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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 A^\-'^"^^A"^ i I <^."v» / WAV 1 1937 PETITION. TOTPt: HONORABLE THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE PROVINCE rOF SaDA, m FROVkNCIAi. PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED: The Humble I^ctitioa of Jolm Montgomery, of the City ©f Toronto, Hotel-keeper, Shewetit,— That youT Petitioner, in December, 1837, vas the owner of a 240 acre Farm in the Township of York, near Toronto, on which he had, at great expense, erected a very large Hotel, togethcf with numerous and! substantial outbuildinga. 1,. That, in July of that year, lie had leased and seated said Hotel to John Linfoot for a iiutm. of years, together with part of the furniture. 3 That on Monday, December Lhc 4th, same year, a large body of armed men took forcible possession of said Hotel and outbuildings, then being in the occupation of said Linfoot, petitioner's tenant, and continued to keep possession thereof until the Thursda,y following, when they were attacked by the Queen's forces, under the command ot bir Francis Bond Head, then Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, and were speedily scattered or taken prisoners. 4 That Her ^lajesty'u forces, then being ia the possession of the Hotel of your Petitioner, immediately set fire to and burned it, with all the outbuildings, to the ground. The Insurance money was of course lost 5. That a large fiuantity of Furniture and other property of your Humble Petitioner, then stored and being ia the said Hotel and outbuildings, was at the same time consumed by said fire. 6 That your Petitioner was then boarding in the Hotel with his family, until he could complete a dwelling-house, then nearly finished, and to which he was about to i-emovc ; but whi-h, after the ill-timed destruction of his property aforesaid, be was com- pelled to dispose of to Mr, Price, afterwards Commissioner of Crown Lands. 7. That after the defeat and entire dispersion of said armed party by the Royal Forces, your Petitioner was thrown intc prison, accused of having aided and abetted said ~ party in its unlawful objects. 8. That your Petitioner »va,s brought to trial before a Court, composed of persons of strong partizau feelings ; persons hostile to him, highly excited and influenced by the unhappy events, then'vcry recent, as well as by a threatened invasion of Canada, which took place in November, 1838 ; and that, in the absence of numerous witnesses,^ someof whom were in prison and others abroad, who could and would have proved his entire innocence ; and upon very loose, illegal evidence, given by persons of little character or credibility, your Petitioner was convicted of high treason. In the memorable Report ot Her Majesty's Lord High Commissioner, the late Earl of Durham, presented by the Royal command in February, 1839, to the Lords and Commons of England, the Commissioner bears his testimony to a well-known truth, that impartial trials in political matters, adjudicated in the Canadian Courts, were, in the troublous times of 1838, scarcely to be hoped for. 9. That, at the time of your Petitioner's trial, the people of the Canadas had earnestly but vainly urged upon the Government of Great Britain, and had petitioned the House of Commons, to have those laws amended which might enable a Sheriff chosen during the pleasure of the authorities here, to select such a jury in any political cause as the Crown Lawyers of the time might wish for, in cases where the authorities ui uanaaa aesirea w) produce a certain result. Trial by jury, a protection given in form to the subject, might I V: 'W,v. ; .' Mk Who w.rn n?.f ? A 'T' '°vf ^'1 1* '°^«PPy '''''' «^ Messrs. Lount and Matthews who were put to death oa tho .saftuld, roon after your Petitiouer was tried the Crown Lawyers secretly subm.ttina U, the Kxeoutive Conncil ol" Upper Canada certansnecSc md secret statements and charge. a^..iust tliese honest men, in Lgravation of the r offenee which secret charges the condeiM,,,) , .... lieard of, nor did th4"Counse know of TheTn ^ and, although the Impemlut your Petitioner denies that he ever violated the law as diavged, thougl. never proved agaiJst him of^r from aiding or encouraging the disconte«ted ia thCi. extreme measures Wrondv remonstrated against their occupation of his premises, and ur-od those vih whom he could venture to speak to give up their unlawful purpose ivuu' *rlra tV tti^ Zies^ many of whom, as can be shown, acted upon his advice. ' 11. That the present Covernov of the Wi.idward Islands, formorlv Finance Minister in Canada, and who was a resident of Toronto iu XHS7 and 2838 -Ivc* X fb^lowin" voluntary testimony on your Petitioner's behalf at Montreal, Oct. 1 th 1845! ^^'1 Hon V'"''f"'- ^^^^••/^^«^t«'>"'"-y i« the last who should be ex.osed to politl a! persecu ion; his sufferings have been enough, one would suppose, to extinguish th^ iS of " nos wfuJ^Tfurnel ^o'tb" ''"'' ??" fj^f-".!- large tavera was delibenlJely aiid most wan only burned to the ground, by which act he was subjected to a loss of §10 000 -suffered long iinprisonnient-brokc his leg,-experienced l^-eat domestic affliction -- many years ot exile,-and is broken down lah Ith an.l in circumstance;- " ^™''*''^'^ iinn ^i' J°"' Humble Petitioner, previous to the forcible occupatiou and wanton dcstruc- rLltan^errnili?;. t' ''T' ''?""/."" * '?^«^ landed'proprietor, ia comfort ble circunistanccs, then ftlling the ofhees ot a Commissioner for the roads of York Countv— a Director with Mr. Doel, Mr. Deaty, Mr. Harper, Mr. j.esslie, Oovernor llkX .nd others of one of die Banks in Toronto,-also a Director of the MutualTnsurance Co^^^^ pany here-and hoped,_ for the remainder of his life, to enjoy in the boson of h^?ami"v and under the protection of just and equal laws, the frits of many ycais' labo but' «rithouc any cause or wilful default by him, he was suddenly dcprimf of' l.rtw^^^^^ his property, through the act of the then Governor und uuthJIritS of Upper £d"^ accused of treason being imprisoned and convietod by u partizan tribuiSupmi Tartar Am'il 2nd ISSS '^'^"^ 7^^^^°"% 'r'^'' ''f':?. ''"'^'^ ^^'-'^"^' "^^^ '^^^ triaK/o into, Apiil 2nd, 1838 several are yet alive and willing to testify that, in their opinion the evidence your Peti loner can now produce, ha.I it^een then fo thcming, wo d have ' 13. Through these wrongs done him by those who had been chosen to nroteot Hfp and property your Petitioner has been reduced to a state of greapoverty,TfLfv ui'?h7i •: Jr r^ ^''-'-'y'^:' ^^"^' '" ^"^ "'^1 «««' ^« '« J^^'t depcnden^t* irsupS upon the charitable disposition of others. "^ -uppuit 14. That your Petitioner, injured as he has been by a partial trial in the midst of violent excitement and party strife, by a conviction in times\vhen to seize and try a Refonner was to condemn and punish, and, by the want of an early amnesty, has lonff been thTTLn' ^T.YV^^« P^^i^rr Ir^ ^^^" ^'^J^^^^^' his Jharacter'^impeaS, nd thi» in the name of the Queen; while Her Majesty's Finance Minister, though an active Annexationist in 1849, and her Attorney (!ene/al East, thoudi a prine J. J Tht. ^^TlhhT^il 'T T^/"f J<:<^ ^« >^""i*y 'ill your Petitioner's cforts for any investigation • and although Mr. L. J. Papmeau, whoso leadership in the movement of 1837 no one "TT fhnies, got 618,000 of a claim ia public moucy, and a very valuable office for life to on of his sons; and Mr. David Gibson, who was elected a captain of the Insurgents, and •letedas such, had hw house burned dow.!, when yout Petitioner's property was utterly 'testroycd, in hoth cases, by the express command of the Queen's Lieutenant Governor ;f your Honorable House cause to te observed by the servants of the Crowo towards the Queea'fl devoted subiects n Canada, • 16.^ That, not Ion;; since, your Petitioner addressed au htimblc Memorial to the (^ucen,iu substance nearly as above, and forwarded it to Loudoo through the present governor General. VVliat commcuts were made, xi any, by Hi« Excelleacj or th* Attornev •jcneraJ, wlieii it went Id huvope, your Petitioner kuoweth Dot. 17. Your Petitioner lias during many a weary wisiter day, attended the «ittings of the great 1 royincial Council oi Canada, appointed to inquire into the complaints of the peonle and provide tor the redress of their «ubstantial wrongs, humbly but most earnestly pravins ' - , — .~r — .,.,, „„r. >.. u.c. ov^,cMnui.uyear, and whose davs on earth cannot be oiany, has never had a bciu-jag, cither before a Committee of the House or before any officer appointed by the Crown. iTouv Petitioner prays your lloiioi-uble House to inquire into the character and cyt-^nt ot the cruel wrongs suffered by him, as above ; and to grant or recommend such a measute of redress or rehci as the evidence shall clearly warrant and the exigency of his case appear to rccjuirc, after the fullest invcistigation. fe«««y ©^ nis case Your Petitioner, as in Outy bonnd, will ever pray. ToHoNto, April 3rd, 1861. '"^''' JOHN MONrOOMERJ. wm becon who )i Lawy and s< whicl and, } Can at MattJ throu such chanc 10. perso aid 01 been wroD] Quce dcnio from rcnio; could many 1 in Ca voluD " mc " tioj "the ii mo " ma tion circu Dirc( othei pany and with( his p accus and, Apri! evide prev( wouL H H 2 w^ « g H so V? O H s * o o o 2.^5 •>•» Br- s J5- 3* "^ N) a. r as rt> IB an o' f a 3 „ o *0 O M g R ? H M < o s. O M- j< s M fg CO O ? cr « and brok( upon viole: Refoi depri this ; Anm head and i ■4 O' CQ ■ m o" a o p p S rt) D oo