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THE QUESTIONS; 
 
 
 •t 
 
 WAS THE LATE REBEL PAYING MEASURE ^FORCED ON THE PRESENT 
 MINISTRY BY THEIR PREDECESSORS! AND IS THAT BILL A TRAN. 
 SCRIPT OF THE REBELLION CLAIM BILL FOR UPPER CANADA t 
 
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 SET AT REST 
 
 
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 BY A RETROSPECT OF THE 
 
 14 VARIOUS ACTS OF PARLIAMENT 
 
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 REBELLION LOSSES. 
 
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 MONTREAL! 
 
 PRINTED BY J. M. FERRES & CO., MONTREAL GAZETTE OFFICE. 
 
 1849. 
 
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 NOTICE, 
 
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 The following Remarks on a very momentous subject, which appeared 
 in consecutive numbers of the Montreal Gazette, being considered of 
 sufficient interest and importance to warrant a re-print of them in a de- 
 tached form, for more general circulation, they are hereby respectfully 
 re-submitted to the attention of the public ; and this step is rendered the 
 more advisable, after observing the singular mystification and mis-state- 
 ment of the facts of the case in the British House of CommoTis, 
 
 ''.^3^^oA yiOi.ijyiHi'in 
 
 Vf% 
 
 t<:- >'^ >l'\V^ . ■ . ^A. ^ >^',^ 
 
 Montreal, 5th July, 1849. 
 
 
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 t? 
 
 
WAS THE LATE REBEL PAYING MEASURE FORCED ON THE PRESENT 
 MINISTRY BY THEIR PREDECESSORS? 
 
 -*'>■ 
 
 ^*\ikj**i ¥ •■^•- t^i'f^ ■^*\isr^- 
 
 AND 
 
 IS THAT BILL A TRANSCRIPT OF THE REBELLION CLAIM BILL FOR 
 
 UPPER CANADA? &e. 
 
 .sy«u<i» >u yj 
 
 
 jfj;! ifOi'J 
 
 The very clear and conclusive maniler iri 
 which the able writer of " The question an- 
 swered, ' Did the Ministry intend to Pay the 
 Rebels V " has acquitted himself, may per- 
 haps appear to many, so complete, as to 
 leave nothing to be added ; and such is real- 
 ly the case so far as that unanswerabk docu- 
 ment goes ; but, it appearing to the writer of 
 these desultory notes that there are other 
 reckless assertions, united with this nefarious 
 transaction, which require to be equally ex- 
 posed and refuted — namely, •* that the late 
 measure was forced upon the present Minis- 
 try by their predecessors,'' and ''that the 
 language of the Bill is but a transcript of that 
 for Upper Canada," we have been induced 
 to volunteer our services in the exposure of 
 the baseless fabric of this cunningly devised 
 fable, and to avail ourselves of the opportuni- 
 ty ot expressing a doubt whethev the united 
 Parliament, after all, did well or wisely in 
 at all interfering with an Act of legislation 
 left complete, by the independent Parlia- 
 ment of Upper Canada, farther than by sup- 
 plying — what the Union of the two Provin- 
 ces immediately afterwards prevented- — the 
 funds necessary for carrying it into effect, 
 and which thereby, of course, became, past 
 Vspute, a debt due by the Exchequer of the 
 United Provinces. 
 
 In taking this view of the subject, the 
 writer was at first disposed to think, that the 
 framing of a tabular synopsis of the contents 
 of the successive Acts of Parliament on the 
 subject of Rebellion Claims in both Provin- 
 ces, would have aflbrded a ready and short 
 way ot accomplishing his object; but he 
 soon found that that would require the addi- 
 tion of a number of foot notes to render the 
 application of the different parts sufUciently 
 clear; and he was, therefore, uhimately in- 
 duced to prefer giving a brief notice of each 
 Act in chronological order, and incorporating 
 
 't-^'i^ 
 
 fit 
 
 thdrewlth the'ihatter that would have formed 
 the burthen of the notes alluded to. 
 
 Having adopted this alternative, the me- 
 moranda resulting therefrom have furnished 
 the plain unvarnished materials for the fol- 
 lowing simple narrative of the striking facts 
 connected with the different RebellionClaim 
 Bills, to which we would earnestly invite the 
 attention of the Public of Canada. 
 
 In commencing our Retrospect of the va- 
 rious Acts of Legislation on Rebellion Claims 
 in both Provinces, it becomes our duty to re- 
 fer the reader, in the first place, to the first 
 Act passed on that subject in the Province 
 of Upper Canada, and to point to the close 
 connexion existing between the language of 
 that Bill, and the even stronger " wording " 
 of the first Ordinance of the Special Council 
 of the Lotoer Province. 
 
 In the former Province the first Act on this 
 now alarmingly exciting subject was passed 
 on the 6tli of March, 1838, and was intituled 
 "An Act to authorise the appointment of 
 Commissioners to investigate the claims of 
 certain loyal inhabitants of this Province for 
 losses sustained during the late unnatural 
 Rebellion," and the preamble ran as follows : 
 
 '*Wh«»reas during the late unnatural Rebellion 
 certain inhabitants of this Province sustained 
 much loss and damage by the destruction of their 
 dwellings, &c., by the Rebels; and, whereas, it is 
 expedient that a diligent and impartial inquiry 
 should be made into the amount of such losses * 
 be it therefore enacted, kc, Ist., that three Com- 
 missioners be appointed to undertake that duty 
 who shall be duly sworn, with authority to examine 
 persons on oo^A, touching all such matters, &c. , 
 and to furnish an account of their proceedings, to 
 be laid before the Legislature," &c., &c.* 
 
 • Note. — As it would take up too much room 
 to quote the details of the different Acts, it is our 
 intention to limit our verbatim extracts to those 
 parts only which clearly point out the loyal bear- 
 ing of each enactment, opposed to the Rebel pay 
 ing animus which prevades the late act, leaving the 
 reader at liberty to refer to the Acts themselves if 
 so disposed;.. : .-■-.-■,... .-. . v v,i-;,v- . 
 
■BPIP^W 
 
 ■PI 
 
 Now, with respect to this act, the object 
 being self-evident, namely, to indemnify the 
 loyal alone, such a word as loyal was never 
 for a moment deemed necessary to accom- 
 pany the term^'oertain inhabitants"t; where- 
 as it would appear as if the Executive Go- 
 vernment of Lower Canada had sjme mis- 
 givings on that head ; for in the first or- 
 dinance of the special Council, dated the 
 20th of the following month, that now 
 momentous word is carefully inserted,— that 
 document being headed "An ordinance to 
 authorize the appointment of Commissioners 
 to investigate the claims of certain loyd 
 inhabitants of this Province, for losses 
 sustained during the late unnatural Re- 
 bellion " ; and the preamble is couched 
 in the same language as the Upper Ca- 
 nada bill, with the exception of reiterating 
 the word loyal in connexion with " Her Ma- 
 jesty's subjects," as being the express objects 
 of it ; and further adding, *' that it shall (even) 
 be the duty of the Commissioners to enquire 
 into the means which may be possessed by 
 the parties, who may have occasioned such 
 losses to indemnify the sufferers, and the le- 
 gal recourse which the said sufferers may 
 have against the said parties." Add to which, 
 in the oath prescribed for the Commissioners 
 appointed, (with powers similar to those of 
 Upper Canada), the words " losses sustained 
 by certain loyal inhabitants of the Province 
 during the late urmaturai HebeUion" are per- 
 beverjngly repeated. 
 
 Thus far, then, there can be no doubt that 
 the loyal alone, of both Provinces, were to 
 be indemnified. It is, therefore, sufficient 
 to add respecting this particular period, that 
 another special oidinance was passed the 
 following year in the Lower Province, ex- 
 tendmg the provisions of the previous one, to 
 *' all losses sustained by loyal subjects since 
 the time of the passing thereoP' ; and that 
 in Upper Canada in addition to the act to as- 
 
 t The writer was m a position to know this to 
 be a positive fact, having been actively engaged 
 in the rebellion, and even furnished certificates of 
 losses sustained by individuals, from Militia being 
 quartered upon their premises, which were, as a 
 matter of course, claimed and equitably adjusted, 
 though not always to an extent satisfactory, or 
 perhaps sufficiently remunerative to tbe claimants. 
 
 certain and provide for all just claims, aris- 
 ing from the late rebellion and invasion, &o, 
 a special one was there passed in May 1839, 
 making a provision for the payment of the 
 losses sustained by certain individuals there- 
 in named ; the preamble of which states 
 that, ** Whereas during the last Session of 
 the Legislature of this Province, the claims 
 of sundry inhabitants thereof for losses dur- 
 ing the late insurrection have been duly inves- 
 tigated, &c., &c., debentures to be issued in 
 payment thereof, &c., &c." And on the 
 same day an address to Her Majesty was 
 adopted, praying "that the Provincial Le- 
 gislature might be indemnified from the Im- 
 perial Treasury for such advances as may 
 be made from the Provincial funds, in com- 
 pensation for such and similar losses." Sir 
 George Arthur, however, very properly re- 
 served the former Bill, pending a reference 
 to the Imperial Giovernment, and according- 
 ly Lord John Russell, in a despatch dated 
 12th October of the same year, stated his 
 fear that in its present form Her Majesty's 
 consent could not be given to it, — as the ob- 
 ligation which would be imposed by the 
 preamble of the bill of providing ultimately 
 for the payment of the indemnity from the 
 British TreasurVf was a principle which Her 
 Majesty's Grovernment were not prepared to 
 recognize ; but that if a similar bill were 
 passed free from this objection. Her Majesty 
 would be ready to concur in the enactment 
 of it. 
 
 Accordingly, in the following year another 
 bill,— which, from its being the last act of 
 the Parliament of Upper Canada, may be 
 justly regarded as its farewell tribute of jus- 
 tice and gratitude to the loyal inhabitants of 
 that Province, was passed, and received the 
 Royal assent in October 1841, — intituled 
 " An act to ascertain and provide for the 
 payment of all claims arising from the late 
 rebellion and invasion of the Province" ; 
 and of which the preamble states, as before, 
 that "Whereas during the late unnatural 
 rebellion, and the several hostile invasions of, 
 aOd lawless aggressions upon this Province, 
 at various points, by foreigners and others, 
 &c., divers inhabitants of this Province sus- 
 
.1i. 
 
 tained much Iom and damage, by the des- 
 truction of their dwellings and other build- 
 ings and property, and by the seizure and 
 carrying away of their property, by the 
 rebda and invaders and otherwise ; and where- 
 as others of the inhabitants essentially 
 contributed to the effectual defence of this 
 Province, by capturing many of the rebels 
 and invaders, by advancing money, and sup- 
 plying meat, drink and clothing, arms and 
 accoutrements, and also conveyances for 
 Militia forces, and otherwise, &c., &c., and 
 whereas it is just and expedient that all 
 such claims should be paid and satisfied, &c, 
 it is enacted thi t from and out of the rates 
 and duties now raised, levied and 
 collected, or hereafter to be raised, 
 levied and collected, and in the 
 hands of f'le Receiver General of this Province, 
 and unappropriated, there be granted to Her 
 Majesty a sum, not exceeding £4O,Q0O, &c., 
 to be appropriated, applied, and disposed of 
 in the payment of all such claims as should 
 be allowed by Commissioners to be appointed 
 for the investigating the same ; and that 
 three Commissioners should be appointed by 
 the Governor for each District, to inquire 
 into the said losses, — to be sworn to the faith- 
 ful, impartial, and honest discharge of the 
 duties imposed upon them, — with power to 
 examine witnesses on oath, and call for all 
 such books, papers, and writings, as they 
 might judge necessary for their information, 
 and finally to prepare schedules in duplicate 
 of all claims allowed or rejected, — to be de- 
 livered to the Governor to be laid before 
 the Legislature, &c. " And it was 
 further enacted, that it shall and may 
 be lawful for the Governor of this Province, 
 as soon as conveniently may be, after he 
 shall have received the aforesaid Schedules, 
 to issue his warrant or warrants, to the said 
 Receiver General for the payment of the 
 several sums allowed to the several 
 claimants or their attornies lawfully 
 constituted ; and the Receiver .General 
 •hall account to Her Majesty, her heirs and 
 successors, for the same, through the Lords 
 Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, 
 &c., provided always, that any claims arising 
 under this act may be paid, whenever the 
 
 same may be practicable, in the whole or in 
 part, in any debentures or public bills of 
 credit, which shall or may hereafter be 
 issued in aid of the public service, &c., &c., 
 &c. 
 
 Thus, then, every necessary preparation 
 having been completed for the speedy liqui- 
 dation of the ^' just claims" of the "loyal" 
 inhabitants of Upper Canada, all that re- 
 mained was the carrying of the above enact* 
 ment honestly into effect ; — a debt and duty, 
 which by the Union of the two Provinces 
 immediately afterwards, devolved, as a 
 matter of course, upon the Executive of the 
 United Provinces. How that duty was dis- 
 charged will be exemplified in due time. 
 In the mean time it is but proper to add, that 
 up to this period, the tide of legislation seems 
 to have flowed equally, if not more in favour 
 of the " loyal" in Lower Canada ; for it is on 
 record that the investigations of Commis- 
 sioners appointed by special ordinance during 
 the suspension of the constitution produced a 
 payment, in cash, of not less than £25,000 ; 
 and this, as will be seen hereafter, was 
 subsequently increased to £35,000. 
 
 Having BO far redeemed our pledge, we 
 shall now proceed, without particular re- 
 ference to the conflicts of hostile political 
 parties in Parliament, to lay befo.e the reader 
 an equally simple and unvarnished state- 
 ment of facts, illustrative of the strange 
 eventful progress made in the liquidation of 
 the claims of the loyal in both Provinces, 
 during the eight years that have elapsed 
 since the Union of the Provinces. 
 
 The first fact now deserving of particular 
 notice, connected with our important subject 
 is, that during the first session of the United 
 Parliament, it being deemed desirable to 
 amend and enlarge the last comprehensive 
 Act of the Upper Canada Legislature, so ^s 
 to extend the periods during which the Dis- 
 trict Commissioner lerein appointed might 
 sit, to enable them to make their investiga- 
 tion more complete, a short bill, having that 
 sole object in view, was introduced by Colo- 
 nel Prince, when an additional clause, which 
 had never before been thought necessary, as 
 relating to what had all along been deemed 
 an inherent matter of course,— and which 
 
mi 
 
 wmm 
 
 was oil that ground objected to by the mover 
 of the bill, was proposed by Mr. Baldwin 
 (then in opposition) and carried, enacting, 
 ** 2nd Ttiat the powers vested in and duties 
 required of the said Commissioners under the 
 said Act shall extend, and be construed to 
 extend, to inquire into all losses sustained by 
 Her Majesty's subjects and other residents 
 within the Province, from the first breaking 
 out of the Rebellion to the passing of the said 
 Act, and the several claims and demands 
 which have occurred to any such persons by 
 such losses, in respect to any loss and des- 
 truction or damage of property occasioned by 
 violence on the part of persons in Her Majes- 
 ty's cervice, or by persons acting, or assum- 
 ing to act, in behalf of Her Majesty in the 
 suppression of the said Rebellion, or for the 
 prevention of further disturbances ; and all 
 claims arising under or in respect of the oc- 
 cupation of any houses, or other premises, by 
 H-^r Majesty's naval or military forces, either 
 Imperial or Provincial. * 
 
 ; Having thus particularly noticed this un- 
 locked for additional (anguis in herba) clause, 
 as that of which a very questionable and 
 even dangerous use has been made in the 
 framing of the hateful Rebel-paying bill, it is 
 but proper to add that about that period it 
 had, with a very diflferent view, become a 
 matter of discusion between the Imperial 
 and Provincial Governments, whether claihis 
 which would naturally fall within the scope 
 of this posthumous clause, namely, losses 
 caused by operations for strengthening or 
 defending military posts, &c., ought not to 
 be defrayed out of the military chest, and 
 
 * Now, it is with reference to this particular 
 clause, that we have ever thought it wrong in the 
 United Parliament to disturb at all the essentially 
 complete last Act of the Upper Canada ParUament ; 
 and we repeat advisedly, as a humble actor in the 
 troubled scene, both as a local militia officer and a 
 magistrate, the indisputable fact, that there was 
 then no doubt in the mind of the Upper Canada 
 public , that the Act of 1820, as a matter of course 
 contemplated that ihose who suffered trespasses or 
 injury, whether at the hands of loyal or disloyal, 
 were to be equally indenuiiiied ; and it was with a 
 lurking presentiment of evil inherent in this very 
 clause that we could not at the time help exclaim- 
 ing in the language of the Poet—' Timeo Danaos 
 et dona ferentes.^ I suspect tho Greeks, even 
 when the Bearers of gifts ! 
 
 the Province have to pay only those caused 
 by the insurgents, and that Lord Sydenham 
 very justly expressed a strong opmion 
 in favour of such an arrangement, at the 
 same time that he stated that on his arrival 
 in Lower Canada, finding that no less than 
 £21,000 had already been awarded by Sir 
 John Colborne to the sufferers in the Rebel- 
 lion, for the greater part of which he had to 
 provide, he had felt bound to bring the ope- 
 rations of the indemnity Commissioners to a 
 close, and to allow the claims they had re- 
 commended to stand over till the financia'. 
 condition of the Province should improve." — 
 An auspicious prospect which was never 
 realized during the remaining brief term of 
 his Iiordship's life and government; and 
 which the " eminent men" in power during 
 the short passive government of his succes- 
 sor Sir Charles Bagot, took good ca^e to leave 
 as far from accomplishment as ever. 
 
 Such, therefore, was the untoward state 
 of things on the accession of Sir Charles 
 Metcalfe ; and the influence of the same 
 ''eminent" individuals continued for a time 
 to stifle all attempts to bring even the Upper 
 Canada Bill mto operation, though savouring 
 of an undoubted breach of faith on the part 
 of the Government to that Provi.ncet ; until 
 at last the great " antagonistic " rupture of 
 1844 suddenly dissolved the Radical Com- 
 pact, and, gradually introducing a Conserva- 
 tive Ministry, once more gave hopes of 
 something, at least, being attempted. This, 
 however, was not destined to take place till 
 the following year. But, in the meantime, 
 it is satisfactory to know that this delicate 
 and important object had weighed acutely 
 on the mind of the excellent Sir Charles 
 Metcalfe ; for we notice, in a letter from that 
 Governor to Lord Stanley of TthMarcb, 1844, 
 
 fNoTE — It may be as we.'l to notice here that 
 the payment of the Upper Canada Rebellion 
 Claims was agitated in Parliament in 1843, but 
 was refused to be entertained by the then Minis- 
 try — the same as now in power — on the plea, that 
 it could not be done without bringing forward 
 those of Lower Canada ; and that at any rate no 
 charge could be made on the Consolidated Fqnd 
 for such a purpose ; but that they were willing 
 (forsooth !) that it should be left to the Municipal 
 Bodiet to pay such looses as they might think 
 proper. 
 
urging the claims to indemnification of cer- 
 tain loyal Petitioners of the County of Hun- 
 tingdon in Lower Canada, the following 
 equally strong and feeling expression of 
 
 opinion I"~iif(5i! ,. rl «.ir. i,'<p..i. -i;!' ;•- ; ' '' ' 
 
 « It is to be regretted that so much delay has 
 taken place in doing justice to loyal subiects, who 
 have perilled both property and life in the defence 
 ofthe Crown, and still more to be lamented that 
 there is little prospect of any better result, oioing 
 to the disinchnatton in influential parties in the 
 Colony to provide the requisite funds. The ellect 
 of this neglect cannot be other than prejudicial 
 and disheartening: it is an aggravation of mis. 
 fortune to these whose claims remain unsatistied, 
 that others were recompensed for their losses, and 
 all in progress to the consummation when the 
 inquiry sucQenly stopped, and that, since then, all 
 recompense has ceased. 
 
 «' I am aware," continued his Excellency, '^ that 
 her Majesty's Government have replied to former 
 applications that they have no means for comply- 
 ing with them; and, as there are no funds under 
 the control of the Provincial Groverranent out of 
 which these claims can be satisfied, I am reluc- 
 tantly compelled to defer their settlement, m the 
 faint hope, bord&ring on despair, that the local 
 Legislature may hereafter be moved to make the 
 necessary appropriation." 
 
 Thus cloied the year 1844. The next 
 movement connected with Rebellion Claims 
 was in favour of Lower Canada, in the form 
 of an address to the Governor General, adopt- 
 ed by the House of Assembly in February 
 1845, praying " That his Excellency would 
 be pleased to cause proper measures to be 
 adopted in order to insure, to the inhabitants 
 of that part of this Province formerly Lower 
 Canada, indemnity for just losses during the 
 Rebellion bf 1837 and 1838." And, in the 
 following year, a long-Iooked-for Act was at 
 length introduced by the Commissioner of 
 Crown Lands as a Member of the Govern- 
 ment, ** To provide {from local funds) for the 
 payment of claims arising out of the Re- 
 bellion and Invasion in Upper Canada ; 
 and to appropriate the duties on Ta- 
 vern Licenses to local purposes ; " and 
 of which the preamble ran as follows : — 
 " Whereas it is necessary to provide means 
 for paying the Sums to be awatded by the 
 Commissioners who may be appointed un- 
 der the authority cf the Apt qfthe Legislature 
 of U, Ci, passed in the ^dyear of Her Ma- 
 7es(y'« Jte^il^.and intituled ''An Act to ascer- 
 tain and pidvide for the payment of all just 
 
 claims arising from the late Rebellion and 
 Invasions of this Province" to the claimants 
 under the said act, — as extended by the act 
 of the Legislature of this Province, passed in 
 the Session held in the 4th and 6th years of 
 Her Majesty's reign, and intituled " An Act 
 to amend and. enlarge an Act af the Legisla- 
 ture of the late Province of U. C.^^c. Be it 
 therefore enacted, &c., that it shall be lawful 
 for the Governor in Council to issue Deben- 
 tures, not amounting in the whole to more 
 than i:40,(K)0 Currency, to the Claimants to 
 whom Slums shall be awarded under the pro- 
 visions of the Acts above mentioned, &c. &c. 
 — provided always that no such Debentures 
 shall issue until the total amount of the rums 
 awarded to the said Claimants shall be as- 
 certained ; and if such total sum shall ex- 
 ceed the said sum of £40,000, then the said 
 sum shall be apportioned among the'lsaid 
 Claimants in proportion to the sums awarded 
 to them respectively," — and the 3rd clause 
 of the bill then especially enacts, (as a mea- 
 sure hereafter applicable to both Provinces — 
 but in the present instance . furnishing in U. 
 C. a local Fund for this particular purpose,) 
 ** That the moneys arising from the dutiea 
 on Licences to keep houses of public enter- 
 tainment issued after the passing of this act, 
 shall,as toell in I^IP. as inL. C.,be appropri- 
 ated to the uses and purposes of the Districts, 
 or other municipal Divisions of the Province 
 in which they shall be collected, and shall 
 be paid over to the treasurers thereof accor- 
 dingly," &c. And the 4th clause states, 
 " Provided always that until the Debentures 
 to be issued under this Act and all interested 
 thereon have been paid, the moneys arising 
 from the duties on such Licences in U. C. 
 shall be paid to the Receiver-General, and 
 shall be applied by him to form a fund for 
 paying the said Debentures and interest," 
 &c. 
 
 This long protracted •' vexed question" 
 being thus, as far as U. C. was concerned, 
 satisfactorily set at rest, — it naturally be- 
 came the next great step to extend similar 
 benefits to the Lower Province ; in the hope 
 that matters would thus go on tolerably 
 smoothly. But mark the extraordinary fate 
 of the bungling Ministerial attempt at " a 
 
 » 
 
 ■# 
 
8 
 
 ,11 
 
 eonsummation lo deroutly to be wiihad." 
 The matter haying been daly brought be- 
 fore the Executive, in accordance with the 
 Addrtu of the House of Asiembly, five Com 
 minioners were appointed in behalf of that 
 ProYinoe generally, by commiuion under 
 the hand and seal of Lord Metcalfe, dated 
 the 24th of Nov., 1846,— the very day pre- 
 ▼ious to his bidding farewell to Canada, — 
 couched in the following ever to be remem- 
 bered, and as it were, prophetic terms, as 
 contrasted with tiis Me utterly incompre- 
 hensible and staggering results. "Enow 
 ye, that repc^ing trust and confidence in the 
 LOTALTT, integrity, prudence, and ability of 
 &e. &o. I have nominated, constituted and 
 appointed, and by thb instrument under my 
 hand and seal, do constitute and appoint the 
 said, ko.f to be Commissioners for inquiry 
 into the losses sustained by Her Majesty's 
 loyal subjects f in that part of the Province of 
 Canada, which formerly constituted thf late 
 Province of Lower Canada, during the late 
 unnatural RebeUion which so unhappily exist- 
 ed in that part of the said Pjovinco, and aris- 
 ing and growing out of the said Rebellion !" 
 Nothing could be more clear and explicit 
 than this Commission ; yet, scarcely had 
 that great and good man. Lord Metcalfe, 
 quitted Canada, when it was whispered that 
 our evidently weak and vascilating Minis- 
 try, now left unsupported by his great moral 
 influence, began to quail before ** the over- 
 whelming pressure from without,*' and under 
 shelter of the reliance placed in their discre- 
 tion by a frank and unsuspecting old soldier 
 like Lord Cathcart, so suddenly called upon 
 to discharge a double onerous duty, meditat- 
 ed making undue overtures to their Radical 
 and Rebel-paying opponents in both Pro- 
 Tinces ; and these reports, whether well or 
 ill-founded, were unfortunately further 
 strengthened by succeeding events. For, 
 after a lapse of about two weeks, we find 
 the very Commission above quoted unhesi- 
 tatingly forwarded by the Provinr al Secre- 
 tary to the parties named, accompanied by 
 a letter and inclosuresjfrom which we quote 
 the following somewhat startling extracts : — 
 
 " 1 have the honour, by command of the Ad- 
 mistrator of the Govenunsnt, to transmit to you 
 
 the aeeompanyinf Commission, naming yooisslf, 
 kc.f to be Commissioners for inquiring into the 
 losses sustained by her Mcgaty'i mbjtcU during 
 the latt unhappy troubk$ in Lower Canada of the 
 years 1837-'8, and also growing out of the same. 
 
 " Tbe necessary instructions for the guidance 
 of the Commissioners are transmitted to you 
 herewith." 
 
 The more astounding inatructions here re- 
 ferred to, formed the burthen of a separate 
 letter of the same date, which ran as fol- 
 lows :— • 
 
 GsNTLXMZNt — His Excellency the Adminis- 
 trator having been pleased to appoint you to be 
 Commissioners for inquiring into the losses sus- 
 tained by the inhabitants of that portion of this 
 Province formerly Lower Canada, during the late 
 uflAoppy Sebellion therein, aa also into the losses 
 sustained by those inhabitants arising out of that 
 Rebellion.— I have the honour, by command of 
 his Excellency, to transmit the following instruc- 
 tions for your guidance in conducting your in- 
 quiry : — 
 
 1st. You will, in the performance of the duties 
 devolving upon you, carefully classify the cases 
 of those who have joined in the eaid Rebettion, or 
 mayhave been aiding and abetting therein, from 
 the cases of those who did not, stating particularly, 
 but succinctly, the nature of the loss sustained m 
 each case, its amount and character, and, as far as 
 possible, its cause. 
 
 2d. You will abstain from entering into thecon- 
 siderationof any cases which may have been re- 
 ported upon by the Commissioners formerly ap^ 
 pointed to examine into the Rebellion Losses. To 
 enable you to do this, the reports made by them 
 will be furnished to your Secretary on his making 
 application in your behalf for the same ! ! 
 
 3d. You will accompany your Report on the 
 Claims investigated by you with such remarks as 
 may be necessary to a perfect understandit^ o{ the 
 matters intrusted to your investigation, in order 
 that the same may be submitted to the Provincial' . 
 Legislature at its, approaching Session." 
 
 As might readily be expected, on receiv- 
 ing these utterly inconsistent and irreconci" 
 lable documents, the Commissioners felt 
 themselves so paralyzed and perplexed, that 
 after due deliberation they judged it proper 
 to apply to Government for further informa- 
 tion and instructions ; and this was accord- 
 ingly done through their Secretary on the 
 11th Feb., 1846, in the following very judi- 
 cious questions, the answers to which were 
 to serve as their guide in the exeeutioB of 
 the duties iaaposed upon them. , 
 
 *' 1st. The instructions of tbe 12th Dee. last dif- 
 fering essentliUy from tlie tenor of the Commission 
 by which they nave been apppointed, as to the 
 persons who nave a right to indemnification : 
 
 What are the ootMTs conferred onUie Commis- 
 sioners to ettabUA the classification||^eqaired by 
 the instructions t 
 
 9 
 
IHi 
 
 t.'«<;tiy.»sj; 1.1, fl 
 
 What are the poweri conferred on the Commu- 
 sioners to call before them the neceitary vntnt$tti, 
 and to procure the neceuary evident*, In order to 
 obtain the exact valuation of the lonrs 1 
 
 Are the CommiMionen to travel to the diffe- 
 rent parU of the Diitrict^ in order to accomplish 
 the ODJect of the Commissiun V* 
 
 To these very sensible and politio Queries 
 the following was the extraordinary reply 
 received from the Provincial Secretary, dated 
 the 27th Feb., after a fortnight's considera- 
 tion. 
 
 "l*t. In making out the classification called for 
 by'your instructions of the 12th Dec. last, it is not 
 lus Excellency's intention that you should be 
 guided by any other description of evidence than 
 that furnished by the sentences of the Courts ol 
 Law. 
 
 2nd. His Excellency considers that yon have no 
 power as Commissioners to call cither for persons 
 ot papers ; and that you must therefore be satis- 
 fied with such general evidence as the claimants 
 may produce, or as may enable you to form a ge- 
 neral estimate of the Losses they have suffered. 
 
 3rd. The object of the Executive Government 
 in aiipointing your Commission, being merely to 
 obtain a general estimate ot the Rebellion Losfes, 
 the particulars of which must form tbc subject of 
 minute inquiry hereafter under Legislative au- 
 thority. His Excellency cannot regard it as 
 necessary that you should travel to the country 
 parts ol the District to obtain such particulars." 
 
 It being our intention to revert to these 
 extraordinary documents, hereafter, we defer 
 all comment upon them, until we have com- 
 pleted our notice of the few remaining links 
 in the chain of circumstances connected 
 with our strange eventful history ; and these 
 fortunately will now require very little 
 space. * 
 
 •^ As might be naturally expected, after so 
 unintelligible an arrangement, we find an 
 Address voted by the House of Assembly in 
 April, 1846, for copies of all correspondence 
 which had taken place between the Govern- 
 ment and the Commissioners appointee to 
 inquire into the losses sustained by the in- 
 
 •NoTE. — It is worthy of remark that in Feb., 
 1846, a Resolution was moved by the Member for 
 Qlengairy,an out-and-out supporter of the present 
 Ministry, for an address to the Queen, praying that 
 the losses suffered by divers loyal inhabitants of 
 Upper Canada might be borne by the Imperial 
 Treasury ; but that it was lost by a large majority, 
 although supported by Messrs. Baldwin, Lafon- 
 taine, Morris, Price, Leslie, and other adherents of 
 the present dominant party. Could it be possible 
 that our purblind Senate should have, wer till, 
 •"^mised, thAt " though the voice was that of 
 Jacab, the ""iHuads were those of Esau."— See 
 
 okUfSis, &c. 
 
 habitants of Lower Canada, during the late 
 Rebellion, with the instruotions, &c. ; hnd in 
 the following June a bill for the payment of 
 the balance of the claims investigated by the 
 first Commissioners appointed by special 
 ordinance, was duly brought in and passed, 
 intituled " an Act, to provide for the payment 
 of certain Rebellion Lo«i8es in Lower Cana- 
 aa ; ana to appropriate tne proceeds of the 
 Marriage License Fund ;"— of which the pre- 
 amble stated, that'* whereas it is expedient to 
 make provision for the payment of the sums 
 ascertained by the 4th and 6th Reports of the 
 Commissioners appointed under the ordi- 
 nance of the administrator of the Govern- 
 ment of the late Province of Lower Canada, 
 and the special Council thereof, passed in 
 the 1st year of Her Majesty's reign, and 
 intituled "an ordinance to authorize the ap- 
 pointment of Commissioners to investigate 
 the claims of certain loyal inhabitants of this 
 Province, for losses sustained during the 
 late unnatural Rebellion." — Be it enacted, 
 &o., that there be giranted to Her Majesty, 
 a sum not exceeding jC9,986 7s. 2d. cur- 
 rency, to be raised by debentures," &c., and 
 " 2nd. that it shall be lawful for the Governor 
 in Council to authorize the issue of Deben- 
 tures, &o., redeemable at convenience and 
 bearing interest at 6 per cent, — the principal 
 and interest of the said debentures not being 
 chargeable on the Consolidated Revenue 
 Funds of this Province, but being payable 
 out of that portion of the Marriage License 
 Fund arising in Lower Canada,— the proceeds 
 of which are hereby specially appropriated 
 to the payment of the said prineipal and in- 
 terest." And by the 3rd section, it was 
 enacted that the proceeds of the portion of 
 the same Fund arising in Upper Canada, 
 shall be specially appropriated towards the 
 support of certain public institutions in that 
 part of the Province, tor which grants have 
 usually been made out of the Consolidated 
 Revenue Fund." 
 
 Thus far all appeared fair and smooth on 
 the surface ; and it was, therefore, with lit- 
 tle surprise that in July 1847, we hailed the 
 passing of another liberal supplementary 
 act, completing the arrangements of 1845, 
 for the liquidation of the just claims of the 
 
10 
 
 4 
 
 loyal inhabitanti of Upper Cftaadu, intituled 
 *' an act to authorize the iifue of Dobenturet 
 to pay the balance due to claimants for losses 
 during the rebellion and inrasion in Upper 
 Canada" ; the preamble of which, after re- 
 ferring to the previous acts in the usual 
 form, and stating the amount in the whole to 
 be £43,463, and that a ba>ance remained 
 due of £3,613, enacts that it shall be 
 lawful for the Governor in Council to issue 
 Debentures to that amount, for the liquida- 
 tion of the same, under the authority of the 
 before recited acts, &c. 
 
 All that is now wanting to complete our 
 notices of the progressive Legislation on this 
 still eventful subject, up to the introduction 
 of the lr.te obnoxious bill, is to revert to the 
 proceedings of the Rebellion Claim Commis- 
 sioners, and to state that in consequence of a 
 letter from the Provincial Secretary hasten, 
 ing their decision, that embarrassed board 
 had on the 18th of Febuary, 1846, sent in 
 their first Report, in the outset of which they 
 at once very candidly stated that the v/ant 
 of power to proceed to a strict and regular 
 investigation of the losses in question, left 
 them no other resource than to triut to the 
 aUegations of the claimants, as to the amount 
 and nature of their losses ; and that it was 
 from these data alone, and the general infer- 
 ences which could be drawn therefrom that 
 they covld form an approximate estimate of 
 the sums requisite to cover the amount of 
 damages sustained ; and as the result of 
 their labors they appended a table exhibiting 
 a list of 2,176 persons, claiming no less a sum 
 than £241,966 ; but that they thought about 
 £100,000 would be nearly equivalent to the 
 losses that would bear 'closer examination ; 
 and that in this enumeration they had omit- 
 ted to mention that different sums to the 
 amount of £25,603 were claimed by persons 
 who appeared to have been condemned by 
 the Court Martial established under the au- 
 thority of the ordinance of the special council 
 of Lower Canada, passed in the 2nd year of 
 Her Majesty, and they ooncluded by stating 
 that they had reason to believe that all the 
 claims had not yet been furnished, and that 
 these would form the subject of a supplemen- 
 tary Report. 
 
 Having ihus completed our retrospect of 
 the various acts passed on the subject of the 
 ''just claims" of the inhabitants of both Pro- 
 vinces^ to indemnification for losses sustain- 
 ed during the " unnatund rebeUvm** of 1837- 
 8, and demonstrated, we trust, uncontrover- 
 tably« from the words of those very docu- 
 ments, up to the last bill, that the losses of the 
 loyd alone were contemplated, we now pro- 
 ceed to the task of proving from the very 
 construction of that incendiary bill,— without 
 once reterring to the Parliamentt^ry debates, 
 — that neither was the introduction of such a 
 measure forced upon the present ministry by 
 their predecessors, nor was its language or 
 spirit a transcript of those for Upper Canada, 
 as often asserted. 
 
 In carryins out this intention we at one 
 timb feared tnat we should be obliged to in- 
 flict upon our readers a perusal of the whole 
 cf the rebel paying bill ; but on further con- 
 sideration we perceived that all that would 
 be required to be literally quoted was the 
 long and fortunately somewhat inconsistent 
 preamble, and part of the 3rd, 7th and 11th 
 clauses ; and to these, therefore, we mean to 
 confine ourselves. .,:. ^.i v/-^ -if;) 
 
 The bill is in few prudently selected am- 
 biguous words intituled, — " An act to provide 
 for the indemnification of parties in Lower 
 Canada, whose property was destroyed dur- 
 ing the Rebellion in the years 1837-8" ; and 
 the following is the redoubtable rambling 
 preamble thereof : — 
 
 " Whereas on the 28th day of February, 1845, 
 an humble Address was unanimously adopted by 
 tibe Legislative Assembly of this Province, and by 
 them presented to the Right Honorable Charles 
 Theophilus Metcalfe, the then Governor General 
 of the same, praying ' that his Excellency would 
 be pleased to cause proper measures b be adopted 
 in order to insure to the inhabUtmta of that part of 
 this Province formerly Lower Canada, indemnity 
 for just losses by them sustained daring the Rebel- 
 lion of 1837 and 1838;' and whereas on the 24th 
 day of November, 1845, a Commission of five per- 
 son^ was, by his Excellency the said Governor 
 General, duly appointed to inquire into such loatet 
 arisins from and growing out of the said Rebellion; 
 and whereas it appears by the Report of the said 
 Commissioners, dated the 18thday of April, 1846, 
 that ' the want of power to proceed to a strict and 
 regular investigation of tM losses in question left 
 the Commissoners no other resource than to trust 
 to the allegaiions of the claimants, as to the amount 
 and nature of their losses \" Pud whereas, in order 
 to redeem the pledge given to tb? sufferers of such 
 losses, or their bona fide crt-ditoiJ, assigns, or cvamt 
 droit, as woU by the said Aduress of the said Le* 
 gislative Assembly, and the appointment of the 
 said Commission, as by the letter addressed by the 
 Hon. the Secretary ol the Province, by order of the 
 Right Honourable Charles Murray, Earl of Cath* 
 cart, the then Administrator of the Government of 
 the same, to the said Commissioners, on the 27th 
 
 # 
 
11 
 
 lected am- 
 it to proyide 
 t in Lower 
 troyed dur- 
 37-8»»; and 
 le rambling 
 
 ruary, 1845, 
 ' adopted by 
 (rince, and by 
 able Charles 
 iinor General 
 ilency would 
 ta be adopted 
 ^ that part of 
 a, indemnity 
 ngtbe Rebel- 
 on the 24th 
 onoffiveper- 
 ud Governor 
 fUo suck loatet 
 lid Rebellion; 
 tof the said 
 f April, 1846, 
 to a sirict and 
 question left 
 than to trust 
 to the amount 
 freaa, in order 
 Itrers of su<^ 
 ieits, or avant 
 the said Le* 
 itment of the 
 Iressedby the 
 )y order of the 
 Earl of Cath- 
 ovemment of 
 ,on the 27th 
 
 day of February. 1846, it is necessary and just that 
 the particulars of such lostes, not yet paid and satis- 
 fied, should form the subject of more minute in- 
 quiry under Iiegtslative authority; and that the 
 same, S9 far only as they may have arisen from the 
 total or partial, unjust, unnecessary or wanton <2es- 
 trudionof the dwellinp, buildings, property and 
 effects of the said inhabitants, and from the seizure, 
 taking or carrying away of their propaiy and 
 effects, should be paid and satisfied. 
 
 Provided that none of the persons who have been 
 convicted of high treason, alleged to hare been 
 eommitted in that part of this Province as formerly 
 the Province of Lower Caiiada,since the first day of 
 November, one thousand eight hundred and thirty- 
 seven, or who have been charged with high trea- 
 son, or other offences of a treasonable nature, and 
 having been committed to the custody of the 
 Sheriff in Gaol of Montreal, submitted themselves 
 to the will and pleasure of Her Majesty, and were 
 thereupon transported to Her Majesty's Islands 
 of Bermuda, shall be entitled to any indemnity 
 for losses sustained during or after the said Rebel- 
 lion, or in consequence thereof: Be it therefore 
 enacted, &c. 
 
 "And it is hereby enacted by the authority of the 
 same, That, for the purposes of this Act, it shall be 
 lawful for the Governor in Council to authorize 
 tte issue of Debentures, payable cut of the Conso- 
 lidated Revenue Fund of this Province, at, or with- 
 in twenty years after the date thereof, respectively 
 and beanng interest at the rate of six per cent, 
 payable out of tbe said fund on such day in each 
 year as shall be u<arem specified, provided the total 
 amount of the said debentures shall not exceed the 
 sum hereinafter mentioned." 
 
 'Having carefully perused the foreeoing, 
 let us now candidly and seriously ask the 
 reader where there is to be found the slight- 
 est possible connexion between its construc- 
 tion, and the ** Whereas during the late un- 
 natural re&etfion certain inhabitants of this 
 Province suffered much loss and damage, 
 &c., by rebels,** &c., ol the Preamble of the 
 ^ acts of Upper Canada, or the " Whereas dur- 
 I iw the late unnatural rebellion certain loyal 
 I inhabitants," &c., of the Lower Canada Ordi- 
 I nances, or eren the bill of 1846, •< To pro- 
 I vide for the payment of certain Rebellion 
 J Losses" in Lower Canada, /ornded on the Oi- 
 IdirMnces, — as quoted b> us in succession. 
 Nowhere whatever, must bo the instant re- 
 ply. And surely eqnally littie foundation for 
 such afarago of conflicting quotations as that 
 arrayed in the Preamble can be found in the 
 remarkably explicit language in which the 
 Patent appointing the Commissioners was 
 clothed by that clear-sighted Statesman 
 I Lord Metcalfe. To what polluted source, 
 [then, is thic unhappy act to trace its 
 i bastard origin. We unhesitatingly an- 
 swer,— on the authority of the pre- 
 amble itself, — on nothing anterior to the 
 iwily "address'^ of the House of Assembly, 
 ■founded on the strange correspondence of the 
 IProvincitl Secretary with the Board of Com- 
 
 missionem. dated 13th December, 1845, so 
 irreconcilable with the langnage and mean- 
 ing of the Commissum app ^mting them, trans- 
 miff cd under the very same cover; and 
 therefore though the former might hare af- 
 forded room for the member of the present 
 ministry, — then in opposition, — taunting 
 their predecessors with an apparent depar- 
 ture from former guiding principles, it could 
 never have honestty warranted either the one 
 political party or the other grounding thereon 
 the introduction of a measure of a totally op- 
 posite character to that described in a deed 
 under the hand and seal of the head of the 
 Government. In fact, though it is much to 
 be regretted that the absence of the Hon. 
 Mr. Daly in England prevented that gentle- 
 man affording any explanation in his place 
 in Parliament, respecting this unfortunate 
 correspondence, there can be no doubt, that 
 independent of the indignaht repudiation of 
 such an intention by other members of the 
 late Administration in the House of Assem- 
 bly, the following sterling language and 
 feelings expressed by the Hon. W. Morris, 
 in the Legislative Council, would be suffi- 
 cient to prove that so treas<mable an idea as 
 remunerating rebels had never for a moment 
 been entertained: — "if was said that the 
 present bill was the same as the one passed for 
 the payment of the sufferers by therebellianin 
 Upper Canada ; but that bill was not passed 
 for the payment of the rebellious ;--and if 
 the last Government had been interrogated 
 respecting their intentions in the same man- 
 ner as the present Government had been, the 
 answer would hare been ; *' no ! we are not 
 
 foing to pay for rebel losses.*' And the same 
 Ion. Gentleman again stated at a more ad- 
 vanced period of the debate, that he held the 
 same views, while a member of the Admin- 
 istration, as above expressed, and " thit he 
 would rathe)' have left the Ministry than have 
 allowed payment to any one who had been en- 
 gaged in the rebellion." 
 
 At all events, fortunately, the lurking 
 deadly poison is at once neutralized and 
 counteracted by antidote placed in close 
 juxta-position, in the reference made in the 
 preamble itself to the Secretary's subsequent 
 explain-away letter of the 27th February ; for 
 though the first instructions directed the 
 Commissioners to classify carefully the cases 
 of those who had joined in the Rebellion, or 
 aided or abetted it, from those who did not, 
 tb last rather oddly explained, that in mak- 
 ing out this classification, it was not the in- 
 tention of the Administration that they should 
 be guided by any other description of Evi- 
 DKNCE than that furnished by the Sentsncss 
 of the Courts of Law ; and yet, how these 
 were to be obtained it is difficult to conoeiye, 
 
■"'<<'**''"^«!IIHIIPMMPPaMPVi^PW«>MP"i«iip«i^^ 
 
 12 
 
 as his liiiuellnnoy oontidered that (uoHke 
 all form jr sworn Comoiisaionen) they had 
 no power to call for either persons or vapers, 
 and must rest satisfied with saohEviaence(,/j 
 as the Claimaots might prodaoei or as might 
 enable them to form a general estimate of the 
 losses they had suffered ; thus olearlv de- 
 moiistrating that the whole object of th^ 
 Executive was the obtaining of a very gene- 
 ral preliminary estimate of " alleged ** Re- 
 bellion Losses of every description, to form 
 the subject of more minute inquiry here-^ 
 after, if found advisable; and that ths Report 
 of the Commissioners, as was to be expect- 
 ed from neither they nor the claimants or their 
 witnesses being sworn, would, at least, be of 
 a very loose and indefinite character ; or, in 
 other words, reducing the whole of the la- 
 hours of this powerless body — however wil- 
 ling, assiduous, and conscientious might be 
 its men>ber8— to the unsatisfactory drudg|ery 
 of framing a random Hut of VHmd'be claim- 
 ants of every description-' good, bad^ and in- 
 different, loyal, or rebel, just, or unjust !— to 
 be dealt with at pleasure at some future 
 period ; bnt, certainly, so conducted as dear- 
 ly to indicate the very reverse of the possi- 
 bility of any future Ministry being thereby 
 forced to ei^rtain so unheard-of a measure 
 as remvnerming Rebels. 
 
 Such being the self-evident state of the 
 easel, one would be utterly unable to com- 
 prehend how it was possible for the present 
 Advisers of Lord Elgin, at once, conscien- 
 tiously to shut their eves to the unmistake- 
 able language of a Commission under the 
 hand and seal of the Head of the Government, 
 empowering certain Commissioners to in- 
 quire into losses sufiisred by the Loyal, and, 
 at the same time, perversely cling to the 
 evident misinterpretation of the intent of 
 that high authority by a subordinate Official, 
 unless blinded by some vile and virulent 
 one-sided party purpose, altogether at vari- 
 ance with every former proceeding bearing 
 on the same object. But, like the poison 
 and its antidote, all donbt is at once removed 
 by the "forced " amendment, moved by one 
 of their own party, and now forming the 
 olosins Proviso of tne Preamble, by which 
 the object of the Ministry is distinody de- 
 clared to be, to pay, as "just losses," all 
 Rebel claimants whatever, with the sole 
 exception of the very few individuals who 
 were convicted of " the high treason allioko 
 to Juve been committed," or ** who, having 
 been charged wtHl^ high treason and other of- 
 fences of a treasonable nature, had submitted 
 themselves to her Majesty's will and plea- 
 sure, and were transportea to the Island of 
 Bermuda i ** at the same time that the oath 
 imposed by the 7th clause on the Commis- 
 ■ion«n to be appointed, binds them, with all 
 
 the precision of " a very Daniel come to 
 judgment," to pay claimants net<A<riiJi»r« nor 
 jess than the sums which they are entitled 
 % claim, according to this " true intent and 
 meaning'," and the 11th clause clinches the 
 matter by. very adroitly incorporirting in it 
 the long dormant wily addendum m^de by 
 Mr. Baldwin to the Supplimentary Aot for 
 Upper Canada, with respect to ** losses sus- 
 tained by violence on the part qf persons m her 
 ilajesty's service,"— with the addition of the 
 here very significant word "oiso," — not to 
 be fonnd (because there unnecessary) in the 
 original Bill. 
 
 To sum up the whole, it remains only to 
 be added, in refutal of the assertion that the 
 late obnoxious Bill was based either in lan- 
 guage, spirit, letter, purpose, or provisions 
 on '.ny former Upper Canada Aot, that, not 
 content with discarding the principle so 
 lately insisted upon by themselves, and 
 adopted in Upper Canada, of realizing funds 
 for suoh a purpose from local sources, not 
 only was this equitable arrangement alto- 
 gether jost sight of, but a heavy debt of at 
 least £100,000— at once recklessly— thrown 
 upon the Consolidated Fund, while an extra 
 burthen was thereby imposed on the Upper 
 Province ; but, by the 3rd clause, it is even 
 made optional with holders of Marriage Li- 
 cence fund Debentures, issued nnder authori- 
 ty of the Act of Parliament of 1846, provid- 
 ing fbr the payment of certain ^'ioyaP' 
 claimants in Ix>wer Canada from that losil 
 source, to exchange these for Consolidated 
 Revenue Dobentures of a similar amount, 
 aUhough thereby at once prematurely di- 
 verting the former funds to g^eneral local por- 
 poses, and entailing an additional act of in- 
 justice on the Protestant part of the popula- 
 tion, from whom alone that fund is derived. 
 
 Leaving to an impartial public to decide 
 how far We have redeemed our pledge of 
 refuting the calumnious assertions put forth 
 by the partizans of the present Ministry, 
 " that their Rebel-paying measure was either 
 forced upon them by their predecessors," 
 or at all *' a transcript of any former 
 Rebellion Claim Bill," we are content to 
 close our desultory retrospect with a solemn 
 avowal of our unhesitating belief that, what- 
 ever may be the eventful consequences of 
 this rash and impolitic movement-^and meet 
 disastrous to the peace and prosperity' of 
 Canada as a British Colony they assuredly 
 will prove, unless our gracious Sovereign 
 shall yet, under Pro«rid8nce>^vert the fatal 
 blow— t0Ao<«i;ernii«/b}<ttnes may happen, or 
 whatever blood may be shedj must be 
 wholly attributable to. and justly rest on the 
 heads of Lord Elgin's present utterly reck- 
 less imiS'called Rbsponsiblb) Advisers, 
 
iniel come to 
 ihernhrenor 
 f are entitled 
 le tnteht'dtid 
 
 clinches the 
 porattnginit 
 um made by 
 ntary Act for 
 
 ** losses sru- 
 oersons m her 
 Idition of the 
 dso," — not to 
 ssary) in the 
 
 niins only to 
 rtion that the 
 tither in lan- 
 >r provisions 
 Act, that, not 
 principle so 
 iselves, and 
 ilizing funds 
 sources, not 
 gementalto- 
 vy debt of at 
 ssJy — thrown 
 hiie an extra 
 n the Upper 
 se, it is eyen 
 ularriage Li- 
 nderauthori- 
 1846, provid- 
 in ^' loyal''' 
 9m that lorfil 
 Consolidated 
 ilar amount, 
 maturely di- 
 ral local pnt' 
 lal act of in- 
 ' the popula- 
 t is derived, 
 io to decide 
 m pledge of 
 ins put forth 
 int Ministry, 
 re was either 
 edecessors," 
 any former 
 e content to 
 ith a solemn 
 f that, whai- 
 sequenoes of 
 U-*-and most 
 prosperity^ of 
 )y assuredly 
 IS Sovereign 
 vert the fatal 
 V happenf or 
 Ij must be 
 ly rest on the 
 utterly reok- 
 fvtif rt. 
 
7