^ Aai ^-^ ^ ^ Q >^^ V '^/^ .^\^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) m // <^ /} '<5. I ^^ ^J> ":< ^m •' ^^ .5>'* c>%^ PhntnoTQnViir Sdences Corporation # 4G-^ #> ,v \\ , February 2"^, 18'.i5. 5 SiiiE,— Bpyond your Maj'Sty's dominion I um slill trun to native anegiancc, and I. ist th>t all its banefits may yet be secured to mo. May it plcaae yr-^r Mnjosty:— 'n thr- yoar 1817 I wf-nt from Eng- land to Upiwr ('••v'.flfl.i, huviiig Umdcd property and friends there; resolved to connect myself with that provinco; and, to advance ita proRperity, ndvised sem-ing Commissioners to England, that certain abuses might be corrected. For xhis ncf -if th' purest patriotism, I was arrested, tried, and hon- ourably ac'iuittcd. Tliereafter, I hastontid to this pluci;, September 1818, (ifixious for uecounts from my family; and iKjlieving all well, sent to England a power of Atturney for settlem<>nf of atriirs, in Qr-_ dor to attach "^VseU^m^aiitariBMI^^ whither I foJj wilf returned ; but thcrt' I was arrested, ordered to depart the prov- ince, and imprisoned eight months without tenefit of bail. Finally, beinp called before a court of jujtice, August 1819, I was arraigned, tried, and banished, nierely lj?.canse of refusing to depart the Prov- ince, !.nd while §o weak with cruel treatment as to be unable to pro- test against proceedings pronounced illegal by the iirst law authorities of Critiiin. Ueturned to England, I petitioned the King and Parliament for incjuiry into my case during ten yt^ais, but in vain; and vain indeed it became to expect a hearing after your Majesty's ear was engaged by a man whom I knew to be false, treacherous and vindictive — a man whom I had personally chastised. Thus honelesH, I crossed the Atlantic, 1833, to watch the progress ofevejits; and seeirig that, the individual alluded to no longer influ- ences your Majesty's Councils, I once more solicit attention. The Provincial statute passed 9th March, 1804, under color of which I was imprisoned and banishe(J, ws enacted specially to guard Upper Canada against Irishmen who ere expatri ited; and could not be intended to bf;a.r down \]£)p. """.IkwiU'.'i right of uiiattain^'l E/fVc- jsb subjects — that right which rests oh the acknowledged principle of ^!egia.:ice and proteciion bi.'ing reciprocal, while afiidavita laid before "the Chief Justice couli^ not bo misunderstood.— In short, more wanton oppression never was exercised in modern times; nor ever were con- sequences more ruinous; seeing that thereby, not onJy has my repji- tatiou been suHicd, but my properly taken away and dissipated: sev- enteen years, the best of my life, rendered profitless and unhappy, while endless litigation has been sot on foot for mv aimoyance— Nevertheless hope has been oh ished. A continued chain of docu- *■ mcnts can be referred to; lettc , to the King aud pctitioiis printed in ♦parliamentary journals, all proving that I have neither admitted of (Waims for redresses being forfeited, nor left untried any possible means of being heard. Sire — From this land into which I was banished, F now protest ag.iinst III ' monstrous cruelty and injustice; from this forcigti land I afi|#al for ihc last time; and, still dutiful and sulirnisbive, res-.pectfully put thnso ([uestions: Shall I an eleve of tli'- oidest and least tainted family of b'ifeshire, whose father was fur ninny yeni-^ a magistrate of that county, and where 1, myself, roceives.l from' your Majesty's Roy- al Father, thirty-five years ago, a Captain's commission, — I, who til! this hour can challeng! Ihc world to accuse me of a single mean, cowardly, or disJiouoarablo act— I who am father.of a f\imi' in Scot-' ■ land; shall 1 be robbed, degraded and evpatriatcd by viilaiiy ? In fine, shall jn.sticc be denied to a Briti.:,li suljji.'ct, and the iiwA sacred constitutional right violated in his pcrfori. by men clothed in the liv- ery 01 power, and assuming the sanction of royalty ? Rather than that, Sire, 1 hliall, as did one of my name, porwh for my principles at the stake. Rather than that, I shall lay dow.n^^-' life to extirpate from this western world, the remains of despotism.— Meiintime, trusting that your Majeity will speedily cai^jnqAiiry to be mull! into my case; and most heartily wishing weH fo 'm'^nativo countrv. " ^"' your Majesty's loyal subject, ROBERT F. GOURLAY.