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No. 4.

Martial Law in Canada, 1837.

IN Canada, on account of the Rebellion of 1837, Martial Law was proclaimed for the District of Montreal on the 5th of December, 1837, and remained in force until the 27th of April, 1838-a period of nearly five months. The following despatches are selected from the Parliamentary Papers.

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The first and highest prerogative and duty of the Crown is the protection of those who maintain their allegiance against the enemies of order and of peace. To repress by arms any insurrection or rebellion to which the civil power cannot be successfully opposed is, therefore, a legitimate exercise of the Royal authority, and, in the attainment of this object, the proclamation of Martial Law may become indispensable.

It is superfluous to state with what caution and reserve this ultimate resource should be resorted to; and that it ought to be confined within the narrowest limits which the necessity of the case will admit. But if, unhappily, the case shall arise in any part of Lower Canada, in which the protection of the loyal and peaceable subjects of the Crown may require the adoption of this extreme measure, it must not be declined.

Reposing the utmost confidence in your prudence, that such a measure will not be needlessly taken, and relying on your firmness that, if taken, it will be followed

with the requisite energy, Her Majesty's Government are fully prepared to assume to them- selves the responsibility of instructing you to employ it should you be deliberately convinced that the occasion imperatively demands it. They will with confidence look to Parliament for your indemnity and their own.

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It might embarrass, but could hardly assist you, if I should attempt to address to you any more detailed instructions for your guidance in the present emergency. Her Majesty's Government cheerfully commit to your hands the safety of the important part of the dominions of the Crown over which your authority will extend. In the discharge of that trust you will have the highest claim to every degree of support which it may be in our power to give.

Sir J. Colborne,

&c.

&c.

&c.

I have, &c.

(Signed)

GLENELG.

No. 1.

No. 2.

Cory of a DESPATCH from Lord GLENELG to Sir J. COLBORNE.

(No. 48.) SIR,

Downing Street, December 6, 1837. MY despatch of the 27th ultimo will have apprized you of the approaching retire- ment of the Earl of Gosford from the government of Lower Canada-an event which, by the terms of his Lordship's commission, will devolve upon you the temporary administra- tion of the affairs of that province.

It is at once my duty and my anxious desire to relieve you, as far as possible, from the very arduous responsibility attendant upon the discharge of that duty at the present moment. I do not, however, propose to enter upon any statement of the course to be pursued respecting those questions of permanent policy which have been agitated between the Executive Government and the House of General Assembly. All such discussions. however important, are for the present superseded by the urgent necessity which has arisen for maintaining the public peace, and restoring the authority of the law. To that one great object your undivided attention will be given, and to that alone will my present communication be confined.

I enumerate in the margin the series of Lord Gosford's despatches which describe the gradual but rapid advance of the enemies of peace and order for complaints urged at least under the forms of the Constitution to the very verge of rebellion. The conclusion from the whole of this intelligence is inevitable, that the leaders of the movement party are restrained only by some remaining considerations of prudence from raising the standard of open insurrection. It is therefore necessary to consider how this crisis is to be encountered.

You appear already to have concentrated upon the points most exposed to danger every part of Her Majesty's forces in British North America which it has been possible to withdraw from the adjacent provinces. Arrangements have been made for increasing, if necessary, the number of troops under your command with the return of the spring. In the inean- time I trust that your present force will be sufficient to awe the seditious, and to suppress any actual rising which the Civil power may be unable to control. If, however, your strength should be inadequate to these objects, you will of course avail yourself of the voluntary zeal of such of Her Majesty's loyal subjects as may be willing to serve under your authority, and to submit themselves entirely to your orders.

*

* September 2. Private and Confidential; September 8, Private and Confidential: September 9, No. 90: September 13, Private: October 10, Private and Confidential: October 12, Confidential; October 21, Confidential: October 30, No. 113: November 6; November 6, Private and Confidential; November 9, Private and Confi. dential; November 9, Private, 1837.

(No. 130.) MY LORD,

Cory of a DESPATCH from the Earl of GOSFORD to Lord GLENELG.

Castle of St. Lewis, Quebec, December 6, 1837. IN my despatch of the 30th ultimo, No. 123, I expressed my fears that I should be compelled to declare martial law almost immediately in the district of Montreal, and it is with the most painful regret I now acquaint your Lordship, that from the aspect of affairs in that district, and the subsequent proceedings of the insurgents, I found that I could no longer abstain from a resort to the only measure left untried for maintaining therein the Royal authority and restoring order. Accordingly I last night issued, with the advice of my Council, a Proclamation, a copy of which I enclose, subjecting the district of Montreal to martial law; together with a commission, investing Lieutenant-General Sir John Colborne with the necessary authority to execute it. But in order to alleviate as much as possible the severity of this measure, I caused the accompanying letter to be addressed to Sir John, instructing him in all cases wherein the large powers confided to him could be used in co-operation with or subordination to the ordinary laws, and where, from local circumstances, or a prompt return to their allegiance, the deluded habitans should evince a sincere contrition, to revert at once to the assistance of the civil authorities, and to endeavour to impress upon the minds of the misguided people a conviction that the Government is as prompt to pardon the repentant as to punish the refractory.

Resuming the narrative of events on the River Richelieu contained in my despatch No. 123, which left Colonel Gore at Sorel after his retreat from St. Denis, and Lieu- tenant-Colonel Wetherall on his return to Chambly, after his success at St. Charles, I now proceed to give your Lordship the information that has since come to my knowledge.

It appears that two pieces of artillery (24-pounders) were mounted in the entrench ments thrown up by the insurgents at St. Charles, but were of little or no service, and, when the place was carried, were spiked and thrown into the River Richelieu. Twenty-five prisoners were taken by Colonel Wetherall, but none of any note. In returning to Chambly the troops were frequently fired upon, without effect, from the opposite bank of the river, and on arriving at a place called Point Olivier a large body of arined insurgents were encountered, drawn up with an intention to intercept them; a short skirmish ensued, which ended in the complete dispersion of the rebels, with the loss of a few men killed, seven taken prisoners, and two small pieces of artillery, which they had with them; the troops met with no accident, and reached Chambly without further interruption; and

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