Chapter III (4)

Colonel Morrison, of the 8th British regiment, had landed at Hamilton, on the American side, on the 10th, took possession of a quantity of provisions and stores for the American army, and also of two field pieces. Nor was Colonel Harvey idle. He kept close upon the heels of the enemy. Seeing them one evening emerging from a wood, he tried the effect of round shot upon them. They did not at all relish it, and went back again. On the same evening, the opposing gun-boats came into collision and some rounds were fired without any important result. Next day Colonel Morrison pressed the American General Boyd, so closely that he was compelled to stand and give battle. Boyd's brigade consisted of between three and four thousand men, and a regiment of cavalry, Morrison's entire force only numbered eight hundred rank and file. At two in the afternoon, the Americans moving from Chrystler's Point, attacked the British advance. The British retired slowly and orderly upon the position which had been marked out for them. The flank companies of the 49th, the detachment of the Canadian with one field piece, somewhat in advance on the road, were on the right; the companies of the 89th, under Captain Barnes, with a gun formed in echelon, with the advance on its left supporting it; the 49th and the 89th thrown more to the rear, with a gun, formed the main body and reserve, extending to the woods, on the left, which were occupied by Voltigeurs and Indians. In half an hour the battle became general. The artillery behaved nobly. They kept up a most steady and destructive fire, and when the American cavalry attempted to charge, they were literally mowed down and were compelled to wheel about. The infantry charged the enemy's guns and captured one at the point of the bayonet. The Americans had not, apparently, room to act. They were too much cooped up. They attempted to turn the British flank, but the Voltigeurs and Indians, secure behind the trees, poured forth a deadly fire and drove them back. The enemy then concentrated his forces with the view of pushing forward in close column, but the royal artillery, concentrating their fire upon the solid mass, the Americans retreated, leaving the British to pass the night without molestation, on Chrystler's Farm. Indeed, the American infantry, after leaving the field, re-embarked in great haste, while the dragoons trotted after General Browne, who was on his way to Cornwall, entirely unconscious of disaster. At the battle of Chrystler's Farm, the enemy lost in killed, Brigadier-General Carrington, who fell at the head of his men, and three other officers, and ninety-nine men, and they had one hundred and twenty-one men wounded.

On the side of the British, Captain Nairne, of the 49th regiment, Lieutenants Lorimier and Armstrong, and twenty-one men were killed, and eight officers and one hundred and thirty-seven men were wounded, while twelve men were missing.

General Wilkinson proceeded down the Sault and joined Browne, near Cornwall. Hampton was confidently expected. The commander-in-chief had positively instructed his general of division to form a junction with the army from Sackett's Harbour at Cornwall, and he had not come. Wilkinson, sick in body, and not a little mortified by the late defeat, did not know very well what to do. To retreat by the way he came was not quite so easy as to advance. The rapids presented innumerable difficulties in the way of ascent, with an enemy lining the banks of the river. And that which was more annoying forced itself strongly upon his mind--the Canadians were both loyal and brave. His agony was most excruciating when he received a letter from Hampton to the effect that the Plattsburgh-Grand-Junction-Invading-Army was marching as expeditiously as circumstances would allow out of Canada; that, in a word it had been defeated and was in full retreat upon Champlain. An anathema was about to be coupled by the worthy and much irritated commander-in-chief with the name of Hampton, when Wilkinson recollected that he too had been checked in the most extraordinary way, in the very outset of a scheme so well calculated to subdue a country, only occupied by three thousand soldiers, scattered over a frontier of upwards of a thousand miles, and numbers of militia, formidable enough in the woods, but no match for a well disciplined, well provided, and numerous army, in the open field. The British regulars, elated with their late success, were in his rear. A kind of highland glen was not far in advance. He was fairly puzzled, and altogether wanting in that energy and decision so necessary for success in war. He called a council of his officers and communicated to them his fears. It was unanimously resolved that, for the present season, the attack on Montreal should be abandoned and that the army should cross the river to the American side and go into winter quarters. And accordingly the attack was abandoned. The Americans embarked again, and were taken to Salmon River. The boats and batteaux were immediately scuttled; the troops were made comfortable in long log huts or barracks, with astonishing celerity, and the camp, at French Mills, was as speedily as possible entrenched. Thus ended a campaign for which the Americans had made extraordinary preparations, and of the success of which high expectations had consequently been formed. The failures of Hampton and Wilkinson were indeed so disgraceful and so humiliating to the Americans that they were only compensated for, in kind, by the no less stupid, disgraceful, and humiliating failures of the British at Plattsburgh and New Orleans, with which the American war was, for both Americans and British, unfortunately concluded. All chance of invasion, on a grand scale, being now completely gone, the Canadian militia were disbanded for the winter.

In December, Lieutenant-General Drummond assumed the command of Upper Canada. He at once proceeded to the head of Ontario, with the view of regaining possession of Fort George. He ordered Colonel Murray to advance, which the gallant colonel did, and the American General, McClure, prepared to evacuate the fort. McClure set the village of Newark, the ancient capital of Upper Canada, on fire, agreeably to his instructions from the American Secretary at War, with the view of depriving the British army of comfortable winter quarters. He was indeed ordered to lay waste the country as he retreated, if retreat became necessary. It was on the 10th of December, a bleak, cold winter day, that McClure fulfilled his instructions. One hundred and fifty houses, composing the flourishing village of Newark, were reduced to ashes, and four hundred women and children were left to wander in the snow or seek the temporary shelter of some Indian wigwam in the woods. On the 12th of December, the British troops occupied Fort George, there being only five hundred men in all, militia and Indians, and not long afterwards the gratification of revenge presented itself to the British and vengeance was taken accordingly. General Drummond followed up the occupancy of Fort George by an attack upon the American fort at Niagara. On the night of the 18th of December, a detachment of the royal artillery, the grenadier company of the 1st Royals, and the flank companies of the 41st and 100th regiments, under Colonel Murray, crossed the river Niagara, and were very quietly put on shore at the Five Mile Meadows, the name of the landing place indicating the distance from the fort. All was still. Every order was conveyed in a whisper. Neither musket clattered nor sabre clinked. The 100th regiment went off in two divisions, one under Captain Fawcett,[22] and the other, under Lieutenant Dawson, stealthily. They seemed to be creeping past the trees, with the softness of a tiger's tread. The wormlike thread of men wound round picquet after picquet, and throttled the sentries on the glacis, and at the gate. The hearts of the sentries sank within them. They had hardly breath enough left, so terror-stricken were they, to reveal the watch-word, or nerve enough to point out the entrance to the fort. But the watch-word was obtained; the entrance was pointed out; and the 100th regiment were inside of Fort Niagara before a single drum had rolled or a bugle sounded. By the time indeed that the garrison were alarmed the whole British force were in the fort, and, after a show of resistance, the Americans surrendered. Only one officer and five men on the part of the British were killed and two officers and three men were wounded in this adroitly managed assault. The enemy lost in killed two officers and sixty-five men, and twelve rank and file were wounded. Three hundred men were made prisoners. In this affair the colonel of the 100th regiment, Hamilton, behaved with distinguished gallantry.

[22] A rather interesting anecdote is told of Captain Fawcett.
About the end of the war he had been wounded in the heel, and was
staying, in 1815, at Mrs. Matthew's boarding house, in Montreal.
At the table d'hôte there was a raw-boned young English merchant,
who remarked that Fawcett, to have been wounded in the heel, must
have been running away. Fawcett's Irish blood rose to his
forehead, and on the spur of the moment he felled the thoughtless
Englishman with his crutch.

The rule of General Drummond in Upper Canada had auspiciously commenced. This affair was not only brilliant but well managed. The fort was a prize of no ordinary worth. It contained an immense quantity of commissariat stores, three thousand stand of arms, a number of rifles and several pieces of dismounted ordnance. On the works were twenty-seven heavy guns.

The greatest possible precautions were adopted to secure success. Major-General Riall followed Colonel Murray, with the whole body of Western Indians, stout, athletic, brave men, inured to fighting, the 1st battalion of the Royals, and the 41st regiment to support him, in case of need. Success had been achieved without the general's aid; but instead of resting satisfied with that which had been already accomplished, Riall wisely pushed on before the news of the capture of the fort could be spread about, on Lewiston, where the enemy, in some force, had erected batteries, with the view of destroying Queenston. Seeing Riall coming up in their rear, the enemy were compelled to retreat, and they abandoned their position with such precipitation, that two field pieces, with some small arms and stores fell into the hands of the British. It was now that the burning of Newark was to be revenged. The Indians and the troops were let loose upon the enemy's frontiers and Lewiston, Manchester, and the country around were laid in ruins. Determined to follow up his success, Drummond proceeded to Chippewa. He fixed his head-quarters there on the 28th of December, and on the morning after was within two miles of Fort Erie. Without loss of time, he reconnoitred, and finding the enemy's position at Black Rock assailable, he determined upon a second nocturnal attack. General Riall accordingly crossed the river, with four companies of the King's regiment and the light company of the 89th, under Colonel Ogilvy, and two hundred and fifty men of the 41st regiment, and the grenadiers of the 100th regiment, under Major Frend, together with about fifty militia volunteers and a body of Indians. The landing was effected about midnight. As before the advanced guard proceeded cautiously but were not quite so successful as before in preventing alarm. They surprised a picquet and captured not the whole, but the greater part of it. They did still more. The bridge over the Conguichity Creek was secured in spite of the repeated efforts of the enemy to dislodge the assailants. But all did not yet go well with the British. The boats required to bring over a second division had necessarily to be tracked up the river as high as the foot of the rapids below Fort Erie. Unfortunately they took the ground and could not be got off for a long time. Indeed, morning had dawned before the royals, intended to turn the enemy's position by attacking above Black Rock, while Riall's division attacked below, suffered so severely from the fire of the enemy that a landing was not effected in sufficient time for the full accomplishment of General Drummond's purpose. Riall, nevertheless, moved forward and attacked the Americans. They were strongly posted and in considerable force, but Riall drove them out of their batteries at the point of the bayonet, turning the enemy's one twenty-four, three twelves, and a nine pounder upon the now retreating foe. Riall, following up his successes, pursued the fleeing enemy into Buffalo. There they rallied, but it was only for a moment. They drew out a large body of fresh infantry, exhibited some cavalry, and fired a few rounds from a field piece, unlimbered on a height commanding the road. The British still pushed on and the enemy again gave way. They retreated notwithstanding their reinforcement so hurriedly that the six pounder brass gun on the height, an iron eighteen, and an iron six pounder were left behind. At last they reached the woods and Riall considered that for one day he had done enough, on land. But not yet fully satisfied, he detached Captain Robinson with two companies of the King's regiment to destroy three armed vessels, part of Perry's squadron, and their stores, if it were possible to do so. These vessels were at anchor a short distance below Buffalo, and Captain Robinson did as he was ordered to the letter.

From the time of the landing at Black Rock until the full accomplishment of the object of the expedition, with one, not unimportant, exception, the Americans lost from three to four hundred men in killed and wounded, and one hundred and thirty men taken prisoners, while the British loss was thirty-one men killed, and four officers, sixty-eight men wounded, and nine men missing.

The exception to the full accomplishment of the object of the expedition, that is to say, the burning of private property, was an exception to the general rule of the British army. But as evil, in some cases, must be done that good may follow, the rule, now laid down by General Drummond, was to pillage, burn, and lay waste, in retaliation for Newark. In accordance with this new rule, therefore, General Riall set about doing the only thing which he had left unaccomplished; the destruction of private property. Buffalo and Black Rock, previously deserted by their inhabitants, were set on fire and entirely consumed. Clothing, spirits, flour, public stores, and, indeed, everything which could not be conveniently carried off, fell a prey to the flames.

Thus was the campaign of 1813 terminated.

It might not unnaturally be supposed that during all this fighting, business would have been nearly at a stand. But so far from such being the case, the war had contributed in no small degree to bring Canada and its capabilities into notice. And it could not be otherwise. So large an expenditure as that required for the maintenance of the regular soldiery and militia must have made money plentiful, and such as were engaged in trade, whether in Quebec or Montreal, undoubtedly profitted by an expenditure almost necessarily profligate. On account of the militia alone, the province expended £121,366, and the expenditure of the commissariat department must have been enormous. But the grand source of wealth was the establishment of a kind of National Bank, with specie, to redeem its paper, in the vaults of the Bank of England. The circulation of fifteen hundred thousand pounds worth of army bills, all redeemable in cash, with interest, could not have failed to enrich a country in which there were not more than 350,000 inhabitants, the greater number of whom were actually in the pay of Great Britain, while they had the privilege of attending, unless in extraordinary cases, to their private pursuits. That Canada prospered during the war is undeniable. There was a considerable falling off in the number of vessels cleared at Quebec in 1813, in comparison with the previous year, and which was in some degree attributable to the risk attendant upon crossing the Atlantic, while the great frigates of the United States were permitted to prowl about, but the provincial revenue had, nevertheless, increased in the course of one year to the amount of £30,006, while the provincial expenditure alone was nearly £200,000. Indeed, Montreal, the temporary head-quarters of the commander-in-chief, and literally alive with troops, who all ate and drank heartily, was making rapid progress in the way of commercial advancement. Mr. Molson gave some indication of the general prosperity by placing upon the St. Lawrence a second steamer. On the 4th of May, 1813, the arrival of the _Swiftsure_ is noticed by the Quebec newspapers. The _Swiftsure_ had twenty-eight passengers, besides a serjeant with six privates of the royals, having three Americans, prisoners of war, four deserters from the 100th regiment, and one deserter from the American army, in charge, on board, and had been twenty-two hours and a half in running down. She had a good engine with a safety valve for blowing off surplus steam. The ladies' cabin had eight reposing berths. The gentlemen's cabin was thirty feet in length by twenty-three in breadth, and contained ten berths on each side, and two "forming an angle with the larboard side." The cabin was capable of lodging forty-four persons, and the steerage could accommodate about 150. The _Swiftsure_ was in length of keel 130 feet, her length upon deck was 140 feet, and her breadth of beam was 24 feet.

Lower Canada was then a wheat growing and even wheat exporting country. So early as 1802, Lower Canada exported 1,010,033 bushels of wheat, besides 28,301 barrels of flour, and 22,051 cwt. of biscuit. In 1810, the value of the exports from the St. Lawrence was £1,200,000 sterling. And the farmer of Lower Canada profitted in 1814 by the presence of the floating army population almost to as great an extent as the merchant. Both animal and vegetable foods were largely in demand.

Sir George Prevost, as soon as the temporary cessation of active hostilities, in his immediate neighbourhood, would permit, called a meeting of the Parliament of Lower Canada, for the despatch of business. Two sessions of parliament had been held in Upper Canada, since the commencement of the war, one was opened by Major General Brock, on the 3rd of February, 1812, when eleven Acts were passed, and the other by Major General Roger Hale Sheaffe, during which other eleven Acts became law. They show the temper of the times. An Act was passed in General Brock's ruleship, granting a bounty for the apprehension of deserters from the regular forces; another granted £2,000 for the repair of roads and bridges; a third amended the militia law; a fourth regulated the meeting of sleds on the public roads; a fifth allowed £502 for clerks and the contingent expenses of parliament; a sixth granted £5,000 for the purpose of training the militia; a seventh extended an Act granting a certain sum of money to His Majesty; an eighth granted £1,000 for the purchase, sale, and exportation of hemp, and £423 for the purchase of hemp seed and payment of bounties; a ninth afforded relief to certain persons entitled to claim lands; a tenth amended an Act for the laying out of highways; and an eleventh provided for the appointment of returning officers. While General Sheaffe was President of Upper Canada, an Act was passed to facilitate the circulation of the Lower Province Army Bills. They were to be received in payment of duties and at the office of the Receiver General. A second Act was passed to empower Justices of the Peace to fine and, in the event of non-payment, to distress the properties of persons offending against the militia laws; a third Act prohibited the exportation of grain and other provisions and restrained the distillation of spirituous liquors from grain; a fourth gave a pension of £20 a year to such persons disabled in the war, as had wife or child, to be continued to the widow or the fatherless, in the event of the death of such disabled persons, and disabled bachelors were to obtain, so long as they were unable to earn a livelihood, £12 a year; a fifth prevented the sale of spirituous liquors to the Indians; a sixth continued the Act to provide means for the defence of the province; a seventh repealed the Hemp Encouragement Acts; an eighth continued the Duties Agreement Act; a ninth amended an Act for the better regulation of town and parish officers; a tenth amended and repealed in part the Act for quartering and billetting the soldiery; and the eleventh granted for the clerks of parliament £88 1s. 9d. The debates of course were neither animated nor of particular interest.

In 1814, the parliament of Lower Canada was opened by the Governor General, on the 13th of January. Sir George could meet the legislature with heartfelt satisfaction and pride. The Canadians had acted nobly, both in the field and out of it, while they entertained for himself, personally, a feeling of respect, which he had done his utmost to win, and which it was his aim to preserve. In the speech from the throne, he congratulated parliament, particularly on the defeat of the enemy at Chateauguay. He alluded triumphantly to the brilliant victory over Wilkinson at Chrystler's Farm. He rejoiced that, notwithstanding the various events of the past summer, by which the enemy had gained a footing in the Upper province, the theatre of war had recently been transferred to American soil, and that Niagara, Black Rock, and Buffalo had been wrested from the enemy by British enterprise and valour. He was proud beyond expression, at the determination manifested by the Canadians to defend to the last extremity one of the most valuable portions of His Majesty's dominions. He trusted to Canadian loyalty and patriotism in the expectation that the sacrifices which the war might yet require would be patiently submitted to. And he would faithfully represent to His Royal Highness, the Prince Regent, the loyalty, zeal, and unanimity of His Canadian subjects. The Houses trembled with emotion. A thrill of intense satisfaction ran through every vein. Sir George had touched that chord in the human heart, which was never touched in vain. He had spoken of patriotism; he had acknowledged that the brave were brave indeed; and he had admitted that those who had been represented as treasonable were loyal to the core. The House of Assembly expressed their sincere acknowledgements. They felt themselves to have been rescued from most unfounded imputations that had been industriously attempted to be fixed upon them. They were grateful to His Excellency for the good opinion he had formed of them. They would cheerfully co-operate with His Excellency in maintaining the honor and promoting the service of their gracious sovereign. And they further gratefully acknowledged that His Excellency, in his anxious desire to forward the prosperity and to preserve the integrity of the province, had been guided by a just and liberal policy towards His Majesty's Canadian subjects, by which their loyalty, zeal, and unanimity had been cherished and promoted, and they were so impressed with the sense of it that, when His Excellency should withdraw, which they hoped would never be, from the administration of the government of Lower Canada, he would carry with him the good opinion and affection of the people over whom he had ruled so conscientiously, so honorably, and so justly. Sir George Prevost could not be otherwise than well satisfied with the address in reply to his speech. Kindness and conciliation had not been thrown away, but had been met with respect and affectionate regard.

The House proceeded almost immediately to business, and had not been long so employed, when His Excellency sent a secret message, asking for an increased issue of army bills, to meet the public requirements. The House at once authorised an issue to the extent of fifteen hundred thousand pounds. Afterwards the Assembly adopted a bill to amend the militia laws, which the Legislative Council refused to concur in; then a bill was passed to disqualify the judges for sitting or voting in the Legislative Council, which the Council also refused to concur in, on the plea that the bill was an interference with the Prerogative of the Crown, and with their privileges; next a bill was passed in the Assembly and negatived by the Council, to grant His Majesty a duty on the income arising from civil offices, and on pensions, to be applied for the defence of the province, in the war with the United States; again the Assembly adopted a bill for the appointment of a provincial agent in Great Britain, which the Council also set aside. Surprising as so obvious an antagonism between the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly may seem, it is easily accounted for. The Council were, many of them, placemen, and indeed the immaculate and confidential secretary to Sir James Craig, Mr. Witsius Ryland, also Clerk of the Executive Council, had himself a seat in the Upper House, although Mr. Robert Peel, differing in opinion with Sir James Craig, did not think that the situation which Mr. Ryland held was quite compatible with a seat in the Legislative Council. Mr. Ryland has favored the present generation, through the instrumentality of a near relative, with a brief review of the political state of the province of Lower Canada, from which some interesting facts can be gathered. He states that the Assembly knew that their bill for disqualifying the Chief Justice and Justices of the Court of King's Bench from being summoned to the Legislative Council, would be thrown out in the Upper House, but that the introduction of such a bill in the Assembly served the purpose which the party who introduced it had in view: it impressed the mass of the people with a disrespectful idea of the judges, preparatory to a grand attack upon the whole judicature of the province. In the bill for appointing an agent to Great Britain, Mr. Bedard, the person who had been under confinement on a _charge_ of treasonable practices, had been named as such agent, and a salary of £2,000 per annum assigned him. Mr. Ryland knew that the Council would throw out the bill. But, says that gentleman, the Council were thwarted, as Sir George Prevost acceded to a request of the Assembly for the appointment of two such agents, whom he accredited to His Royal Highness, the Prince Regent, and the Legislative Council passed several resolves expressive of their astonishment. The Council humbly considered His Excellency's acquiescence with the wishes of the Assembly to be an unequivocal abandonment of the "Rights" of the Legislative Council, and a fatal dereliction of the first principles of the constitution. And with regard to the income tax, proposed by the Assembly, Mr. Ryland states that the whole saving that would have been effected by it, would only have been £2,500 a year, and that the officers of the government who had the utmost difficulty in subsisting on their salaries, would have been, by such a measure, reduced to extreme distress! Now, it is a noticeable fact, in connection with this matter, that the Provincial Secretary, at the period alluded to, was an official in the Colonial Office, and had never seen Canada, although he afterwards received from the province a pension of £400 a year, in consideration of his long and valuable services; and it is in a high degree amusing to find Mr. Ryland informing this functionary "decidedly" and "frankly", that he had acted wisely in not asking for an increase of salary, although it was a different thing to solicit additional assistance in an office where the public business was constantly increasing! Mr. Ryland and a few other such cormorants could not tolerate the impertinent interference of the House of Assembly with their means of subsistence. Nay, it will even appear that Mr. Ryland took it upon himself to privately lecture Sir George Prevost's successor upon the impropriety of following a certain course of action, and that he actually succeeded in dissuading the Governor from his original purpose.

The Assembly, thwarted as it had been by the Council, still pursued its reformatory course. Much time, indeed, did not elapse until Mr. Stuart again brought forward his motion to take into consideration the power and authority exercised by the Provincial Courts of Justice, under the denomination of Rules of Practice. His motion was almost unanimously carried. And who this Mr. Stuart was, Mr. Ryland tells. About 1813, says the Clerk of the Executive Council, "Mr. Bedard, the judge, came to Quebec, for the purpose of advising the measures to be pursued, but not having a seat in the Assembly, the principal management was left to an Anglo-American Barrister, named Stuart, who had been a pupil of the present Chief Justice, (Sewell) when he held the situation of Attorney-General. This gentleman obtained from Lieutenant-Governor Milnes the appointment of Solicitor-General, from which he was dismissed by Sir James Craig, in consequence of his pursuing a line of conduct, which the latter considered utterly inconsistent with his duty as a servant of the Crown." What the particular line of conduct pursued by Mr. Stuart was, that so much offended Sir James Craig, even time and Mr. Ryland have not yet revealed. Perhaps "the Anglo-American Barrister" did not bow sufficiently low to confidential Secretaries and Executive Clerks. He would have found such obsequiousness difficult. Mr. Stuart was both vigorous in mind and body, and was very far from being a common man. He stood more than six feet high, and was built in proportion. His shoulders were broad, his chest ample, and his arms long. His head was immoderately large. His countenance was commanding and his bearing dignified. He spoke with great fluency and with astonishing conciseness. His eye was large, his forehead prominent, lofty and broad, with great depth between the brow and the occiput, his nose was long and aquiline, with the nostrils open; his mouth was large, but the lips were thin; and the chin was square and somewhat prominent; viewed, in profile, the whole head was wall-sided. He was no man to be trifled with, and none other than a fool would at any time, have thought of doing so. The Chief Justice Sewell, also an Anglo-American, was also an exceedingly talented man, but still a man quite of another stamp of mind, to that of Mr. Stuart. Mr. Sewell was thoroughly polished. No man could so well bow to power or so well bend an inferior to his will as Mr. Chief Justice Sewell. To see him in the street was to see him in the least, the lowest, and, consequently, the worst point of view. He was knowing, well read, and well bred. He could become sarcastic, but never condescended to be furious. If he was at all sycophantic, it was his will rather than his nature to be so. On the bench, he loomed large, being long in body, and looked stately and agreeable. He could be stern, but sternness was less natural to him than concealment. He never told all he knew, nor did his face ever betray the innermost recesses of his heart. On the whole, Mr. Sewell was a good man, and he was an excellent Chief Justice. Such are the characters of the complainant and the defendant in this cause. Mr. Stuart carried great weight, when on the right side, in a House of Assembly, steadily bent upon fair legislation. Not only did he carry his motion about taking into consideration the power and authority exercised by the Courts of Justice, through the medium of Rules of Practice, at variance with the law and the liberty of the subject, but the House ordered the Clerk of the Court of Appeals, and the Prothonotaries of the Courts to produce the Rules of Practice, or certified copies of them, for the immediate use of members. The House went into committee and talked the matter over, then rose, and reported progress. The Rules of Practice had not been very long in use. They were made for the Court of Appeals so recently as 1809, and the example was so excellent that the Court of King's Bench followed it. The Legislative Assembly not only considered the rules an infringement upon their privilege of law-making but an infringement upon the civil rights of His Majesty's subjects and subversive of the laws of the province, rendering the enjoyment of liberty and property altogether insecure and precarious, and giving to the judges an arbitrary authority. And the Assembly without further ceremony proceeded to impeach the Chief Justices of Quebec and Montreal, at the instance of Mr. Stuart, the Anglo-American Barrister. It was said that Jonathan Sewell, Chief Justice, had traitorously and wickedly endeavored to subvert the constitution by the introduction of an arbitrary, tyrannical government against law; that the said Jonathan Sewell had disregarded the authority of Parliament, and usurped its powers by making regulations subversive of the constitution and the laws; that Jonathan Sewell had libellously published such Rules of Practice; that Jonathan Sewell had substituted his own will for the will of the legislature; that Jonathan Sewell being Chief Justice, Speaker of the Legislative Council, and Chairman of the Executive Council, had maliciously slandered the Canadian subjects of the King and the House of Assembly, and had poisoned and incensed the mind of Sir James H. Craig, the Governor-in-Chief, and had so misled and deceived him that he did on the 15th of May, 1809, dissolve the parliament, without any cause whatever to palliate or excuse the measure, the said Governor-in-Chief having been at the same time advised to make a speech in gross violation of the rights of the Assembly, grossly insulting to its members, and misrepresenting their conduct; that to prevent opposition to his tyrannical views the said Jonathan Sewell had counselled and advised Sir James Henry Craig to remove and dismiss divers loyal and deserving subjects, from offices of profit and emolument--now the head and front of Mr. Sewell's offending has come nebulously to light--without the semblance of reason to justify it; that to mark his contempt for the representatives of the people and for the constitution, he had procured the dismissal of Jean Antoine Panet, Esquire, who then was, and for fifteen years preceding had been Speaker of the Assembly, from his rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the militia, without any reason to palliate or excuse the injustice; that he had induced P. E. Desbarats, the law printer, to establish a newspaper styled the "Vrai Canadien," for the purpose of vilifying such members of the Assembly as were obnoxious to him; that with the view of extinguishing the liberty of the press, and destroying, therefore, effectually, the rights, liberty, and security of His Majesty's subjects in the province, and suppressing all complaint of oppression, he had, in March, 1810, advised and approved the sending of an armed force to break open the dwelling house and printing office of one Charles Lefrançois, there to arrest and imprison him, and seize and bring away a printing press, with various private papers, which measure of lawless violence was accordingly executed, the said press and papers being then in the Court House of Quebec, with the knowledge and approbation of the said Jonathan Sewell; that Jonathan Sewell had advised the arrest of Messrs. Bedard, Blanchet and Taschereau, upon an unfounded pretext; that Jonathan Sewell had instigated the oppression of the old and infirm François Corbeil, by which the old man lost his life; that Jonathan Sewell had instigated Sir James Henry Craig to issue a proclamation causing the public to believe that Mr. Bedard had been guilty of treason, and that the province was in a state approaching to open rebellion; that Jonathan Sewell had read the wicked proclamation in the Court House, to influence the Grand and Petty Juries; that Jonathan Sewell had abused his powers simply with the view of paving the way for American predominance in Canada; that with the view of annexing Canada to the United States he had entered into a base and wicked conspiracy with one John Henry, an adventurer of suspicious character, for the purpose of sowing dissension among the subjects of the government of the United States, and producing a dismemberment of the Union; and had given artful advice to Sir James Craig, inducing him to send Henry, the adventurer, on a secret mission, which had exposed His Majesty's government to imputations reflecting on its honor, and that he had labored to promote disunion between the legislative Council and Legislative Assembly, and had fomented dissensions in the province to prevent a reliance on the loyalty and bravery of His Majesty's Canadian subjects. Mr. Chief Justice Monk was impeached as an accessory.

With the view of effectually prosecuting the impeachment, the House appointed Mr. Stuart its agent, and directed him to proceed to England, to press upon His Majesty's ministers the necessity of giving heed to the business. £2,000 were awarded for the payment of the expenses of Mr. Stuart, but the Council expunged the award from the revenue bill, and there was no more about it, until the House went to the Castle with their Speaker, who presented an address to the Governor General, requesting him to transmit the impeachments, and suggested the propriety of the Chief Justices being suspended from the exercise of their powers until the pleasure of the Prince Regent could be ascertained. Sir George Prevost was somewhat taken by surprise. He was in an exceedingly delicate or rather interesting situation. It was an unpleasant, if not a disagreeable part, which he was required to play. It was, in a word, to make complaint to the Prince Regent of his predecessor. Sir George, however, blandly said that he would take an early opportunity of transmitting the address, with the articles of accusation against the Chief Justices, to His Majesty. With regard to the suggestion of the Honorable House of Assembly, concerning the suspension of the Chief Justices, he did not consider it necessary to go to that extreme. The Legislative Council had not even been consulted with regard to the articles of accusation; and he could not think of suspending two officers of such rank, on the complaint of only the third branch of the legislature.

In the Assembly, when the Speaker had returned to the chair, there were murmurs, both loud and deep. Mr. James Stuart, seconded by Louis Joseph Papineau, both determined men, and of consummate ability, moved that the charges exhibited by the Assembly against Jonathan Sewell and James Monk, Esquires, were rightly denominated, Heads of Impeachment; that the House had the right to advise the Governor General without the concurrence of the Legislative Council; that the House in pointing out the existence of gross abuses, had performed the first and most essential of its duties; that in framing and exhibiting the heads of impeachment referred to in the address to His Excellency, the House had exercised a salutary power, vested in it by the constitution; and that His Excellency, the Governor-in-Chief, had violated the constitutional rights and privileges of the House, by his answer to the address. But afterwards, to show that a feeling of respect was yet felt for His Excellency, greater than any of his predecessors had ever experienced, the House resolved, notwithstanding the wicked and perverse advice which he had received, that His Majesty's faithful Commons of Canada had not, in any respect, altered the opinion they had ever entertained of the wisdom of His Excellency's administration, and they were determined to adopt the measures deemed necessary for the support of the government and the defence of the province.

The Governor-in-Chief was, however, not by any means pleased with the pertinacity of the Assembly. There were evidently men in the House, who would neither be forced nor persuaded out of certain measures. He hardly knew how to act in the emergency, and with his usual caution he did nothing. The Chief Justice Sewell went to England for the purpose of repelling the accusations against him, and as he was only the instrument of, not under any circumstance the author of a wrong, English public opinion, of course, went strongly with him. The Executive Councillors, the merchants, and the other principal inhabitants of Quebec presented addresses to His Honor, intimating the high opinion in which he was held, and alluding to his conspicuous ability, comprehensive knowledge, patient candour, liberal respect for the opinion of others, and his equality and gentleness of temper, pointedly and flatteringly. Mr. Chief Justice Monk was similarly treated by the influential inhabitants. The Assembly continued, notwithstanding the war exigencies of the times, in their factiousness, as their persistence in some measures was considered. They again passed a bill appointing a provincial agent to Great Britain, who was to reside in London, after the manner of an ambassador. Mr. Bedard, the Judge of Three Rivers, who had figured somewhat conspicuously in Sir James Craig's time, was named as the agent in the bill. It was sent up to the Legislative Council for concurrence. And it had not been long there when it occurred to the House of Assembly that two agents would be better than one, as the Council, desirous of sending one of their own members to England, would thereby be induced to concur in the expediency of despatching agents to London. But the Council begged that the Assembly would mind its own business and not interfere with any bill before the Upper House, unless a conference was officially asked for by the Legislative Council, when any suggestion from the Assembly would be attended to. The Upper House never encroached upon the privileges of the Lower House. The agent was not appointed. The Houses could not agree upon a messenger, and although the Governor promised to send two messengers to London, at the public expense, if the Assembly desired it, no one is to this hour very certain whether the address of the Legislative Assembly, to the Prince Regent, ever reached his royal fingers. These were the principal matters with which the time of the House was occupied, but the opportunity was not overlooked of voting the thanks of the House to Colonel DeSalaberry and his officers and men under him, for their distinguished conduct at Chateauguay, and to Colonel Morrison, of the 89th regiment, and to the officers and men under him, for their exertions at Chrystler's Farm, in the defeat of Wilkinson.

On the 17th of March, the parliament was prorogued, and so ended the seventh parliament of Lower Canada. Sir George Prevost in his closing speech, was not so flattering in his allusions as in opening the session. He had seen with regret a want of unanimity and despatch, and a want of confidence in himself, which had been attended with serious inconveniences to the public service, in both Houses. He lamented the course of proceeding adopted by the Assembly, which had occasioned the loss of a productive revenue bill, to wit, tacking to the bill the clause for the payment of a London agent, which had caused its rejection by the Upper House, and a consequent misunderstanding by which the bill had been lost. He regretted that in sacrificing the liberal appropriations for the defence of the province they had been swayed by any considerations, which seemed to them of higher importance than the immediate security of the province or the comfort of those engaged in its protection. He earnestly entreated the gentlemen of the Legislative Council, as peace was not obtained, to impress on all around them, by precept and example, a respect for the laws by which they were governed, as well as a just confidence in those who administered them, and to cherish and encourage that spirit which had hitherto proved the firmest barrier against all the attempts of the enemy. And as the parliament was about to expire, and he should avail himself of an early opportunity of appealing to the sense of the people for the election of a new Assembly, he recommended the honorable gentlemen and gentlemen to give the inhabitants of the province a true idea of the nature and value of the constitution which they possessed, so that their choice of representatives might fall on those who would endeavour faithfully to uphold it, and so promote the safety, welfare, and prosperity of the province.

Sir George Prevost evidently threw out some hints to the Legislative Council, which could not have been particularly palatable.

In Sir George's speech there was an allusion to peace not being at hand. Sir George made that reference doubtless in connection with the fact that Russia had offered to mediate between the contending powers, with reference to an amicable settlement of their differences. Indeed commissioners were appointed to negotiate, by the United States. Messrs. Gallatin, Adams, and Bayard were named. But Great Britain declined the proposal, though the Prince Regent offered a direct negotiation either at London or Gottenburg. The offer was accepted, and Messrs. Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert Gallatin, were added to the commissioners already in Europe, and sailed soon after for Gottenburg. Lord Gambier, Henry Goulburn, and William Adams were appointed on the part of the Court of St. James, to meet them. The place of meeting was subsequently changed to Ghent, in Flanders, and the conference met in August. But while the conference sat the war was carried on.

The first fight of moment in 1814, occurred on the Pacific Coast. The American Commodore Porter had been cruising in the frigate _Essex_, for some time, in the Pacific, with wonderful success. He had with him as a consort, a captured whaleship, which he had armed with twenty guns, and named the _Essex, junior_. Captain Hillyard, in the British frigate _Phoebe_, accompanied by the sloop of war _Cherub_, had been sent in search of the successful cruiser, and on the 9th of February, gained intelligence to the effect that with two of her prizes she had put into Valparaiso. The American was no match, even with the aid of the whale ship, for two such vessels, and kept in port, the British vessels keeping up a strict blockade for six weeks.[23] At length, on the 28th of March, tired of the blockade, Porter attempted to escape, when Captain Hillyard succeeded in bringing her to action, in the roads of Valparaiso, before she could get back, and without the aid of her lesser consort. The American ship, in the hurry to escape, had spread every stitch of canvas, to run past the _Phoebe_, and as she was doubling the point a squall struck her, carrying away the main topmast. Both ships immediately gave chase, and being unable to escape in his crippled state, Porter attempted to regain the harbor. Finding this to be impracticable, he ran into a small bay and anchored within pistol shot of the shore. The contest, which was a most unequal one, now commenced. Both the attacking vessels at first got into raking positions, and did great execution. Nevertheless, Captain Porter fought gallantly. Hillyard's ship having sustained serious damage in her rigging, and having become almost unmanageable, on that account, hauled off to repair damages, leaving the _Cherub_ to continue the action. Hillyard manoeuvred deliberately and warily. He knew that his antagonist was in his power, and his only concern was to succeed with as little loss to himself as possible. Hillyard again attacked, and the _Essex_ hoisting her foresail and lifting her anchor, managed] to run alongside of the _Phoebe_. The firing was now tremendous, and the _Essex's_ decks were strewed with dead. Both attacking ships then edged off, and fired into the _Essex_, at convenient range, until she struck. The _Cherub_ raked the _Essex_, while the _Phoebe_ exchanged broadsides with her. The _Essex_ had twice taken fire during the action. The loss on board the _Essex_ was fifty-eight killed, thirty-nine wounded severely, twenty-seven slightly, and thirty-one missing. On board both British vessels only five were killed and ten wounded. It is said that there were nearly a hundred sailors on board the _Essex_, when the engagement commenced, who jumped overboard, when it was likely she would be taken; that of these forty reached the shore, while thirty-one were drowned, and sixteen picked up when on the point of drowning, by the British. On the other hand it is alleged that when the _Essex_ took fire aft, a quantity of powder exploded, and word was given that the fire was near her magazine. It was then that Captain Porter advised as many as could swim to make for the shore, which they did, or tried to do, while those who could not swim exerted themselves to extinguish the flames, which having done, the action was renewed, until fighting was impossible. When Porter summoned a consultation of his officers, only one appeared--Acting Lieutenant McNight.

[23] So say the Americans. Mr. Alison says three weeks.

Early in February, the American sloop of war _Frolic_, of 22 guns, was captured by the British frigate _Orpheus_, after two shots had been fired. But by way of compensation, the British brig _Epervier_, of 18 guns, towards the close of April, surrendered to the American sloop of war _Peacock_, of 22 guns, and on the 28th of June, a most desperate encounter took place between the British sloop of war _Reindeer_,[24] of 18 guns, and the American sloop, _Wasp_. The preponderance of force was here, in a most extraordinary degree, in favor of the Americans, but, notwithstanding this advantage, Captain Manners, of the _Reindeer_, one of the bravest officers who ever trod a quarter deck, the moment he got sight of the American vessel gave chase, and as soon as it was evident to the American captain that he was pursued by the _Reindeer_ alone, he hove to and the action commenced. Never were vessels more gallantly commanded and fought on both sides. The engagement lasted, yard arm to yard arm, for half an hour, at the end of which time the _Reindeer_ was so disabled, that she fell with her bow against the larboard quarter of the _Wasp_. The latter instantly raked her with dreadful effect; and the American rifles, from the tops, picked off almost all the officers and men on the British deck. But Captain Manners then showed himself indeed a hero. Early in the action the calves of his legs had been shot away, but he still kept the deck; at this time a grape shot passed through his thighs, but though brought for a moment on his knees, he instantly sprang up, and though bleeding profusely, not only refused to quit the deck, but exclaiming, "Follow me, my boys; we must board!" sprang into the rigging of the _Reindeer_, intending to leap into that of the _Wasp_. At this moment two balls from the American tops pierced his skull, and came out below his chin. With dying hand he waved his sword above his head, and exclaiming, "Oh God!" fell lifeless on the deck. The Americans immediately after carried the British vessel by boarding, where hardly an unwounded man remained, and so shattered was she in her hull, that she was immediately after burned by the captors. Never, says Alison, will the British empire be endangered while the spirit of Captain Manners survives in its defenders.

[24] Taken verbatim from Alison. The _Wasp_, whose Captain,
Blakeley, was an Irishman, was lost in the same year, during a
cruise, and no trace of her gallant captain or crew was ever
obtained.

There was some correspondence in the early part of 1814, relative to the prisoners captured at Queenston, supposed to be British subjects, and therefore sent to England to be tried for treason. The American government confined an equal number of British prisoners, who were to be retaliated upon, unless the British government consented to exchange them the same as other prisoners, and the Canadian government confined General Winder and a number of other officers and men, as hostages for the forthcoming of the British prisoners, and in retaliation for their confinement. The whole matter ended in smoke. The traitors were not made examples of, and negotiations and retaliations ceased. During the winter, stores of every kind were forwarded to Kingston, from Quebec and Montreal. In February, the 8th regiment, and two hundred and twenty seamen, arrived overland from Fredericton, New Brunswick. The Indians, Ottawas, Chippewas, Shawnees, Delawares, Mohawks, Saiks, Foxes, Kickapoos, and Winebagoes, came to Quebec to inform the Governor General that they were poor and needed arms, but would fight to the last drop of blood for the British against the Americans, who had taken away their lands, General Prevost was, of course, exceedingly glad to hear it, and having expressed his regret for the death of Tecumseh, he loaded them with presents, entertained them for two days, and then sent them off to prepare for the campaign.