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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m*thoda. irrata to pelure, n* n 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 1838.] 145 I THE CANADIAN REVOLT: A SHORT RBTIKW OF ITS CAUSES, PROQRGSS, AND PROBABtE CONSEQXJBNCKS, It is now pretty generally admitted that this wanton and wicked rebellion was alike unforeseen and unprovided for, both by the local and the metropolitan Governments ; and although it may not have required the subtle spirit of a Fouche to fathom the conspiracy, it is but justice towards these authorities to stite that until blood had actually been shed, very many of the best-informed men in the colony believed that not all the influence of Papineau and his colleagues — however ir resistible on the hustings, and dominant in the senate — would suffice to rouse his torpid and timid countrymen into armed resistance to the Queen's authority : and yet no doubt is now entertained of the existence — for months previous to any overt act of resistance to the laws — of an extensive, if not a general system of organization, for the avowed object of intimidating the Government into an unconditional compliance with the wishes and demands of the leaders of the " mouvement;" and, finally, if deemed expedient, of overthrowing the Regal Government, and erecting a Republic on its ruins. There is something so Quixotic in the very idea of a systematic and deliberate trial of strength between the scattered and scanty population of Lower Canada and the colossal power of Great Britain, aided by the great bulk of the British inhabitants of North America, that nothing less than the evidence that late events have furnished could have per- suaded us that a race of men were to have been found so insensate and enslaved to the will of a mad and mendacious demagogue, as to rush from the enjoyment of social happiness and the most perfect civil liberty into a blind contest with a parent state, which, step-children as they were, had governed them with lenity and justice, and treated them with kindness and affection : in more instances than one at the expense too of her own legitimate offspring. One would naturally conclude that some sudden and grievous wrongs had driven a people so situated to desperation, and plunged them headlong into the revolting struggle ! Yet nothing would be further from the truth than this conjecture, for the habitans of Lower Canada never had a voice in the fearful question, propounded and resolved on in the secret councils of their chiefs. Clanish, credulous, and confiding, grossly ignorant of their political condition, as of the nature and tendency of the changes which were sought for, they implicitly obeyed the mandates of the dark and ruthless traitor to whom they had committed the destinies of their unhappy country. To the chiefs of the revolt it must be owned that the contest may not have appeared to be of so desperate a character as we have represented it. They had still something to gain : they may have hoped by intimi- dation from the trimming policy and compliant temper of the Govern- ment : they saw the country left to the defence of a very small and widely-dispersed body of troops : they had much to expect from the effects of radical sympathy in England, France, and the United States ; and with the democrats of tlie latter countries they were cer- tainly in communication ; and might reasonably expect to find, as they U. S. JouRK, No. 1 15, June, 1838. L 146 THE CANADIAN REVOLT. ,^ [JUNB, have found, a treasury and an arsenal, with officers r.ad men in botli, ready to support their cause ! They saw the approach of a polar winter, cutting off, as they supposed, all the external resources of the colony, and giving them immense advantage from their numbers ^and extended plan of operations over a mere handful of troops, ill prepared, and unaccustomed to contend, in active warfare, with the severity of such a climate. In a word, the conspirators could never hope to be again in possession of so fair a field of action as was now presented to them ; and in entering boldly on the contest, they calculated confidently — events have proved how justly — that the first success would bring them such reinforcements from beyond the frontier as would put their cause out of immediate danger, and eventually drag the States into the quarrel. To her troops and their energetic leader England is alone indebted for the prevention of these disastrous consequences ! The sword has again redeemed the errors of the pen, and vindicated the insulted majesty of the laws ! We do not mean by these remarks to hold her Majesty's present Ministers responsible for that mistaken policy towards Canada which has led to such deplorable results. In its general scope and application their policy was substantially the same as that adopted by the last two Tory administrations which preceded them, and which had recently re- ceived the sanction and approval of the Imperial Parliament. But to them does assuredly attach ihe blame of having followed out that system long after it had ceased to hold out a prospect of success, and of having persevered in it until conciliation was mistaken for weakness, and a hostile combination formed, subversive of the sovereignty of the country. We have for years past watched attentively the progress of events in Canada. We have seen concession after concession made — made un- wisely, and in vain — to the lust for power of a dominant republican faction — hostile to our laws, our institutions, and our race ! We have seen her Majesty's Government, her representative, her people and her Parliament, treated by a knot of factious demagogues wuh scorn, in- sult, and contempt ! We have seen demands put forth and resolutely insisted on in a British colony totally incompatible with British supre- macy ar.d connexion ; and it grieves us to add, we have seen these revolut'onary and seditious demands gravely entertained and calmly investigated by a British Government! This was carrying conciliation and forbearance far beyond the farthest barrier of the constitution ! The result has been a civil war ! Let us take a short review of the several stag?s of this extraordinary struggle for ascendency between a mild, paternal Government and a people enjoying as much real freedom, and as entire an exemption from the burthens of taxation, as any nation on the globe. It has been said that the seeds of this revolt may be found in the constitutional act of 1791 ; and it was certainly a bold if not a hazardous experiment to entrust a re])resentative system, upon so broad a basis, to a conquered people, wholly uneducated and untrained to constitutional privileges, brought up in feelings of deep-rooted hostility towards us, and in habits and customs adapted to the dcBpotic rule to which they had been pre- viously subjected. But it was not unreasonably presumed by the great and generous framer of the Canadian " Bill of Rights" that so noble a concession would for ever conciliate the affections of tiiese new subjects i'. 1 in both, )f a polar ces of the nbers ^and prepared, severity of be again 1 to them ; ifidently — )ring them heir cause »e quarrel. debted for has again majesty of 's present ula which ipplication e last two icently re- t. But to lat system of having !8S, and a e country. " events in -made un- republican We have lie and her scorn, in- resolutely tish supre- seen these nd calmly onciliation nstitution ! raordinary ent and a exemption I has been tional act eriment to conquered privileges, i in habits been pre- the great lo noble a w Bubjects 1838.] THE CANADIAN REVOLT. 147 of the Crown ; and but for some of the provisions which accompanied the splendid gift, such as the retention of French laws, language, &c., there is reason to conclude that, under firm and steady government, a measure so worthy of success might have secured the lasting peace and prosperity of the colony. That the system worked well for many years has not been questioned or denied ; and the conduct of the Canadians during the last American war might alone suffice to prove that they were happy and contented with their lot. How comes it then that a few short years have worked so dire a change in the feelings of this once loyal people ? Their rights or privileges have never been invaded, and their institutions have been expanded, if not improved, to an extent that marks the ready acquiescence of the Government in every wish that might with safety be conceded. But here, as elsewhere, the de- clamations of a hardened band of political adventurers have been mis- taken in Downing Street for the voice of the people, and by pandering to these demagogues an absolute dictatorship was erected in the pro- vince — a power above the law, whose will speedily became absolute over an ignorant and infatuated peasantry, and whose inordinate ambi- tion and unrelenting hatred of British dynasty has been gradually preparing the public mind for that crisis, which was to produce the separation of the colony from its kind and too indulgent parent and protectress. The first serious differences between the local Executive and the House of Assembly grew out of the stoppage of the Parliamentary grants, voted in support of the civil establishment of the province : the application to the Assembly for the means of supplying the deficiency being met by a demand for the surrender of the Crown revenues, which to a certain extent still secured the necessary independence of the judges and the officers of the Government, and over which the House now, for the first time, asserted a right of appropriation and control. From this hour peace and harmony, as well as mutual confidence between the several branches of the Legislature, ceased to exist in Lower Canada ; and it may be with truth affirmed tliat these paltry financial squabbles, in connexion with the provision of a respectable and permanent civil list from colonial resources, have been the fertile source and leading cause of all the troubles and dissensions which have occurred in British North America. We are not disposed to go into any lengthened examination of the yielding policy that has for some time past obtained in Downing-street, in reference to the casual and territorial revenues of the Crown, which had long been the only, or, at least, the most efficient check upon popular encroachment, and upon the wanton and tyrannical exercise of the ill-understood, and in the hands of ignorant or seditious men, the dangerous power of stopping the supplies, as a means of coercing the two first branches of the legislature. The right advanced by, and conceded to, the Houses of Assembly, of controlling and appropriating the proceeds of the Royal domain, or, as it is termed, the wild lands of the Crown, appears to us to be as unsound in theory, as it will be found mischievous in practice. Even in the American Union this right has never been conceded to the people who inhabit •' the territories" of the Republic, until these great portions of the federal association attain a certain population, and, arriving at L 2 *> :« 148 THE CANADIAN REVOLT. [jUNE, maturity, assume the character of ** sovereign and independent States." How absurd, then, to grant such privileges to a ** dependent colony !' The difficulties of this question are, however, supposed to have been obviated by the stipulation for a moderate permanent Civil List, in exchange for the Crown revenues ; but we have seen enough of the temper and proceedings of colonial assemblies to cause some apprehen- sion, that this arrangement, however permanent its nature, however moderate in amount, will not prevent periodical discussions in regard to it, or save the public functionaries, who are dependent on it, from the invidious and painful consequences — wholly destructive of all proper respect towards them — of having their merits, services, and salaries fre- quently canvassed, with as much warmth and as pernicious an eifect as if these salaries were subject to annual revision, and drawn direct from the pockets of the people. Well indeed if worse do not ensue, and the fluctuations of the ceded revenue and its probable ultimate decrease become a new reason for insisting on a corresponding reduction of the Civil List. Be this as it may, the quiet working of our colonial institu- tions now rests upon the frail security which the maintenance of sound constitutional principles, by popular bodies not being remarkable for wisdom or discretion, may afford. To us it seems that there is one essential distinction between colonial and metropolitan government, which has been wholly overlooked in these fmancial arrangements ; and that in remunerating from local funds a Governor exercising delegated powers, and responsible for his acts only to his Sovereign and the Imperial Parliament, the natural dependence of tiie colony upon the parent State has been materially impaired. While the Crown revenues remained at the disposal of the Sovereign, this growing evil was kept down : now, wherever they have been resigned, they are considered only as part and parcel of the general income of the colony, upon which certain useless and idle functionaries are suffered to fatten and grow rich. So far, indeed, has petty parsimony and the retrenching mania been carried, that we see General Officers sent to command the troops on foreign stations whose military sevices are defrayed from the reduced emoluments of their civil appointments. The very reverse of this would have been more befitting the character of England, and more in accord- ance with her interests. Her General Officers sent to command and govern in' her colonies should be paid liberally in their military capacity, and rendered wholly independent of the civil emoluments of office. Had this plan been adopted, and the royal revenues been reserved, we should never, perhaps, have heard of a Canadian rebellion, which promises to swallow up, in a few short months, all the clippings and parings of the last ten years. The proceedings of the Canada Committee of 1 S28 are too generally known to require more than a brief notice here, lis Report contained recommendations for the redress of every real and alleged grievance existing in the colony, as submitted to Parliament in a petition from the Provincial Assembly, and sustained by the oral testimony of dele- gates from that body. This Report was received by the unanimous voice of the Assembly as an infallible guide to the full and satisfactory adjustment of every known grievance existing in the colony, and it was hoped that a safe and sufficient measure had at length been indicated ibr the removal of every cause of Canadian discontent. Encoumged with t '.'',;■ 'iil',hv-j!- i- ' 1' ' ■ I ; jj'' ■" j' ill' 'IJ''^'' dent States." nt colony !' to have been ml List, in >ough of the le apprehen- re, however in regard to it, from the f all proper salaries ft«- an eifect as I direct from t ensue, and ate decrease iction of the >nial institu- ice of sound narkable for here is one ffovernment, ements ; and ig delegated ign and the ny upon the wn revenues vil was kept i considered upon which i grow rich, mania been e troops on the reduced f this would s in accord- nmand and ry capacity, tffice. Had , we should >romi8es to rings of the generally ; contained grievance tition from ly of dele- unanimuuB atisfactory and it was dicatedfor Bged with Mil .'jlJifi Mi UlOiUfi^ 1838.] THE CANADIAN REVOLT. 149 this hope, the Ministers of the Crown proceeded in their task with a sincerity and good faith that have never been called in question ; and in some instances they even outstripped the recommendations of the Com- mittee, liberal as they were, on every point submitted to its judgment. The result of this hearty endeavour to conciliate the affection and good will of the Canadian reformers was a failure. The more moderate and respectable of the party, it is true, were satisfied, and gave in their adhesion to the Government. But this, far from weakening the influ- ence of Papineau over his subservient vassals, only served to place him more prominently in the fore-ground, as the great champion of Canadian liberty. The revolutionists, forming an immense majority of Papi- neau's packed assembly, became only more united in their purpose, and more audacious in their demands, in consequence of their separation from the *' constitutional reformers." The line of demarcation drawn by the Constitution, between the several branches of the Legislature, was speedily passed by the lower House, and the organic changes, involving the absolute surrender of the sovereignty of the country to that body, were resolutely insisted on as the only means of restoring permanent tranquillity to the province. The latent views of the Assem- bly were no longer doubtful, and it might have been expected that a vigilant Government would have paused in the useless and dangerous attempt to satisfy a party determined to emancipate itself from all control. But the Government did not pause ! The colonial minister, in the plenitude of his confidence, yielded to the Assembly, in 1831, the Crown revenues from which the expenses of the civil establishment were defrayed, without a stipulation for any provision, for that service, in exchange ; and in thus removing the only remaining check upon the arrogance and encroachments of that House, the Secretary of State placed a weapon in the hands of Mr. Papineau, who proved himself but too conversant with its use, and wielded it so successfully, that the feeble attempt afterwards made to wrest it from his grasp produced, as might have been foreseen, open defiance and resistance. The cession of these revenues was undoubtedly the great and crown- ing error of the ministerial policy. It enabled Papineau to enter fear- lessly upon the intimidation system — enabled him to agitate With energy and efl'ect, and to prepare the minds of his besotted countrymen for that conflict which he knew to be approaching. The last and most active period in the progress en' (ilanadian dis- content commenced with Lord Gosford's administration, and the ap- pointment of the contentious commission, of which he was the head. There is no doubt that the jarring and injudicious proceedings of the Board detracted largely from the respect due to their office, and to the weight that might have attached to their opinions, if they did not widen the breach which they were sent to examine and repair. But the time for inquiry had gone by. Elective councils, and an executive Government responsible to Mr. Papineau, were demands beyond the pale of the British Constitution, and needed no investigation ; while the other claims of the Assembly were so palpably inconsistent with the honour of the Crown and the faith of the Imperial Parliament, that a minister less bold than Lord Glenelg has proved himself, in introducinff —for good or for evil— great changes into other colonies, might, with little risk, have disposed of such questions as were here propounded, without aggravating local jealousies and dissensions, by sending out an 150 THE CANADIAN REVOLT. [jUNE, it » ( indiscreet and expensive delegation to record in writing the utter im- practicability of engrafting republican principles u])un monarchical institutions. The Report of tliis Commission has been long before the world, and teeming as it does with crude theories, conflicting opinions, and sug- gested reforms of no questionable tendency, it has now become a manual in Downing Street for the precis writers on North American affairs. Upon tills Report Lord John Russell's untoward Bill of 1837 was based, and a mure abortive measure was never carried through the House of Commons. The circumstances which rendered the interven- tion of the Imperial Parliament imperative, urgently demanded that this exercise of jurisdiction should be powerful and decisive. Eut the Bill was one of those mere temporary expedients which are only re- sorted to by small statesmen on occasions of emergency. It carried all the odium of a violation of the provincial constitution without pro- viding any permanent or efficient remedy for the inveterate disorder it was intended to remove ; and — will it be believed ? — this instrument of authority was hurled at a half insurgent people with no better gua- rantee for its success than the expiring influence of the mild and passive Earl of Gosford. Nor is this all ! the ministry, as if alarmed at their own energy and boldness, Iiad no sooner clothed their bantling with the ostentatious care due to its high calling, than they abandoned it entirely, and turned to the military chest, as the safest and readiest means of escape from their dilemma. Could such vacillation fail to be construed as weakness by men ripe and eager for revolt? The empire of opinion was destroyed, while that of strength was not displayed, and the unhappy colony was left to struggle with its difficulties, and to futile endeavours to pacify a spirit, fierce, hostile, and determined, which force alone could quell. The inadequacy of the military establishment at this important crisis was unquestionably the immediate cause of that appeal to arms, which a timely demonstration of more ample means would assuredly have pre- vented ; and it will not be easy to justify those who neglected to use a preventive measure calculated to avert so serious a calamity. Had Lord John Russell's Bill — lame and imperfect as it was — been frankly carried into operation, supported by a sufficient force to overawe the disaffected, we should not now be called on to regret the past, or look forward with some forebodings to the future. Jonathan has proved himself to be at best a false friend and slippery neighbour, and his hostile interference in our domestic quarrel must lead to some awkward explanations. Such are the leading causes, remote and proximate, as we find them recorded and have seen them in operation, which have led to the insur- rection in the Canadas; and we now proceed to show how military energy, valour, and devotion, crushed with rapid and vigorous execution that rebellious spirit which had been so long fostered and nourished to maturity by political error, weakness, and delusion. In August last the Legislature of Lower Canada met for the last time, and, after another short burst of violence and sedition from the House of Assembly, that body finally separated ; and, by its voluntary abrogation of its functions, virtually suspended the Constitution of the province. The die was cast ! The chiefs of the revolt had now firmly resolved upon their course. The plot was ripe, and the whole ma- [JUNE, m i838.-| THE CANADIAN REVOLT. 151 he utter im- munarchical world, and ns, and sug- me a manual rican affairs, jf 1837 was through the »e interven- manded that ^e. But the are only re- It carried kviihout pro- 3 disorder it nstrument of > better gua- e mild and 8 if alarmed leir bantling y abandoned and readiest on fail to be The empire splayed, and and to futile , which force )ortant crisis arms, which lly have pre- ted to use a mity. Had )een frankly overawe the ast, or look has proved ur, and his ne awkward e find them o the insur- m military is execution ourished to or the last n from the B voluntary tion of the now firmly whole ma- chinery of revolution was put at once in motion. Popular meetings were held, where British connexion was openly denounced and resist- ance to tiie laws was iiici! ated; and at one of these assemblages held early in October, at the village of St. Charles, where, in the words of a -lear and correct narrative ot the revolt lately published in 'The Ne' . York Albion,' and from wliich we shall occasionally make extracts, " the representatives ot' six united counties bound themselves by the strongest obligations, under the sound of cannon and musketry, and in language the most bitter and seditious, to form one great confederation as a nucleus for the whole province, elect their town magistrates, enrol and arm themselves, and resist the Government and its officers as much as lay in their ])ower. This was accompanied by a most insulting reso- lution, inviting the British soldiers to desert — an insult which these gallant fellows have since washed out in blood." " Secret enrolments," continues the narrative further on, " were steadily going on amongst the habitans of the associated counties — the people were coming stealthily — bodies of armed men met for drill in various parts of the Montreal district, and the very young heroes, thesis de la liberte% in the suburbs of the city itself." During these violent and alarming proceedings, what, it may be asked, was the Executive Government doing ? Lord Gosford, still labouring in the spirit of his ill-fated mission, and with the forbearance, if we may honestly use the word, of a kind and benevolent disposition, little suited to the stern and iron temper of the times, endeavoured to reclaim the wavering and restrain the disaffected by the ordinary operation of laws already trampled in the dust ! and it was not until late in August that a suspicion of the real slate of affairs seemed to gleam across his mind. A single regiment had been drawn from Halifax, leaving only three weak battalions behind it in the lower provinces ; but it does not appear to have occurred to his Lordship or to the Government at home, that it .night be expedient not only to replace this corps but to increase the garrison of Halifax to an extent that might atl'urd timely succour, if required, at any period during winter, and without exciting that jealousy, which is the poor apology now offered for having neglected during the summer to pour into Lower Canada such a force as would have effectu- ally preserved the peace and provided for the safety of the country. In the mean time the military commander, Sir John Colborne, with- out, perhaps, suspecting the extent or des})erate character of the con- spiracy, proceeded to make such preparations and arrangements as prudence dictated. Treason was openly abroad, and he could not but perceive that the military power might, at any moment, be called on to supersede the impotent arm of the civil authority. Sir John established himself at Montreal, and concentrating his small force at that central point, as the future pivot of his operations, fortified and placed the city out of danger, formed magazines, organised and armed the loyal militia of the country, which, with one or two base exceptions, might have included every man of British descent within the province, and thus stood prepared for the result, with a calm energy and quiet resolution, that at once re- stored hope am.^ confidence to every loyal mind. The regular force stationed in the tc'o Canadas is extremely small ; how small need not be told to those who can calculate what five six-company battalions on a foreign station may muster in the field. This force is usually distri- buted along an ej^tensive line of posts, of many hundred miles, from 152 THE CANADIAN REVOLT. [jONE, Quebec to Toronto ; and the necessity of keeping a strong garrison in the "North American citadel" left but a mere handful disposable for active service. But these were the representatives of the soldiers of Salamanca and of Waterloo^ carrying in their hearts and on their colours the prestige of a hundred victories, and no man knew better than Col- borne the stern and unconquerable stuff of which they were composed. To the talent, firmness, and capacity of this man, England is indebted, under Providence, for the safety of her colony, and for crushing, with little loss or bloodshed, the most daring and malignant attempt to over- throw a lenient and benignant Government that has disgraced this or any other age. But the civil authorities still continued to follow out their hopeless measures, and resolved to drain the cup of humiliating weakness to the dregs. Lord Gosford, unwearied in his exertions to avert the impending struggle, continued to denounce sedition and to promise pardon on sub- mission. His threats and promises were alike unheeded, and he re- ceived his final answer in the first volley fired by the rebels at Sonquil. This was on the 7th of November, when the civil war commenced. The explosion of the plot, it is believed, was premature. The inten- tion of the conspirators was to have declared their independence on the 1 5th of December, when their plans had reached maturity, and that equivocal season had arrived when both the roads and rivers would be impassable for troops. St. Denis and St. Charles on the Chambly river were to be made the strong holds of the rebels, where, with their backs to the States, and an open communication with their numerous friends and allies in that country, they might organise their means, and bid defiance to the troops until the proper time arrived for assuming the offensive. A similar organisation on a lar<;er scale was in progress in the Grand BruM district tu the north of the St. Lawrence ; and when both parties were prepared for action, Montreal was to be assaulted on all sides; and, with their numerous partisans within the garrison, no doubt was entertained of the result. To anticipate the designs of the conspirators was precisely what the aspect of affairs demanded ; and, taking the initiative, Sir John Colborne forced the rebels, by his activity and vigilance, to commence thecuiiflict before their preparations were complete. From his central position he had watched the proceedings of the insurgents in the disturbed districts, embracing six counties, and extending in a circle of fifty or sixty miles around Montreal, and at the right time and place he struck the blow that effectually paralysed the operations of the rebels, and checked the widely and rapidly-extending spirit of revoh. His measures were as prompt as they proved to be judicious. On the 22nd of November a combined movement was directed on the rebel camp at St. Denis and St. Charles. Colonel Gore, with about 300 men and a howitzer, descending the St. Lawrence, landed at Sorel, and was ordered to move upon St. Denis ; while another column of 400 men, with two guns, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Wetherell, was directed by way of Chambly on St. Charles. A simultaneous attack on the two villages was, beyond a doubt, contemplated and desired, but concentric movements undertaken from distant points, and without assured and easy communication, are, under the ablest commanders, in small as in large bodies, subject to derangement ; and in the present in*" stance obstacles and mischances intervened to frustrate the execution of I [jUNE, garrison in posable for soldiers of leir colours than Col- composed. is indebted, shing, with ipt to over- iced this or hopeless ness to the impending on on sub- and he re> at Sonquil. need. The inten- ;nce on the , and that s would be imbly river :heir backs Dus friends B, and bid uming the progress in and when isaulted on irrison, no r what the 1 Col borne Aie cuiiflict )osition lie d districts, sixty miles L the blow lecked the :s were as tted on the rith about d at Sorel, mn of 400 erell, was attack on sired, but d without ftnders, in iresent in-^ ecution of i 1838.] THE CANADIAN REVOLT. 153 the plan. The roads and weather proved much worse than was expected ; the officer sent from one column to the other, with orders and intelli- gence which might have served to regulate the movement, was taken and cruelly murdered by the enemy ; and the steam -boat, ordered up the Richelieu river with provisions and supplies for Colonel Gore's de- tachment, was fired upon and compelled to return. Lieut.-Colonel Wetherell was delayed, and for a time arrested in his progress, by the unforeseen difficulties he encountered, while Colonel Gure, entirely ignorant of this detention, made A night march on St. Denis, exposed to a pelting storm of snow and sleet, and during which the men were up to their knees in half frozen mud. In a state of absolute exhaustion these brave fellows reached the village of St. Denis on the fol- lowing morning, and found the enemy so strongly posted and protected as to preclude all hope of getting at them. The attempt was, however, made wilh the usual intrepidity of British soldiers ; the howitzer was pointed at a large stone house that formed the key of the position, but no impression was made upon it ; and after many brave and persevering efforts to penetrate this formidable barrier, the enterprise was given up as hopeless, and the troops returned to Sorel, worn out with cold, hunger, and fatigue, but with the proud consciousness of having done their duty. On the way back the howitzer was frozen in the mud, and resisted every efibrt made to extricate it. Lieutenant-Colonel Wetherell's column did not reach St. Charles until the morning of the 25th : — '* They found M. Debatsch's house, and part of the village, strongly stockaded and defended by 1400 or 1500 men, inspirited by the recent repulse of Colonel Gore's detachment, well armed, and having two guns commanding the principal approaches. Colonel Wetherell halted when within musket range, and displayed his force, from a humane desire to spare life ; but perceiving that his forbearance was construed into fear, and that a sharp and well-sustained fire was opened upon him, he enfiladed and knocked over the palisades with his artillery, after silenc- ing the enemy's guns, formed line, and charged with the bayonet under the old British cheer. Though foat or five to one in number, the poor wretches, who had hitherto withstood fire well, soon broke, but not before the troops were amongst them. Between 200 and 300 were killed, and the remainder fled in all directions, spreading terror and dis- may far and near. Colonel Wetherell had three killed and seventeen wounded, only, for the Canadians fired badly. *'■ The route at St. Charles produced such consternation in the neigh- bourhood that Nelson's people at St. Denis, although flushed with the late success, abandoned that post immediately ; but finding that Colonel Wetherell did not advance, Mr. Nelson was able to collect a few of them again in two or three days, and was beginning to reinspire them with some degree of confidence. This, however, did not last long, for Colonel Gore, with a stronger force, three guns, and a srpply of Con- greve rockets, moved again upon Sorel on the 1st instant, took St. Denis without opposition, regained his howhzer, and burned Mr. Nel- son's house and distillery, with all the other houses from whence the soldiers had been fired upon. He then proceeded to St. Charles, and scoured the country as far as the neighbourhood of St. Hyacinth, on the Yamaska river, witho ut seeing the face of a rebel."* -. ' '*^ NarratiTe publisbttd in the New York Albion* > 154 THE CANADIAN REVOLT. [jUNB, The villages on tlie Richelieu — the hot-beds of the revolt — were thus in a few days cleared of the enemy and reduced to subjection ; and it must be owned that the rebels showed but little of that spirit and reso- lution in the fight which might have been expected from the insolence and audacity of their prpvioi.s conduct. But it was now evident that the great mass of the habitans were tainted with disafl'ection, and a large proportion of them corrupted to tiie core ; and it became the duty of a wise and prudent general to call for every disposable soldier within his reach. Tiie Government had shut its eyes to the impending danger— the navigation of the St. Lawrence was now closed for the winter from the sea — and the three weak battalions stationed in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were the only succour he could hope for until spring. These corps were promptly placed at his disposal ; and, leaving the Lower Provinces to the protection of a loyal people, performed — in suc- cession, during the depth of a Polar winter, and with the loss of a single man, from a cause unconnected with the march — one of the most remarkable movements upon record. The distance from Halifax to Quebec is little short of 700 miles, and a considerable part of the line passes through a desert wilderness where there is not the vestige of a path. Why these two sections of our North American dominions have 80 long remained disjointed, let those who can explain ! The movement was thus necessarily suspended until the rivers and lakes had frozen, and sufficient snow had fallen to form a sleigh road, when the troopa were put in motion upon sleighs, furnished and conducted by the bold and hardy teamsters of New Brunswick, and, traversing the inhospitable and desolate region that lies between Medeweska and the " Riviere de Loup," they descended into the valley of the St. Lawrence, with a rapi- dity that excited surprise, if not consternation, in the Canadian villages be'ow Quebec. The moral influence of this movement was immense : it struck to the heart the disaffected — crushed every hope they had entertained from the "sympathy" of their sister provinces — and con- vinced the world that there is no season at wliicU Britain cannot re- inforce her colony, while she possesses soldiers whose dauntless spirits never quailed before a foe, or recoiled from any trial or exertion, how- ever rigorous or severe. During the march the thermometer ranged from zero to 2u^ below it. This timely addition to his force enabled Sir John Colborne to act with renewed vigour and success. lie knew the importance of incurring no undue risk — he saw that any success over the troops might produce a general rising, and peril the existence of the colony ; he had, there- fore, waited until his reinforcements were at hand before he ventured to order up one of the two corps left to garrison Quebec. Providence seemed to second all his plans, for the river remaining open to an un- usually late perio