IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^v V 1.0 I.I 1.25 ■^ lU 12.2 ^ lis liiio 1.8 U 1111.6 p;^ 4.Y. 14580 (716^ 672-4503 .•\ iV \ \ ^9> V ri.^ o^ '%^-' L<5> CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductlons historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which m- ^ -^ 'b o 6 T M i .1 ui la U lo oi 0( 13 ai ir ai tl II e o b tl ADDRESSES, ^r. To His Excellency ^^m Georgc Arthur, K. C. IL Lieutenant Governor of tlie Frovince of Upper Canada, Major General Commanding Her Majes- ty's Forces therein, 6)'c. Sfc. J^r. May it Please Your Excellency: We, Her Majesty's dutiful and loyal Sul)jects, the undersigned inhabitants of the City of Toronto, ap- proach your Excellency, to tender you our congratu- lations on your appointment to the Government of Upper Canada, and upon your safe arrival, after a long and protracted voyage, at this inclement season of the year. We request your Excellency will accept on this occasion the expression of our sincere attachment to Her Majesty's Person and Government, an attachment as sincere and devoted as that can be of those who may differ with us in opinion on measures of Colonial administration. We do not approach your Excellency to oppress you with any reiteration of complaints : the history of the Province is before you, and an impartial inquiry into it, with the experience of a short time, will best enable j'our Excellency to judge of the reasonableness of the objects of Reformation, for many years sought by a very large portion of Her Majesty's Subjects in this Province. -^ .1' ■ The unhappy State of the country will probably for the present restrain all expression of public opinion, and we do not desire to revive discussions for which mens minds are at present obviously quite unfit ; we are, however, prepared to assure your Excellency, that in the promotion of public order and the adoption of measures for the pacification of the country, you will have the prompt and energetic support of the loyal, patriotic and constitutional Reformers of the Province. We have observed with feelings of unmixed plea- sure the desire manifested by all parties in England, that severe punishments should not be inflicted upon the unfortunate persons engaged in the late lamentable llebellion, and that in deference to this universal feel- ing, and in obedience to the dictates of Her own most gracious and amiable disposition. Her Majesty has been j-jleased to authorise the proclamation of a general Amnesty for political offences. In carrying into effect the gracious inclinations of Her Majesty in this Province, your Excellency will have the noblest gratification of an elevated mind, the announcement of pardon to the miserable and guilty; and we venture to assure you, that an Administration thus begun will be hailed as the commencement of a long course of general confidence, peace and pros- perity ; and we sincerely pray that it may be happy and glorious to yourself, and both satisfactory and honourable to Her Majesty and the noble Empire over which she promises so worthily to reign. [Signed by 642.] |i REPLY. Gentlemen : I thank you for your congratulations on my appoint- ment to the Government of this Province. I am much gratified to receive from you expressions of loyaky and attachment to Her Majesty's Person and Government, which without reference tc pohtical distinctions, which I do not desire to renew, I am con- vinced are truly sincere and unquahfied. I am happy to find that j'ou express your unvv'ilhng- ness to revive pohtical discussions connected with Reform, for it oouid not fail to be a most painful sub- ject to me at this moment, when so many of Iler Majesty's Subjects are placed in circumstances of the utmost peril, and their unfortunate families exposed to desolation and ruin. The specious delusion by which these unhappy men were seduced from their allegiance to their Sovereign, and were led to become accessories, if not principals, in the crimes of Treason, Rohhery, Arson and Murder, beiijg no other than Reform. I cannot but regret that under these circumstances any portion of the inhabitants of this City should have felt it necessary, at this moment, to present themselves under the character of Reformers, as a distinct class of the people of this Province. The doing so has a tendency to awaken excitement and to agitate the community, at a period when every man is liable to be called upon to take a part in the administration of Justice, and should be able to approach that sacred duty with a mind sobered, disciplined and unpreju- d .k diced. You must, moreover, be aware, that individu- ally as loyal Subjects of Ilcr Majesty, you arc entitled to the protection, respect and consideration of the Government, and to these I hope you will sec that no classification or profession relating to abstract political opinion, ought to make any addition. In considering the cases of the unfortunate persons to whom you have alluded in your Address, it is of the greatest consequence that the Executive Govern- ment, having regard to justice as well as mercy, should have no misgiving that there exists any probability of a renewal of the diss^raceful scenes which have so recently disturbed the tranquillity of the Colony, through the malignant recklessness of men whose pro- fessed object was Reform. Punishment can never be justifiably resorted to as an act of vengeance — it is only to be sanctioned as the necessary means of preventin^j- the recurrence of crime, and this necessity would plainly be much obviated, if attachment and a spirit of obedience to the Sovereign and the Laws were known to exist amongst all classes of the community. (Signed) G. ARTHUR. To His Excellency Sir George Arthur, K. C. H. Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Upper Canada, Major General Coinmanding Her Majes- ty's Forces therein, S)'c. w^r. S)'C. May it please Your Excellency : We, Her Majesty's dutiful and loyal Subjects, the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty, of the City of Toronto, in Common Council assembled, most humbly beg leave to present to your Excellency, our sincere and hearty congratulations on your safe arrival in this City, to assume the important duties of administering the Government of this Province. Whilst we contemplate, with feelings of unfeigned regret, the disturbed state of public affairs, in conse- quence of the recent attempt made by a number of disaffected and ungrateful inhabitants of this Province, and subsequently by a much greater number of citizens of the United States, to overthrow the unrivalled Con- stitution and Laws under which we ha^c the happiness to live, we feel indescribable pleasure in the reflection, that those attempts have been promptly and success- fully repelled, by the loyal and devoted Subjects of this portion of Her Majesty's Empire, who, under the blessing of Divine Providence, have been enabled to preserve uncontaminated, the character for loyalty and attachment to the Crown of Great Britain, by which the great mass of the people of Upper Canada have ever been so proudly distinguished. Nor can we forbear respectfully to convey to your Excellency, the high gratification which we feel at the selection, at the present crisis, of an individual, as the Representative of Royalty in this Province, who during a long period of honourable service, has been equally distinguished by the approbation of our most gracious Sovereign, and the confidence and. esteem of that portion of Her Subjects whose interests have been committed to your Excellency's care and protection. i i In all your Excellency's efforts to administer the laws, to preserve unimpaired the valued Institutions of our country, and to perpetuate the beneficial con- nexion happily existing betw^een the Colony and Great Britain, your Excellency may ever rely upon our most cordial and zealous support and co-operation, and that of the loyal inhabitants of the City of Toronto, whom we hav3 th- \ honour to represent. (Signed) JOHN POWELL, Mayor. Council Chamber, 29th March, 1838. [A true copy,] CHARLES DALY, Clerh C. C. n REPLY. 3fr. Mayor, and Gentlemen : I thank you most unaffectedly, for your congratu- lations on my assuming the Government of this Pro- vince, and for the very flattering allusion you have made to my services in other parts of Her Majesty's Dominions. That my appointment, in succession to so distin- guished an Officer as Sir Francis Head, is acceptable to you, will I am sure be gratifying to Her Majesty. Your voluntary pledge, to afford me the cordial and zealous support and co-operation of the loyal Inhabi- tants of Toronto, in administering the laws, and pre- serving unimpaired the valued institutions of this part of the British Empire, is a tower of strength to me, on which I shall firmly rely, in my sincere and anxious endeavours to maintain and uphold the Constitution of Upper Canada, as by law established, which you justly so highly prize. There is not, I believe, recorded on the page of history, an instance wherein the great body of the inhabitants of any country have more unequivocally testified their devotion to the person of their Sovereign, and their attachment to the laws by which their re- ligious and political rights and liberties are secured to them ; and the conspicuous part which has been taken by the Municipal Authorities of the City of Toronto on this memorable occasion, will I am certain be marked by some special act of Her Majesty's Royal favour and distinction. Your address is the more particularly gratifying to me at this moment, as, by a full knowledge of, and confidence in its power, the Executive Government is more at liberty, where justice does not absolutely for- bid it, to unfurl the banner of mercy. Harshness and severity are distinguishing marks of weakness and apprehension. The country is strong enough to be magnanimous ; and as the inhabitants of Upper Canada have the reputation of being a religious people, it will now be ojjen to them, both collectively and individually, to give proof of their christian profession, by forgiving, without any vexatious upbraidings, the extreme injury they have received. B 10 It If the great victory which has been achieved be used wisely and with moderation, and with well-timed conciliation, the late seeming frown of Providence upon this noble Province, may issue in a very great blessing ; for I do not despair of seeing many persons now come forward openly and avowedly, as loyal supporters of the Constitution, who, although hitherto advocates for some partial changes in the Institutions of the country, nevertheless would be desirous to make the most public declaration of their detestation of traitors and murderers and incendiaries; and thus you may become a more united, and therefore a more happy people. I avail myself of this opportunity, Mr. Mayor, of assuring yourself, the Aldermen and Commonalty of Toronto, that I shall at all times be most ready and most desirous to co-operate with you in every measure that has a tendency to advance the interests of this rising City, and to promote the welfare and happiness of all classes of its inhabitants. (Signed) G. ARTHUR. To His Excellency Sir George Arthur, K. C. H. Lieutencmt Governor of the Province of Upper Canada, Major General Commandins Her Majes- t/ijs Forces therein, Sfc. Sfc. Sfc. May it please Your Excellency: We, the undersigned, inhabitants of the Town of Brantford, and its vicinity, in the Province of Upper Canada, desire to present our unfeigned congratulations 11 to your Excellency, on your arrival in the Province, as Her Majesty's Representative, Under the existing circumstances of the Colony, we feel it to be pecuHarly our duty to express to your Exellency,our ardent attachment to our Sovereign the Queen, and our firm and entire reliance on the wisdom and justice of Her Majesty's Home Government — of which we have recently received a new and signal proof, in the appointment to the high post of Governor- in-Chief of Her Majesty's North American Colonies, of the Earl of Durham — a Nobleman, we make bold to say, not less eminent for the liberal opinions which have distinguished him, and the able and manly course he has pursued in their support, than for his firmness and freedom from party feelings and patronage ; and we cannot refrain from declaring our admiration of the policy which has been stated to actuate Her Majesty's Government in Great Britam, (and which His Lord- ship is invested with ample powers to exemplify and maintain,) — " That it is more desirous to forget than to resent injuries" — a sentiment equally noble, and worthy of a great and powerful Nation. From the liberal policy which prevailed during your Excellency's Administration in discharging the high duties of your exalted station, as Governor in the chief Australian Colony, we confidently hope that equal privileges will be extended to all classes of Her Ma- jesty's loyal Subjects in this Province ; and we antici- pate your Excellency's concurrence and assistance in the promotion of general Education, and in the exten- sion of Science and Agriculture, as the certain means : !!• M 12 of developing the natural resources and mineral wealth of this extensive country. We beg to convey to your Excellency, our assur- ances that we will use our best endeavours to maintain public peace and tranquillity, and to re-establish har- mony and good will between all classes of Her Ma- jesty's Subjects, in our respective neighbourhoods. We beg to tender your Excellency our best wishes, that by the blessing of Almighty God, your Excellency and family may enjoy a large portion of health, happi- ness and prosperity, whilst residing amongst us as our Lieutenant Governor. [Signed by two hundred and twenty-seven inhabitants.] REPLY. Gentlemen : I sincerely thank you for your congratulations en my assumption of the Government of this Province. The expression of your ardent attachment to our most gracious Queen, cannot but be highly gratifying ; and I sincerely trust that the appointment of the Noble- man, whom Her Majesty has been pleased to select to administer the Government-in-Chief of these Provin- ces, may be productive of those benefits, which, from the measures now in contemplation by Her Majesty's Ministers in relation to those Colonies, we may justly anticipate. I can assure you of my entire concurrence with you in the sentiment, " that it is more desirable to forget tl an to resent injuries" — a sentiment which I would 13 only limit by the necessity that is laid upon us all, to uphold and maintain the dignity of the laws, for the common welfare and security of the community. In promoting and maintaining the rights and privi- leges of all Her Majesty's Subjects equallt/, I obey the commands of my Sovereign, and at the same time gratify my own inclination. I confidently rely on the assurances you give me, that your best endeavours will be used to re-establish that harmony and good feeling which is so essential to the peace and welfare of the Province; and I gladly avail myself of this opportunity of assuring you, that it will at all times afford nie the highest satisfaction to advance, by every means in my power, the moral and religious interests of the community, and to promote the extension of agriculture and science, by giving encouragement to all public works of general utility. (Signed) G. ARTHUR. Address of the Magistrates, Freeholders and Inhabi- tants, of the Town and Townshipof Brantford, to His Excellency Sir George Arthur. I To His Excellency Sir George Arthur, K. C. H. Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Upper Canada, Major General Commanding Her Majes- ty's Forces therein, Sfc. 3fc. Sfc. May it please Your Excellency : We, Her Majesty's dutiful and loyal Subjects, the Magistrates, Freeholders and Inhabitants, of the Town 14 T ^ and Township of Brantford, approach your Excellency with sentiments of high respect for the Representative of our most Gracious Queen, to offer our congratula- tions on your arrival at the Seat of Government in this Province. Impressed every day more and more with a due sense of the blessings enjoyed by a people living under mild and equitable laws, faithfully administered, we are proud of our connection with the most powerful and enlightened Empire in the world; and view with corresponding abhorrence and indignation, the attempts recently made by wicked and turbulent men, to subvert the Constitution given to this and the adjoining Pro- vince of Lower Canada by the Mother Country. We desire it to be generally known, and distinctly understood, that the inhabitants of Upper Canada, in common with the other Subjects of Great Britain, enjoy liberty and rational freedom, in the true sense and meaning of those terms, in a higher degree than any nation on the face of the globe ; and to the utmost extent compatible with the protection of person and property, and the due order and regulation of society. We would therefore tell the traitors who have sought to overturn our revered and hallowed Institu- tions, and the lawless banditti by whom our shores have been menaced, that we want no change — and least of all, such change as they would bring us. We shall be found ever ready to support your Excellency, in the Constitutional exercise of the high powers with which you have been vested ; and will, at ■a 15 any moment, come forth, heart and hand, to defend our Country, and its laws, against the attacks of all assailants, domestic and foreign. [Signed by all the resident Magistrates, and three hundred and slxly-throe Freeholders and Inhabitants.] REPLY. Gentlemen: I receive your loyal Address with great satisfaction ; and I offer you my thanks for your congratulations on my arrival at the Seat of this Government. It has given me much pain to see, in a Country blessed by Providence with the promise of future greatness, to an almost incalculable extent, the ener- sies which mieht have been used so effectually in advancing the public interest, wasted on the one hand, in vain attempts to sustain visionary and abstract (juestions, at the expense of every thing practically valuable ; and on the other hand, to see those energies necessarily exercised merely for the purpose of main- taining, against lawless aggression, the common rights of life and property, and of Institutions which have been experimentally proved to be not only consistent with, but positively most conducive to national greatness, physical power and moral excellence. Periods of contest and agitation, of discord and violence, are not those in which the Government has the power to redress the grievances or to promote the public welfare. Let us first cordially unite in leading the public mind into tranquillity : and this great object m A once accomplished, the peaceful pursuits of agricul- ture will year after year be extended— commercial enterprise will expand itself— wealth will necessarily flow in upon the Province — and thus the means of diffusing the great blessings of religious instruction and education (upon which the true happiness of every people must depend) amongst all classes of the com- mune" ty, will be at our command. I most cordially respond to the indignation with which you regard the attempts which have been made by turbulent and disaffected men, to su^ vert the Insti- tutions of your Country ; and I accept, with gratitude, the expression of your readiness to support me in the Constitutional exercise of the powers with which Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to invest me — and in return, I pledge myself, that I will exert those powers to the best of my capacity, in maintaining your rights and liberLies, and in promoting your security and prosperity. (Signed) G. ARTHUR. Address of 4,850 of the inhabitants of West Flambo- rough, and the adjacent townships, to His Excel- lency the Lieutenant Governor, and the Governor's reply ther ^to. The Address was presented by James Durand, and John Paterson, Esquires. To His Excellency Sir George Arthur, K. C. H. Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Upper Canada, Major General Commanding Her Majes- ty's Forces therein, 5\C. SfC. S^c. 17 May it Please Your Excellency : We, the inhabitants of West Flamborough, and the adjacent townships, in the Gore District, beg to con- gratulate your Excellency on your safe landing on this Continent, and to hail your arrival in this Province as the Representative of our most Gracious Sovereign the Queen. And, in thus approaching your Excellency with this sincere expression of our congratulations, we beg with intense, yet most respectful earnestness, to appeal to the just and dignified exercise of your Excellency's matured and comprehensive judgment, no less than to your humane feelings, on behalf of all the unhappy prisoners now under sentence of condemnation for High Treason. We are led to believe, that thus extending the Royal mercy would be generally satisfactory to the country. REPLY. The Lieutenant Governor has great satisfaction in receiving from so many of the inhabitants of West Flamborough, and the adjacent townships, their con- gratulations on his arrival in this Colony. The Lieutenant Governor feels that the occasion of offering these congratulations is not an unappro- priate one for an Address praying for the extension of the Royal prerogative of mercy ; but the Lieutenant Governor is obliged to say, that however grateful to his feelings the universal exercise r '' mercy would be, c i i^r i ; ■ljf:l 18 an imperative but very painful sense of public duty forces him to draw a line, beyond which, interference with the course of Justice cannot properly be carried. The crime of Hiah Treason is one which strikes at the very foundation of all civil society, and is calcula- ted above all others to bring in its train the most grie- vous outrages which can afifcct a community: it is therefore in the wisdom of the British Legislature made to rank the highest in degree of guilt, and as most deserving of extreme penalty. When a resort to the use of deadly weapons is de- termined upon, and the lives of the innocent are in consequence sacrificed, the Lieutenant Governor feels that the Law properly attaches the guilt of blood to the fact of the first resort to arms ; and that it would be in vain to endeavour to vindicate the Law, or to hope for the preservation of the public peace, were his principle not acted upon as well as inculcated. In the late revolt some of the unhappy convicts were leaders of others, who with their assent and by their command, took up deadly weapons for the execution of an unlawful purpose: the consequence has been Murder, Burning and Robbery ; and the limited extent to which these cranes have been committed is to be attributed to the mercy of Divine Providence, and the loyalty and bravery of Her Majesty's dutiful and attached Subjecis, not to the repentance and forbear- ance of the Lisurgcnts. The Lieutenant Governor thinks it necessary the community should understand, that the blood of the 19 innocent must not be shed, and hope of iiopunlty to the offender at the same time indulged. The Law must be respected, and a course which would seem to question the wisdom of the Legislature in the classifi- cation of crime, and in prescribing the extent of pun- ishment for crime, ought not to be considered as a proper exercise of the Royal Prerogative of mercy. The Lieutenant Governor, therefore, is most reluc- tantly obliged to say, in answer to the Address, that he cannot interfere with the course of Justice in all cases arising out of the late rebellion. As punishment is, however, intended for example and the prevention of crime, and not to gratify resent- ful feelings, the Lieutenant Governor has great pleasure in assuring the Subscribers to the Address, that it will be his most anxious care to restrain the infliction of the extreme penalty of the Law within the narrowest bounds, and to temper justice with mercy in all cases, as far as a due regard to the ends of justice and pub- lic security will allow. To His Excellenaj Sir George Arthur, K. C. H. Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Upper Canada, Major General Commanding Her Majes- ty's Forces therein, S^x. d^c. S^c. May it Please Your Excellency: We, Her Majesty's dutiful and loyal Subjects, the Ministers and Elders of the Presbytery of Toronto, under the Synod of Canada, in connection with the Church of Scotland, beg leave to congratulate your 20 n U. •t' ' Excellency on your appointment to the Government of this Province, and on your safe arrival among us. We can w^ell conceive that even under ordinary circumstances the Governor of Upper Canada must have many weighty and difficult duties to discharge, but in consequence of recent occurrences, and the effects which these have had, and may yet have, on the population of this Country, every one must see how very much your Excellency's duties are increased, as well as many of them rendered perfectly delicate. Deeply impressed as we are with these considera- tions, it cannot but afford us sincere pleasure to find that Her Majesty's Government has been, as we trust, guided by a wise Providence in the appointment to the office of Chief Magistrate here, of one whose ex- tensive experience in Colonial affairs, and the high satisfaction he has given in other peculiar and trying situations, furnish the best grounds to hope that he will, imder God, be eminently useful in Upper Canada. Wc feel much pleasure in being able to congratulate your Excellency on the restoration of civil order, and on what, we trust, will prove a decisive check to those opinions which will lead to the destruction of all that is valuable to our Institutions, as well as utterly ruin the future prospects of this thriving Colony. And while we would not overlook the means which have been employed, yet surely we ought to recognize with profound gratitude the wisdom and goodness of God, as manifested in our late deliverance. Nor does it afford us small gratification to be able to say, that the people with whom we stand connected, 21 forming as they do a large portion of the population, have been, and we doubt not will continue to be a loyal people, strongly attached to the Constitution under which we live, and ever ready to support a Govern- ment of Law and of Justice. That your Excellency may be enabled to discharge the high functions of your Office, so as to advance the best interests of this young and highly interesting Pro- vince, and that all that is done by you may be done with the view to contribute to the glory of God, is and ever will be our earnest prayer. Done at Toronto, this Eleventh day of April, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight years, in name, presence, and by appointment of the Pres- bytery of Toronto. JAMES GEORGE, Moderator. REPLY. Gentlemen : I thank you for your congratulations on my arrival in this Province. The expression of your confidence in my exertions to promote the interests of this impor- tant portion of the British Empire will not, I trust, be disappointed. The assurance you give me that the people with whom you stand connected have been, and will con- tinue to be a loyal people, strongly attached to the Constitution under which they live, and ever ready to support a Government of Law and Justice, I readily 22 i believe, and am persuaded that I shall receive from them, in common vv^ith all other loyal and devoted Subjects of our Sovereign in this Province, of what- ever denomination, a liberal and candid support, in my endeavours to maintain peace and order, on which alone can the prosperity and happiness of any people be founded. The restoration of tranquillity, and the check which has been given to the propagation of those opinions which led to the subversion of all that is valuable in our social economy, I regard, with you, o,s a subject of thankful congratulation : and while we justly appreci- ate the means which have been used for checking the attempts lately made by factious and designing men to bring ruin and misery on this happy Province, I cordially concur with you, that we are especially bound to recognize with profound gratitude the gra- cious interposition of Almighty God in our recent deliverance. (Signed) G. ARTHUR. To His Excellency Sir George Arthur, K. C. H. Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Upper Canada, Major General Commanding Her Majes- ty's Forces therein, S^c. S^c. Sfc. May it please Your Excellency : The Ministers of the TJpper Canada Congregational Association, beg to approach your Excellency with cordial congratulations, upon your appointment to the Governorship of this Province, and upon your safe 23 arrival, after a long voyage and journey at this unpfo- pitious season of the year. We are gratified in honour- ing you as the Representative of our most gracious Queen, to whose Government we are, from birth, and connexion, and conviction, happy to own allegiance. Nor do we hesitate to acknowledge the additional confidence which we feel in your Excellency, on account of your generosity in the former scene of your administration, to our Brother Missionary — the Reverend F. Miller — a generosity which, though it did not accord with his and our principles for him to accept, has convinced us of your superiority to those sectarian and sectional prejudices by which Colonies have often been seriously injured. We take this opportunity to express to your Excel- lency that we are in principles, and dependance, and correspondence, identified with the body of English Congregational Dissenters, a body which has uniformly combined fidelity to the House of Brunswick with the promotion of popular intelligence and liberty. Secret arrangements we have none ; and as to sentiments, we generally adopt 'he "Declaration of Faith, Church Order and Discipline, of the Congregational or Inde- pendent Dissenters of England and Whales" — a copy of which we have the honour herewith to enclose. Your Excellency may be fully assured, that while we can never be the instruments of any secular policy, we shall aim to serve our rulers and country by promot- ing religion — the basis of morals, of education, of pub- lie and private happiness. I i %7Tr7^ftt U h^% 24 May we presume on your Excellency's indulgence, so far as to implore your early attention to the moral and religious interests of this important Colony. We ask not favouritism or patronage for particular com- munities — we ask a countenancing of religion itself— - that you will be, not by terror or comxpulsion, a "lord over God's heritage," but by kindness, and protection, and example, and personal influence, a " nursing father" to the Church, catholic and spiritual. Hon- oured indeed will be your memory in this quarter of the Globe, should you be the happy means of dis- couraging intemperance, and advancing education, and promoting a real and universal religious freedom and equahty. Your Excellency cannot fail early to ob- serve in this young country, that preference, which is persecution, and a systematic endeavour to set up a Religious Establishment, an evii which has cost Mon- archs their thrones and their lives, and States their peace and their liberties — an evil which is now rend- ing some of the nations of Europe, and is the grand source of the divisions and contests with which our beloved father-land is at this moment afflicted. Here too your Excellency will soon perceive that the pro- posal divides an otherwise united people, and (to the discredit of religion and the encouragement of infi- delity) is converting Ministers and Churches into unseemly and angry combatants for the public pro- perty. We have further to express our hope, that in this " evil time" your benignity of heart may be gratified by finding room for that dignified clemency and moder- 25 ation which, with energy and justice, constitute the glory of the British Government. Sincerely do we assure your Excellency, that our example and influ- ence, and prayers, shall be employed for the mainte- nance of peace, for your personal happiness and honour, and for the establishment of that public feeling which shall render this Province not only a dependancy upon British authority, but an exhibition of British freedom, and intelligence, and religion. Sijrned in behalf of the assembled Ministers of the Upper Canada Congregational Association. ADAMLILLIE, Chairman, David Dyer, Secretary. Brantford, March 27, 1838. REPLY. Gentlemen : I beg you will accept my thanks for the congratu- lations you are so kind as to offer me on my arrival in this Province. Among the many subjects which in the commence- ment of my Government call for my serious consider- ation, the religious and moral interests of the inhabitants of this Province, claim and will receive my earliest attention; and it will ever afford me sincere gratifi- cation to co-operate with the various denominations of Christians, in extending the blessings of a religious and useful education throughout the Province, believing as D 26 if i ^■ I do, that by these means the happiness and prosperity of a people may be most effectually promoted. Your allusion to the Reverend Mr. Miller, induces me to say, that my Government in the Colony of Van Dieman's Land, received the most loyal support of the communion of which you are members ; and I trust I may equally secure your cordial co-operation, while Her Majesty may be pleased to confide to me the administration of this Province. (Signed) Government House^ April 6, 1838. G. ARTHUR. To Ills Excellency Sir George Arthur, K. C. H. Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Upper Canada, Major General Comraandins Her Majes- ty's Forces therein, S)'c. S)'c. S^'C. May it please Youn Excellency : We, Her Majesty's faithful Subjects, inhabitants of the Village of Ancaster, and its immediate vicinity, had no intention of obtruding on your notice, satisfied that our late voluntary exertions in the suppression of insurrection, and defence of the frontier, would be sufficient assurance of our hailing with joy the arrival of a Governor, pledged to maintain the integrity of the Empire, and in whose character, wisdom and prudence, we have every confidence : but when we find those, who, to say the least, took no active part in suppress- ing the late disturbances, applying far and wide for 27 !■■ signatures to Addresses to your Excellency, we fear silence miglit be misconstrued. We beg therefore, most respectfully and sincerely, to tender to your Excellency the assurance of our un- alterable fidelity to the British Crown; end that your Excellency may always rely on our support, in mam- taining the supremacy of the laws— the integrity of the Empire— and the honour of the British name. [Signed by one hundred and thirty.] REPLY. To the Inhabitants of Ancaster, and itc vicinitij. I can scarcely regret the apprehension on your part that your silence might be misconstrued, since the effect has been the very gratifying Address which you have presented. I can readily enter into your feeling, that your voluntary exertions in the suppression of Rebellion, and the defence of the Province, superceded the necessity of a formal Address; deeds are certainly the most convincing proofs of loyalty : and when they are evident, ivords may well be spared. Your simple and fervent expression of unalterable fidelity to the British Crown, will be highly prized by Her Majesty; and I feel much flattered that your kind expression of confidence in me, should appear in the same document which contains your sentiments of devoted loyalty to our most interesting and illustrious Sovereign. (Signed) G, ARTHUR. May 4th, 1838. 28 To Ills Excellency Sir George Arthur, K. C. H. Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Upper Canada, Major General Commanding Her Majes- ty's Forces therein, ^x. S^c. ^r. May it please Your Excellency: We, the inhabitants of the County of Hastings, in the Midland District, beg to congratulate your Excel- lency on your safe landing in this Province, and to hail your arrival as the Representative of our most frracious Sovereign the Clueen, as one of the most in- teresting events in the history of this fair Contment. And in thus approaching your Excellency, we beg most sincerely to regret that any of our fellow inhabi- tants should have been suspected of aiding and abetting in the late unnatural Insurrection in this Province, that we are personally acquainted with most of the prison- ers arrested from this county, and cannot believe but that (if any of them are guilty, that they were the dupes of cunning and designing men ; that many of them are the sons of that portion of inhabitants who emigrated to this country, and whose loyalty cannot be doubted, called U. E's.) it cannot but be supposed, that were a genev3!v ptardon granted by your Excellency, that they would return to their respective homes sincere mourn- ers over their folly, and for the future Her Majesty's most devoted Subjects, We would beg to suggest to your Excellency, that the charges against the prisoners of this county are quite different from those of other parts of this Pro- vince; that in no one instance ^..ere has there been open resistance of the authorities, nor burning, murder or robbery, and not one found in the act of using of arms, and' but very few with arms in their possession. We therefore beg with intense yet most respectful earnestness, to appeal to your Excellency's matured and comprehensive judgment, and humane feeUngs, on behalf of the said prisoners now about to stand their trials. We are led to believe, that by thus extending the Royal mercy you will be placing such a balsam to the minds of the people of this county, as to attach them to your Excellency's Administration, and for ever knit them to the British Crown. County of Hastings, 27th April, 1838. ■ [Signed by eight b-mdred inhabitants.] REPLY. Gentlemen: I thank you for your congratulations upon my arrival in the Province, which you have oflered in so kind and complimentary a manner. I assure you that I am as anxious as you can be that the utmost leniency, consistent with a due regard to the ends of justice, should be exercised towards the unhappy persons engaged in the late revolt. As regards any that may possibly be charged with Treason, and who are not guilty, I can only say, that the Law of the land is the shield of the innocent; they do not need the favour or protection of the Govern- ment to ensure their liberation and safety. 30 w In all cases where unfounded discontent has pro- duced disaffection and revolt, some wicked and de- signing men are found, who mislead others into crime; but the distinction between an innocent and a guilty course is too broad, and the duties of loyal and good Subjects are too plain, to permit any man to be alto- gether deceived or led into rebellion without being aware of his guilt. It shall be my earnest endeavour to discriminate as far as possible between the different degrees of crime, which are attached to the conduct of those who are guilty, with a view of ascertaining who are fit objects of Royal mercy. But it is not in my power to grant a general pardon, and were such a power vested in me, I should feel obhged to express to you my opinion, that indiscriminate pardon of the guilty is quite as ob- jectionable as indiscriminate punishment. It will give me sincere pleasure if I find upon inves- tigation, that the cases of the prisoners in the Midland District are of such a character, as to permit of their being treated with mercy and forbearance. (Signed) G. ARTHUR. (Address from the County of Hastings.) To His Excellency Sir George Arthur, K. C. K Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Upper Canada, Major General Commanding Her Majes- ty's Forces therein, ^v, Sfc. 8^c. May it please Your Excellency : Actuated by no party feeling, impelled by no political motives, save such as are inspired by a firm adherence 31 to the principles of the British Constitution, we, the loyal inhabitants of the County of Hastings, beg leave to offer your Excellency our most sincere congratula- tions on your assumption of the reins of Government of the Province of Upper Ccnada, and in doing so, vi^e cannot but declare to your Excellency our full convic- tion, that all the machinery of the late unnatural rebel- lion is yet complete, and remains ready to be brought into operation, as soon as a convenient opportunity shall present itself. It was with feelings of the deepest regret, that we read in a late Toronto paper, the address of a certain political sect, calling themselves constitutional Refor- mers, and presented to your Excellency on behalf of the unhappy men now in prison under the charges of High Treason, and treasonable practices. Were it not for this, as dutiful and loyal Subjects of our most gra- cious Glueen, whose Empire we are ready to defend with our lives, we should confine ourselves to a simple expression of congratulation ; but with this unholy spirit once more rekindled in our land, once of peace and happiness, we feel that it is our duty to lay before your Excellency, on the earliest occasion, a full ex- pression of our feelings. The representations made to your Excellency by men professing the principles of Reform, are based upon a spirit of falsehood, and a determination to deny that evil has attended these wicked and designing practices to subvert British dominion in North America. The very men, who now with the most audacious effrontery, I 32 I;.. 'If!" tell of the just demands of Reformers, have among their number many of the rebellious souls, upon whom rests the curse of perjury ; men who, the better to cloak their designs, came willingly forward and took the oath of allegiance, which they had no sooner recorded in Heaven, than they violated it. It is from an enemy of this kind that we ask to be sheltered ; it is from an enemy of this kind that this Province has to dread its downfall ; from the thousands of cloaked hypocrites, who prowl about under the guise of Constitutional Reform, that danger is to be apprehended, and not from the open foe. To the noble, to the generous mir.d, it is ever a satis- faction to have ones equals receive the just meed of their services ; it cannot therefore be displeasing to your Excellency, that while congratulating you to the appointment of the Government of this Province, we should refer to the conduct of your Excellency's Pre- decessor, Sir Francis Bond Head. We assure your Excellency, that we, who have watched, have noted, and have experience of the result of Sir Francis' Administration — we, who know how manfully he has defended British integrity in this Pro- vince, at a period when it was completely surrounded with enemies — when assassins, traitors and robbers, were linked together for its destruction — have heard with deep regret, that Her Majesty's Advisers in the Mother Country have spoken of that able Officer's Administration in any other terms than of commen- dation. 33 v of A censure passed upon him, Is an approval of tlic conduct of ihe rebels, who were taken in arms, and who conspired against Ilcr Majesty's Government, and in lieu of re-establishing peace and good will in this Province, it will nourish the baneful spirits of dissolu- tion and rebellion, which have already worked so much evil. Your Excellency's Predecessor sought the pros- perity of this Province, and defended its integrity, and the integrity of the Empire, from the assault of traitors, and these traitors have yielded to an overwhelming power of a truly British feeling, and now await in their chains the fate of Rebels. We know that where the British Sceptre sways, there mercy Is supreme, and that its influence is ever mani- fested when the oOended Laws of the Land can sanction it; but justice will still be heard, and the scales are quickly balanced. In justice then to the Administration (3f your Predecessor — injustice to the people of this Province, who have twice escaped, but ijy the interference of a kind Providence from sudden and cruel destruction by the hand of the rebel and assassin, we humbly pray your Excellency to avert by all means in your powxr, any and every chance of a recurrence of the late attempt to revolutionize this Province : not, your Excellency, that we fear the con- test, but that we know, willing as a Cabinet Minister at home may be to pardon an attempt to set his man- date at naught, that the people of this Province can never associate vvith, or admit into society, men with 34 I. m uuirdcr in tlicir licarls, and llicir bands dyed in a fel- low Subjects blood ; wbo bad made sucb awful and wicked preparations for tbe indiscriiniuatc slaugbtcr of all ages, and of botb sexes, of tbe firm adberents to I3ritisb°ule. We may not ask tbe blood of tbese guilty men, but we ask to be spared tbe cruel mortification of rearing our offspring witb tbe offspring of traitors and assassins. We do not appeal to your Excellency from vain imnranatlon. Sad experience tcacbes us bow to speak, and\as tauglit us to sbudder at tbe fatal blindness wbicb bas seized upon tbose wbo arc advocating a temporizing policy. Calm as it may appear, tbis, your Excellency, is not an bour for trifling : tbe vital inte- rests of tbe great Empire of wbicb we form a portion arc at stake; treason, tbougb quieted, is not destroyed, and civil war may again spring up at an bour wben an enemy from witbout is at our gates. Tbe demo- niac cant of conciliation bas saped tbe foundation of our Institutions; tbeir balls arc tottering, and yet another effort at tbe breacb, and the fabric so lately rescued falls to the ground. To avert these evils we humbly pray your Excel- lency ; and may your Excellency's Administration be marked with success in restoring peace to this Pro- vince, so that you may render a good account of your stewardship to our most gracious Queen, whom Hea- ven grant long to reign over us. [Signed by two liundied and fifloen Magistrates, Fieeholders and Inhiibiluiils of the county of Hastings.] JIETLY. Gentlemen : Your loyal Address has given mc much pleasure, and I sincerely tliank you for your kind cxpressioris towards mc, on the occasion of my assuming this Government. It would be too much to expect, that feelings of discontent and disaffection, such as you describe, after havin^T fronc the lenoth of producing actual revolt, should suddenly be altogether extinguished ; and it is but too true, that the preservation of peace in this Province re(iuires unremitting vigilance, and cordially active co-operation, on the part of the Government, the Magistracy, and the loyal population. I most fully participate in the reliance so unreser- vedly placed by my Tredeccssor, in the faith and loyalty of the vast majority of the Upper Canadian people; and with this feeling I see nothing to appre- hend from the machinations of the wicked and dis- loyal, but the consequent and painful necessity of visiting crime with penalty, and of repelling violence with force. The unanimity however of the Imperial Parliament on Canadian afliiirs, and the measures of Her Majes- ty's Government now in progress for the defence of this Province, and for the restoration of peace and confidence to its inhabitants, will, I trust, have the effect of making the cause of disloyalty and insurrec- tion so hopeless, that even the desire for any change in its Institutions, will gradually disappear with the pros- pect of its possible success. 36 ; tft I- Understanding 3-oiir expression of a tcmporlsino- policy to mean, a tcmponsing with evil, from appre- hension of the consequences of resisting it, or from any other motive, it is as far from my mind as it could have heen from that of my Predecessor. It must be remembered, however, that the British Constitution, while it holds out the heavy penalties of the law over heads of oHenderP, leaves the prerogative of mercy unlimited in the hands of the Sovereign ; and also that those whom the law does not mark for punishment, it takes under its sacred protection. I look therefore most particularly to those who profess their attachm.ent to the British Constitution, to set the example of adhe- rence to its letter and spirit; and with this view I fervently hope that the victory which has been gained, will prove one of real Constitutional freedom — and that the example will be set by the loyal Upper Cana- dians of a people in America, free yet obedient, and of a majority powerful yet not persecuting. The high estimation you expres for the character and policy of Sir Francis Head, will I am persuaded be most gratifying to him; and it will be my greatest pleasure, if, in succeeding to his Government, I can be- come the inheritor of the confidence which his uncom- promising opposition to insubordination and disloyalty by whatsoever names they were called here — so deservedly gained for him. It was, undoubtedly my Predecessor's desire, to maintain unimpaired, British inteo-rity in this Province — and to promote the secu- rity, the welfare, and the happiness of the community : and in all these most important ends of good Govern- 37 ment I shall most earnestly strive to emulate lils example — indeed, to do so, are the commands most emphatically laid upon me by Her Majesty's Govern- ment. (Signed) G. ARTHUR. Address of the Prisioners who have been lately libera- ted from Jail, to his Excellency the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, &c. &c. &c. To His Excellency Sir George Arthur, K. C. H. Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Upper Canada, Major General Commanding Her Majes- ty's Forces therein, S)'c. d)'C. Sfc. May it PleAse Your ExcellexXcy: We, to whom the Royal Clemency has been most gra- ciously extended, together with our friends and rela- tions, beg leave most sincerely and humbly to tender to your Excellency our grateful acknowledgments, for the humanity that your Excellency so promptly exer- cised in our behalf— transgressors as we were. We do not now attempt to offer any apology for our offence, buL we are led sincerely to believe, that your Excellency has with clearness observed how easily the ignorant, though honest inhabitants of the country were led astray, by the artifice and chicanery of design- ing men, who availed themselves of every opportunity of imposing upon the unsuspicious, by productions emanating from a mendacious and unrestrained Press. 38 1-' While wc deprecate sincerely the menns that were resorted to for the purpose of seducing many of our honest, but ignorant fellow transgressors and sufferers now in prison, from their allegiance, the nature and duties of which, we can fairly assert, many of them through ignorance did not know ; we fervently pray that the deluded and morally honest among them may yet find favour in the sight of their Sovereign, through the favourable recommendation of your Excellency. Restored again to our wives and little ones through the feeling humanity of a magnanimous Government, with the hope held out to us, that the forfeiture we subjected ourselves to will not be exacted, we fondly cherish the belief that we will be permitted to remain in this the country of our birth and adoption, to enjoy the earnings of many years, and teach our rismg families, that to be under the dominion of the British Government, will entitle them to expect protection and mercy. That your Excellency will be directed to extend that mercy to many more of our unfortunate sufferers (through ignorance) we humbly pray, feeling, as we feel, how sincerely it would be appreciated as a boon undeserved. That your Excellency may, in health and happi- ness, long remain in this Province, to guard the help- less offspring of our deluded fellow-sufferers now in prisons, in common with ours, f m\ artifice such as seduced us; to temper justice ^ * i- /nercy ; and to receive at our hands, in behalf ^A -^ most gracious 39 Clueen, such a proof of our gratitude and contrition as we ought to manifest, is our most anxious wish. ]3y giving such demonstrations of our sincerity, gratitude and contrition, we expect yet, in the demon- stration of the attachment and iidehty tiwakened in us by the mercy that we have received, to be enabled to exclaim, without suspicion — " God save the Queen." REPLY. It gives me the most lively pleasure to receive so strong a proof of your returning feelings of loyalty and duty to your Sovereign, as is conveyed by the Address you have just presented. You have indeed reason to be grateful, and to feel for the future the value of the Government of your Sovereign, which, while it protects the innocent and obedient in the enjoyment of every rehgious, civil, and political right, can also be forbearing and merciful to- wards those who are guilty. It is not always in the power of the Government of a free people to preserve them from the iniluence of wicked and designing men, or to restrain the libertin- ism of the press ; much must always be left to the good feeling, and sense of duty, which ought to be in itself a sufficient barrier against evil influences, for every man possesses sufficient information to prevent his being altogether misled ; and you must be aware, that it is upon this principle alone, that free Institutions can with safety be extended to the people of any country. i'H. H 40 Let me take tliis aOfectlng and impressive occasion to entreat you for the future to remember your duty to your Sovereign — to your Wives and your Children, to all of whom you have been restored, by the mercy of the Government you assisted in attempting to over- throw. To your Queen you not only owe obedience and submission on all lawful occasions, but also your strength in arms, and your lives if necessary, in defence of Her Crown. To your Wives you owe manly pro- tection — attachment to your homes and firesides — peaceable and respectable demeanor ; and for these sakes, if for no other, you should be foremost with all your power to save your country from the miseries of war, in which your conduct so nearly involved it. To your Children, you owe a religious, moral, and loyal education. The man who teaches your child insubor- dination and treason, is more your enemy than he who attempts to take your life and property. The Almighty has left the maintenance and comfort of your children dependent upon your bodily exertions — upon your immortal interests he has cast the respon- sibility of training their tender minds in the path of religion, and loyalty and obedience. If in these re- spects you do your duty, all that has lately happened will I hope be forgotten as respects you personally, or only remembered by yourselves with gratitude, as an awful lesson of experience. I sincerely congratulate you on your being received once more within the pale of the British Constitution, and I am sure, that it will be gratifying to you, for the rs?*'; 41 future, to know, that you arc numbered amongst those to whom your Sovereign and your loyal brethren look for cordial support and assistance, should the hour of danger attain arrive, or the peace of your country be af^ain threatened, either internally or from abroad. (Signed) G. ARTHUR. Address of the Wives, and near Female Relatives of the Prisoners lately liberated from Gaol, to His Excellency Sir George Arthur, with His Excellency's reply thereto. To His Excellency Sir George Arthur, K. C. H. Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Upper Canada, Major General Commanding Her Majes- ty's Forces therein, fy. d)X. S;c. May it Please Your Excellejvcy : We, the undersigned, are desirous to approach your Excellency, thus to tender our expression and acknow- ledgment of gratitade, with which our minds are affected for the extension of your clemency towards our husbands, our children and our friends, who have lono- been in conhncment in the Gaol of Toronto, on account of their being concerned in the late criminal insurrection— from which act of theirs, we have been deep partakers in their sufferings, having been often debarred from even looking at thein through their windows from the street. And now we feel it a duty incumbent on us, to pray that your Excellency would F 42 condescend to accept from our hand this expression of our thankfuhiess, for your Excellency's extension of Royal clemency, thus far received by the prisoners and us, which inspires our hearts to the God of all Grace, in fervent prayer, that He will be pleased to bless Yourself, Lady and Family, wkh health, happi- ness and peace, that your days may be long in our land, and hope that the good work you have begun may be continued towards those who yet remain be- hind in confinement, until completed ; then the Province will resound with your praise, and Hallelujah to God and the Lamb for ever and ever. REPLY. " I have deeply commisserated the sufferings in which you have been innocently involved by the late unhappy revolt, and I rejoice most sincerely that it has been in my power to exercise, in Her Majesty's name, the pre- rogative of mercy, by which your Husbands and your Children are restored to you. I hope henceforth that the name of your Sovereign Queen Victoria, will be often sounded in your families, and that you will teach your children the duty which they, above all others, owe to Her Majesty's mild, gracious and merciful Government. (Signed) G. ARTHUR. M ' 43 PROCLAMATION. UPPER CANADA. By His Excellency Sir George Arthur, Knight Co7nmander of the Royal Hanoverian Giielphic Order, Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Upper Canada, Major General Commanding Her Majesty s Forces therein, d^'c. S)'c. 5)'c. W^HEREAS the devoted loyalty of the great body of Her Majesty's Subjects in this Province, enabled the Government to suppress speedily the late wicked Insurrection, into which a number of Iler Majesty's Subjects, formerly faithful and well-afFected, had been misled by the artifices of unprincipled and designing men : And whereas, in accordance with Her Majesty's most gracious desire, and with the disposition in which Justice is constantly administered under the British Crown, the oflenders have been as mercifully dealt with as a due regard to the future peace of this Pro- vince, and to the protection of its inhabitants would allow, and after a careful consideration of the charges advanced against those persons who have been impri- soned in the Gaol of the Home District, charged with having been implicated in the Rebellion, and after anxiously weighing the circumstances of each case, and the former character and conduct of the person charged, I have, with the concurrence of the Execu- tive Council for the affairs of this Province, extended pardon and forbearance to many, who will, in conse- quence, be still suflercd to continue inhabitants of the Colony. 44 I DO NOW, TiTEREFORE, Call upon all Ilcr Majesty's good and faithful Subjects to unite with the Govern- ment in calming, as much as possible, those feelings of indifrnation and dis])lcasure which the late wicked attempt has so naturally excited, and by the exercise of a kind and generous forbearance, to sullcr their misouided fellow Subiects to return as speedily and entirely as may be to the peaceful and confident enjoy- ment of those blessings, which by their folly and mis- conduct they had endeavoured to destroy. And it is earnestly hoped, that all who upon this occasion have experienced the merciful forgiveness of their Government, may hereafter so demean them- selves as to shew their just and grateful sense of the Royal clemency — that they may imitate in future the loyal fidelity of those by whose brave and active exer- tions the late Insurrection was so promptly suppressed ; and that by their dutiful obedience to the Laws, and their orderly and inoffensive conduct, they may leave no occasion to their Government or to their fellow Subjects, to regret the lenient course which has been adopted towards them. And I do hereby assure all the good and worthy in- habitants of this Province, that Iler Majesty is deejoly sensible of the excellent conduct which has so honour- ably distinguished them during the trials to which they have been exposed ; and that if ever again their peace shall be disturbed by domestic or foreign ene- mies, they may rely upon receiving the utmost support of their Sovereign and of the British Nation. Given under my Hand and Seal at Arms, at Toronto, this Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, and of Her Majesty's Reif^n the first. •^ ^ G. ARTHUR. B^j Commando/ His Excellency. C. A. HAGERMAN, Attorney General. D. CAMERON, Secretary.