vital interests of both, by the perpetuation
and diffusion of general knowledge combined with religious
truth. Towards the close of the summer reports got into circulation
that serious differences, as to some important points of civil
policy, had occurred between the Home Government and the
Governor General. At length it became certainly known that
he was soon to be recalled, and that the Right Honble. Charles
Poulett Thomson was to be appointed in his stead, and might
soon be expected in Quebec, accompanied by Lieutenant Gene
ral Sir Richard Jackson, as Commander of the Forces.
This intelligence was not much relished by the British and
commercial part of the community in either Province, who
feared for the peace of the country after their tried, faithful and
energetic commander should have left them. They were also
indisposed to Mr. Thomson for other reasons, having cause to
believe that he differed from their views in some weighty mat
ters, and was averse to the continuance of protecting duties in
England on their staple export, timber ; a point not only vitally
affecting their individual interests, but as they justly believed,

TRIFLES FRO.M MY PORT-FOLIO. 229
the great shipping and trading interests, and even the naval
power of Great Britain.
On the 17th October, the Pique frigate, which had so often
been employed in conveying Governors to and from this coun
try, again arrived in Quebec with the new Governor and Com
mander of the Forces on board ; and on the 19th, when Sir
John Colborne had come down from Montreal to receive him,
His Excellency landed, proceeded to the old Chateau and took
the usual oaths in the presence of the Executive Council, a
large number of military officers, with Sir J. Colborne, Sir R.
Jackson and Sir J. Macdonell at their head, and a great con
course of respectable civilians. The new Governor's appear
ance and demeanour on this occasion made a favourable impres
sion — his physiognomy evinced benevolence and inteUigence,
and he went through the inaugural ceremonies in a quiet gen
tlemanly manner, in pleasing contrast with the pompous harle
quinades of one of his immediate predecessors, whose scowl at
the abjuration oath and the indignant toss of the book that fol
lowed, are not yet forgotten. His Excellency then commenced
his administration by a sensible and appropriate proclamation,
both well conceived and well expressed.
An affecting scene was witnessed at Montreal when their
revered CJomraander and friend, Sir John Colborne, took his
final departure. A large concourse of the British population,
with a most numerous military staff, escorted him to the wharf,
and on his embarkation bade the veteran and venerable Chief
" Farewell," in peals upon peals, of loud, affectionate and pro
longed cheering. When at length the voice of the vast assem
bly was dying away, a man perched on a mast, exclaimed,
" One cheer more for the Colonel of the 52nd !" This touched
a new chord of stirring recollection in the heart of the multitude,
and the acclamation was instantly resumed as loud as ever.
Finally, on the 23rd October, Sir John and his family, ac
companied by his attached Peninsula and Waterloo friend and
Military Secretary, Colonel Rowan, and his late Civil Secre
tary, Major Goldie, of the 66th, embarked in the Pique, under
a salute from the citadel and the shipping. The frigate got
under weigh soon after, encountered a terrific thunder-storm
the same night, by which her fore-topmast was struck ; but the

230 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
lightning glanced harmlessly from the ship, for the laurelled
head she bore was not destined to be thus laid low —

¦ the wreath which Glory weaves

Is of the tree no bolt of thunder cleaves :"
and the Pique proceeded down the St Lawrence amidst the
regrets and good wishes of every loyal and honourable man in
these colonies.
As the preacher finishes his sermon with some practical hints,
so would I, dearly beloved reader, end my volumes of " Trifles"
with one or two political suggestions for your consideration.
You are a French Canadian. 'Tis well. You are descended
from one illustrious nation and adopted by another. It is pro
bable that from strong attachment to your old country ; a prin
ciple, abstractedly considered, most honourable ; and a miscon
ception of the policy of Great Britain, you have been long
fondly imagining that you could build up a new France on this
continent under the wing of England, Now, my dear fellow,
you must disabuse yourself of this gross delusion without delay —
totally and irrevocably. The thing is physically and absolutely
impossible ; and you might as rationally expect that the dark
tribute poured from the St. Maurice into your mighty river
would be able to retain its hue, or change the broad current to
its own tint, as that you can continue French amidst the great
Anglo-Saxon family to which you now belong.
This erroneous notion has done you much mischief; for it
has prevented you from forming a cordial attachment to the
country to which your allegiance is due — has chilled your loy
alty into some negative and luke-warm feeling on which no
great dependence could be placed, and has prevented you from
meeting the sincere advances of the Government to a warmer
friendship in a kindred spirit Finall}', this noxious idea has
lately been the ignin. fatuus that has led yourself or some of
your relations into the quagmire of rebellion.
You have, it cannot be denied, enjoyed a great deal of social
comfort and happiness under the dominion of Great Britain ;
much more than your ancestors did under the arbitrary rule of
the Military Governors and Intendants of old, and a thousand
fold more than you would be likely to possess under any new

TRIPLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 23(
system, separate from her tutelary sway. But under present
circumstances you must not imagine that England will now con
sider herself bound to sustain those institutions under which
you partook of so much " tranquil bliss," as Lord Gosford told
you, in the same way as if you had taken that good nobleman's
advice. Changes must take place, and it is the part of wisdom
to accommodate ourselves to them when inevitable. A quiet,
and modest, and subdued tone — not the insolent air of an as- o
grieved person — would be decorous in you and your compa
triots at this time ; and moreover, would in the end be your
best policy. The Government are now meditating the restora
tion of your rights and franchises as British subjects, under a
legislative union with the Upper Province ; but if, as there is
some reason to dread, you embark in that project animated by
the spirit of Papineau — as one step towards earlier independence
qf Great Britain — no good can be the result, and you will be
again fatally deceived. I earnestly advise you, therefore, to
change your tactics — to be politically, as well as socially, honest
and sincere — to respond heartily to the efforts of the British
Government for your permanent good, under one of its own
members now amongst you — to shake at length the proffered
hand of friendship and accept the tender of oblivion of the
past ; to close your ears against sedition ; exercise charity to
your neighbours of every class ; mind your farms and your
shops ; give your children education and follow the advice of
your virtuous Clergy. Thus all may yet be well — otherwise,
long years of bloody anarchy are before you ; and after this di
sastrous period, all those national distinctions to which you now
cling so pertinaciously — your customs, laws, language, religion,
seminaries and convents, will be utterly swept away in the
Yankee flood that will sweep down your great valley. It is
true you will be relieved from your tithes and your Clergy
must starve, and some village Justice may marry your sons and
daughters. But you will gain little by this ; for the tax-ga
therer, whom you now know only by name, wiU then grind you
to the earth.
You are an Anglo-Canadian. Pardon me, if I say that you,
my dear loyal Sir, would also do well to get rid of some preju
dices and erroneous notions. You are rather too much a mono-

232 TRIFLES FROM MY POHT-POLlff.
polizer of loyalty and too apt to insult your fellow subjects or
French origin : calling them indiscriminately rebels and trait
ors, and thus unwisely confounding the good with the bad.
Now, you may be assured that the great majority of them,
although they will not come forward as prominently as your
self — which is not in their nature, are still sound at heart and
well affected to the Government There is, no doubt, an active
and a mischievous portion — needy and desperate — reckless and
unprincipled — who are ready at this moment to renew the
scenes of the two last winters. But those who have property
and a stake in the country — the commercial classes — the Seig
neurs — the Clergy and eight-tenths of the habitans, making
allowance for their peculiar manner, are as loyal as yourself.
Again, my dear good Sir, you ought to consider that if a
part of the French Canadians rebelled — wantonly and wickedly
I admit — the bad sections of country have severely suffered ; as
the blackened ruins of a thousand burned habitations — but too
needlessly destroyed in many instances — 'attest : to say nothing
of the imprisonments, the transportations and the necessary eX"
amples on the gallows.
You have now a new Governor — >a Cabinet Minister — pos
sessing the full confidence of the present Ministry, acquainted
with every secret of their policy and their appointed instrument
to work it out and settle affairs here — advantages which none of
his predecessors ever possessed. You have seen Lord John
Russell, the most talented of the Ministers, seating himself lately
in the Colonial Office, at the expence of a step of official rank,
chiefly to arrange Canadian and other colonial difficulties.
Meet this proceeding cordially, for there may not be again so
favourable an opportunity ; and the public mind of England is
now strongly impressed with the importance of these noble
possessions of the Crown and the paramount necessity of placing
our tenure of them on some stable basis. Never mind the
Whigs being in office. The policy of Whig and Tory with
reference to this country has been for the last twelve or thirteen
years, and would now be, pretty much the same. Do not
therefore, I implore you, indulge so much as is your wont in
declamations against the British Government, as to its imbeci
lity, ignorance of your affairs, truckling to traitors, &c. &c.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 233
Be assured it knows more about you than you are aware of, and
can have no object but your permanent good. But from its
position it may take a more enlarged view of your situation
with the bearings on other Imperial interests, than you can.
Second, therefore, the able man who is now at the head of affairs
here. The beginning of his administration augurs well. He
is no doubt instructed to smooth the way for an union of the
two Provinces, which, to be beneficial, must be commenced
and conducted in the spirit of peace, soberness, equity and
charity. Be not ready to impute bad motives, however, to those who
may differ from you as to the policy of this great measure.
Many good and wise men differ conscientiously on this subject.
My own humble opinion is, that it is a very doubtful step to
take, but that it appears on the whole preferable to the violent
disruption of Lower Canada, by attaching Montreal to the
Upper Province and Gaspe to New Brunswick — a proceeding
of a repulsive character of force and injustice. Restoring things
as they were cannot be thought of for a moment ; and govern
ing permanently without a representative body must be placed
in the same category. But the border differences and other
mooted points must be speedily settled between the Americans
and us, or all the exertions now making to arrange Canadian
affairs are so much labour lost.
The Writer of these pages is so far interested in offering the
advice which he now presumes to give, that he will probably
end his days in this country, and would naturally wish for a
quiet futurity. In every other respect, if he may be pardoned
for saying so, his position, however humble, is one of entire im
partiality and independence ; and although he has had the
honour of the acquaintance of some half a dozen Governors
and Commanders of the Forces here, he has never asked or
obtained, directly or indirectly, a single personal favour, advan
tage or obligation from any of them. He may add that he is
no admirer of the present administration, nor of Whig policy
generally ; but the question now is not — who is in or out of
office at home ? the great point for all parties to consider is— -
shall we cordially and sincerely co-operate in this, perhaps, last
attempt of England to settle political differences in these Pro-
VOL. 11. 2 H

234 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
vinces ? This it is the clear interest of aU parties to do ; for
should the British Government, disgusted and provoked at the
mutually repulsive and unreasonable conduct of British Cana
dian and French Canadian, and the renewed and absurd agita
tion in the Upper Province, and exhausted by the enormous
drain on the treasury from hence — should she resolve to with
draw her troops and cast this country adrift — wide scenes of
blood and horror at which the mind recoils, would be the neces
sary and immediate result
As for you, gentlemen of Upper Canada, who are now run
ning after a Will o' the Wisp, named " Responsible Govern
ment," and in pursuit of it will most certainly get into trouble,
I respectfully and earnestly advise you to give up this foolish
chase. The political theory with which you have become so
suddenly enamoured has, as you perceive, been utterly repu
diated by the ministry as entirely inconsistent with the rela
tions of colony and mother country ; and if under the ban of
the Whigs, you may be certain it will be abominated, a fortiori
by the Conservatives. Nobody would have conceived twelve
months ago that Lord Durham could thus have set you toge
ther by the ears. And what a time, too, have you chosen to
quarrel ? When the domestic traitor, the incendiary, the out
cast and the foreign sympathiser, are still banded together and
hovering about the frontier, ready to avail themselves of the
happy opening your discussions will furnish. Wise poUcy to
fight with and maim each other — destroy the stores of provi
sions and blow up the ammunition when the enemy is yet at
the gate of the fortress !
You have already, believe me, as much constitutional liberty
as is good for you, and were all thriving and flourishing as long
as you attended to your business, and considered politics as a
secondary object But your Provincial and domestic misfor
tunes began when you neglected your famiUes and your farms,
and your mills, and your shops, to run open-mouthed after such
black-hearted agitators as Mackenzie and his crew. They found
you ready dupes ; and had little difficulty in persuading you that
you were terribly wronged and misgoverned, or in turning
your few mole-hiU grievances into mountains. You are still,
my good folks, only a branch of a great tree, and yet scarcely

TRIFLES FROM JIV PORT-FOLIO. -2.35
able, like the bough of the Banyan, to draw nourishment inde
pendently from the earth. But you are rather too old for
engrafting on another stock, and would be very apt to wither.
It will therefore be wise policy to continue for some time longer
connected with the Parent Oak.
But I firmly believe that such language is inapplicable to the
great majority of you, gentlemen. The whole Empire applauds
your conduct during the last two winters ; and your courage, forti
tude, loyalty, forbearance under grievous wrongs and privations,
and your refulgent patriotism amidst severe trials, are the theme
of universal eulogy, and are worthy of the best times of your
English ancestors. There is a moral fitness in this, and it is
graceful and seemly that the children of those united Empire
loyalists, who, from the very highest and purest sense of honor
and principle abandoned their flourishing possessions in the
revolted Provinces, and buried themselves in the wilderness,
rather than forfeit their allegiance, should now act worthy of
their noble-minded sires.
Tarnish not now the purity of the fame you then acquired,
I beseech you. All ye that are true-hearted, separate from the
men of doubtful character — the turncoats, the turbulent, the
disaffected, the false reformers and the true rebels. You can
have no fellow-feeling and no common object with them ; and
their embracing any political theory with eagerness ought to
make you distrust or reject it CUng to that glorious country
whose devoted children ye were proud last year to be reckoned —
whose faithful sons I am persuaded you still are. Take my word
for it, who have seen many nations, there is no other such country
on this earth. She may now be under a cloud, and it may yet
become blacker than at present ; the storm may even burst, and
the pillars of ber empire be shaken. But it will expend its force
in vain, and pass away after a brief season of gloom : the sun will
again shine and the air be bright and calm. She that has wea
thered so many storms will assuredly weather this. Long has
« .  the inviolate Island of the sage and free"

been manifestly under the tutelary care of a beneficent Provi
dence, as its chief instrument, we humbly conceive, for the

236 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.
civilization and Christianising of mankind, and we may without
presumption retain this belief still.
Behold even now this
" .^  little body with a mighty soul."

She is exerting every energy, almost to temporary exhaustion,
in fulfilling this high and blessed trust. Already she has laid
the deep foundations of its accomplishment. She has covered
half the Globe with her descendants, and is every day disco
vering and peopling new regions — binding together remote
countries by her navigation and commerce, and by the ties of
common laws and language ; annihilating the vast intervening
space by her science and her daring : whilst she maintains
peaceful relations between them, and all over the Earth by the
exercise of her mediating council, the weight of her character,
and her beneficent power. Contemplate her works of merciful
munificence. She is not less the centre of intelligence, and the
main spring of human enterprise, than the refuge of the needy,
and the perennial and overflowing fountain of charity — the
emancipator of the slave as much as the model for the free. She
is great in all that constitutes true greatness — in arts and arms —
in science and learning — in wisdom and virtue — in manufactures
and commerce — in physical and intellectual power — in the in
trepidity of her sons and the beauty of her daughters — in all
that prolongs, protects, embellishes, instructs and ennobles human
life, and in the Faith that discloses immortality — in the glories
of the present era and the rich annals of past ages !
And shall this magnanimous England now sink and perish ?
Great God forbid ! No ! She will for long ages yet to come
move in her exalted sphere, shedding beneficent light; and
unless she dim her own radiance and unfit herself for her high
destiny, the same guardian power that first marked out her
bright course will still maintain her in her orbit Her subsi
dence from the foremost rank amongst the nations would be
like the extinction of a great planet ; nor would the disturbing
influence of such a calamity be less in the moral world than this
catastrophe in the natural.

NUG^ METRICiE.

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 2.39

SERENADE.

TRUXILLO, SEPTEMBER, 1812.

By the Moon's imploring light.
Which calls thy beauties into sight ;
By the soft and balmy air
That longs to fan thy form so fair :
By the Nightingale's sweet strain.
Warbling amidst our secret grove — ¦
O burst dull Sleep's ignoble chain —
Awake ! arise, my Love !
By Music's soft mysterious power.
Mellower for the midnight hour ;
By thine own melodious song —
By the thoughts that with it throng — •
By the scene that song recals.
But known to us and to the Dove,^
Hid in the Arbour's fragrant walls —
Awake ! arise, my Love !
By dark Tejo's stormy wave.
Beauteous Bernarda's yawning grave ;¦
By the power that nerv'd my arms
To rescue thence thy drooping charms :
By that deep moan which rent thy breast
When Life's faint pulse began to move-
By that mute look to me address'd —
Awake ! I wait thee Love !

240 TRIFLES FROM, MY PORT-FOLIO.

THE GANGES.

RAAJHMAAL, OCTOBER, 181&.

Gunga ! from where high Himalaya's snow
Soars in lone glory far above the clouds.
Thy gelid streams in early brightness flow,
Whilst Solitude their granite cradle shrouds.
But soon escaping from the Mountain's breast.
Whose gorges could thy power no more enthral,
Thou speedest to fulfil thy high behest —
Fountain of fruitfulness to broad Bengal.
Like infant innocence thy course began — ¦
From Heaven's near snow thy waters had their source J
Alas ! polluted by the touch of Man,
Thou bearest now Corruption in thy course.
Tlie blind Hindoo within thy margin laving.
With seven-fold prayer directed to thy shrine,.
Deems Ganesa omnipotent in saving.
And that thy fertile waters are divine.
He traceth not the Heaven that fed thine urn,
Grovelling in darkness on thine idol strand ;
Nor will he to thy great Creator turn,
Who poured thee " from the hollow of his hand."

TRIFLES FROM MY P0RT-F0L13 241
Within his hut of reeds what wretch reposes,
His stiffened arm directed to the sky ?
Upon his bed of spikes, as if of roses.
Gazing on thee, the Faakir hopes to die.
Deep in his back the iron barbs are fast —
The juicy muscle is congealed to bone ;
His talons through the clenched palms have pass'd —
His eyes are lustreless, like orbs of stone.
Behold the Immolatress ! wan and pale
With mortal agony, a widowed bride —
Midst yelling cheers — not sounds of woe or wail,
The flames enwrap her by her husband's side !
On his sick pallet destitute and lone.
With thickening films upon his glassy eye
That aged sire is left — his sons are gone —
The Vulture waits the final agony !
No more ! no more shall Gunga be my theme.
Rolling this mighty mass of doom and crime ;
My humble muse will sing a purer stream
And to Esk's lowly current tune her rhyme.

2 I
VOL. IL

242 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.

DEATH SONG OF THE HINDOO WIDOW.

ALLAHABAD, FEBRUARY, 1817.

Lord of my life ! within thy arms
I lay me down to rest ;
And quit the Earth and all its charms
To die upon thy breast.
I come in willing sacrifice
Thy dews of death to sip.
Freely as when my loving kiss
Dwelt on thy living lip.
O cease thee Frangisthanee dame !
Thou com'st from icy lands.
And fearest the atoning flame
Which Indra's law demands.
Even like a moth thy love decays.
Within the lamp's faint light ;
Mine, like the Fire-grass in the blaze,
Becomes more pure and bright
Tliou livest while the yellow worm
M^ithin its slimy cell
Preys loathfuUy upon the form
Thy bosom loved so well !

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 243
But I, when thus my husband's frame
Within my arms I twine.
Can mock Corruption ! Gunga's stream
Our ashes will enshrine.
Ah ! know'st thou not great Brahma's power
Shields those who thus expire ?
Ah ! know'st thou not our Camdeo's flower
Uninjured meets the fire ?
Wreathed with its petals flames in vain
To harm me shall arise ;
I scorn their power — I laugh at pain —
We mount into the skies !
There warm this silent heart will beat
Responsive to my own ;
Those lips resume their accents sweet —
But for a moment flown.
We go in endless love to dwell
To bask in Brahma's smile —
Friends, kindred, lower world — farewell !
Place fire upon the pile !

244 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.

LADOR AND IDA.

ST. HELENA, 1S20.
" Hark ! Ipsara's groans resounding
Come hollow o'er the crimsoned Sea —
Hear her destiny astounding.
And waken Hydra's chivalry.
Fly ! for the foeJ» extermination
Alone with Ida's heart will plead ;
Dire vengeance first ! love's gratulation
Shall then reward the valiant deed.
The Moon beheld all peaceful sleeping
The Island virgins yesternight ;
Outraged, captives, chained and weeping.
They moaned beneath the morning light.
The aged sire sank near his daughter —
Brethren and kindred all lie low ;
Beloved one, avenge this slaughter —
Deep love will recompense each blow !
When victorious thou appearest
At our love-encircled home,
And our eager vision cheerest.
In trophied triumph proudly come ;
Round thy neck my arms will twine them —
These hands will wreathe my hero's head-
On thy lips my lips enshrine them
And Hymen bless our nuptial bed."

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 245
As the wind through stormy Heaven
The thistle's down wafts o'er the Deep,
By Love and Hate and Vengeance driven.
Young Lador with his Hydriots sweep.
They smite the miscreant hordes — the Crescent
Wanes dim before the Island Cross ;
And long shall the Ipsariot peasant
Recount the tale of Moslem loss.
The desperate struggle now is ended ;
No Turk survives — each heart is steeled —
Alas ! what wounded youth, extended.
Gasps bleeding on the glorious field ?
Pale, faint, amidst a gory torrent
From staunchless wounds, poor Lador lies.
And as his true heart's latest current
Ebbs forth, names Ida's name and dies !

246 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.

SONG OF THE GREEK PRIESTS WELCOMING BOZZARIS
RETURNING FROM BURNING THE TURKISH FLEET.

LONDON, 1821.

Raise high the Cross ! to you 'tis given
The Tartar from our soil to sweep.
And whelm the foes of Greece and Heaven
For ever in the boiling Deep :
Hellas your name shall now enroll
In golden letters on her pages.
With every high, heroic soul
That glorified her early ages.
Raise high the Cross ! the Crescent wanes —
To nought the impious symbol dwindles —
Raise high the Cross upon new Fanes —
The beacon which our hearts enkindles.
Bring forth the bowl of rosy wine —
\ our swords have conquered — warriors sheathe them !
Bring forth the flowers — the garlands twine —
Ye virgins round your heroes wreathe them !
Raise high the Cross ! the fond embrace
Of Sister, Daughter, Mother, Wife,
Ardent awaits you — to our Race
Ye bring regenerated life.
Ye burst the oppressor's iron chain —
Ye rent the sackcloth black and gory —
Ours long was shame, and fear, aud pain —
But ye give liberty and glory !

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. 247

ENIGMA.

Though with Satan I dwelt from the earliest time.
And the source of all sin, yet I never knew crime.
Amphibious I am, though I live not in water :
1 kill not yet slay, and can revel in slaughter.
In the Sea I reside, but I dwell not in Ocean —
All religions contain me though lacking devotion.
I dearly love mobs, yet detest all low people —
I ne'er go to Church though I lodge in the steeple.
With Commons and Lords I possess my two seats.
Though ne'er in my place when the Parliament meets.
In the Abbey I never have ventured my nose.
Yet all other Minsters I've seen, I suppose,
Ever since the first Church under Constantine rose.
I mix in all battles, yet love not a fight ;
I finish all letters — not knowing to write.
I was never in love,- though I relish sweet kisses —
I am fond of applause — but I glory in hisses.
I'm a saint, and a sinner, a savage, a miser —
In short I'm yourself— hut you're never the wiser.

248 TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.

TO THE EARL OF DALHOUSIE.

QUEBEC 1S27.

Shall thousand Cenotaphs proclaim
On Battle fields each glorious name.
And on this hallowed spot —
These smiUng banks his valour gained.
Those frowning heights his life-blood stained-
Is only Wolfe's forgot ?
Deeply each British heart hath mourned
His dust nor trophied nor inurned —
Unnoticed and unknown :
Be thine the stain to wash away —
Be thine thy country's debt to pay;
And for the wrong atone.
And thou brave Veteran, on whose breast
Wolfe cheered by victory sank to rest.
Wilt on the labour smile ;
And whilst we pay the well earned meed.
The Christian Priest will ble.ss the deed.
And consecrate the Pile.

TRIFLES FROM MV PORT-FOLIO. 249

THE BELLES OF QUEBEC TO THE OFFICERS OF THE 66th
ON LEAVING THE CITY.

MAY, 1830.
" Farewell now ! and if for ever"
No tear will start at the farewell —
Slight force is needed us to sever —
Small good of you we have to tell.
Though blooming Spinsters first ye found us.
The self-same Spinsters we remain ;
No marriage tie with you hath bound us —
We never wish to meet again.
Ah, Sixty-Sixth ! ye shocking shy men.
But bold within your Mess-Room porch ;
O why amongst 3'ou black-ball Hymen,
Or in your bumpers drown his torch ?
Long three years' flirting ye have cost us —
Soft looks, sweet smiles — a countless store ;
Alas, our labour has been lost us —
And now the silly farce is o'er.
Ye might be lions in the Battle,
We found you lambs when at the Ball ;
Ye may be great midst cannon's rattle —
Midst ours ye have been mighty small.
Though numerous victories deck your banners.
No trophies here you e'er could win :
Go  hang yourselves ! or mend your manners-
We care not which a single pin.

VOL. II.

230 TRIFLES FRO.AI MY PORT-FOLIO.

THE FIRST SALMON OF THE SEASON.

DAYREE'S BRIDGE, JACQUES CARTIER RIVER— JUNE, 1837.

The rain-cloud has passed and the Sun rises high.
The mist from the river floats up to the sky ;
The shade of the maple still rests on the stream.
With its dottings of gold from each quivering beam.
The flood has subsided — the water is clear —
Hurrah for a salmon ! the prime of the year.
Our tackle is ready, and first in our way
The glittering deceit hovers o'er the " Grand Rets ;"
It lights in the eddy — By Jupiter Ammon !
Already darts at it a silvery salmon.
I have missed him ! and back with a dash and a gleam
The fish seeks indignant the depths of the stream.
Once more he has risen and amply displayed
His beautiful form on the billow he made ;
I have him ! he's fast ! hark ! the musical steel
Sings sweetly as rushes the silk from the Reel —
He makes for the Rapid — .a harlequin spring !
Another ! Again ! he's a fish for a King !
He has gained the mid-torrent — fast spins out the line ;
We must run down the bank or the Beauty resign ;
The margin is rock — and such racing I ween
'Twi.xt a man and a fish has but seldom been seen —
Now a plunge — now a leap — and in air when he spins
He dashes the foam in white showers from his fins !

TRIFLES FROM MV POUT-FOLIO. 251
They are dangerous crags, but my path is well known,
And the hosen, Uke wax, catch the slippery stone ;
Whilst the Reel's sounding treble enlivens the chase.
And the roar of the river booms deep as a bass.
Down, down the swift current now dashes the fish.
As gallant a salmon as Angler could wish.
We have gained '• L'Hopital" and the Rapid is past —
There's leisure to breathe and to wind up at last.
Now hie thee, good Burnet — no more can he fly —
Gaff slowly and surely — our triumph is nigh.
'Tis done — bravely done — the long struggle is o'er,
And a bright twenty-pounder gasps high on the shore !

TRIFLES FROM MY PORT-FOLIO.

COUNT HILDEBRAND.

WRITTEN FOR THE 66th MESS.

Count Hildebrand mounted his berry-brown steed.
The King of his valorous arm stood in need.
The Saracens landed, he sought them with speed
And swore that he'd conquer or perish !
His Lady so lovely, his Lady so true.
To weep and to pray in her turret withdrew.
For the Knight from her sight when he sped well she knew
Had sworn that he'd conquer or perish !
Chorus — bis.
Had sworn that he'd conquer or perish !
Count Hildebrand rushed on the Saracen horde.
Wide gleamed in the battle the sheen of his sword ;
The Paladins hastened to rival their Lord,
And swore that they'd conquer or perish !
Around them the Paynim fell ghastly and grim.
Some cleft to the chine, and some lopp'd of a limb.
For a lane of the slain opened wide before him
Who swore that he'd conquer or perish !
Who swore, &c.
Count Hildebrand fell by the Saracen glaive.
His King mourned the loss of a warrior so brave,
And the tears of his country still fall o'er his grave
Who swore that he'd conquer or perish !
Like the hero let each as his goblet he drains —
In defence of our Queen and the Land where she reigns ;
Wbilst tbe flood of warm blood courses free in our veins
We swear that we'll conquer or perish !
Chorus, We swear that we'll conquer or perish !

ERRATA.

VOLUME FIRST.

PAGE. LINE FROM THE TOP. FOR.
10  36  confident
Motto,  23  6  thy
-l-1  23  Armores
47  7  Eslralla
Motto  49  2  snaggy
55  2  minlo
57... 27 C . .two or tliree
( occasions
105  25  exhilhating
(and passim,) 115  3  then
122  3  ^(jjL^ouavro^
144  3  and
155  9  this crowd
191  9  pestilence
214  8  genius
233  28  conversation
237  19  moved

READ.
confidant. the.
Amores. Estrella. shaggy. niuilo.two or thee other
occasions.
exhilarating.
(to be omitted).
¦TTUf aimiof.
(to be omitted).
them.
putrescence.
genus.
communication. sent.

VOLUME SECOND.

PAGE. LINE FROM THE TOP. FOR.
4  37  inferior
30  22  slip
32  4  worse
41  16  week
54. . . .Line 8  general
99  8  we
104  17  they beUeved
129  36  his speeches
153  7  animating
176  28  re-reverberating
184  Last line  national
186  9  the
214  17  glossing
225  3  State
228  10  Peter McGiU
230  1  laurelled

indifferent.
step.
worst.
night. grand.
will.
for they beUeved.
his first speeches.
animated.
reverberating. natural.their.
glosing. States. James McGill.
laureled.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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