Roman Position of owners had fled from their properties to the towns or to the Gosford. United States. Even Gosford recognized the need for more troops, and applied for extraordinary powers to suspend the Habeas Corpus Act and to establish martial law. The loyalists were also arming, and the hapless Governor described himself as between Scylla and Charybs (!), with Papineau's destructives on the one side and the British party on the other. Attitude of In this crisis a powerful ally took the list on the side of law and order. The Roman Catholic bishop of Montreal issued a Mandement to be read in all the churches condemning, in clear language, the proposed rebellion, and telling the people to reflect upon the horrors of civil war. On November 6, 1837, a riot occurred in Montreal, occasioned by a conflict between a procession of 'sons of freedom' and members of the loyalist Doric Club. During this the office of the Vindicator newspaper, which had been conspicuous for the violence of its revolutionary language, was wrecked. Catholic Outbreak of insur rection. Face to face with rebellion, Gosford asked to be relieved of his command. He was a victim to gout, and if strong measures were to be taken he urged that it would be expedient that they should be directed by some one less pledged to a mild line of policy. At last more effectual means were being taken for the preservation of order. The strong hand of Colborne was at work; and in November warrants were issued for the arrest of Papineau and twentyfive others. Nine of them were lodged in gaol, but Papineau, his ally Dr. O'Callaghan, an Irish Radical, who afterwards did good work as state archivist in New York, and the others with two exceptions, succeeded in escaping. The rescue of these two, who had actually been taken, marked the beginning of the insurrection. Large numbers of insurgents were collected at St. Denis and at St. Charles on the Richelieu river; and troops were sent to disperse them and to arrest the leaders. An advance was accordingly made from St. Ours upon St. Denis, where the rebels, under insurrec a Dr. Wolfred Nelson, who had been one of the leading Radicals, made a successful resistance. Papineau had been at Nelson's house the same morning, but had made his escape, with a view to taking refuge in the United States. The repulse of the British troops gave much encouragement to the rebels, though the cold-blooded murder of Lieutenant Weir, when trying to escape (November 23), could not serve to advance their cause among the kindly French Canadians. Another expedition, which proceeded from Chambly against Collapse of St. Charles, met with greater success. The rebels were de- tion. feated with serious loss, and thereupon the insurgents at St. Denis also dispersed, Nelson himself being taken prisoner on December 4. The rebellion in the north-east was thus quashed; but in the county of the Two Mountains to the north-west of Montreal disaffection had taken stronger hold. Here the malcontents were gathered at St. Eustache under Dr. Chénier, one of the few French Canadians of good birth and character who took part in the rebellion. The halfarmed peasants showed a pathetic confidence in their capacity to resist regular troops; but when an advance was made by an army of two thousand men under the commander-in-chief, the resistance attempted was in the nature of things very slight (December 13). The fall of St. Eustache necessitated. the collapse of the rebellion in the district of Two Mountains, and the troops returned to Montreal with some hundred prisoners. The insurrection for the time was at an end; but it remained for British statesmen to read the lesson of its origin. Canada. We have seen that in Upper Canada the new Lieutenant- Situation in Upper Governor, Sir Francis Bond Head, found a situation of no small difficulty. The reform party was becoming soured, and Mackenzie openly affirmed that all British administrations were alike, and that it mattered nothing to the colonies whether a Castlereagh or a Glenelg was Secretary of State, the results were in either case the same. Head came out Head and the Assembly. with the reputation of being a Liberal, and his first measures were conciliatory. He sought to strengthen the Executive Council by placing on it some members of the opposition. Among others who were induced to serve was Robert Baldwin, the future Prime Minister, whose name was to be so closely associated with the history of United Canada. It was never intended, however, that these new councillors should have a voice in the direction of policy, and in consequence they soon retired in disgust, after holding office for twenty-two days. From this time Head and the Assembly were at war; but the Speaker, Bidwell, played into the hands of Government by publishing a letter from Papineau, which could be read as an invitation to treason. The majority, however, were not shocked by the disclosure, and, for the first time in its history, the Upper Canadian Assembly refused supplies. But a nemesis was awaiting them; and in the general election of 1834 they were completely routed. The Lieutenant-Governor considered that he was engaged in a life and death struggle with republicanism, and threw his whole official influence and authority on the side of the Tory party. The overwhelming character of their defeat took the reformers by surprise; and it is stated that Mackenzie never recovered from the effects of losing his seat at Toronto. Hitherto, in spite of his violent utterances, he had been cheery and genial in private life; henceforth he was morose and depressed. No less unfortunate in their way were the results upon Head of his signal triumph. It impressed Lord Glenelg, so that he suffered meekly the inflated bombast in which Head explained his general policy. The apostle of conciliation could not, of course, hear without a mild protest Head's blood and thunder sentiments; but men are judged by results, and the results of Head's proceedings seemed eminently satisfactory. At the same time, it was impossible to pass over his disregard of orders. A district judge had been dismissed on the ground that he was a member of the Constitutional Reform Society, and an order for his reinstatement was openly disobeyed. Resignation of Again, Marshal Bidwell had been passed over and inferior Head. lawyers appointed to the bench; Glenelg remonstrated, upon which the Lieutenant-Governor replied that he had determined to take the serious responsibility of non-compliance with the Secretary of State's orders. In these circumstances he tendered his resignation, which even the long-suffering Glenelg was obliged to accept. At the same time he bore witness to the advantage to the public service' which had followed Head's exertions (November 24, 1837). Head. It was precisely at this time that the full extent of this False 'advantage' was to be made manifest. The result of the security of general election had been to throw discontent beneath the surface, and to cause the extreme party to gain in bitterness what it lost in numbers. A wise governor would have taken good care not to be caught unprepared; but Head, wrapped in his own self-sufficiency, approved of the removal of the British troops from the province. Throughout the summer of 1837 an agitation went on, which the great majority of those who took part in it intended to keep within constitutional lines; though Mackenzie, it would seem, was already contemplating armed resistance. A convention was decided upon for the spring of 1838, the Revoluobjects of which were to be supported by a great demonstra- aesigns. tion. In the event of the Lieutenant-Governor and his council resisting the will of the people, their forced detention was intended. A provisional government should then be established, with Dr. Rolph at its head, if he was willing. It has never been cleared up how far Dr. Rolph was implicated in such designs; but the attempt to draw Bidwell into the revolutionary net met with complete failure, and called forth the announcement that he intended to withdraw altogether from political life. To give force to the demonstration, a system of secret training and drill was carefully organized throughout the townships. Some rifles and ammunition were Prepara tion of insurgents. Infatua tion of Head. Outbreak of rebellion. smuggled in from the United States, and the manufacture of rude pike-heads was begun. That these preparations were carried on under the very nose of the Government marks the infatuation of Head's behaviour. Mackenzie proposed in October a raid upon Government House and the capture of the Lieutenant-Governor. At first the project was scouted; but it may well have been feasible, mainly because of Head's over-confidence. It was in vain that Colonel FitzGibbon, who had done good service in the war of 1812, sought to instil his fears into the Lieutenant-Governor. Head's vanity was concerned, as he was determined to preserve Upper Canada without a single soldier or a step being taken to guard against or to prevent disturbance'. At length, however, in deference to others, he condescended to sanction the arrest of Mackenzie and the embodiment of two regiments of the Militia, and FitzGibbon was at the same time appointed acting adjutant-general. The news of these preparations was sent to Mackenzie by Rolph, that he might, if possible, enter Toronto on Dec. 4th and forestall them. The attack was not made till the 5th, when a rabble of some five hundred men marched upon Toronto. The first blood of the rebellion had been already shed, a British officer, Colonel Moodie, having been shot dead on the night of the 4th when reconnoitring. The news of the rebellion was brought to Toronto by a loyalist, who, after being captured, had effected his escape. Head, who had paid little heed to FitzGibbon's warnings, was at last convinced. FitzGibbon was anxious to attack the insurgents, knowing that they were a rabble half-armed and without leaders or discipline; but Head barred the way, saying that he would not fight them on their ground; they must fight him on his. His confidence had now apparently given place to alarm. He refused to allow FitzGibbon to send out a picket; and parleying was entered into with the rebels, so as to give time for the arrival of the Militia. The story of |