IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // \A» t,u,U LIST OF LETTERS A\D DOCUMENTS TRANSMITTED IN SUPPORT OP THE ME3I0RIAL OF WILLIAM F. COFFIN, ESQI'IRK. No. 1. LcttiT from Captain Grlflln, Military Secretary to His Excellency the Coin- jnandor of the Forces. (Original.) No. 2. Extract from " L'Ami du Peuple." No. 3. Letter from the Rov. Joseph Quiblicr, Ptre., NorwooJ, London, 8tb Juno, 18-tO. (Original.) No. 4. Letter from John Morris, Esq., J. P., Sto. Therfcse do Blainville, 2nd Novcin. bcr, 1840. (Original.) No. 5. Official instructions from Sir John Colbomo, Ist February, 1838. (OriBiiial.) No. 6. Letter from Dr. Daviguon, M.P.P., County of BouviUe, IStli April, l«4y. (Original) No. 7. Copy of Report on the subject of the Magistracy, Police, and state of crime, Eastern Townships of Lower Canada, lOtli Deccnib(!r, 1830. No. 8. Report on Arrests made 7th December, 1839, in the District of St. Francis. (Pilntcd^n Appendix to Journals, House of iVasembly, vol. 9, 1830.) No. 9. Letter from Civil Secretary, acknowledging No, 8, dated 12tli December, 1R.">I). (Original.) No. 10. Letter to Provincial Secretarj', 1 Ith August, 18-tt. (Printed in Appendix as above.) No. 11. Iteport of 23rd Novcmlxjr, 1810. (Printed in Appendix a3 above.) No. 12. Rules for the government of Police Force. (Original.) ' No. 13. Rules for government of Police Force at Elections. (Printed in Appendix as above.) No. 14. Letter (W>m R. W. Grey, Esquire, Private Secretary to Lord Sydoidmin. (Original.) No. 15. Letter from T. C. Murdoch, Esq., 26th October, 1841, Kingston. (Original.) No. 16. Letter from Civil Secretary, Kingston, 9th Febriuiry, 1842. (Original.) No. 17. Letter from A. M. Dclislo, Esq., Returning Officer, 19th April, 18-41. (Original.) No. 18. Letter fh)m Hon. John Young, RcturningOfflcer, 26thOctober, 18U. (Original.) No. 19. Letter from the Hon. Judge McCord, I7th July, 1847. (Original.) No. 20. Presentment of Grand Jury, 17th Jidy, 1817. (Original.) r •R1 MEMORIAL. To His Excellency Sir Edmund Walkeb Hkad, Baronet, Oovemor General of British North America, Captain General of the same, Ac, th August, 1841. " In the Police Department the whole system has been remodel- ** led. The separate establishments of the Quebec, Montreal, and * the Rural Police, have been consolidated ; their numbers diminish- •* ed, while their usefulness has been extended, and avast reduction ** of expense nfFected. A code of regulations for the governance " of the Police! f )rce has been compiled with great care and labour, * which will ensuii; the efficiency of the establishment under any ** circumstances herc«rt<'r. "The system of the Police Magistracy has been re-organized * ' under detailed instructions, which have been honored by the " express approval of the Governor General. "These alterations have been effected upon an estimate by ••which the sum of £17,570 93. 9d., currency was saved to the •• Province, and, by a strict and unremitting attention to economy, ** the expenditure of the year has been reduced to £2000 within *' the estimate. " Independent of the duties connected with the Department^ I "have conducted alone three laborious investigations into the * Montreal Gaol, and two into that of the Quebec Gaol. I beg * leave to remind His Excellency, most respectfully, of my inves- * tigation and report upon the troubles at the Indian Village of * Oaughn^waga, and upon the recent disturbances in the City, * of Toronto, in all which cases I have discharged even the la- ^ borious duties of Clerk myself, saving thereby considerable ex' * pense to the country, without any extra compensation. I may, ''aIso, be permitted to advert to the precautions and preliminary IS •^ arrangements for carrying the Winter Sleigh Ordinance into ope- ** ration, as extraneous to the office of Commissioner of Police.*' Two of the investigations into the state of the Montreal Oaolr and both of those into the state of the Quebec Gaol, were insti- tuted subsequent to the appointment of Your Excellency's Memo- rialist as Commissioner of Police. The introduction of the Winter Sleigh Ordinance requires more extended notice. In the improvement of public communications Lord Sydenham was a great practical benefactor. To him does this Province owe the introduction of Turnpike Roads in the vicinity of the large cities, and an enlightened endeavour to abolish the use of the trdine^ to which the cakots and other injurious incidents of the Lower Canadian winter roads are chiefly to be ascribed. In all parts of the country where the " double sleigh " and American ** high runner" are in use, these inconveniences are comparatively unknown. An ordinance was passed prohibiting the use of traines upon all main roads after a certain period, and your Memorialist received through Major Campbell, C. B., then Captain in Her Majesty's 7th Hussars, aud Military Secretary to Lord Sydenham, the commands of His Excellency, imposing upon your Memorial- ist the duty and the responsibility of carrying this Law into effect. By way of precaution and prevention, your Memorialist, acting through the instrumentality of the Rural Police, caused the Law itself to be promulgated in every possible way. He caused model sleighs to be prepared and exhibited at cross roads, and at the best known blacksmith's shops in the country parishes, with printed instructions, showing that they could be made by any man capable of wielding an axe ; that they could, in fact, be constructed with- out the necessary use of iron, and at the nominal cost of the time employed in constructing them. And he took means to impress upon the minds of the people generally that, when the proper time arrived, the Law would be carried out. The Law was carried out. The benefits of the measure and the probable results were felt and appreciated at once. True it is that subsequent legislation withdrew, bit by bit, first one district, and then a county, and then a parish, from the operation of the Law, until the sphere of its utility became greatly limited, but within those limits an experience of fourteen years has proved the f li 14 I I ' i advantage of the measure, and it may be safelj affirmed that all reasonable men in those sections of the country 'which have since repudiated the Law, now very much regret the repudiation. The Law was carried into effect as Lord Sydenham desired it should be — temperately but resolutely — peaceably, with little op- position or difficulty, and this result was in a great degree owing to the personal interest and cordial co-operation shown by Lord Sydenham himself in the success of the measure. Your Memorialist is proud to remember that he frequently received from Lord Sydenham personally the expression of his approbation and thanks for his humble services in this particular ; and he fur- ther believes that he can safely appeal to Major Campbell for fur- ther confirmation of this statement, when not borne out by official or authentic documents. In further explanation of the extent and nature of the re-or- ganization of the Police force, its consolidation and the reduction of expenditure, by which a saving was affected in one year to the extent of nearly £20,000, your Memorialist has inserted in the Appendix to this Memorial a copy of the Report in which these changes are enumerated, of 23rd November, 1840, (No. 11.) To show the principles upon which the Police force was conducted, he refers respectfully to a copy of the Rules and Regulations made for the government of that body, (No. 12. ;) and as a proof of the constitutional spirit in which the Police was employed, he begs also to refer to certain instructions and letters transmitted with the express sanction of Lord Sydenham, to the Police, Police Magistrates, and Returning Officers, previous to the General Elec- tion consequent on the union of the the Provinces, February, 1841, (No. 13.) But, to proceed. Notwithstanding the appointment of your Memorialist to the office of Commissioner of Police, the salary of the office had never been definitively settled. Matters of far greater importance had occupied the attention of the Governor General, and up to a very late period your Memorialist had been unwilling to obtrude with matters of private concernment ; but it was understood that Lord Sydenham would shortly leave Canada, and under this impression the letter was written, (No. 10. in the Appendix,) from which an extract has been already made. w Some few weeks elapsed ; no reply had been received to bis ap- plication, and your Memorialist baving bad reason to apprebend, but, as it proved, very erroneously, that His Lordship's decision had been adverse to his request, addressed a letter to R. W Grey, Esquire, his Lordship's Private Secretary, from whom he received an immediate reply, as follows, (No. 14. :) Government House, Kingston, 16 /A September, 1841. My dear Coffin, — I took an opportunity this morning of sub- mitting your application of the 14th August to His Excellency again, and at the same time mentioned your wish to have a private interview with him before he leaves the country. He at once fell in with your views, and told me he would see you before he quits Canada, either here or at Montreal. He was so weak and languid that I said no more to him. You say you know it to be the case that your application was refused. I do not think there is any ground for believing so ; for both to-day, and at all times when he has mentioned your name, it has been with great kindness, and with an evident desire to promote your views. I can easily imagine your anxiety at the present moment, that you may not lose the reward of your exertions in the public ser- vice, by the departure of one who certainly does not usually over- look real services ; but I think you have no reason to fear, and as far as I can do anything for you in this matter, I shall be most happy to assist you. Your's very truly, R. W. GREY. Five days after Lord Sydenham had ceased to live. Your Me- morialists cannot permit even this occasion to pass without record- ing his gratitude to the memory of a Nobleman who vras ever to him a kind friend and benefactor. The unexpected death of Lord Sydenham, and the loss of that testimony which His Lordship would doubtlessly have borne to previous services, caused your Excellency's Memorialist great dis- couragement. At this conjuncture he received from Mr. Murdoch, Chief Secretary to the Government, as well of Lord Sydenham as of his temporary successor in the Administration, the subjoined letter, (No. 15.) I i 11! m i^ III OuVKRMMEMT HOUBE^ KiNOBTOV, 26th October, 1841. Mr DEAR CoFFiK, — I havo your note of the 23rd, renpecting your position as Comtnissionor of Police, and Lord Sydenham's ' viewB in regard to your remuneration. In answer I havo pleasure n assuring you that on every occasion when Lord Sydenham men- tioned your name to me, and he often did so, it was with cxpes- sions of his high approval of the manner in which you discharged your duties. At the very time of his accident he had under his consideration your application for an increase of salary, and on the evening before the accident he sent me your private note on the subject, with a memorandum in his own handwriting, that I was to see him respecting it. I inclose for your satisfaction the note with this memorandum. I took the note with me to Govern- ment House the following day for the purpose of having his views in the matter, but he was too ill to attend to any but the most pressing business, and unhappily a more favourable opportunity never occurred. I have not the least doubt, however, but that he had made up his mind to increase your emoluments, and that his object in sending for me was to ascertain in what manner this in- crease might be best provided. In conclusion, you must allow me to add that the enquiries not immediately connected with your office, which you undertook at Lord Sydenham's desire, — ^I allude to those into the state of the Montreal Gaol, the disputes at Caughnawaga, the Toronto riots, &c., were — conducted in such a manner as to elicit Lord Syden- ham's decided approbation. These were services which would give you a claim on any Government ; and knowing as I do, how unceasing your exertions have been, and Vow useful their result, I cannot but feel confident that yon will not go unrewarded. I need hardly say how much pleasure it will give me to hear that your claims have been attended to. Believe me, my dear Coffin, Very sincerely yours, THOa C. MURDOCH, W. P. Coffin, Esquire, Commissioner of Police. 1 icting n On the arrival of the Right Ilonorable Sir Charles Bagot, Lord Sydenham's successor, in the country, your Memorialist renewed his application for an increase of salary as Commissioner of Police, strengthened by the letters which have been thus far brought under Yonr Excellency's consideration. On the 18th February, I received the following reply, (No. 16.) Secretary's Office, Kinoaton, 0th February^ 1842. Sir, — ^In reply to your communication of the 13th ultimo renewing your request on the ground of the various services you have rendered to the Government since your appointment as Commissioner of Police, for an increase of the emoluments of that office, and enclosing certain letters in evidence of the high value set upon those services, I am commanded to inform you that the Governor General feels much gratification in adding his own ac- knowledgement of the strength of the claims you urge ; and that as it is not in His Excellency's power to meet your expectations in the way you propose, he is pleased to offer for your acceptance in lieu of the office you at present hold, the appointment of Sheriff for the District of Montreal, to be held under a joint commission by the present Sheriff and yourself. I am commanded particularly to add, that in tendering you this mark of his Excellency's consideration, His Excellency is further influenced by the anticipation he is led from your past services to form, of great advantages to result to the public from the close attention which he feels confident you will immediately give to the state of the Montreal Gaol, with a view to the introduction of a thoroughly improved system of prison discipline. I have, dec., D. DALY, Secretary. W. F. Coffin, Esquire, Commissioner of Police, Montreal. Yonr Memorialist accepted most gratefully the alternative pro- posed to him. The office of Joint Sheriff for the District of Mon- treal carried with it honorable reward and presumed emoluments o . ti ij If / 18 SB well OS dtUion and roflponsibilitien. IIow far your Momorialint performed thoso diiticn, to wlint oxtont ho has mot thcso respon* nibilities ho is now prepared to show. But before doing so he bogs permission to introduce a paragraph from a letter received from his friend Mr. Murdoch, subsequent to his appointment as Joiot 8heriff. " Iluviiig now said so much on business, I must add one word *' to express my sincoro satisfaction at your appointment to be " .Joint Sheriff. I liavo always felt that you deserved well of the " public, that you had worked hard ond been insufBciontly paid, " and, that wo all owed you a helping hand. If it was not in my " power to give it to you, the will was not wanting, and I had " therefore great pleasure in hearing from Mr. Daly that the " arrangement had been completed for making you a sharer in the *• emoluments of the SheriflTs office." The first duty imposed upon your Memorialist in accepting the offlcse of J"''nt Sheriff of Montreal was, to fulfil, as far as in him lay, the anu>.i| itions of His Excellency, Sir Charles Bagot as to the improveraen* of the system of prison discipline in the Mon- treal Gaol. His oTi It.avour to this effect will be best testified by reference to the foUowlag documents addressed at different times to, and now in the possession of the Government. Report on the state of the Montreal Goal, accompanied by sug- gestions, November, 1842. Letter to Inspector General, Public Accounts, 3rd Jan., 1843. Letter to Provincial Secretary, l7th April, 1818. " " " 17th April, 1844. *♦ * « 22nd Jan., 1846. " « " 26tli June, 1846. « 14th Oct., 1846. ** 2nd March, 1847. ♦♦ ** « 22ud Jnne, 1849. In testimony of his activity on all occasions of public emergency, your Memorialist begs leave to refer, first, to the following Report transmitted to the Government on occasion of certain disturbances at Lachine, (6th February, 1843,) of which very exaggerated accounts had reached Montreal, causing much excitement and alarm. « M 19 Montreal, 6th February, 1843. Sib, — Yesterday, about half past four P. M., wo were informed that a serious riot had taken place at Lacliine, and tliat the Ma- gistrates contemplated calling on the military authorities for •Mistanco. Although by a recent Act of the Legislature the Sheriflf «'« specially deprived of all authority as a Magistrate, and is, there- fore, comparatively powerless on occasions of this nature, we thought it probable that the office wo hold might bo respected by persona accustomed to its authority in the Old Country, and in the hope that the a[>pearance of the Sheriff might have a good moral effect on the misguided rioters, Mr. Coffin immediately rode out to Lachine. On his way out ho encountered along the road, several small bodies of men, ton or twelve at a timo, some of whom had arms in their hands, perhaps altogether eight or ten fowling pieces. To Mr. Coffin's enquiries they answered that the mob had dispersed. They appeared to bo retiring towards Montreal quietly. Mr. Coffin reached Lachine at a quarter after six, P. M., and found the village perfectly tranquil, no signs of riot or rioters, and with the exception of here and there a few straggling Irish canal labourers, scarcely any movement whatever. Mr. Coffin tlien visited most of the taverns and public houses in Lachine. All were very orderly, some appeared to be scarcely frequented at all ; in three or four there were assemblages of Irish labourers, but neither before entering (and he observed closely) nor after he had entered, could he perceive in the inmates any signs of violent conduct or demeanor. He conversed with all these people, who assured him, but without any signs of great apprehension, that a riot had taken place that day, but that the rioters had dispersed. That a man had been severely beaten, though none of the speakers had witnessed the fact ; and that th« riot had taken place at the Toll Gate, (some distance from tlie village,) but how long it had lasted nobody knew ; and the num- bers engaged were vaguely stated by the several speakers at from 200 to ITOO men. It appeared therefore, that although a riot had taken place, and had created some alarm, its immediate effects had not been very serious. 151 ;l n so 1 ;, .1 III!' t' ■' 1^^: ite . The parties engtiged were two Irish factions, the " Corkonians** and the " Connaughts." There can be do doubt but that the existence of two such parties, unsuppressed by the law, must be prejudicial to the progress of the works on the canal, and alarm- ing to the inhabitants of Lachine ; while it is impossible to foresee how serious, or how fatal the effects may be on a future occasion. On his return, Mr. Coffin met Messrs. Molson, Holmes, Beau- bien, and other Magistrates, and related to them what he had seen, communicating to them at the same time, the name of a person capable of ^ving them information as to the leaders in these disturbances. Nearer to Montreal he encountered a detach- ment of cavalry and infantry proceeding to Lachine. There can be no doubt but that the appearance of these troops will have a good moral effect, but to preserve the peace it will be necessary to keep a portion of them on the spot. We have felt it to be our duty to report what has occurred^ without delay, for the information of Her Majesty's Government, I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient servants, ' (Signed,) BOSTON & COFFIN, Sheriffs. On occasion of the elections in the City of Montreal, in April, 1844, which were attended with much tumult and some violence, your Memorialist received the following acknowledgement from A. M. Delisle, Esquire, the Returning Officer, (No. 17.) Montreal, \9th April, 1844. Sir, — Permit me, before terminating my duties of Returning Officer, to express to you my gratitude for the ready, cheerful, and> I must add, energetic and efficient manner in which you assisted me during the polling days, on the 16th and l7th instant, in pre- serving the peace. The public have ere this borne testimony to jiour efficient services ; and though my acknowledgment of them ■tay be a matter of supererogation, I do it with infinitely mon ■^^^ tl pleasure, because I am aware that you acted under peculiarly trying oircumstances, and such as could not but have caused you inuoh uneasiness. . Believe me, Sir, Your very obedient servant, (Signed,) A. M. DELZSLE, Returning Officer. W. P. Coffin, Esquire, Joint Sheriff, &c., dec., dec. On a similar occasion, in October, 1844, your Memorialist re- ceived from the Hon. John Young, then also Returning Officer, at elections which then took place for the City of Montreal, the fol- lowing spontaneous letter of thanks, (No. 18.) Montreal, 2Qth October, 1844. Sib, — Allow me very sincerely to thank you for the efficient and prompt assistance rendered me as Returning Officer during the election for the city, which is about to close, a3 well as to the Constabulary force under your charge. I am, dec, (Signed,) W. t. Coffin, Esquire, Sheriff of Montreal. JOHN YOUNG, Returning Officer. It is also the duty of your Memorialist to state briefly, that in the autumn of 1846, and early in the spring of 1847, the neigh- bourhood of Montreal had been the scene of several daring high- way robberies. In November, 1846, J. Henry Evans, Esq., a well-known mer- chant of the city of Montreal, was stopped in his carriage on the Queen's Highway, near the Cote St. Catherine, by two armed ruf- fians, who were put to flight by his determined resistance, after having fired at him twice. An American traveller, named Ludlow, had been stopped and robbed on the ice near Longueuil. Two French Canadian farmers had, on the 16th March, 184'2', been i !l I i I stopped and robbed, also, on the ice between Montreal and La- prairie : and a few days after, on the 29th March, the Upper Ca- nada Mail Stage had been stopped in open day— at eleven o'clock in the morning — at the Tanneries des Rollands, within two miles of the City of Montreal, by two men armed with pistols, and the passengers had been compelled to surrender their money and effects. On the 3rd of April, 1847, a Royal Proclamation appear- ed in the Official Gazette, offering a reward of one hundred pounds for the capture and conviction of the parties who had committed the two last named offences. On that day your Memorialist, returning to his residence in the country, in company with the Honorable Judge Day, was sudden- ly informed by a carter that his sleigh had been stopped and his passenger robbed by two men who he pointed out then upon the highway, one of thera having openly in his hands the pistols with which the robbery had been committed. In the attempt to arrest these parties, one of them fired upon your Memorialist, the pistol ball passing through the breast pocket of his coat, cutting the papers therein contained. After a severe struggle these rufiSans were, by the gallant assistance of Mr. Day and of Mr. Young, a son of Colonel Plomer Young, Adjutant General to the forces at Kingston, ultimately secured. This occurrence gav9 rise to the subjoined communication, (No. 19.) Temple Grove, Saturday Hvening, 1*1 tk July. Mt dear Sheriff, — I am very happy that, presiding over the Court of Quarter Sessions yesterday, it should have fallen to my lot to be the channel of communicating to you the accompanying extract, from the Presentment of the Grand Jury, being the first public testimonial from your fellow citizens, acknowledging the public services rendered on the occasion of the arrest of Crow and Nowlan, and of the gallant manner of ita execution. I need scarcely say how sincerely I participate in this well earned tribute of respect, and with best wishes for your welfare, Believe me, my dear Sir, Yours very sincerely, J. S. McCORD. Mr. Sheriff Coffin. ss (No. 20.) Office of the Clerk of the Peace, Montreal, 11th July, 1847. Sib, — We have the honor, by the direction of the Justices sit- ting in the Court of Quarter Sessions, to transmit to you the ac- companying extract of a Presentment made by the Grand Jury that Court. We are, Sir, your obedient servants, DELISLE & BREHAUT, Clerk of the Peace. W. F. Coffin, Esq., Sheriff, Montreal. The Grand Jury have had under their consideration two import- ant cases during the present Session, against one James Crow and one Thomas Nowlan, for highway robbery, and shooting at the person of Mr. Sheriff Coffin, with intent to commit felony. Tliese cases have been tried, and they are happy to find that the parties implicated have been convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned in the Provincial Penitentiary during the terms of their natural lives. The Grand Jury, in alluding to these cases, have been induced to do so to bear their testimony to the energetic and praiseworthy conduct of his Honor Mr. Justice Day and Mr. Sheriff Coffin on the occasion in question, and especially the latter gentleman, who, at the imminent risk of his life, secured the culprits ; and thus they have reason to believe that an organized band of robbers was broken up, for previous to their apprehension offences of a similar character were of frequent occurrence, whilst none have since taken place ; and the Grand Jury beg leave in the name of the District to tender their acknowledgements to those gentlemen, for their laudable behaviour on the occasion referred to. The whole is respectfully submitted. Grand Jury Room, Montreal, lYth July, 1846. (Signed,) Henry Stames, Foreman, W. Malsbury, George A. Pyper, Louis Desparois, Pierre Vigor, J. B. Homier, Charles D. Proctor, Louis Plaroondon. True extract from Presentment. DELISLE & BREHAUT, Clerk of the Peace. H. Turcotte, Francis Armaut, Pierre Vian, Ch rysostome Racicot, W. Leclair, Francois Senecal, D. Calton. I m M m .1 -i Your Memorialist humbly conceives that it is due to himself, in support of his present Memorial, to call attention to the preceding occurrences, if only to show that he has never shrunk from the discharge of any duty in whatever shape it may have presented itself. Whatever he could do lawfully, he did zealously. In May, 1851, your Memorialist resigned \he oflSce of Joint Sheriff of the District of Montreal. In accepting the resignation of his o£Sce, His Excellency the Earl of Elgin was pleased to ex- press his regret that your Memorialist " should have deemed it ** necessary to tender the resignation of an office which he had ^ filled for so many years with credit to himself and advantage to " the public. (Letter from Provincial Secretary, 14th May, 1851.) Your Memorialist resigned the office of Sheriff in 1851, on ac- count of the diminution and uncertainty of the income of his of- fice ; seeing that under the operation of divers Acts of Parlia- ment his share of the income of the office had been gradually reduced to an uncertain average of £300 per annum, while the labor, and, still more, the responsibilities remained the same ; and he resigned it in the hope that he would be better able to provide for himself and his family in the ordinary avocations of civil life. That he has so employed himself sedulously and not uselessly to the public at large, during the last four years, is testified, your Memorialist humbly submits, by the Report of the Commissioners appointed to investigate the accidents on the Great Western Rail- way, lately submitted to the Legislature ; and by the assurance conveyed in the letter of the Provincial Secretary, of the 2nd March, 1 855, by which that gentleman intimates that "he is directed " by the Governor General to convey to your Memorialist the "expression of His Excellency's thanks for the trouble he had "taken in investigating the circumstances connected with this " melancholy occurrence, and for the able and satisfactory manner " in which his report had been drawn up." Your Memorialist resigned the office of Sheriff reluctantly and respectfully, professing at all times his readiness to serve the Govern- ment of the Province in any other capacity, and praying to be so employed, which application your Memorialist respectfully renews. Wherefore your Memorialist humbly prays that Your Excellency will be pleased to take the premises into your most ffracious con- sideration, and will be pleased, in view of his faithful and zealous services of fifteen years, to confer upon your Memorialist any public office or employment in which, to Your Excellency's appre- hension, he can be useful to the country. And your Memorialist will, as in duty bound, ever pray. 26 The following letter from the Hon. Judge Meredith, of Quebec, refers to the Montreal elections, of April, 1844, at which Alexander M. Delisle presided as Botuniing Officer. Quebec, dlstMareh, 1866. Mr Dear Sra, — ^I duly received your letter of the 27th instant, in which you inquire whether I recollect the arrest of a man by you near the Bank of Montreal, at the election for that City in 1844, and requesting from me a statement of the facts connected with that arrest, if I can recall them to my memory. I have, I believe, a distinct recollection of the occurrence : you were acting as Sheriff on the occasion, and I was engaged i)rofes8ionally for Mr. William Molson, one of the candidates. Early in the day a mob of some hundreds of persons, (laborers, as was believed, from the Lachino Canal,) obtained possession of the poll. You visited the place frequently, and did every thing in your power to enable electors to exercise their rights, and to maintain peace. In the course of the day one of the mob made himself remarkable by his turbulent demeanor. You remonstrated with him frequently, but without any effect. At last you very properly determmed on his arrest, and it was effected by yourseli in a manner that, I must admit, astonished me, and took the mob completely by surprise. You forced your horse through the outer ranks of the mob, seized the offender by the collar, dragged him from among his fellow rioters, and across the square thrust him into a cab, and sent him off to jail. How it was that you, (being on horseback,) were able to drag the prisoner after you, or why the mob did not rescue him, is not easy to explain ; but this is certain, that the rioter was arrested, and that a rescue was not even attempted. I have fre- quently referred to your conduct throughout that election, and upon other occasions within my own knowledge, as evincing ex- traordinary coolness, courage and determination. Believe me, dear Sir, Yours very faithfiiUy, W. C. MEREDITH. William F. Coffin, Esq. The subjoined letter from Benjamin Delisle, Esq., High Con- stable, District of Montreal, has reference to the Montreal elec- tion, of October, 1844, the Hon. John Young being the Keturning Officer. Montreal, 28th March, 1855. My Dear Sir, — ^I do remember i)erfectly well that during the election riots in Montreal, in October, 1844, you jumped from your horse, and seized a man who had deliberately loiocked down i 26 another in McGill Street. I went to vour assistance, but we were surrounded by his friends, brandishmg sticks, and threatening, though they did not strike us. The man we had arrested was torn nom us by main force. How we got off without further damage has always been a wonder to me. I remain, dear Sir, Yours very truly, BENJ. DELISLE, High Constable. To William F. Coffin, Esq., drc, dec, Montreal. II' Mi