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THE SIGNATURE OF ARCHIBALD McDONELL, hrsPECTlNG >f ! hord Selkirk's Red River Colony, wmmmtrmsmmmmBt MONTREAL, ( Lower-Canada ) 3pri d by w. gray, 1816, m m'^"' *■ ;w I* .i \' 4 ( No. I. ) •I RN'^W THKR FH«M WITHIN, THY tHALLOW CENTRE TO THY t'tMOST RttlN. i Mr. Archibald Macdonald, X KNOW ihe man, who when innocent, rises in a gentlemanly manner to defend his character. But I hold that miin a fool, who having deserved and got a whipping, in- sists on its i uhlic repetition. Had vou been innocent, your first care, instead of abusing a most respectable Clergyman, would h.ive been to have cleared yourself from the impu- tations against you in the dqruniCnts accompanying Dr. Strachan's letter; this ought certainly to have been yom fir^t »tep\yUh the pub\ic.---You be^in with accusing the Dcctar pf retailing fulse and malicious reports; but, that cannot lie called a report which is taken on deposition, ?ind signed ; nor, will mere assertion invalidate such documents. Your next remark, is, that it is indecent in a Clergymian to ex- pose the motives of Lord Selkirk's colonizing scheme to the puUic.— But surely nothing run be more praiseworthy, than ^hal a gentlernan, or clergyman of character end talent, fihovild enable the simple and credulous poir lo perceive, an4 » ' S VA i Si 6 If m avoid llie traps oi I.an.i Jobbfrs, hy exposing llie arts cm- ployed to delude and lead him astray. You attribute the abundance of provisions at the Red Kiver,to the fertility of the soil ; yet, by your own confession^ the only produce of the colony, which the men tasted was po- tatoes. The restof your provisions was only such as Mr Mile» Macdonell ordered Spencer & House, with two Hudson's Bay Clerks, aided by men armed with nui&kets, bayonets, and ciiiinon, to plunder from the North West Company ; and this too, ai a time, when many of that Company were volui** tarily aiding in the cause of their King and Country, against the common enemy in Lower Canada, with all their means, wh'iht the Americans attacked and burnt, or (like you) plun- dered all their properly at St. Mary's. Indeed it would ap- pear, tliat the h^ad of this infant Colony associated them- selves (in part of feeling at least) with theenemy, for it is welt known, and can be proved, that Mr. Miles Macdonell, and his party, exulted when they heard of the destruction of ihfr North West Company's pioperty by th& Americans, and assured the Indians and the white hunters, that, the North West Company's Depots of provisions on both hands being taken from them, they had no longer the means of en- terin^ the interior country, and would be ruined : can you eeme forward on catb and deny this i Why . Why C\(\ ?.Ir. PTik'S Macdonell march in battle array against the natives, to oblige them to give up to 1 im the provisions they had acquired, by hunting on their own lands, he declaring that he wanted them ; and that Lord Selkirk, as Lord paramount, had the sole right and title to evtry thing on' the millions of acres which he had assumed as a sovsreiiin : thus irritating the natives to d«eds of desperation. As to Lord Selkirk's contracts with the colonists, those of tii'e British Government, besides conveying a legal title, are so infinitely superior, as to requiie no comment ; but if we may judge from tli« contract between his Lordship and Alexander JMathecon, his Lordship must have considered the poor as Jiis property. The failure of the Sutherland n>en to legaiu their lands,gave him all the advantages he could wish, advan- tages which, it seems, he eagerly seized, & acted upon imme- diately ; nor is it improbable, that his arts contributed to that failure. If Lord Selkirk's motives for getting all the money he could from the emigrants, for a passage and lands, were n«t what the Doctor states them to be, why did he not act as the British Government has done — exact a deposit, to be return- ed at the end of two or three years ; tVis would hn\e been more binding on the settlers than bis own mode. Besides, they would have this advantage, that the d«pGsit of money^ being paid them at the end of a certain period, would, with the experience acquired, have been laid out in the mos^. use/ui .•»"■*! iJf B S vmanc£r 8 H-: ■ T 11" K I ^ ;* 1 fnriBijer to ibeir real grod. rmjliis T.rn'jlji|) lias slrarge ideas of justVcp, for generosity is cniii ely out of llie qiit'CtimJ wil'u him, as it seems to he one of bis favourite maxims, that iren ill debt make ihc best Colonists. Your assertion, that Lord Selkirk had, from experience, found mankind, when t:eated in a liberal manner, always be- come ungrateful and ur.manaf;ahle, is a libel on humati na- ture. But, if true, bis Lordship's colonists must, from his treatment of ihem, be as tradable as slaves. With Euch maxims, it is no wonder thai this lied Tivcr Sovereign, and you Lis Minister, did not succeed with men brought up under the mild and liumanc laws of tireat Britain. It is not true that the Biilish Goveruir.cnt takes a deposit of a small surti cfmorey oi\ bi-j Lordship's degrading principle; they exact a deposit as a surety, that the man lo whom they have gi\en a passage, lands and provisions gratis, shall settle en the lot of land which they point out lo him, that they may there- by form a dense population, capable cf making BoadS, Biidges, &c. and be able to assist each other — at the end of three years this deposit is generously returned to them. IVtcr Cunn, you say, joined the forces of the North ?»'eFt Company : iheseforces never existed but in your fiightened ic:>agination. They have not, and never hud any olbeiiortrc Ihan than their industry and servants, such as other merchants have. The cavalry of which you speat, are equally imaginary. Rut this was piobably meant to delude the public into a be* lief, that the North West Company having cavalry and in- fantry, his Lordshif)*3 demand from Government of a num- ber of troops to take care of his own dear self, was a mea- sure of absolute necessity. The North West Company have no need of forces, unless to protect their property against Lord Selkirk's plundering agents, and colonists. Like other Bri.ish Merchants, they stand on the rectitude of their own conduct; and, allho' they liavea powerful monopoly, with his Lordship at its head, to contend with, their fair dealings with the natives have giv- len them such influence, that the Indians (ftf the North West Continent, from ocean to ocean, receive, and assist them as their best friends. h- 'm Your bare assertion of having navigated the rivers, till the 12th November, may, perhaps, be granted, in one case out of fifty. The passage of Lake Winepeg is well Jcnown to many; that Lake is never considered to he navigable after the end of September, from the preva- lence of storms, and bad weather. Even in summer, it is «o unusual thing to be weather-bound from three to five days at ^pmppipijip i.nui.isiiHiwii»"w mim m |''4. H' ih '.Ul tiiC 10 at a time. Ice is so coranacnly seen in Luke Wiisepig in June, that uo canoes enter the Norlhern part before the 6ih or Sth of that month ; and even then, they are frequently kept ashore several days by the floating bodies of ice, and eoriHstimes so late as the latter end of it. 1 here are many men who know this truth, and can declare it on outh. The other Lakes are nearer Hudson's Bay, and have a more backward season. The Ued River is commonly frozen over m the beginning of November ; but this river is a small part of the navigation to York Factory. At this very fac tory, three fine able seamen perisbed in the woods, on the 13lh Sept. in a dreadful snow storm, that lasted three days j in such weather, communication Letwe€a the. ship and the shore is impossible^ At Churchill Factory, where his Lordship's ill-fated coto- nists were landed, the river is four miles wide ; a deep swift current tets out, anl when the flux of the sea make*, a strong current £ets in ; yet, notwithstanding these power- ful agents, the common dreadful inclemency of the season is such, that on the 23d October, this wild, bold, deep, & rapid river, was frozen from side to side, and bound so firmly by the ice, as to resist the action of the most powerful tides ; and on the following 4;h of June was crossed on the ice by men- women- and children, carrying their luggage.— Now if 11 if the seasons are «o mllJ and late as you say, how came the Hudson's Ray Company a ships to be frozen fast in the irg last Autumn, in the beginning of October, In the most soutliern part of the Hay ? Did you really navijjate all the way from York Factory to the Red River v/ith boats of 35 feet keel ? Pray have you forgot how often you must havcna- ligattd them on dri/ land ; how many tedious hours your men walked on sharp stones, in the cold water, to enable the boats to float over the shoal rapids of those small rivers? Do you suppose the passage to York Factory is known only to yourself ? As to the price oi lands, those of the Red River, are cer- tainly rated shamefully and extravagantly, as the people are not only destitute of a market, but the harvest, sheep, cattle, and Settlers, are always at the ncefcy of the wolves, the Cixz, and the Indians; none of these will ever acknowledge the authority of Lord paramount Selkirk, or of}ou,oneof hrs Ministers. But who gave these millions of acres to Lord Sel- kirk ? since he has assumed the sovereign power of disposing of such vast tracts of land, why may not I do the same, why aot a third person, a fourth, &c.— a stry pretty set of Sove- reigns ! There is only one Lord Paramount, cur august and Tfnerable Sovereign, George, King of the British Empire. Without a grant from him, Lord Selkitkhas no more right wm Pi 12 sJ. < ''.^, rsj. |?S*" m tc a foot, of wild lands, than I bavc. AU tlie frceliolJers throui'ho'Jt the British domi:iions bok.' up to him, and hold their lands of bini as the only Lord Panimount, h2 beiiig in this respect the sole representative of the British Zmpire. I wish the soil of the Red River were as rich as you say ; but several of the settlers and many others, have remarked, thr-.t the ground which cannot bear trees, is not a staple soil; but after bearing a few crops, stands in sieed cf ma- nure ; and it seems to be a very natural inference, that staple soils alone can 'bear heavy, hard, timber. Almost any so;i will produce short coarse grass, like that of the Red River; and this old sward ploughed up, will act as manure for a short time, but it is soon exliausted, and then the farmer must change his situation, or starve. —The first wheat sowa in the colony was by Mr. Mi^es Macdoncil, a practical far- lasr of Upper Canada ; and such was the lichness of the soil, and favor of the climate, that it perished. A Mr. Du- gald Cameron, a partner of the Noith West Company, sent him a )resent of about four bushels of seed wheat, whicU wei 3 used for a stcond tr\al. Two of these were entrusted tt) the care of Mr MacLean, the head farmer, and two Mr. Miles Macdonell kept himself ; the whole was sown with every care and precaution. The produce of the two bushels was about 20 bushels, including the seed ; ^nd the other iwif gave t IS i gjtvc much the "saniR proportion. While this wheat vfAi e.rcv/lng, you, Minister Archy, and your men arrived there. Bv' your o.vu account; the latter part of the very following winter and beginning of spring, the colony broke up. The cau«.e of Ihig, as taken from aoUientic d;icui-nent?, was, froin bad government, excessive sulTerings, the result of the above experiment, and the lots of .Jl hope that the fine proriiises made them, could evc-r bs realia-J. Vou declare iha; you had net even t'nie to notice the men's accounts, that 3ourseIf and the few who remained with yon, were ohlioed to be on con- stant guard ; that yi)U were harra!:Sf -i witli Hre and sword, &c. Who then, pray, broke up, iiud sowed such a gre.»t Space of ground as you say, pro:"uced 1 -OO l-ushels of wheat, besides a proportion of other grain, and potatoes in a- bundaiice ; how came that scourge whica desolates the most fertile countries, to give the colony the only harvest it ever had. Well, you arc to anni«3 the public again, or mors properly h.s Lordship will do bo undcr'your name, like Milton's Sa- tan in the serpent. — I will allow you to use as much abusive langu;!ge as you please, which I cannot and will not imit.ite. AT>\^1 MACADAM Montreal, Jlay 30, 1S15^ ( No. 11. ) ■ I KXOW THFE FROM WJTHINj THY SHALLOW CENTRE, TO THY OTMOST f <. C jvrenjLn Mr. Archibald Macdonald, 3l see vour Prompter has made you appear a second time before the pul.lic, and heavily loaded with his venom. — Poor fellow ! I pity you. Do not as yet arrogate to your- self that you have proved ^ny ihi-ig; the facts (as you call them) partial and mistaled, of your fiist letter, have been overturned by other facts, well attested, and to the truth of which it is easy to obtain unquestionable evidence. At pre- sent, I shall confine myself to vhe cinswering what Utile ar- gument can be found in this your second letter ; several parts of which are so sulhed by abuse, that it is contamination to read them. When you have done writing, 1 shall lay before the public a description of this so-much .talked-ofUed River, with its advantages and cUsadvantages ; ly which means, eveiy man will be able to judge for himself. You say the Doctor is an advocate for the claims of the American Go- vernment; and that hs is such, rather thon let anything Corae in competition with the interest of bis favorite fur m Sh, c 2 tradcru. 1%' ml ■ i \.. i .'I trader. Is not the great E;ul of Selkirk himself a Fur tra- der? liiii :,e aot been ninny ycurs at the heiid of a mono- p.'Iy '.1 fur tra.ltrs ? Alas ! 1113' dear Lord, how much must pusL-ioii have blinded you, befwre 30U rould have written such a senlence. Every gV.nr.ienirin connected with the British Government, and very n.any who me not, know very well, that the North West Company, for manv yeurs past, have by every means in their power, been endeavouring to confine thelinutsof the Americans Noith ward and Westward, an4 this truth is but too well known to Congress, who have all along in this last war, ideniirted the North West Company with the British Government in Canada: the Americans held it a maxim, that to destioy the one was to cripple the other. If Pray, what has Lord Selkirk, with his graat fortune, done? —he is not only a Fur Trader, hut at the head of the Hud- son's Bay Company, whose Charter, were it valid, stipulates, that they shall discover and penetrae 10 miles every year into the interior country; this stipulation, thai Con^.pary has never fulliiled. But the North West C. mpauy, while the Ncrthen and Western lines were mere ccnjicij^re, caused those lines to he surveyed by a regular astronpuur, th.e coun- try to be explored, maps lo Le drawn, and laid before hia lMajei,i)'8 i\Jin,it.^rs in Loiulon ; and upp-n the ibundalion cf Ihese u.ap8 dione, do the isvo Governments now act. 1 he whcl« 17 v^holc of this was aecumplichcd ut the expence of the North West Company. His Ljrdiibip, notwithstanding the example of olhcrt, could lot soar to objects of pure public utili:y, by which no- thing but honor could be gained : he grovell^id on the ground, ecanning its surface with the cool eve of an Americiin Zyt .culaior* His Lordship next hands you a string of opinions, or thoughts of some lawyers, grounded upon the supposiliun that the charter is valid. But his Lordship has forgotten to give Ihe opinion even of those Lawyers on the validity of the charter itself. 7 his is a secret he does not choose to entrust., to the public. But until the validity of the charter is proved, a.l the opinions of lawyers, on it, are mere hypothe- sis ; and even his Lawyers, on giving their thougiits o^i the hypothesis, that ihe charter is valid, have dissuaded theai from the exijrciae of these feudal rights, justly abolish- ed by most -if the nations of Europe. A most respectable Jiulhoritys.jys, "iurnoth.ng so prepares llie people [or the practices of an enterprizing lVince,or factious Demagogue, cs the chiise v)inch almost aliva^s accompames the existence act gives jurisdiction to the Courts of '•Lower and Upper Canada, within the territories of the Hudson's Bay Company : these being within the jurisdic- tion of their own Governor and Council." How strange- ly inconsistent is his Lordship's conduct ! (( u Upon my word, were I one of these eminent Lawyers, 1 would never see his Lordship again ; he seems to have pro- cured and made public the above opinion, merely to shew the world, that he not only does not believe it, but that he treats the lawyers, their opinions, and the validity of the charter, with contempt. For his Lordship, as head of the Hudson's Ray Company, having power by the opinions of the above Lawyers, and by the charter, to appoint Governors, Counsellors, Courts of Justice, Judges, P.heriffs, Constables, &c. &c, is scarcely in possession of this opinion, when he posts away from London, crosses the ocean, drives through the United States, comes to Canada, begs, and at length ob- tains »;i. 20 H v." tains cflJieGovfcrncr6f Canada, for himself the Ear! of Sel- kirk, a comnjission to be an Indian Justice of the Peace, in the very territories he claims as Lord Paramount, and on ivhich h« had assumed a kind of sovereign Power j and al- io from the same respectable authority, solicits commis- lions of the same kind, for several servants in the empluy- Jncnt of the Hudson's Cay Coir.pany.~0 ten>pora! mores ! 4 w. Ihe fact is, his Lordship finds it to be his interest, as a land jobber, that the validity of the charter, t^nd the opi- nions of Lis Lawyers, should be believed, th^it he may sell the million < f acres which he has assumed to the best ad- vantage ; but let the dupes look to the event. Dr. Strachan's «aying that it was likely to bi^come an Amcican colony, and his reasons for it, are but too well founded, and believed by every reflecting man ; for we are aware of the tenacity of American demands. The Americans are foraiiiig settle- ments on the Misgissouri, only a few days journey from the Ued River; the whole space between the two rivers is a vast ^lain, where numerous bands of martial Indians constantly love, thati whoin no Arab is fonder of plunder. The answer to yonr next paragraph, is, that where there ii 21 ia n« foundation, there can le no superstructure ; of ccurss your argument falls to the ground. Ji Yo« now prur a torrent of abu8e on a very worthy man, for having, in the language of a gentlenian and a schclar, exposed Lord Selkirk's agreements with poor ignorant peo- ple. Do you suppose abuse is argument and proof ? Then follows a long quotation of unconnected sentences from Dr. Strachan's letters, with hasty comments on them, and hav- ing done this, you gravely tel^ us, you have exposed the gla« ring fallacy o^f every argument. I suppose this is a new spe- cies of logic hivented by his Lordship for this very occasion. But you ought to he aware that the public is much more inclined to believe v. hat you and Lis Lordahip can prove, than what you say. Both >ou and his lordship must take the people of Canada to be fools, to suppose they can be convinced by sur'h incoherent stuff, hut his Lordship beirg a f^eer, thinks we are bound to believe all he says on his ho- nor. I reaily pity his Lordship's situation, when he prompt- ed you to write the above ; bis extreme anger and vexation to find himself thus truly exposed to the public, was so great, that he lost the power of cogitation, he could but indistinctly utter those sentences from the Doctor's Pamphlet, which wounded him most. — Alas ! what Dxmon caused him thus to appear before the pub'' —how many vexatious days an^ O sleepless. m 4i III a M 22 {)!e?}jles9 nigbts, has this worse tlian Sanclio's Doctor izr posed un his Luidsliip. I would advise Dr. Strachan to look well to liis conduct, fur as the Earl of Selkirk is now an Indian Justice of the Peace, he may commit the Doctor to— t/ie Red Rhcr. ic:i fri- As Lord Selkirk was, and is deeply interested in the Fur Trade, which branch of commerce was threatened with an nihilation by the Americans ; it was certainly his duty to kave come forward in the late war in support of his King, Country, and his own proper interest. Cut his name was sot even bea»d of on this side the Atlantic. Had his Ltrdship but half the philanthropy which yea- wish us to believe he has, he would have first visited a clime which by writers on Hudson's Bay, and living witnesses, is de- Bci ibed as so rugged and dreary. But his Lordship chose ra- ther to risk whole families of men, women, and children in the sad experiment, while he remained in Britain to en- joy the compliments and honors of being the founder of a co- lony. At length his Lordship's schemes partly fail, and «re exposed to the public ; here between the breaking up of a settlement formed by one set of men, and the succession of another, humanity might have made him pause.— No such thing, careless of cocBequences, he fits out another set, and sends (i 23 B^nds th^m forwarti ; find only tfien, proposes to visit th^ Ucd I\iver in person. — But in wha» manner : — you say *' at *' the risk of his health, and the certainty of encountering much personal inconvenience ;" and yet his Lord.ship'6 precjutions to m ike the journey sure and safe, are so numer- ous, thut a timid woman would scarcely have thought of halfoftliem. The best of every thing, the most favorable season, chosen men to navigate t'..e vessel, and solJiers to guard biin. What a fuss is here about this Lord's taking an, airing, with all his conveniencies, servants, and guard 3 a* round hina. You say Lord Selkirk; told the settlers, if they should repent of their bargain, he would return them thsir money again. Pray how many were there present when his Lordship made this generous offer ? as two men v/ill fjirn the plural number. Was it at Stoniaway, where, as soon as the settlers knew it was intended by his Lordship that they should be transported to lIudsi.n'sBay, to which they might have preferred Botany Bay, numbers deserted ? Those al- ready on board of ship, that could swim, threw themselves jntD the sea, ancj swaa> ashore, leaving all their etTects ta be plundered by the seamen. Those wretches whj could not swim, were strictly kept on board, till the ship sailed. Was it at Sligo, where his Lordship collected all their mo- ney, telling them mon«y was of no service ; and for their feady money gave them bills on Mr. Miles Blatdoneil, paya- D 3 i»l? 2i m k ^.l- fef K-irf"- ble ill Hudson's Bey ; many of wliich are now in Montreuh You have attempted to explain Matiieson's agreement witU Lord Selkirk, atul I think it is as yqu say, a siti^u/at one, We must wait for Mafheson's account of the great oflVrs made him ; of the truth of which there are gteat doubts; remember that he has given a regular deposition, and you lut mere assertion. In the next paragraph where Lord StU kirk is compared to a recruiiint: Serjeant (of which more lie!eafter)you say every allogaiion and ari;u!iient which the I'octor has auvanced in regard to the contracts, is row com- pletely refuted, and done away. Put, softly, what have Tou advanced that enables you to say this much ; you only tell us, the terms were almost the same as those usually given by the Hudson's Bay Company. Pray, how much is ihat wo/d almost intended to conceal. At the end of three years, instead of a free passage back to Scotland, which pas- sage even the Hudson's Day Company always thought a hard- ship, and their servants, as being so much time lost to them. Lord Selkirk allows them to take one hundred acres of land -, but you forget to inform us on what conditions thei,c hundred acres of land were to be taken by the s«Jtt!er ; and also to '«hat place he was to be farther transported to find them.— Why have y..Mi not laid before the public, one or two copies cf Lord otikiik's agreements with his mfen and colonists ; i ? ML bit ( No. HI. ) ■~~— -- » KNOW THEB FHO?* WITHIN, ni¥ •HALLOW CENTRE, TO THY UTMOST SKIN. Mr. Archibald Macdonald, VV E have now your third letter. It is really supmlng you have so little regard for your own character, as to cc ne before the public with such partial and erroneous stats- ments ; but little else can be expected from the devoted servant, of the authoi of the Red River Prospectus.— On tho truth or falsehood of that Prospectus, hangs the whole, and I dare him ^o the proof, for you are merely the mask un- der which his Lordship writes these papers- You both seem to forget how easy it is for the people of Canada to make themselves acquainted with JIudson's Bay, the interior of that rude country, the Red River, and its colony. Several persons from Hudson's Bay are now farmeri a- mongst us ; besides the very many who have been in the employ oi the British merchants from Canada ; and lasUy, the very settlers from the Red River itself, almost every one of whom has given a deposition, flntly contradicting the material ! m I ,4.1 4' :}. 'I ii 'I n Mi 2^ inateiial part of your assertions.— You set out with," The " terms of the contracts tvcre no higher than was necessary^ *' in order to be certain that they were actually in earnest in *' iheir apparent anxiety to become settlers, and that tbey " were not mere vagabonds, tiishing to escnpe from debts ^^ or crimes." — What a criterion is here to know an hnnebt man by ; he only it seems can be expected to bsive money, and with it be willing io purchase a passage to an unkm^wu dreary country.— How unlucky you are in thus pointing out to the public, the reason why his Lordship gave you a pas- sage for nothing. There is a deposition of one of the set- tlers, stating that Lord Selkirk drew out a contract for him with his own hand, and wished him to sign it ; but upon finding that he could not have a copy of that contract,' he refused signing it ; and came withott any engagement. If these contracts could be seen, perhaps they would shew the spirit of a Lawyer, deeply versed in the quirks of the Law. " Not submitting to this Regulation^ i^nd others, uJiich Lord " Selkirk had taken the pains of writing for their goxernment " and advantage." Pray did his Lordship not recommend the free use of the shelela against the North West men. W^ere these rules for government, the same as those which were adonted on a former t!P.ns''Jortatiop. of colonists to Ilud* son's Bay; on which voyage Lis Lordship's representative s« freijuenily handcuffed, and otherwise ill treated them, ..... that lii.it ihey rose on him wiih one accord tu throw him over- board ; from this they were dissi; ided by tlie Capt liii ; the o.Tlcers of the ship armed thenisolves ai.d getting the men belviw the hatches, kept them there. A poor Highlander, ^vhi! did not understand Enf^lish orders, received a swovd wimnd between ihe coluir bone and neck, of wliich ke lia- gored and died. — Those who acc(*ipaiii3d ycu ou the fjith of ihe finest promises of Lord Selkirk, were obliged to sell their little all to pay for a pass.igo to the Ray ; but what Bay, was cartfull} kept'/rom their knowledge. Near a hun- dred of these wretches were crowded on hoard of one ship with nothing bi:t the ship's provisions to subzist on ; a con^ fined situation, a cold wet voyage, aided by the recollection of the past, the sufferings of the present, anxiety and fear ef the future, brought on a deep dejection of mind : coftta- gious disorders broke out— about one tenth of them died, and very many of the others were much eniiciated. — Ye tall tliis misery, sickness^ and death, is haui,'ht;!y said to ba purely their own faults.— Alas ! their great crimes were ere* dulity and deep poverty. In thia weak sad state, they pas- sea many days in Hudson's Straits amongst the ice j having cliiar3d this place, the utmost verge of nature ; they a!^ l-ingth arrived, on the ru^'^d, muddy, dreary, shores of Churchill; thi interi^^r of which is a vai:t inortss, intsr- min-V d wilh rockd, covGrc 1 in vlx-oi v/ilh nio-z, dwarf ,i'i ■ ! ;^M 1 • ?.'; '(, \ ./ V' ,^J Ik fj (^'4. u if. 1^ 'o 30 pineiand willows, its utmost Blrirgth of vegitation; the greate t art of the garde itr, with the strorgest nwir.iire, f»n scarcely raise an abortive radith. Such was the en- t:ance2ito Lord Sfikiik'b charmiiu^ Urd of promise. A» the Factory coi.la not contain theni, they were sen a consid- erable distance to build themselves huts, as there is no wood for fceveral Uiiles from the Factory. Weak as ihey were, cxprsed to tht most rigorous weather, they wtre oLliged to work haid, even on a iiunday ; for the setli-.g u, dwinter bt CLKfchil! is dreadfvl; aid to itie u?orth of/.prJ, rru.u may be truly said to contend with the eiements for his life j and ev.n in the latter e rd of May, Induns have been known to perifeh in the snow storms. Buiing the six mo..ths of winter, the colonists remained end labored at Churchill, by your own public confession, each person had the limited alluwai.ce oi half a partridge (a. bout 7 or S o..) «nd i^ lb. of oatmeal ard pease per day ; an d for one day in the week this half partridge was changed tohalfaponndofsalt l-eef.-Kvery person in the Hudson's Bay Company's employ, (not Lord Selkirk's particular cm- ploy) has an allowance of thr.c Partridges, i to h lb. of Oat- meal, pease or barley, ard one pound of bread n.r H-- or a full tquivaknt of oth.r animal fuod in the place of tl,e ttree partridges. I„ th.sc e«e£ave cold countrie,, a liber- m ul fiupply of animal food is absolutely necesssary to counter- act Ilia eilecis of the rigid clmie ; and the llu'lsfin's Bay Coaipany allowance is found just suracient. Lst u& compare them. Euihons r,ai/ Company prr.Lord Selkirl(*s per Man per Man per Dsy. Fresh Hread \ Ih, Partridges No. 3, 3 4i lbs. Tlere af-e 3 ///5. of animal food, Au 1 at least l^ lb, ol Vfi.clabie do. Fresh Rrend, none Ihn. v^ainieal and IV-ase 1 Ih. 3 oS. !*artnd^e» — half 0.8. 1 /6. 11 03. a 1 4-5 Vo in all— here is 8 oz, of anninal food, and 1 lb. 3 oz, (d vegetable do. By your o*>vt> statement, the colonists never tasted bread at Church, 11.— Is ti.eve here no duTertnce ; yet you ifisult- ingly 'ell us, ihey were pleiitifuUv supplied wiih good whole- fiome Tmd. It is snrp.isin^ how these poor wretccea, under hard labour i.i such a country, could have preserved life on haifa partridge and a little oatmeal and pease, with snow water for their drink ; rum they could not get without ready ■mone)r, for who would trust such ghosts as they seemed to be. You assign as a cause of the settlers being sent from the Facto- ry to erect huts in thisdistresccd and dying condition, " that ihey might be near the woodi, and on good hmti/ig grounds"-^ The first reason is a just one. But this place, tho' there are many partridges, was far from bein^ tlia bast hant« B 2 i"g 32 tit SI,: It r ^ il It 1% 2-,o;:ii(Ii, wiiidi are always en tlie sfa shore to the north ' v.i.r,l of tho Factory. li„t even had the setiJtrs been phue.! "1. tlie hanirs grour.ds, such were the maxims of his Lord- Ehips g-vci-iiaKiit, that iiltho' faniishing on half a partridge, andalittJe oa;n:ci.: [ev day, the Coveri-or ef Churchill, >'.;ih his onicers, t.>,,k tlisir guns from them, and jearingly ,e- t»r:,oi them without the h,cks ; thas depriving then, ofti,^ i.-.it hope of hei„g able to add a single ounce to Ihdr scanty i.i-.lUMce of focd.-To „hat purpose was thi, wanton ab«e -f pow«r.~i,, thisloAT emaciated state of body, pooriy clo- 'i"-'K the weather so cold, that the thermometer stood at to to 70 degrees behr,, the f.eczing point, iboy were obliged to go to Churchill Factory for their provisions, you say 12 m-:Ie.. They declare on oalh, it ,o.;; ,hem>„r da^s to ga and co,,c, two days of -.vhich they hailed a heavy sled ; ar.d '■■'■ :iuee journeys out of four, the very heavens were obsc.red -ith storms and sr.o>v .hiUs.~Vet,you insuliingly say thev t"und it " ^„,„^..„ /,„«.- „ ,,,3 „^.,i„^_ ^ ^_^^^ ^^^^^ .^^ J V.'ho but Lord Selkirk could think of coming before the pub- i-e with such a picture of human misery, caused by him.ei.-. -How can he so cruelly insult the miseries of those delude,! people, who, whatever might he the weaknesses^ of human nature, under sickaess and hard labour in a foreign clime, teaiiy deserved his compassion. On the faith of reiterated promises from his own »,c..,;h, ,h.y left their native homes, broke 33 broke tlira' the ties of r.avar? ::nd faenrlslilp, aiij tiiro-.visng journeys, and scantiness of provisions, never allowed the North West Company to dream of troop* cl any description. At one time we have an account of the natives being uH' der the influence of the North West Company, assaultisg the Bcttlers, and burning down their houses ; and almost in the Bame breath they are the be&t friends of the Colonists, aiding them in every thing, and enforcing their return to deliver them from the despotism of the North West Company. Are ycu not aware that the absurdity of your accusations and con* tradictiuns defeat your purposes of deception. How can rival traders with a few servants, whose whole profits, and xery peisonal secujity depend on the good will of the natives, ex» efcise a despotism over a hundred times their rrmber of ro- virg Indians, whom they only see occasionally ? The casft: >s quite the reverse ; the traders are obliged to be very cir- runispect in their behaviour, and oftentimes put up with the Ibss of pioperty and sometimes even the lives of their men- especiallj' 33 «t it specially .bout ihi. v.ry Red Ftiver. His Lordship has hji the whole »i,.t.,, .xccpc the .i,„e in „hich he ,,a, begging his C mmission of Indian J„,iice of the Peace, to .c!,en,. «"d mamre tl>e.e papers of deception ; »l..cb .how de.rly tl.e comp,«iu„„ of a Lawyer versed in .hearts of chicanery. V«u say " ,«e price, of «,„,,, ,-,,, jf,,;,,,,-, j,^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ Jlereis s.ill confession eno^.h for the public to beLeve, that a colony, can neve, he s„pp,.aed. or fina a market, by H.d- »on-B Hay. The .e,.,p„,ary price of a few articles, is no cri »eri..„. -Ihe question is, at what price must the colonist ai ".e lied Ihver .e!l his produce, so as to enable bim to buy ft-ecessaries, and l,ttle luxuries of life, ,„ n.e comforta. tly and bri.g „p his family, supposing him to have no other c"t!et than Hudson's B»y ? and whether any merchant i» £nglana would regularly ri.k his capital on s.oh a» adven- tare, at the prices suited to the Colonist T From the distance, rapids, carrying places, brooks, ^ .mull rivers, it has been pronounced next to impossible t» «!« so-Wbydoes not his Lordship come forward with regu- J-r calculations to elucidate tlus important point on which thevery existence of a Colony. IMr. Duncas Cam- ne.xl the hero of yoor tale. Hi, address, influence. f kij i» mi h^r c'e M ft m m f iJ 'it ! h and 36 P f 'i h --,.* If J. I' and humanity, are uiternattly the tleme of your ihitscgg ; but when he put on an eld loyul rtd cout, he tf corr.e quite irresialalle. Is it not a n^.aUer cf astonishment that a C'o'ri- r.y under the *;^reat Earl of Selkiik, with such a Governor ai Pu'r. Miles MIc'Doimell, having under him a ShsrifT, OfTicers, Lc. &c. arnied wiih car:non, mucluts, c\c. &ic, ; in ii;e finest place in i!:e world, aLundar.ce of previsions as you say, (no matter how they cai>je by them) evei^ necessary cheap und plenty, with his LcrdshipN niaxinss and written laws i,3 2tanjized into a constitution, thcuid or could ever be pot- sJLily overtuined by ihe address <.f a plain Trilish Merchant. ^ Scniethijig n^ust have been radically wrong. I am afraid liis Lcrdsbii , like the Revulutioniatj cf Trance, forgot to njake good fier.ie and honesty part cf the Code, The truth is, the settlers at the end cf their depositions detlave, " that their "' sufferings, and the total failure of Earl Selkirk's proniisej, " made them detcrviine to quit the R.cd River ; theyj reejuesied, " a7id Pegged of Mr. Duncan Cameron a passage to Canada^ *' n'hich was humanely/ granted them." This is the simple fact according to their own oaths. 'J he contracts of some cf thosa jnen had expired, and for using self defence, ycu accuse them of" High Treason;" to whom ? to Thomas Dcuglas, Earl of Selkirk, Indian Justice of the Tcace, dealer in furs, rum, and itf icbucco, fur Cuih cr.ly, &c. &c.— Take you care that II -■' ihk Red iliver Soverei<^n does not some day order, you his r)iir.:2t:r to be tried Lr High Treason. Ycu will have 1.0 excuse 37 excuse,a3 it appears you fuliy own his authority as liege Lord, and therefore cannot appeal to our gracious Sovereign. Vou end your very tedioas letter with informing us, that the men w^^re obliged to pay ready money for their wants at Churchill Factory, otharwise you yourself tauntingly told them, they could not be supplied. Yet the Earl of Selkirk personally assured them, money was of no service in Ilud- son's Bay, collected it from the settlers, and gave them bills, payable in Hudson's Hay; all this was no doubt honorable, very hono-able. It seems nature never intended his Lord- ship for a Nobleman ; between him and the Peerage she in- terposed four brothers ; but fortune, that sometimes plays won- derful freaks, has made Lawyer Douglas Earl of Selkirk. ADAM MACADAM. Montreal, July 3d, 1816. Nd h:'t I ^^^^^Pr^ • ij III i ^^^^^HhP , nM ^H^i 39 ( No. IV. ) ■■■■■■ I KVOW THRU FROM WrTMIM, THV SHALLOW CKXTHE, TO THY DTMOST SKIN. Mr. Archibald Macoonald, ' tl Vour fourth letter begins with complaining that the Fur Traders originated the tales of the distress of the colony. I must naturally suppo.c you mean his Lordship and the Hud- son's Bay Company, as they are the Fur Traders you are best acquainted with ; and every one will cordially agree with you, that his Lordship is really the o)igin of all the evils which have happened to the colony. — Your lame account of the detention of the colonists' baggage at Hudson's Bay, by means agreeth with the depositions of the settlers. You •ay, it was delivered at York Factory to their fathers, bro- ihers, and relations ; but pray, what become of the baggage of those who bad no relations ? — with your usual sophistry, you declare, they suffered no material inconvenience from the loss of their baggage,' as they couiu uc suppiiou witu Ciothing /from the store ; one of the settlers you say, even got both F 3 » iii J, i. •'■.Ill I ..fit m i>'> 40 a leather coat and pair of trowscrs ; but people brought up in Britain think a shirt a necessary part of clothing. It seems, then, it is nothing for a poor man to be obliged to spend hi3 hard earnings on chjlhing, &c. &c. while the suf- ficient supply he hud alread> provided, is spoiling, or rotting in a distant place.— I cannot help taking notice of a spirit of exultation that always a] pears in your Letters, when the distresses of the colonists are mentioned, as much as to say, if we could not keep them, at least, we made them suffer be- fore they got away. You say, " the tales of frost-bit are " scarcely worth notice, as nothing of that kind occurred " more than what often happens in Canada, and what to my " knowledge happened sometimes in London last winter; At Churchill Factory in the month of Sept. when the dry ground is most thawed in the woods, at the depth of 3 or 4 inches below the moss, the frozen g.ound is found. Some- times so soon as the last of Sept. always very early in Octo- ber, all the ponds are frozen, and the snow lies on the ground, without any more thaw for that season ; in the latter end of that month the cold becomes intense, and the largest rivers are then frozen over. The cold of the winter months in- creases in proportion, even to 82 degrees below the freezing point, with a most stormy climate ; the head of evtry per- son IS 30 wrapped up, that scarctly his eyes can be seen ; and notw'ithstanding all precautions, the face of every one expo^ sed ' t* 41 3cd tn the w,ath.r, a|,poa's as if bu-nt ; the skin corning off in the m„u exposed places ; a sc.b is to he s.-en „„ one part or other of the f.«; nor do they recver their c.,h.„, i;i| ,he month of June, wheu they are flayej by the ,n„sl not contain himself within the bounds of decency, and make* use of you his puppet, to give vent to it in the most inele* gant language. The Indians, you say, implored you in the most affecting manner to return and protect them from the partizans of the North West Company," a truth to which ev- ery one of the settlers who then accompanied me, is ready to make oath." — This is pure equivocation, as there were then no real settlers with you. Pray, who were these partizans of the North West Company to whom you so continually re- cur as enemies to yourselves, and to the natives, whom you represent at continually insulting the Indians ? Those wh« have passed many years at the Red River know of no other peaple than the natives, and the traders from Canada and Hudson's Bay. The first are like the highland clans, insult one, and the whole are insulted ; they will never act against themselves. The Hudson's Bay men cauuot be sup- posed to be the partizans alluded to. — I'here are perhaps a dozen, or t'wo poor old worn out Canadiaoe and Hudson's Bay servants, who, with their small families have taken refuge among the Indians ; those would, and must be the last, to insult their relations and protectors. Are you and his Lordship such enemies to truth, as never to be found in, her company. There is a deposition, stating that the Indians were prevented by the North West Company's partoei% 43 partners from attacking Mr. Miles Macdonnell and settlers, for seizing their land and molesting their trade . Does it stand to reason, that Lord Selkirk's agents, who came to seize these lands from their ancient proprietors ; who claim- ed every thing on those millions of acres as Lord Selkirk's property ; and without whose permission [no one was to dare tohi-nt, trade, traiiic, or abide, on this vas^ tract of land; who parcelled iut the lands without even asking the consent oi the natives, could be svpposed to be otherwise tlian in a state of iiostility with the Indians; who fiota time immemori- al, have bravclj/ fought in continual wars, and lost much of ther population, for those very lands. —What has caused SiQch seas of blood in America, but the speculations of land jobbers on Indian lands ?—" This cruelty and violence to Ihe poor industrious settlers," &c. &c. — How strange and contradictory is the languageofyour letters.— Here you think iit to invent a tragic story ; the poorseulers (tho' by the byg, they had almost wholly left you) were treated in an inht»man manner.— How comes it about that you have cot been abia to name one person who was ill treated, or one single act of injustice done to the colcnists, by the North West Company, In your third letter, Mr. Cameron is accused by you, of pay- ing the greatest attonlion to the cjdonists, giving them wine, Ti'iuors, and tho b?*t of ffod, inviting them to his sable, to pm t^B^^iWK.i ^}t £» .■■'V ■ , \r ;;■ -ft . 4 ■ "■ ", '.;. ■,? !■ -h ''^m i1 ir "'■ " 1? ''4 ' '* *^^ :'mi &:^^^H 1 i i i>, t4 ti i I J *]>f : / ■ fsf- ''It i?;#« 44 R^ ) 1 '■ M'' r i It * w balls, &c. &c. and enjoying their ct»nfidenre in the higheit degree. This stoiy ihrn suitod your purpose, but as iruih has no share in your Letitrs, you never asked yourself from whence he c(.uld get all these good thitgs ; nor how it was poosibie to make such sunipluous treats, tor a whole winter on ten gallons of wine, &c.-C)f the little Mr. Cameron had, he freely gave a large share to thr destitute ; of an open lenj- per, ha peihaps too frankly spoke what he thought ; for in i / the then rircurastaiices o< ihe settlers, Mr. Cameron as well ^; as most others, must have considefed them as lost to them- selvf»S; to society, and to their country. The kindness shew- ^,j ed by the North West Company's agents to the coloi»isis, you mention asone of J he causes of ths breaking up of tbe Ci»lo- , ny ; and the settlers themselves on oath acknowledge, with gratitutude, the attention and humanity of tbe North West Compary. — As to your railing at Mr. M'Leod, nothi&g less could be expected, as it is natural for you to hate a Ju^ici: of the Peace ; indeed I ehali not be sui prised w see your parly in a short tune enter a piotest agairibt the whole Coort of King's Bench. — I shall now quote a par* of yooi letter ; ** Andrew Macbeath particularly observes, that he coulJ " not get clothing from the store for his infaut child, al- though his wife and be bad been obliged to leave their clothes at Churchill, under the promise of having tuem immedidtel;: III K LI 45 f* immediately sent after them, which was never djiic. tu " this, I have simply to reply, that Andrew Macbeath had no '* child at all while he bolonged to the colony ; I have been " informed ii.dred that his wife was delivered of a child, at a ♦' post of the North V.'est Company in the river Winepig ** some time (a few days) after Jiey left the settlement.— " This specimen of the barefaced lies v/hich you (Dr. Stiach- f'^ an) have lent yourself to circulate, deserves no comment ef '' mine.'* \V: I have taken pains to copy out the above for a second rea- ding of the public, as it shows in a particular manner the fDtal failure of attention to the wants of the settlers, not to ?ay humanity. In the name of goodness must a poor preg- nant woman, destitute of clothing, in a foreign countrv, with .XJo means of supply whatever, but from Lord Selkirk'* store, {ViJikh Vfas solemnly bound to supply her jvants) be refused the means of wrapping up her babe, till the moment of delivery. Are the following hours, and bnt too frequently days and wl ,>* 'f4, I / '1 <. 46 i 1 r \m «%.'. ' M' i B' m ^* The trash which you^have trumpeted forth about wolves, '< and on which you lay so much stress." Yet of the twen- ty sheep that were brought to the Red River, one half of them quickly fell a prey to wolves, or wolf dogs. It appears you have never slept alone in the wide plains, where wolves are sometimes to be found in packs o! ; . loo, otherwise you would not have thought them so coiicemptible. Permit me to give you the history of one cf ycur poor men, named ^lagnus Isbester, who in the month of March, 1813, cam^ from the salt Rrook, Red River, to the house of Mr. Miles MoDoniiell ; he said he had fasted two days, and asked for food ; he wis directly ordered off to a camp at the distance of about 30 miles, where Thos. M'Kimmey «»nd Michael M'Donnell weie collecting provisions; here he arrived, and assured those clerks he had fasted three days, and begged for something to eat, as he was quite exhausted, which he got ; and was ordered to start early the next morning to an- other provision place at the Hair Hill. On getting up he requested something for breakfast which was denied. A few of the Scotch women were there, among whom was Mary McKinnon, who struck with pity at his low state, and hard usage, tool; part of her clothes, went to the Indians who were tliere, aiid bought a little meat, which she hastily cook- ed, and gave him a small piece. Michael McDonell no- ticing this, came into the tent, and perceiving the poor map 47 man hiding something unier his coat, sh.^ok it violently; the morel fell, which ha took up. and der-hred if he k had :ie'^ whj given him tha* bic of ma.it th.'y 3li;)u!J \ lave n Mie •Oill him for a week. Mary McK inion made answer, thiU it was her \fho had given it to him, that 'he was not ashamed of ii as she had ij:mjii it with part of h er own clothes, and had a right to dispose of it; adding, it is inhu:riaa in you to o- blige him in this weak state to cross a wide plain of 40 miles, witliout shelter, in such a snowy, blowy day. Michael McDg. hell harshly repeated the order for Magnus Isbesta- to sit olL « The poor wretch fasting, set forward all alone. About the middle of the plain, hunger and the storm laid him low and the wolves quickly devoured him. People came over that way, but it was about a fortnight afterwards that Pat. Clubby and Thomas Cochrane, coming from the Hair Hill to the Red River, found ,)art of his clothes, his hair, and some pf his bones. The temper that was pointed out, and followet* up in the government of thi Colory, is, I am afraid but too well mark- ed in part of his Lordship's own conduct, last winter. To the many evils the colon'sts suffered, whether from the na- ture of the country, accidi^nt or harsh and improper treat- ment from his agents, he paid little attention. hi i >Lq / 1 't ^^,\ In the examination of the men at York &c. &c. be did \| G 9 iicl 48 V ■' f. 'I fiot seek to redress griev«inces, looUi tbe sorrow of the men, iand console tliem for their hardships, loss of their time, fiiends, &c, nor search out by what means tbe miseries that had happened might in future be avoided. No, it was to procure evidence, that punishment might be inflicted for any breach of the laws, which vexation, want, and despair had caused the Colonists to commit, in order to ensure their owo ^fety and retreat ; tho' he must have cjn&idered himself io rome measure as the author of these disorders. lie has lis- tened only to tbe haughty side of the question, although he had found by experience that his project had brought noth- hig but vexation and loss to himself, poverty, misery, and death to the Colonists. The venerable Penn, the real foui»« der of a Colony, would in such a case have sought cut, heard), and perhaps, have confronted all parties ; not w:tb a view to punish, but to examine how far his own meaiureg bad been faulty, or not, as well as those of his agents ; how far the ideas he entertained of the feasibility of a colony, could be realized ; and whether in his own conscience, tbe lives of whole Cfimilies could with propriety, be risked in a dis- tant inland country, surrounded with Indians, necessarily inimical to colonization, and with which be was oo other* Vise acquainted than by hearsay. "Bba finish, by comparing Dr. Stracban t© " a little dogit btrkii^ 49 barking at tl,e mo.» ." K.tW„g J„, u«u tl,c el.^ant pc. cf hh Lordship could h.v. l,it <,a so just a „i„.i,e. T,,e ,„g ;.. an emlLm of watchful l,„ne.,,y ; ,hc m„„n of I„„,,ey. Dr. Strachan i. ti.en an honest Dog. ^varni„s mankind to keep out of the way of schemes so wild as to savor of lunacy. A' you have placed yourself and his Lo,d.hip in the mo™,, «l.e most proper place for your abode, I m„3t there leave '"" '"'"'• ADAM MACADAM. ' »mcnts fur the N. B. I must here make my acknowledg local information received of riudson'. Bay and the interior ^uolri.. , for which I am principally indebted to a travel. I'i-, whose knowledge of th.je region, is .uppo.ed to be «„. ■^ :>• * ¥ti : y.m- iS ^M m h *|y m f'"f| m :.:^l!:i^H •COBJ p\.> Coimnutticattoji. M*. Gbat, The several Pamphlets and Paper, on the projecled Col ..ny on the Red Riv.v. i„ the interior of ./p^er Canada, have produced many arguments against the practicability of such an establishment, and of iu usefulness «hen found- ed, as a part of the British Empire. It i, the peculiar blessing of a free people to regard each other as part of one great family, and to feel an interest, more or less, in the for . Wne and fate of every individual ; especially in those who quit their native home, with a view of bettering their condi. tion, and adding to the strength, and extension of the Bri- «i.h Dominion.. To show how far Lord Selkirk ha. any claim to the Bed River, and adjacent countries, by virtue of a grant (rom the Uudson's Bay Company only, and whe- ther a colony, if established there, can add to, or even in rwlitybe, a part of the British Empire, is the intention of these papers. Hudson's Bay was discovered ia 16l0._rn the year 1670, nine or ten persons obtained a patent for an exclusive rigbi to tr«le ia ,h.se streighto and seas called Hudson'.. The sub. Cam m 1: ( ! .'t ili 0,1 \ .V i ti 4 Ml 52 Btancs of their Chartei runs thus — '' The sold Trade andJ *' Commerce uf all tliose Se*f, StreigLts, Rays, River-*, *' Lukes, Creeks, und Sounds, and whatever lutitudo they ntay ** te, within the entrance of the Streights commonly called *' Hudson's Streights ; together with all the Lands and Ter- <* TJtoriea upon the countiies, Cuatts and Cun^rtes of tha seas, ,, Lays, lakes, rivers, creeks, and sounds afoiesaid." ¥^ Wi t ■ * ■: fe i',1' Ihat is, with:n Hudson's Streights, &c;and all those lands, &c, &c. can only mean ihe countries adjacent to Hudson's Stieights imd liny, not lands at the distance of 4 or 500 mile« from lliuison's Buy. And throughout the Charter, the u- bove limits are constantly referred to, as the express limits of the IIudsLn's Hay Com.nany's Charter. This same Chai>. ter also mentions, that no grant is made of any Territory, &c. then in possession of any other power, &c. &c. After the Revolution, in the second year of William and Mary, the Hudson's Day Company's Charter was confirmed for the /iw*- ted term of seven years, and to the end of the then next aes- fton of Parliament, and no longer. The Preamble to thi& Act declares the insufficiency of the Charter, for the purpo- ses contained therein. And since the above period, the Hud- son's ^ay Company has its trade by only the ta- cit consent of custom and possession. Hudson's Bay ii a ^€at icland ttison, or sea. Front the west end of Hudson'9 jtraJghts^ St 53 StrKiw, southward along the Bay ; then follwwing the ehoret to the northward and westward, ai far as the Latilude of 57 degre»8 north, the Hay is environed in the interior by an ele- vated ridge of rocky land, at the distance of from 100 to 200 miles in a waving line, from which, on the east side of the Day, the waters lun west into the Bay, and eastward into the Labrador Seas. On the southward the streams nm northward into the Bay, and southerly and westerly into the St. Lawrence, and into Lake Superior. And on the west side of the Bay, the rivers flow from the same continued height of land eastward into the JJav, and westward into Lake Winipeg. What the French claimed as Canada, made it a vast country, extending even to the Pacific Ocean. They considered the above dividing ridge of land as the na- tural boundary bet veen them and Hudson's Bay ; on which they never trespassed, but to make war. But they tenacious- ly helri all the waters flowing southerly and westerly from the above height of land, to be a part of Canada, and placed their settlements so as to command the navigation and trade of those rivers &c. ^c. And it appears they must have been in possession of at least a great portion of those regions, before even the Hudson's Bay Company was formed. The French surveyed the Gulph of St. Lawrence it) 1506. In the year ivOO they collected furs to form a, cargo, which l^as repeated the next year ; and the country began to rise k i-Mn iiiii ''# I'il •f ■'} r'l 1 1 ■< \ ' 1 '4, •• I) H io ''fi 54 ID tstimaliou. I» 1608 Quebec was bellied j ihe French ra*' 1 pidly advanced in the discovsry of the interior country, and id 1^ h ii , I I'iiT iheeiigraentation of ibe Fur Trade. In 1030 they formed a Bea* ver C- mpany for this expresi purpose ; the island of INJichi- limackiuac in Lake Huron was made the Head Quarters for the distant posts. From this island it appears that several officerg, either of the army or militia, went every year to occupy at once military and trading posts ; thes>e were soon extended far beyond Lake Superior. — 1st to the head of the Rainy Lake River. — 2d. to the junction of the River from the Nepigon country, back to Albany Factory, with the 11 4 Wiaepig River.— 3d. sortie of the River Winepig into Lake Wincpig.— 4th. the Red River.— 5th. sortie of the River Saskatchewan into Lake Winepig. — 6th. the junction of the Pasquiaw River with the Saskatchewan. — 7th. a settlement high up the Saskatchewan Jtiver. The first post command- ed the navigation and trade to and from Lake Superior. The second to and from Albany Fort, in Hudson's Bay ; the third do. do. ; the fourth the interior countries west of Lake Winepig : the fifth, the navigation and trade to and from York Fort, in Hudson's Bay ; the sixth the same purpose ; the seventh in Lat. .53« 20° N. Long. lOS" West, under H. Luc Le Corne, a General in the Indian country, and a Captain in the Army, was only an extension of trade and o.^vvTv*^. i^jr kuv vumjucst a!i« ccssion oi L/anada, all ihe&e regions 55 regions cu-nc under the dominion of the King of Great BrJ- tain ; whose subjects of course entered into all t*ie national rights of the Trench nation. Tha hostile state of the country prevented the British Merchants from penetrating to the post of St. Luc Le Corno until 17fi7 « 8 ; since that pe. riod their ente-prining8pirit,e3pecially those under the name 01 the North West Company, extended the Fur Trade to the very shores of the Pacific Ocean. r.i this most arduousand vast display of enterprii?, perseve* once in discovery, and m the exertions made for the extending of the Fur Trade among different Indian nations, speaking va- nous languages, such has bscn the moderat'on and good faith of these Merchants, that not one single post has been founded on the hlo3d of the Indians. The fuit inland settlement made by thell'jdsoa's Bay Company was in the year 1774, under Mr. Jlearne, near the Saskatchewan River, aboat 50 miles above the 6th military Qnd trading post of the French.— And there is not one instance of the Hudson's Bay com. pany ever making an advanced p>st,rajch bss discovery, i.i this immense wilderness, if we except the journey of M.^ Ileanie, in search of a copper mine, t3\vard$ the North Pole, which was begun in the month of November, I7S9, Tlws is by no means imputed to a want of pub- liC spirit, since they fitted out many vessels, and exprnded 0rrat sums cf money in Northern diecovcrieb, particularly in n 9 BaOin's n 41 m i i m * ' 11 f 66 W ' fy ti Baffin'^ Bay. — The fludson's Bay Company then perfectly knew and understood the limits of their Charter ; and at that time laid i:o claim to any of the countries occupi- ed by the French nation, nor did they ever remonstrate a- gainst the French for being in possession of them. From this statement of facts, it is very clear, that all those Western Regions, claimed and occupied by the French nation, belong to the British dominions, by right of conquest and cession only. — The whole of the vast tract of land claimed and seized by Lord Selkirk, amounting to about 117*000 square miles (no small kingdom) is clearly to the westward of the French line of posts, and no lest than about 350 miles, in a direct line west of the dividing ridge, which the French held as the line between them and Hudson's Bay, it being the natural boundary of that Bay. The mouth of the Red River, being a part of his Lordship't East line^ ts about 69O miles from the Bay on the least ob* lique parallel of latitude, and about 500 miles from the nearest sea water of Hudson's Bay. Pi'. & ' .^i If then the Hudson's Bay company have in these days gran- ted this kingdom to Lord Selkirk, their greatest stock-holder, and have created him Lord Paramount over extensive coun- Sfie§f and independent even of themselves, this company must 57 must have usurped a power, never before held b, any Com- pany of MereLant, ; anJmust have considered the King of Great Britain, „„ Sovereign, as making war, and conq.er- ing only for ,hem, and for their proper interest. And if the grant of these «ded countries by the Hudson's Bay Cmpany to Lord Selkirk, is allowed, what is to prevent that Company from disposing of Upper and Lower Canada. lience it is evident that Lord Selkirk, by virtue of a grant from the Hudson's Bay Company only, fcas no legal title whatever to the several million, of acres he has claimed, and «i.ed on the K.d River, and adjacent countries, much ies, has he any right by h,s agents, by force of arm,, to sei« the servants and effects of the Eriti.h Merchants from Can- ada, and drive them out from those countries: and thm destroy a vast extended commerce, dearly purchased, and «pheld by innumerable hardships, and dangers, and great risk of capital. I „o„Id ,iiii„g,y ,,„, ^^^^^^^^ ^,_.^ ^^^ ter to his Lordship, but he has taken his (l.ght to the Moon, "hither I am neither able nor willing to follow him. Montreal, August 20, J 8 16, ADAM MACADAM. 1 '" "'I 'J COIi. J' d t t I