^V^'V, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) A 1.0 i.i 11.25 UIZS 2.2 U£ 110 1.8 U IIIIII.6 III ^ k. ^t^ /2 ^P;. 9 /A HiotDgraphic Sciences Corporation S ^>C ^ue interests of the country in this great agitation that has been brought about by men who, I think, have acted with precipi- tation and without duly considering the re- sults of their action. Not only in one section of tiiis country, where I have had an oppor- tunity of denying the statements made, but even in my own division, slanders have been circulated with regard to myself. All I have to say, and I take this opportunity of saying it, in the presence of this House and the country is that my ambition has been to re- present my fellow citizens of Montreal Centre, that they have sent me here by an overwhelming majority, and having placed their confidence in me I shall not desert them so long as they stand by me in this Parlia- ment, and I trust with their confidence and still greater assent, if possible, more emphat- ically given, to have the honor of representing them in the next Parliament. (Cleers.) It be- comes my duty to follow one of the speakers on the other side of the House who maide a most violent address on last Friday night. Some portions of that speech I will refer to very briefly indeed. The gist of nearly all the hon. gentleman said he chose 'to say on an exceed- ingly low level^ and if I am obliged: to follow him upon that ground he cannot complain ; if I am obliged to fight him on the ground he has chosen himself he cannot complain; and he cannot complain if I am obliged to show that while in the political parties in this country, as in the political parties of every country, there is on both sides bigotry to be found, yet in the Conservative party the brains are ahead of the bigotry, whilst in the Reform party the bigotry is ahead of the brains. (Loud cheers.) The hon. gentle- man spoke in the first instance with respect to the legality of the trial. He agrees with the hon. member for Rouville (Mr. Gigault) that the trial was a legal trial, that it had all the elements of legality about it, but he said that the trial was not a fair one. WAS THK TRIAL FAIR ? I say on this occasion that I am surprised to find a gentleman calliDg himself a lawyer who pretends to say that a trial can l^ legal without being fair. What is the test of fairness ? The only test of fairness is that which is established by law ; you cannot go beyond that ; the judge can- not go beyond the law, and if a man has had the full benefit of the law — for the law as it stands on the statute book is the test of fiair- nesfl — he has had a fair trial. But I find in this respect the honorable gentleman is abso- lutely and positively in contradiction with his own chief. The leader of the Opposition made a speech some time ago in the city of London, where a banquet was given him on his return from England, and, speaking on this very subject, he said : " I think it right to say that, in my opinion, the Qovernment acted in a very proper spirit In providing for the attendance of the pris- oner's witnesses, aad, from what I know of the lea^Mng counsel, I should think itlmpoH- Bible thi^* in their management of the case there was anything unfair to the prisoner or derogatory to the hish character they deser- vedly enjoy in the responsible duties they undertook to perform." (Load cheers.) The honorable gentleman, however, said that there was one great ele- ment of unfairness in the trial — that hif> trial had taken place before a jury composed ex- clusively of Protestants. Would the honor- able gentleman have wished that Biel upon that occasion should have been tried by a jury composed exclusively of Catholics ? What a howl would have gone throughout ^ length and breadth of the country if at that time Louis Riel, who was an apostate from his Church, was at variance with the authorities, who had committed many acts of cruelty, of sacrilege and other acts which It will be my duty to mention in the course of this speech, had been put upon trial before men whose faith he had trampled on, whose Church he had desecrated, and whose most cherished convictions he had despised and spurned. (Cheers.) What was the state- ment of that unfortunate man in the course of the speech that he addressed to the jury upon that occasion ? I hold in my hand the official report of that trial, and at page 150 I find the infamous language that that unfortu- nate man used to the venerable Archbishop who had .brought him up, clothed him, fed him and educated him. He spoke of him, and ir. reference to one of the witnesses, a Mr. Ness, he said : " One of the witnesses here, George Ness, I think, said that I spoke of Archbishop Tache and told him that he was a thief. If I r.ad had the opportunity I proposed I would have ques- tioned him as to what I said so that you would uuderstai.d me. I have known archbishop Tache as a great benefactor, I have seeu him surrounded by his great property, the property of a widow whose road was pa&sing near ; he bought the land around and took that way M try and get her property at a cheap price. I read in the gonpel : ' Ye Pharisees with your long prayers devour the widows.' And as Archbishop Tache is my great benefactor, and as he is my father I would say, because he has done me an immense deal of good, and be- cause there was no onn who had the courage to tell him, I did, lieoause I love him, because I ac;knowledge all he has dom* for me. As lo Bishop Orandiu, it was on the same grounds. I have o. her instances of Bishop Tache.and the witness could have said as the Rev. Father Moulin :— * When you speak of such persons as Archbishop Tache you ought to say he made a mistake, not t hat he com- mitted robbery.' I say that we have been patient a long time, and when we see that mild words only serve as covers for great ones to do wrong, it is time when we are Justified in saying that robbery is robbery everywhere, and the guilty ones are bound by the force of public opinion to take notice of it. The one wh • has the courage to speak out in that way, Instead of being an outrageous man, becomes, in fact, a benefactor to those men themselves and to society." We have also heard from the last speaker that the recommendation to mercy had been entirely ignored. Before I get through with my observations I may re- fer to some other cases, in which a much stronger recommendation has also been over- looked ; and I can say, having had consider- able experience myself in matters of that kind, and from what I have read, that this recommendation to mercy is in a great meas- ure just, as the hon. minister of Public Works has exprebsed it — a desire on the part of the jury to relieve themselves to some extent of the responsibility for the verdict which they gave, and throw that re- sponsibility through that means ^n the shoulders of the Executive. But we have also heard from the hon. gentleman that this unfortunate nan Riel had given himself up to Qeneral Middleton, and that therefore he should be free — that therefore he should never have experienced the sad fate which befel him. Why, sir, do we not all know, have not we all lived through these trouble;*, have not we all seen what took place, and is it not in the memory of every man that Riel was not on that occasion afraid of the trial that was to come, on the part of the Dominioa Government, but was afraid that he would be murdered on the spot by the ir;dignant vol- unteers — was afraid not only of the tvhites who were there, but was afraid, and perhaps still more afraid, of the dire vengeance of the half-breeds whom he had deceived ? (Loud cheers. ) The last point to which the hon. gentleman has referred, and referred at very great length, was with reference tu the in- o : sanity of the prisoner, and as that question has been raised by other speakers as well, I shall endeavor to deal with his arguments and those of the other speakers at the same time. However, he wound up his speech, sir, by an appeal to the feel, ings of the Catholics of this country. tie sought to arouse in their minds the idea that this man had been sacriticed to Orange fana- ticism, and with that point I shall endeavor to deal in the course of my remarks. But be- fore proceeding to do so, allow me not only on general grounds, but more particularly from the debate which has taken place this afternoon upon the question of proceeding with the motion of the hon. memtwr for Mont- magny (Mr. Landry) — let me refer to the ▲STOCNDDTO POSITION Ot OIRTAIN OBNTLRUIN in this house upon this question. Why, Sir, is it possible that these men think they can throw dust in the eyes of the people of Can- ^a ? Is it possible that these gentlemen imagine for one moment that the people of Oanada do not know what has taken place, not only in the city of Montreal, but throughout the length and breadth of the province of Que- 'bec 7 These gentlemen get up and say : We want papers ; we want documents ; we can- not make up our minds ; we are absolutely in the dark ; we do not know how to vote ; we tjannot decide this question. I ask, what papers did these men ask on the Champ de Mars? (Cheers.) What papers did they ask when they manufactured effigies of the right bon. leader of the Government and of the gentlemen who represent French-Canadian nationality in this Cabinet ? When they ma- nufactured them and set fire to them, after hanging them up, what documents did they ask for? Had they any doubt upon their minds then ? Did they ask for documents to show that these men had acted like honest and upright men and good citizens of this coun- try ? What documents were asked for by the hon. member for West Ontario (Mr. Edgar), when he stood on the Champ de Mars that day ? Did he stand up and say Mr. EooAB — Will the hon. gentleman allow me to correct him. Mr. CuBBAN — The gas question was occupy- ing that hon. gentleman's mind ; he was there «ndeavoring to throw light upon the subject. {Cheers and laughter.) But, Sir, a more im- portant man than the hon. member from West Ontario was there — a man of greater importance on this question and in this Par- liament, the hon. member for Quebec East (Mr. Laurier) was there when the resolution was passed declaring these hon. gentlemen traitors to their country, their nationality and their creed. Did he hesitate ? Did he want documents then, when he stood up and said that if be had been on the borders of the Has- katchewan he would have had his muskot on his shoulder? (Cheers. ) Did he stop there ? ' Why, no, 8ir, be was on the point of carrying out a steady march away off to the city of Toronto, there to exhibit the Saskatchewan musket. True, he changed his mind. (Laugh- ter). And later on. Queen's hall in Montreal was engaged for the hon. gentleman and his friends to speak once more as he bad spoken on the Champ de Mars, fie was to have gone there with bis musket and show them tbe drill, but the only drill he perform- ed was, right about face, and march home again. (Great laughter.) There is still more than that in the picture preHented to us, when members' counties were invaded, and when as honest and upright men they said : Let us have time; we in the province of Quebec have followed our leaders for years ; we have had confidence in them ; we have believed them to be honest and conscientious men ; give us time to read the documents and we will then pronounce. Was time allowed ? No ; they were denounced as traitors, and a whole army of spouters invaded every county; they were taken by the throat and forced to give expression to an opinion whether they liked it or not. We have had the magnificent spectacle to-day just as we had one on each of the occasions I have referred to. On both those occasions we have bad three different lines adopted with regard to this unfortunate man Riel. We bad him paraded before the public as A HKEO, A If ARTTR, AND A FOOL ; those were the three contentions upon which they spoke with such tremendous force. Now, sir, why was this agitation confined to the province of Quebec ? Why was this hero, this martyr, this unfortunate and insane man merely made a martyr, a hero and a fool of in the province of Quebec alone ? We have been told here by the able and elo- quent representative of tbe Metis in this house, and we have all read in the admirable speech of the Hon. Senator Giiard in the Senate, that the Metis are a dis- tinct people, that they have their own genius and their own customs, that they aie no more French-Canadians than they are Irish Can- adians, that although they have some French blood in theit* veins, they are a distinct people by themselves. LouIh Kiel was at one time the leader of that people. Why have we not seen in the heart of the settlements of the Metis in Manitoba or in the Northwest Terri- tories a siagle meeting called by any of the Metis people whom he was supposed to repre- sent, to protest against his execution, or to say that it was either an act of cruelty or one for which the Government should be con- demned ? (Cheers.) More than that, we h that it had been prepared by Government officials, and that these hIx clergymen wore so lost to all sense of shame and consideration for their holy office that they bad sifrned it and sent it forth to the country, although it did not contain the truth. I do not propose tor one moment to use that document again ; I have other and more im- portant papers to which to refer, and my re- ference shall not be made to any speech of the leader of the Opposition, or to any quota- tions from statements ot his, or to any docu- ments formulated or issued by the Govern- ment Ok in any of tbe departments of the Oovernment. I hold in my hand a work that, at all events, every Catholic through- out the length and breadth of tbe Dominion will believe, namely, the ANNALS or THB PROPAOATION OV THB FAITH. These volumes are published in London, and tbe one I refer to is the November number of 1885, number 276. These annals are pub- lished with reference to Catholic missions all over the woihl, and are under the special pa- tronage of His Holiness Pope Leo XIII. and the cardinals and archbishops of the church. I find here not merely what regards this trial itself, but, in fact, all the information those hon. gentlemen are so anxious to have before they will undertake to pronounce their ver- dict. (Cheers.) An article in the September number savs : " We publish a touch) dk letter on the civil war wbich ravaged Canada and caused tne deathH of two missionaries, the Rev. Fathers Fafard and Marchand." I shall not read the whole of the document, but will begin at the point where the insur- rection itself is spoken of. It says on page 333: "The followinK narrative, forwarded to us bjr the Re^. Father Fourmond, completes the ae- count Riven by tbe vonerablo Bishop, pninta out the eauBen of the different phanet of tha *»• aurrection, and records several episodes Illus- trating the admirable faith of the Christiana of thu liiooese of St. Albert :— " About a year airo, some thirty agitators, under pretence that the Oovernment violated their im 8t sacred rights, frequently assembled secretly la the woodH, and beneai h thu shadow of the elgantlo tirs, hatched their plots and bound ihemselveH by oath not to divulge to any ono the subieot that they had in view. Of course we disapproved highly of these Hccret proceedings, aa(l the ronfiequenoe was a sudden irritation excited against the clergy; the populace accusing ua of no longer favoring their Inter- est« as we used to do. One of the first acta of these aHHerablles was to send to tbe shores of tbu Missouri, acroH8 the Canadian border, In Hearoh of the too famous Rlei.the great chief of .he Metis movement In 1870, who hadslnoe that event become an American citizen, and dlNcharged the humble duties of teacher, under the direction of the Rev. Fathers of the So- ciety of Jt sus at Montana." It goes on to state how this man was received in triumph by the people. He made a long prayer, professed the most loyal sentiments, and, says the good missionary, << I congratu- lated him on his good qualities ; he caused great edification, and was looked upon as a saint." On the 4th September, howaver, Monseigneur Grandin came to the settlement. Blonseigneur, who knew Mr. Riel well, could not share in the general feeling of confidence. He said : — " I cannot help feeli> g a great fear or dread of that man's influence, and a heavy fear for the future that <* waits us. These fears were only too well iustifled. Durlag the six months that followed Rlel continued to deceive the public and clergy by his persuasive words and apparent piety, and played the true wolf lu sheep's clothing— the angel of darkness dis- guised as an angel of light. He chose the beau- tltul feasi of 8t. Joseph, the patron given by MoHseigneur to the half castenaiion, and under pretext of solemnlzlog ihe occasion, and also doing honor to tlie baptism of an English neophyte, he assembled the moHt devoted of his friends and put tbeiu under arms from the day b.'fore. Oa the evening of the same day. In order to bring the people together, and to have a pretext for making a general appeal to the nation, he spread a false report everywhere of the arrival of Jive hundred police to massa' ere the fanatics, burn the houses and seize the lands. ' We must march out to meet them,' he said. ' If wo are united they will not be able to stand against us.' A large number, un- willing to believe the news, as they haa no other proof of it, refused to revolt, but were soon forced to take ud arms, as they were tlireatened with being shot themselves and having their farms pillaged. They almost all yleldeu to; force ; only some of them standing firm and braving death. On St. Joseph's eve amidst the darkness of night, a provlslona Oovernment was proclaimed, and Its Srst ao V WM a Mcrillglouii one, the Helzure ofthe Church ot^t. Antony at Baloche, In spite of the earn- «iit proteHtallonH of the Rev. Father Moulin On Bunflay, the 22nd March, a fervent and plruB half-caate, one of the authnrn of the movennfut, seeing the bad turn aftalrs had taken, refused to take part In the revolt. On 8t. Joseph's day he had prnflbred to submit to be taken prisoner rather than to particlpateln all the crimes which Inaugurated It. and which must fur ever brand this terrible revolution with disgrace," (Cheers). He proceeds then to speak of the various acts done by the noble Metis, who thought to re- Bist this man's authority. He speaks of the terrible influence this man 'had over the Metis, and bow he carried out hia nefarious designs through that influence. He says that the Metis assembled together for the purpose of prayer and the carrying out of a counter move- ment, but Riel and bis followers discovered this. "They were bent on revenge and their ven- feance was frightful, terrible, truly diabolical. will tell you some of itn principal workings. On the 26th Marcl:i Riei, In his turn, assembled his warmest partlsaisin the profaned church of St. Antony and there, in the midstof Nceucs rivaling each other in absudlty, folly and im- piety, he publicly renounced the Holy Church of Ood, wnicL was henceforth to be ciontemp- luoQRly tobeoalled by him the old woman of Home. Having proclaimed his intended mis- sion as a prophet Kent from Ood to reform reli- gion, the reformer gave himfelf the name Exovide, and his council the Exovidat Ordeis were given for the persecui ion of the faithful, and especially the clergy, and they tore us from our dwellings, us and our pious, fuithful com- panions of Jesus ; and placed us In a place of siege pnd exposed us to the greatest dangers in the new presbytery of St. Antony at Batoche. We were Indicted several times before the Exovidat, where, listenicgto the impieties and blasphtmies of the Exovidat, Rev. Fathers Moulin, VegrevlUe and myself had to confess and defend our insulted faith, thereby drawing upon ourselves a deluge of outrages and threats.and exposing us to the fire of the enemy if we remain obsi inate in refusing to submit to the will of the tyrant. "Meanwhile—" And beie is a point which has been contested upon the public hustings by the friends of Kiel— " Meanwhile,meB8engerB had been sent to the poor savages of the prairie, for the most part obstinate Infidels, always discontent with the domination of the white man, and asking no- thing better than to see the hour of deliverance, if not of vengeance, arrive. Barbarism has returned to the bloody ferocity of its worst days, and in some places, uarticularly at Frog Lake, the whites have been massacred, and with them the missioners who tried to save them and prevent the revolt . The lati er were the Rev. Fathers Fafard and Marchand. Their mission has been burned as well as all the dwellings of the whites." He goes on to speak of how this man as. sem bled the families ofthe 8t. Laurent dis. trict under the pretext of protecting them, and how he maltreated them when be secured them in his power. What does he say about other instances of this man's conduct, about other persecutions ? " The most admirable nf all is our dear Bap- tiste Hamelln, the father of a large family reared in piety and the fear ofthe Lord. He also, like our good M. Melln, has received la his home a special favor from the Blfssed Virgin, his wife having beeu alsomkraculounly cured. He was one of those who resisted all ftrovooatlons, and who, in answer to my appeal n the midst ofthe camp and in presence of the seducer, raised a loud and triumphant ory of 'Long live the old woman of Rome I long live our holy father the Pope.' Persecuted more and more, condemned to oe shot, he daw himself surrounded on all sides by fanatics of the Exovide. The martyr's crown bung sus- pended over his noble bead, and by his side were his poor wife and large family of chlldrrn, tremblliigf rbls fate, but standing firm like himself. A superhuman courage animated 1 him, his looks, usually so gentle, beoame sud- denly terrible, 'Well,' cried he, 'since you I mu8t have the sacrifice of either my faith or my life, my choice was made long ago, and the good God will give me st rength enough to brave your threats and your rifles. If one of my brothers here present has the heart to do so, let him strike. You can shoot me, of course, but make me renounce my relieion- never !' , The vanquished apostates retired abashed, not daring to imbrue their hands in their bro' her's blood, and once more the tyrant's rage was baflQed by the firmness of one Just man.'' After giving other accounts of the horrible treatment to which many people were sub- jected, bow does the Rev. Father Fourmond wind up bis letter : — '* What evils have the folly and hyprooisy of one man heaped upon our poor little popula- tion . Alx>ut twenty killed, as many wounded, fires, sackings ; a dark and gloomy picture we have now before our eyes. All is not over yet, either, for about thirty of our unfoitunate Christians are prisoners of war and await their trial at Reglna, the capital of the Northwest Territory. Rlel, the Exovide, Is among the number, and is the one. it is generally belieyed, who will satt&x death In expiation ofthe crimes he has committed and the blood he has .•^aused to be shed. Mwr. Grandin has Just left us, hav- ing shed abundant tears over our condition, but what a blessing his paternal charity has been to us, the weak have been strengthened by his presence, and we have great confidence that this trial will in the end serve for us the greater glory of God, who has permitted It. This will be the fruits of the mercy won by the prayers of everyone here, fcr we have indeed prayed night and day among the apostates. I am thoroughly convinced that it Is a marvel- lous effect of this incessant prayer that we have not been all annihilated. " Fourmond, O.M.L, " Misiioner Apostolic." I will merely ask on the point, reading this '1 y r' ohtircb record of this man's proceedings, this •ne queHtion, though I do not intend to de«l with that branch of the subject at this mo- ■lent — is there one hint of insanity through- out the whole of that letter ? Mr. MiLLH — He swears insanity later. Mr. GuRHAN — Well, I will try to convince the hon. gentleman who, upon the door of the bouse, casts an asperation upon the Rev. Mr. Fourmond for what he spoke and swore to, that be spoke with Christian charity of that man, that he said he would be << too great a crimmal vnless they put the charitable construction up- on it that he was iuKane " Those were the words. (Hear, hear.) Now, 1 do not think that very many people in this country, that very many of those who Lave been excited by the terrible harangues that 'have been made throughout the province of Quebec by the writings of those who have not studied thiH question. I do not think that many of the Catholic people of the Dominion of Canada will consider Riel either a hero or a martyr. Now the next question comes, WAS HI INSANI ? We have had a medical commission which has been npoken of here to-day as one con- cocted for the occasion ; we have had three slandered, I house. We have had them held up as men who were willing to sign their names to a document which in their consciences they could not acquiesce in. We have had all this, not from a man insignificant in position, but from the leader of the Opposition himself. What right has the hon. the leader of the Opposition to make this assertion ? What has been the past character of those three gentlemen ? Do they sdind high in this community or are they miserable characterless physicians who would lend themselves to an outrage such as he accuses them of having performed ; and are we to be told that not only have these men been guilty of an act of this kind, but that the ministers of the Crown, men of every creed and every race, men who have served their country well and have enjoyed the confidence of the vast majority of the people if Canada, wore a lot of reprobates who, in order to justify their act of having steeped their hands in the blood of an insane man, would turn round and make three respectable physicians perjure themselves — for it is nothing less — in producing a docu- ment in the manner in which he has accused them of having produced it? (Cheers.) Now, respectable medical gentlemen may say, on the floor of this does not every lawyer know what constitutes insanity in law ? It is not necessary to go into that point, t>ecause every man knows what has been the ruling of the highest tribunal in the Empire ; but, if we are not satisfied with the testimony that has been ad- duced here to-day from that commission, if we are not satisfied with the documents which have been laid beforn us, if we think that Dr. Jukes and Dr. Valade and Dr. Lavell are three scoundrels, let us ask what has been the testimony of those who, without being medical experts in insanity, are people of common sense, are men who have watched the doings and the sayings of this unfortunate man Biel. Aad the first witness to whom I shall refek', one who has written over his own hand, is the Kev. Mr. Piquet, writing from Batoche in June last : " Who Is the author of the Northwest trou- bles 7 It is Louis RIel, and as hn Is the author of them, it Is he alone who doserves to be pun- ished. If, like ine, you hud followed the steps and studied the hypcxsrlHy, the cunulns and the secret arts that Riel has useU to dec>^ive and seduce tbese people and draK them Into re- twlllon, whether they would or not, you would, as I do, cast upon that cruel and tyrannlciu man all the blame of that revolt. Kiel made use of the! r religion, he made use of thel r Ignor- ance, of their simplicity, touching every sensi- tive cord to make them the dupes of his ambi- tion. "There are persons who say that Riel is mad, but the more nis conduct is examined the strong er must be the convictien tnat that nefarious man, under ihe appearance of his madness, preserves the plenitude of his reason. All his plans have a sequence and a directness which show a fixed purpobe to attain his end, and at the same time to escape the gallows if his criminal undertakings should fall. Riel must bear all the responsibility of this rebellion. He alone is to blame for all the calamities that have happened or are still to happen, the neces- sary consequences of those troubles which have caused us ail so much suflbrlngr." This is the testimony of another member of the Order of Oblates. Now, Sir, as I was in- terrupted a moment ago by the lion. meml>er for Bothwell (Mr. Mills), let us see what Rev. Father Fourmond really did say : — " Q,. Have you made up your mind about the prisoner being sane as far as religious matters are concerned? A. We were very much em- barrassed first, because sometimes he looked reasonable and sometimes he looked likeaman who really aid not know what he was saying. "Q. Finally ?JA. We made up our minds that there waH noway to explain his conduct but that be was insane ; otherwise be would have to be too big a urlmlnal." Now, sir, a great point has been sought to be made from the fact that Dr. Howatd, a dis- tinguished alienist in this country, and one who has made a name for himself abroad, was 8 not ^procured for the defence, that he had b«en aaked for, but that, owing to the doctor baTiog requireid the sum of $500 to go there, hit eyidence had to be dlHpeu8ed with. Now, Sir, it is a well known fact that the lawyers for the defence in that case really chose to take Dr. Clarke in hiu Htead ; but I deem it only right and due to Dr. Howard to say that the fact that he is a man of 70 yearH and over, and that he could not travel alone, wan the reason of his apparent unwillingness to go up there without having money enough to take with him a person to assist him in his ad- vanced years. In the correspondence which took place then he said, writing to the solicitors of the Oovernmnnt, in the city of Montreal, to whom this matter had boon re- ferred : — " MoNTKBAi.,96 University street, ) '"20th July, 1886. ', " Obntlbmrn,— I beg leave to acknowledite the receipt of yours of thiH inorninK, Informing me that the Hon. Hlr Alexander Campbell r«- tuses to pay me $500 to pay myezpenseHto and from Keglna oh witness In the case of RIel, for the defence. I asked that amount beeauhe, In my delicate state of health, I cannot go alone, I must have one of my family to ac- company me. I wish, however, to have a re- cord of the fact that I don't refuse to go." He would not have refused to go, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Howard yesterday, and in the course of conversation, going home from church, he said to me that be wished to give me a document to show that he could not possibly have done Kiel any good, even if he had gone to Regina ? that he had had this man for nine months under his care, and the certificate he must have given was the one which I will now read : " Montreal, l4th March, 188B. "My Dear Mr. Cubban,— I notice by the papers that you are '-oing to speak ou the RIel question in the Don^.nlon Parliament to-mor- row. My name having been mentioned as one of the witnesses who Hbould have given testi- mony for the defence at ihe trlafof the un- fortunate man, I enclose you a copy or a mem- •oranJum forwarded by me to ihe Government solicitors In this city. " I think it well to say, however, that, in my opinion, my presence at the trial could not possibly have done HIel any good. You know my views on the question of responsl bitty, but when it came to the legal tebt. I should have been obliged to say that RIel was as re- sponsible lor bis acts as any other criminal man. '* Yours sincerely, " Henry Howard, " Medical Superintendent Asylum St. Jean de DIeu." I may say that Dr. Howard informed me that he had been solicited time and again to write something different from this by the friends of this man, and that be was desirous to bars his opinions upon record. Now, Mr. Speaker, I think we have shown fi'om the annals ot the Propagation qf the Faiths and from the documents which I have Just read, that this man was neither a hero nor a martyr, and that he was not insane. No doubt be was devoured by an insatiable ambition, but, iike Mahomet, he wished to establish a new re- ligion as well as a new nationality. But, sir, the idea of comparing this man to Emmet, the idea of comparing this man to the bril. liant Meagher, or to any of the noble patriots of Ireland, as has been done upon the hus< tings and in this House, is the greatest in- sult that could be offered to the Irish race, because I consider him unworthy of being compared to the humblest Fenian that over died for his country. Why do I say so ? Not that I have any antipathy for the unfortunate man, whom I have never seen. No, sir ; but I am obliged to take account of the evidence of men, not the evidence of people who were opposed to him in religion or oolitics, but those who had done him good service in the past, those who had always stood by him, those who had welcomed him there amongst them, and who wished him to succeed in doing what was right. WHAT WAS HIS PRIOR? I speak now of the evidence of Father Andre, given at the trial ; and what does he say about this man who lias been represented to us as a hero, a martyr and a patriot ? This is what he says : — '• ti. Will you please sta'e what the prisoner asked of the Federal Government ? A. I had two interviews with the prisoner on thai sub- ject. " (%. The prisoner claimed a certain lademn- ity fiom the Federal Government, didn't he ? A. When the prisoner made his crlaim I was therewith another gentleman, and he asked from the Government $100,000. We thought that was exorbitant, and the prisoner said : ' Wait a Utile, I will take at once $:{6,000.' " Q^ And on that condition the prisoner was to leave the country if the Goverument gave him $35,000. A. Yes, that was the condition he put. " Q^ When was this ? A. This was on the Z'srd December, 1884. " Q,. There was also another interview be- tween you and the prisoner? A. There has been aliout twenty interviews between us. " Q,. He was always after you to ask you to use your ioflueoce with the Federal Govern- ment to obUin an indemnity? A The first time he spoke of it was on the I2th December: he b^d never spoken a word of it before, and on the 23rd December he spoke about it agala. " Q,. He talked about It very frequently ? A. On these two occasions only. .; 1 > hi "Q lh«t WM hlN greftt oooupatlonf A. Ym, at thoM tlmen. " Q. la It nnt true that the prlaoner told you tbat he himself wak the half-breed qiieatlnn T A. He did not Hay bo In expreiw iernriH, but he conveyed that Idna ; be aald, * If I am 8atiHned the half breeds will be.' f muRt explain thlH' ThiH objection wflH made to him that even If the aov«>rnment Kranted him *3B,00U, the half- breed queailon would remain the Hame, and he ■aldlnanavter t» that ' If I am antiHned the haif-brreda will be ' " Q. In It not a fact he told you he would even acot^pt a le>fiHnm than $»S,000. A. YeH, be cald, ' une all ^holnHuenoe you cau, you mar not R*t all that but Ket all you can, and If ynu get lew we will aee. ' " This testimony of the Oblate father, which will be found on page 113 of the official re- port, is supported by the evidence of a half- breed, Charles Nolin. On page 94 of the same report we read : — " Q. Did the prisoner tell you what be would do if they paid him, If the OoverDinent paid him the indemnity In question? A. Yes. " a. What did be tell you 7 A. He raid If be got the money he wanted from the Govern menthewou'd go wht-rever the Government wished to send him. "Ci. When did you Anally diflfter from the Prisoner In opinion? A. About twenty days Bfore thoy look up arms, I broke with the prisoner and made op«>n war upon him. " Q. What happened on the 10th ? A. On the 10th of March I and the prisoner were to meet to explain the situation. I was taken prisoner by four armed men. " Q,. Who were the armed men. A. Philip Oardupuy, David Tourond, Francis Vermefe and JoHoi h Lemoin. I whh taken to the Church gfHt. Antolae. I saw some Indians and half- reeds armed in tLe church. " Q. Did you have ocoHion to go to the coun- ^jil after that? A. During the night I was brought before the council. *" ti. Wa.1 the prisoner there ? A. Yes. " Q, What dl the cnunoil that the prisoner had made use of the movement to claim the in- demnity for his ow\ pocket." I think, Mr Speaker, we may well Ray that we have disposed of the patriotism of this man. (Cheers). THB RKFORM PRKSS. During all this time there was an agitation going on in the country. There was an agi- tation by the Reform party in one direction in the province of Ontario, and there was an agitation of a similar kind, but in a different direction, going on in the province of Que- bec. We liave had from the hon. member for Provencher f Mr. Royal) several extracts from the writings of the Olobe newspaper, which was trying to influence the minds of the people of Ontario at the time ; and I pro- pose, if the house will allow me, in riew of the importance of the debate now going on, to make a few quotations from the tlloh* dur- ing that time. The first quotation to which I shall refer is dated 24th July, I88S, in which the (Uobe says :— i D^ t " The trial programme points all In this one direction : Hurry through the case ; hurry through the case. Remember that every moment the court Is open there Is dan- ger thai something may be blurted out that will damage the Government. Let the Judge somewhat nrusquely set aside all objeotloaa, though everjMpe of them may hold large ma- terial for ^^^ppenl. I^et what many think are reasonuflRkcllilles 'or securing evidence for the defenoe be refufuv^, and everything be itroocedid with as if conviction were a fore- gone conclu»lon. Then what follows? A g(M>(4 case Is made out, on which Kiel's friends and copatr lots can say that the criminal haa not bad a fair trial. The Imperial Government can be worked upon to bring Its influences to bear on Sir John A. Macdonald. Lord Halls- bury will never face the country without hav- ing first tried all he can to avoid in Britlah territory the shedding of a surrendered rel>el's blood. There will be sent to Hir John A. Mac- douald a communication to the cfTect that. In- asmuch as a large number of Her Majesty's subjects are of opinion that Kiel's trial was unfairly conducted, therefore It Is Her MfO«*Hty's earuest wUh that the criminal's life should be spared. 8lr John will shelter himself behlLd Her Majesty, will reprieve Kiel, will ' wlf'h to God he could catch him,' will point to the Globe to prove that he tried very hard to convict Kiel, and every Tory politician In the land win be satUfled." — (Cheers.) They kept it up. They kept up the old cry and continued to set province against province and man against man. On the 12th August the following appeared : — " La Patrie Is afraid that after all Kiel will behanged, asBlr John needs to surrender rome victim to satisfy Upper Canada. And It adds very naively : ' It Is understood that when the English of Upper Canada have spoken noth- ing remains for us (the French) but to obey.' The impression uu here is that Koora No. 8 has still the advautage and uses it to this day as ingeniously and as Hucce»sfuily as when the well-tinowu place was first used. 8ir John would no more think of re^^lstlng what bis Quebec followers Insist, up. going to be banged on Friday; such hanging would V'l atonce an iniquity and an inconvenience.' ingUsh papurH in general have nut suggested that ' Riel Nhould not be hangel.' but it took a very small amount, not of second sight, but of ordinary intelligence, to foresee that he would not. Hir John knows better than to offend his masters, especially masters who know so many of his discreditable tricks and to whom he has yielded so often before. The first bell rang to say nothing of the secuud." Now, sir, about this time an outburst of in- dignation went up through the land from the Independent papers at the course pursued by the Olobe. Even the Baili/ Witness, a paper unfavorable to this Government, denounced the conduct of the Olobe, and that paper felt bound to say something in reply. It said : " As to the statement that the Globe expects to make political capital out of Riel's case, the Olobe is not so wholly ignorant of latter-day toryism as not to know that whatever is (lone to Riel, not ooe of those vfite" which Sir John calls his own will be lost ^^him. Had Riel's plans for raising the In- dia;. < succeeded, had his second rebellion ,nent, ' No'-'.', ;-:i), i w. 7 .; ask what the Rouge press wt'M c'. .'^ii.T: (iii .,! c h../ this time? Were they following', vii i.,e same track? Were they de- nounclLj the Government and agreeing with the Olobe, or were not they and those acting for them — the Riel committee — not only stating that they would not be satisfied even with the reprieve of Riel, but when that was granted they would go further, and thus, sir, this country was to be threatened with an- other amnesty agitation on behalf of this man who had already been the subject, after his first rebellion, of an amnesty agitation that disturboid the country for several years. (Pro- longed cheering.) It being six o'clock the Speaker left the chair. AFTER RECESS. Mr. Cdrran — Up to the present time in the course of the remarks I have addressed to this honorable house, I have not used my own words, I have not given my own ideas. I have given the words, the written language of missionaries, who, with a devotion almost unparalleled, have sacrificed their lives to con- vert the heat.hen in our Northwest territories. But, sir, if I must proceed now with another branch of my subject, I can assure you that I do so with feelings of pain and sorrow. I have always sought, ever since I have been in public life, to cultivate as far as lay within my power, a feeling of good fellowship among all classes of Canadians. That has been my aim. If I have had or one occasion on the floor of this house to speak up for those prin- ciples in which I have been educated, which 1 entertain nuw, and which I intend to die stiil entertaining and that the feelings of some <'f my fellow members were hurt at what I stated, I did so, not to create strife, but because a solemn duty made it imperatiTO that I should stand up for a principle on which no compromise is por^sible. (Hear, hear.) If we look at the history of the world we find that nations generally have been con- solidated by the shedding of blood in defence of the fatherland and in the maintenance of its integrity. We believed, every good citizen, cherishing a hope for the future of this great country, when the alarm sounded, when our volunteers were called from every section of this great country to go and defend the in- tegrity of Canadian soil, we believed that the day had come when this confederation, based on an act of Parliament only, would be con- solidated by the blood of our young men, shed upon a common field in the defence of our common country. But unfortunately, that belief has been shattered through the machinations of those who have sought to n. ake this un- fortunate question one of a sectional character. We find that instead of our country being' consolidatei we have province arrayed against province, people against people, section against S'^ Jtion, and creed against creed ; and we ficii on the floor of this house an hon. gentleman standing up here and endeavoring in connection with it, to revive over this man' s sad end — to revive in the hearts of the Irish people of this Dominion the old fight of ei i' II #fe • OraBge and Qreen. We find him endeavor- ing to rekindle the hatred of days gone by, and undoing the good work that has been progressing for so many years when we found Orangemen and Irish Catholics, in so far as the materia! interests of this country were concerned, standing shoulder to shoulder and working together for the fiscal policy and for the railway policy, that will ensure the prosperity of this country — laboring together in every great national enterprise And, sir, if there is a man in this Dominion who has taken the sting out of the bigoted associa- tions of the past, that man is the Right Hon. Sir John A. Macdonald. It was under his cuidance and management, it was with the admirable skill he has always displayed, that we have been enabled up to the present time to see our people working harmoniously together. And if we want to know where the bigotry and sectionalism, where the spirit of ani- mosity against the race to which I belong are to be found, I say, look at the benches on the other side of the house. Look there and you will not see one Irish Catholic returned to Parliament by the Reformers. The party wKich bo leads has too great a hatred of our race and our creed to return even one man, whilst the party which has been denounced as the Orange party, the bigoted party, the party without principle, the corrupt party, the party which has sought to crush out a noble and generous patriotism — this party has combined not only Englishmen, Scotch- men and Frenchmen, but it includes Scotch Catholics, Irish Catholics and French Catholics, who are all working togetbtr har- moniously for the development of the great material interests of the country. Now, Sir, was it generous or patriotic in the hon. gentle- man who preceded me to try to revive the animosities of the past, to send it broadcast throughout every land where the English and French languages are spoken, that in this country any one sect could trample on the necks of their fellow citizens? Can any attempt at justification be made for sending it abroad that the Dominion of Canada is ground down beneath the heel of the Orange association ? If we look at the pasi history of the question we are now discussing, if it has become a Provincial question, a question of Protest- anism or Catholicism, if this quer.tion has been embittered, there is one man in the country who is responsible for it, and who cannot avoid the responsibility ; there is one man whose responsibility is down in black and white and will remain so long as the re- cords of this country last, and that man is the leader of the Opposition. (Loud cheers.) HON. HB. RLAKB AND BIIL. We had from that hon. gentleman some time ago a speech in which be spoke about the noble and generous efi'orts he bad made all through his career to cement the union of the different sections of the country. Why, sir, I was surprised that he could have ut- tered such language. After having made a tedious argument to arrive at his point, he endeavored to express his views in a meta- phor, by saying that he was not going to construct a political platform out of the scaf- fold of Regina. No, sir, he was not ; but I tell this Hou^e and this country that if he did not wish to construct a political platform out of that material, there was one thing he did, which I will prove beyond contradiction, he constructed a political banner out of the blood-stained garments of Thomas Scott and with his own hand be wrote the device upon it, << $5,000 reward for the rope that hangs Louis Riel." (Prolonged cheers.) What did he say on that memorable occasion ? The following is the Toronto Olobe's report of the proceedings in the Ontario Legislature on the 3rd of February, 1871 : " Mr. Blake moved the following resolution : " ' That the cold-blooded murder (for his out- spoken loyalty to the Queen) of Tbumas Hoott, lately a resident of this province, and an emi- grant thence to the No'tuwe^t, has Impressed this bouse with a feeling ' f sorrow and indig- nation, and in the opinion of this house every effort should be made to bring to trial the per- petrators of this great crime, who as yet go un- whipt of Justice.' " After tracing- the progress of the rebellion of 187U, Mr. HIake satd : While I am disposed to treat legally anything which may properly be called a political offence, I cannot treat this mu'.der as a oolitical offence, if it were to be so treated. I call your atteDtion, sir, to the mode in which the * political offences ' of the victim were treated by Riel. What, I ask, was hit crime ? It was loj^alty i/O his (^ueen, loyalty to the constitution, loyalty to the country. For this he was done to death in a way which I shall presently lay before the house. I am not going to trust myself to a statement of that barbarous event. It Is better I should read to you the official reoort of the Hon. Donald A. 8mith, who was on the spot at the time." Then the hon. gentleman proceeds to read that harrowing account, and continues ; — "Now, sir, we have !l■^o before us the evi- dence which, on a motion of raine.was brought before the bouse and wes printed— the evi- dences of eye-wltnefses of that barbarous crime. At. that time justice could have been doue on Riel here in Ontario and. perhaps, also in England. He fled to the United States. v IS out there was no demand made for his extradition. But, Sir, It Is a sod of ours that he has murdered. It is our Ju>'tice that he has violated ; it In our duty to see, as neceNsary, that 'his tu8t!ce is vindicated. This person, Riel.is llvlnfca little way outside the Imund- arieaof the Northwest, in the United States He Is receiving deputations from the people of that country asking him to stand as a candi- date for t^e local legislature and for the Par- liament of Canada. Yes, for the Parliament of Canada. We find him declining for the good of the country and from patriotic moti"e8 to allow himself lobe nominated. But, sir, I say that unless this province speaks out It will not be long that he will act thus, and we may yet undergo the bumiUatlOD and disgrace of seeing the murderer of one of our people elected to the Parliament of Canada, and re- presentatives from Ottawa sitting In council on the affairs of the corntry with «ne guilty of murder. I warn the house and this province that unless we act in this matter the murderers will go unpunished. This, sir, is no ordinary murder It was no murder for revenge, for money, or for any of the causes that geuerally provoke that great crime. Tnis is no case of hurried, passionate transaction In which the excuse of want of time or deliberation, or of passionate emotion may be pleaded. Even in t'xe presence of the delegate sent by the Cana- dian Oovernment to treat wli h these people, and while he was engaged in his mission, this deed was done, and its enormity was en- hanced by the solemn mockery of a pretended court-mai tlal and a so-called condemnation of death. Ihe viotlnr. died because he was a loyal man ; he died because he would not aid rebels ; he died because he resisted rebellion— he died. In fact, for loyalty to Queen and country. "That this is no ordinary murder is proved by the fact that It provoked an universal fever of indignation throughout this province. If the indignation has subsided, if it does net blaze BO high after this interval, still that In- dignation burns deeply, and is not to be soothed by anjthiu;; less than the meting out of Justictj to the perpetrators of the crime. We have been told that we have nothing to do with this matter. We Canadians, we men of On- tario—we, the representatives of the people of Ontario, assembled here to express the feelings of the province of Ontario, have nothing to do with one of our sons. (Cheers.) We are told that it is our duly, our right, our pleasure to express to the Governor-General our joy on the occasion of his blood being ennobled. We were asked to discharge that duty, and we did It with pleasure and decent warmth, ^ut, sir, am I lo compare lor an instant the feeling of the people of the country on the ennoble- ment of the Governor-General's blood with the feeling that was evoked by the spilling of the blood of one of our sons? No, sir; we have learned here to value the lives of the people. We recognize the truth of the poet's words :— ' The king may make a belted knight, A marquis, duke, and i' that, But an houest mau's aboon his might, Guid fktlth he mauna fa' that.' "It is true tliat we have solemnly recorded.our satisfaction because the blood of the Govern- or-General has been ennobled, and as the blood of one of our sons has been spilled, it is our duty, It Is our pri vllege, it is our right, to ex- press our sorrow and ludlgnatiou at that event. I hope that we shall show that we are bound to one another by a tie as men of Ontario, bound by the tie of kinship; that we shall show that our province Is dear to us, that our people are dear to us, and that the men of On- tario have but one feeling on this subject. Liet us Join our sorrow to the sorrow of bis kins- folk To them has been denied the poor conso- lation of giving a decent sepulchre to his ashes, and of mourning over the place where they await the great day. That spot is un- known ; nor can any monument be placed over his remains. Let his country write his epitaph In the records of her assemblv, and express a people's sorrow for his uutimely death, and a people's stern resolve that that death shall be avenged."« To be avenged — under wkat circumstances ? Does the hon. gentleman pretend that when bis leader (tlon. Mr. Blake) was doing tbis in spite of protestations of the Conservative party in the Assembly of Ontario, who stood up and said : Tbis crime bas been committed outside our jurisdiction, outside tLj bound- aries of Ontario, and asked that tbis proposi- tion, wbicb would leave a standing barrier between the people of the two provinces, be not committed— (does tbe bon. gentleman pre- tend that be was then acting in tbe interests of harmony and peace ? Did be seek on that occasion to do otherwise than to sink deeper and deeper into tbe hearts of tbe people of Ontario those feelings of hatred, which be and bis men say are tbe cause of tbe death of Riel to day ? (Loud cheers. ) Does be pre- tend to tell any bon. member of tbis House that be was blind to what was going on is Quebec all that time ? Does be pretend that be did not know the people of Quebec were up in arms and clamoring, in a state of fever- ish excitement, for tbe protection of Riel, just as be was clamoring for bis blood ? (Cheers. ) Was that the way to cement tbe provinces together, to cement tbe different races together ? Or was it tbe way to divide our people into hostile camps to wage war against one another for years afterwards ? I say, if we have tbe state of affairs wbicb tbe bon. gentleman who preceded me has depicted, it is due mainly to the un- patriotic and fiery denunciation?, which were made on tbat occasion by the leader of tbe Opposition. We have been told by the hon. gentleman who spoke last (Mr. Cameron, Huron) tbat some of the Orange lodges of Ontario passed resolutions ai^king for the ex- ecution of Riel. Now, sir, I do not say tbat those resolutions were not passed, but I have it on tbe best authority, and it bas been shown here by other bon. gentlemen, that tbe men whose names are mentioned in con- nection with these resolutions are not Con- ^> I 18 #> I eerratives but are Grit Orangemen, who passed those resolutions and published them for the purpose of embarrassing the Govern- ment and excitin" fend between Quebec and Ontario. These resolutions were passed for the special purpose of driving from the ranks of Sir John the French Conserzatives who supported him for so mat.y years. I will not reter much longer to this point, but will say that upon that particular section of this sub- ject my words never had any uncertain sound. I felt, when this unfortunate excitement broke out and 1 saw the turn things were taking — the excitement in Quebec and the counter excitement in Ontario, an anti-Kiel meeting having been publicly called in Toronto, as an offiiet to the meetings held in his fivor in Quebec — that it was the duty of every man who felt he had any influence, no matter how little, to exert it as an honest man in the en- deavor to stem the tide of the terrible excite- ment whic\ was then rushirig madly forward. I undertook to write to a triend of mine — not a political friend, but, at all events, a friend in whom I bad confidence (the editor of the Catholic Record— and asked him to pub- lish in his papor my views. I knew that in doing so I vras cutting ties that had bound me to many vtlth whom I had been associated for years ; but when I sent my words abroad, through the press, did I then seek more than I do now to propitiate the Orange body? No, sir. In chat letter, referring to the Orange lodge which had passed those resolutions, I said, also referring to the allegation that Riel was hanged because the decree went forth from the Orange lodges, "that any resolution calling fur his execution, whether it came from a Conservative or a Grit Orange lodge, was a disgrace to them and to the country." I consider that allegation utterly unfounded and capable ot working incalculable injury to our Dominion. 1 further wrote, ''Granted that certain lodges did go so far as to pass such resolutions, as certain preachers, in plat- form outpouriugs, thought fit to call on the Government to hang Biel ; I say all this was cruel and disgraceful. At almost any moment in any civilized community, you will get men to sign a paper asking the Govern- ment to exercise clemency, but it remains for the Black lodge at Peterboro and a min- ister of the Gospel, Oversorth, to clamor for a man' e blood. ' ' Was I seeking the favor of Or- angeism in such language ? When the hon. member for York (Mr. Wallace), who is an Orangeman, I believe, spoke the other night, he had not one word to say in the defence of the action of those who called &n the Execu- tive to see that the sentence of death was car- ried out. Quite the reverse. The duty that devolved on the shoulders of the ministers of the Crown to meet in council to decide upon the fate of a human being, was a most pain- ful one ; but for men to sit down where they have no responsibility, and in cold blood to clamor for the life of any man is something 1 cannot conceive ; yet we are told that the Or- ange body, as a body, had made these lepresen- tations. I say there is no proof of anything of this kind ; there such statement. is no evidence to support Whilst all the public meet- ings were going on in Quebec, whilst all the outpourings of excited feeling appeared in the press of Quebec, not one public meeting was held in Ontario to force the Government to carry out the sentence. But we are told that this case turns on Orangeism, that we our- selves are Orange Catholics. I ask any hon. gentleman in this house — Mr. Langelier — Hear, hear. Mr. CnRRAN — The hon. member for Me- gantic (Mr. Langelier) says "bear, hear." Who sent him to this house to oppose the Government? Who voted for him to oppose the leader of the Government ? The Orange- men ol Megantic, the men who, he says, clamored for the blood of this man. (Cheers.) These are the men who voted for him and sent him here to oppose the leader of the Government. Who have sent other repre- sentatives from the Province of Quebec? Why, surely the hon. member^ for Hunting- don (Mr. Scriver), will not deny that he sits in this house to oppose the right hon. gentleman, the leader of the Government, by virtue of the Orange votes of Huntingdon, and throughout Lower Canada every Orange lodge has been arrayed, on all occasions, against the Conservative party in every elec- tion. (Cheers.) When the Conservative party were driven out of oflBce, in 1874, did the Reform party forget the good services they had received from the Oranj;e body ? Why, the only Orange pro- cession we have had in the city of Montreal within my recollection, under the guise of a funeral, with bands playing and banners flyinc, was carried out under Grit bayonets furnished by the Reform Government (hear, hear), and, sll, when the Reform Government arrived in power, who was the man whose services were the first to be recognized in the city of Montreal, who first received the favors 14 i I of the Goyerntnent, if it was not Dunbar Browne, who had published The Altar and the Throne^ who had eatablished that paper in the interest of the Reform party, had devoted all his time and all his energy to the promotion of Reformers? He was rewarded by being made collector of inland revenue of the city of Montreal. And that was not all. There was the ex-grand master to be provided for. He too had labored day and night for the Reform party. He had never taken anv rest until he succeeded in placing his great Reform leaders in office ; and, when I tell you that the past grand master, George Smith, had an office — not an ordinary office, but a brand new office, an office created for him — that he was made shipping master of the port of Montreal, an office that had always been filled before by the collector of customs, there is the best proof that upon all occasions these people, although now they raise the Orange cry in order to revive the old feud between the Irish Oatholic and the Irish Grangemen on an issue absolutely foreign to their differ- ences, have always sought to curry the favor of Orangemen wherever they could manage to do it. It is not merely with regard to those times, not merely in years gone by that this has been going on, that we have seen and heard and read how great the love of these faon. gentlemen has been for Irish Catholics, how great their love has been for Ireland, how greatly that love has been manifested in their public pre^s whenever an Irish Catholic candidate came forward. On those occasions how did they manifest it? I will not go back to days gone by. I will not go buck to 1863, when the late Hon. D'Arcy Mc- Gee was opposed by the late Hon. John Toung, and the principal grounds taken against him was that he had been connected with the '48 movement. Though he had given the Reformers the benefit of his great talents and had been connected with them for some years, when he parted from them they revived the credit that he bad been con- nected with the movement of ' 48. I remem- ber hearing the great outburst of the Hon. Thomas D' Arcy McGee on the Haymarket square in Mentroi.1, when he spoke in reply to that charge, and told what had transpired before his own eyes in Ireland when a young boy of 18 or 19, how he saw t^ unfortunate people dying by the thousancrfrom famine and from fever, how he saw them evicted from their houses into the ditch by heartless land- lords. He said that his heart revolted at the sight, and he had rushed into rebellion ; and "Great God," said he, "older as I am to-day, if 1 saw the same thing happening now, I feel that my heart would lead me to take the same stand over again as I did on that occasion ' ' And yet it is these people, even after the six hours' speech of the hon. leader of the Oppo- sition had been delivered here in reference to the sufferings of the half breeds, whom we find stating in one of their papers that : " They had farms provided with agricultural machinery and comfortable homesteads, which the correspondeni of the St. Paul, Minn., Pioneer Press said might have been put alongside the average farm of Minnesota without fearing comparison These were in Jeopardy through the neglect of the Govern- ment to grant them titleu to their land. They feared that they were about to be driven off them, and they took up arms in the defence of their hearths." They justify the half-breed rebellion on the ground that the Government had not sent patents to them. As the leader of the Gov- ernment said, not one man, woman or child was disturbed ; not one mm, woman or child was put into the street ; not one man lost his property ; and yet they were justi- fied in the rebellion, they were justified in taking up arms against the Dominion of Can- ada ; but the downtrodden Irishman, who saw his people dying of famine and sickness, who saw his roof torn down, was not so jus- tified. The Grit party said the half-breeds had a right, but the Irishman in his own land had no right. But I need not refer to ancient history. It is only in 1881 that my young friend, Mr. C. J. Doherty, was a candidate for the city of Conservative interest. Gazbttb took up his case, the people of Montreal the fact that he was the first prize scholar of the Ut. Mary' s col- lege, that he was the gold medalist of Mc- Gill university, that he possessed all the tal- ents and educational requirements to make him a first class representative. Well, what was the result ? I may tell this House that since that time when the alarm sounded that this country was in danger, Mr. Doherty left his bed of sickness and went with his regi- ment, the 65ch Battalion of Montreal, and fought like a man with bis French-Canadian friends in the Northwest. But what was that man said to be by the Reformers when he came out as a candidate ? Take the Montreal Herald of that time, then the recognized organ of the Liberal party. What did it say on the 29th November, 1881 ? " What will be the eflect in the business Montreal in the The Montreal and laid before \ >. I» .. ' t olroles of England Hhould the tidings be cabled over that the largest, and In fact the only fltrlotly commerolal electoral district in Canaia ghoulcl And no more fitting representative than » pronounced Land leaguer ? we may well ask, what has Montreal West done to be branded with such an odious stignaa aH ihls ?" Then on the 30th Norember, 1881, it saidt " If Mr. DoheHy should be lucky enough to get elected for Montreal West It would be an enlivening piece of news to send to the old country to say that the greatest city in British America had returned the president of the Land league as a member of Parliament. The Land leaguers in Ireland would be greatly encouraged and all the more, as Mr Doherty is to go in if he can on, the Conservative ticket. They say the Conservatives and Liberals are getting to be good friends at home, and so it would be all right. But the society for preventing cruelty to animals here would have to look sharp, »s after the election some otthe Liberal cows might find themselves without their tails." And, again, the evening organ of the Reform party said : — " What would be the efftot if it were cabled over to Parneil in Kilmalnham that the presi- dent of the Land league has been elected as a member of Parliament for the city of Mont- real." These are a few specimens of what has been done in the past by the great Reform party, and they show the great love which they bear to the people whose votes they now seek to ob- tain. We have been speaking hers about an execution, about one unfortunate man having been hanged under a Conservative adminis- tmtion, when that man was recommended to mercy by the jury which tried him. One would imagine from the outpourings on the other side that no man or woman had •ever been executed in this country under similar circumstances before. But, sir, I find recorded in the 7Vu« Witness, of 23rd January, 1863, when the Reform party was in power, a case against that party — not of the execution of one man, but of the execu- tion of an unfortunate man and his wife, who had beon strongly recommended to the mercy of the court ; and that man and his wife were both hanged, despite the strong re- commendation of the jury and despite the most urgent appeals made from all parties in their favor. Let us read. Sir, a brief extract from the paper I have just mentioned. This man was named Aylward, and he had settled with his wife in a township in the rear of the county of Hastings. Their neighbor was a num named Siunro. The parties live i in ■Sood fellowship until, unfortunately, some hens belonging to Munro bad caused depreda- tiono in a wheat field belonging to Aylward. One thing brought on another, and three or four days after this had taken place, one of the hens belonging to Munro was shot by Aylward ; Munro and his son went to Ayl- ward' B house to see him about it, they spoke about the hen, and were told, it might be foiind upon the land where it bad committed the depredation. They went out together, Avlward taking his gun ; a scuffle took place between Aylward and Munro and his son ; dur- ing its progress the wife of Aylward came to the assistance of her husband, a wound was inflicted upon Munro which produced death sometime after. This is how the True Witness narrated some of the facts : " The husband and wife were Irish Catholics, both young and much attached to each other. The man was 2H years uf age, of medium size but strong and robust, of intelligent oast of feature, and, like the generality of his coun- trymen, capable of displaying strong friend- ship, but easily estranged by unkindness or ««ct8 of selflshuess. Mrs. Aiyward had a very youthful appearance, aud did not look to be more than 18 or 19 years of age, although some two or three years older. She yras con- sidered to possess more than the ordinary share of beauty, and was of light and eleistic figure. Any person who visited their home cou'd not but be struck with the neatness aud cleanliness with which everything about it was kept, and which gave an air of comfort and cheerfulness to their humble home. At the time of her death she was the mother of three small childien, girls, the youngest an infant at the breast.." Chief Justice Draper presided at the trial ; the jury found a verdict of guilty, accompan- ied with a strong recommendation to mercy, and says the paper : — " And now comes the application to the Exe- cutive for a commutation of the sentence. The petition was prepared by Mr. Finn, the pris- oner's attorney, and was signed by ail ihe lead- ing inhabitants of the county of Hasiiogs, by high and low, by rich and poor. There was no distlnc ion of rank or class or creed, the Orangemen of the county bting the foremost on the petition. In tact, everyone felt, with the exception of the Or i t M. P. P., that their lives ought to be spared. The Orit Qovernment re- fused the petition. Everyone thought they should not he executed, and a respite of one month was asked. All of no avail, they were hanged by the neck until dead, ontne morning of the feast of the Immaculate Conception." That, sir, is a statement of the facts as they happened under a Reform Government. And the Reform party now appeals to the people of the country — to the French Canadians and Irish Catholics — and says that the execution of Riel was an outrage, that it was a brutal murder — that it was a judicial murder. But what did they say when this poor unfortunate Aylward and his young wife were both 16 I if! launched into eternity ? Because no appeals that they made wouli be listened to, although the petition was signed by all classes and creeds in the community, with the exception of the Reform member of the Legislature ot thai county. (Hear, hear). Mr. Speaker, in this matter what was the position in which I found myself placed ? I have read here, from the annals of the Prop- agation of the Faith, what had been the career of the unfortunate man whose fate we are discussing. I was asked to do what ? To stand up for him in the name of the French - Canadian race — to stand up for him and do what ? To roll in the gutter, and to disgrace and degrade, and denounce as traitors, the three French-Canadian gentleman in the Min- istry who have stood by the French-Canadian people for years and years. (Loud cheers.) Was 1 doing more honor to the French-Cana- dian people by believing in the integri*^y of the hon. Minister of Public Works in this house, the chosen friend of the late lamented Sir George £. Cartier, his chosen lieutenant, his chosen successor in this house and country, who had labored for thirty years and never once betrayed the interests that were confided to him by his peo- ple ? Wae I to sacrifice him ? Was I to de- grade and disgrace him for the sake of Louis Kiel, because deluded people clamoured against him and called him a traitor ? (Cheers.) Was I to see my hon. friend the Minister of Militia treated in the same man- ner, whom I have known, respected and ad- mired for his pluck, and for the manner in which he stood up for his countrymen upon all occasions ? Was I to sacrifice that hon. gentleman for the sake of the clamor about Louis Biel ? (Cheers ) Was I doing more honor and more credit to the French-Cana- dian people by believing that these men were instigated by honest, and high and pure motives, tnan by espousing the cause of the wretched man, Louis Riel ? Was I, sii, to sacrifice the friend of my youth, the man with whom I have grown up side by side, whom 1 have seen raised to the highest posi- tion in his own province, the idol oi the French-Canadian people for his noble, gen- erous qualities and especially his brilliant eloquence — was I to sacrifice my hon. friend Mr. Chapleau, the secretary of state ? Was I doing more honor to the French-Canadian people by believing that these three hon. gentlemen re- mained true to their people, and was I to be justified in preferring Louis Biel to them ? And, sir, more than all that, I was asked to sacrifice the right hon. the leader of this Qov- ernment, and to believe that he was capable — he and his colleagaes — for the satisfaction of any organization in this country whatever, of steeping their hands in the blood of a fellow-creature? And I was asked, sir, to sacrifice the man in this Govern- ment who bolongs-to my own race and creed —all for the sake of Louis Riel. I was asked to sacrifice the hon. Minister of Inland Reve- nue, the man who had carried the Irish resolutions in this House, which had caused joy and gladness to my fellow-countrymen on the other side of the Atlantic, (Great cheering.) I was asked to sacrifice him. I was asked to sacrifice everything that is near and dear to me I Could I do it ? Could 1 do it in face of my experience in the past ? Could I do it after what I knew had trans- pired in the Northwest ? In the face of the history of this unfortunate rebellion, and all for the sake of a u^an whose character has been described by the missionaries whose evidence I have quoted ? No, sir, I could not do it. I felt that I should be unworthy of the position I hold, if, standing here, speaking in behalf of the people I have the honor to represent, I allowed myself, under those circumstances, to be carried away by this irrational and mischievous agitation. I acted, sir, know- ing and feeling fully how painful my duty was ; but in performing that duty, I have acted as a man who fe«ls the responsibility of his position, as a man who loves the race who has taken this unfortunate man for a time to their hearts, but who will find out their mis- take before very long, and I am convinced, sir, that the future will justify my conduct and the verdict of my constituents will be that I have acted as a man of honor, as a man ot conscience, as a man who loves his country dearly, and who hopes to see that country great and glorious in the future. Mr. Curran resumed his seat amidst prolonged cheering. €.