The Sun.
London, England, 1852-08-12 00:00:00

THE LATE FIRE IN MONTREAL.
PUBLIC MEETING IN TIIE CUT.
A public meeting, c evened by th,, Lord Mayor, et
the request of several of the un.rehants in the city of
London, was
- held yesterday at the Mansion-house,
for the purpose of contributing to the relief of those
Nwho have suff,red by the Lite fearful conflagration in
ontreal—the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor presid-
Ings Although there was not a large attendance, yet
amongst those present were several gentlemen whose
names stand very high in the commercial world.
tkmengst them we observed—Alexander Gillespie,
Charles Mills, Esq., R. C. L.
Baron Lionel Rothschild, M.P. Edmund Gurney,
tlhie.pGovernor of the Bank of England, P. Roit,
E,tl j B o:iveira, Esq , M.P., John Dillon,
Natha-
niel uhn Bradberrv, Esq., Win. Leaf, Esq.,
T. H.2ldt,Ese ,R. Carter, E-q ,W. Chapman, Esq.,
lesp• smoking, Esq., G. Peabody, Esq, Robert Gil-
te Ete., the Rev. A. D. Campbell of Mon-
te:die'
t"se vh•e
raj'. Binney, Robert
te. zee.Harrison, EAT, Mr.
Sheriff IJopwood, Sampson Cope lake, E•.q.,
The LORD MAYOR, in opening the proceedings,
acid he felt confident that the great city of London,
andL indeed the country uenerally, sympathised with
]stet
who had suffered by that calamity which had
„at,e_ly befallen the people of Montreal. The British
Public he knew would heartily respond to the appeal
ehich would be that day made to them on behalf ot
off'ring humanity in one of our distant colonies.
a begged to remind those of his fellow•countrymen
Rho felt for the sufferings of the inhabitants of Mon-
treal, that their aid should be extended to them at
once, in order that the poor sufferers might be pre-
Paredi, against the approach of the severe weather with
which Montreal was visited towards the close of the
He had received letters from Mr. Masterman,
49 Mr. P. S. Butler, M.P., and Mr. Baring, ex-
pressive of their sympathy with the object for which
the meeting had been called, and apologising for their
absence.
Mr. GILLESPIE, of the firm of Gillespie, Moffatt,
and Co., moved the first resolution, which expressed
,the deep regret of those present at the late fire in
Montreal. He thanked the Lord Mayor for the kind
manner in which he had granted the use of the hall
In which they were assembled for the promotion of
this most humane object. His Lordship's kind.
seas would tend much to confirm that feeling
towards the mother country which he was happy to
Ls3' at present existed in the colony of Canada. Some
idea of the fearful extent of the misfortune which had
befallen Montreal might be formed when he stated
that 10,000, or one-fifch of the inhabitants of the
fir City, bad been thrown out of employment by the late
Surely that fact of itself would be sufficient to
induce the people of this country to contribute largely
towards the relief of the unfortunate sufferers in Mon-
treal, As the meeting might expect him to enter
"° some details, he begged to say that the fire broke
out on the morning of Thursday, the Bth of July, in
the district of St. Lawrence, which was a suburb of
Montreal, in which district the houses were, for the
rat part composed of wood. The weather for some
previously had been excessively hot, and the
Zonoden houses bad consequently become very dry and
vintiraraable. At the time that the fire broke out there
as a strong breeze, which fanned the flames to such
reeneight that it became impossible to suppress them.
Ile fire broke out in the neighbourhood of the Ge-
neral
soul Hospital, one of the most important and hand-
„e e buildings in Montreal. The richest as well as
,poorest inhabitants of the city laboured together,
'llcl successfully, for the preservation of that building.
eye-evi •
tness said that the flames had the appear-
pMee of a cataract, and that all attempts to resist their
rogress were unavailing. The fire commenced at nine
Tur dh
that e ay morning and continued till five or six
A vening,
when it was hoped that it had ceased.
any of the inhabitants, however, were apprehensive
.07‘ the flames would burst forth with renewed vi-
sionsurthat night ; and unfortunately their apprehen-
were well tbunded, for about eight o'clock the
11...0re,
~,?ke forth again in a wooden building in Dal-
t nzie B'square, in which resided some of the most
t_sPectable inhabitants of Montreal, and in a short
tatuve entered the suburb of Quebec. It continued its
follege,s in that extensive suburb until 11 o'clock the
htl'wtg morning, when it might be said to have
went itself out. The Montreal Patriot newspaper es-
-I,,,,ated the number of tenements destroyed by fire at
w-40e and the pecuniary loss at 500,0001. The great
ti,7loit of that loss would unfortunately fall upon
CnPloorer portion of the inhabitants. Thousands of
tree, had to pass the night in the fields. The Mon-
pe"l, -Herald corroborated that statement. ' Some
ote_P_Le said why did not the sufferers insure ? whilst
8 478 aid that the insurance offices were very heavy
hu'eter.ers. The latter statement was quite correct ;
that" was not so much from the late fire as from
toe insurance
which occurred in the month of June last that
ientieeintsurance offices had suffered. The fire of
but
greatertheofio took
e the mercantile part of the city ;
Pier qeuienstion occurred in that district the
He
ensbeeciluieevriPeaitor which was actually uninsurable, in
Montreal e h that the the erections being chiefly wooden.
Tdhebrok.en insurers and the insured in
Which had broken ad suffered much by the dreadful fires
out in Montreal during the present
by the la maJority of the people who had suffered
tip n ~,st fire were French labourers. A large por-
n the Roman Catholics. lie did
Ant men.. sufferers were
any desire
to lessen the n
the latter circumstancefrom
the sympathy of the people of this country.
eltlesr, hear ) He stated that they were Roman
-""°Ijos in order to induce Roman Catholics to alle-
viate their suffering; and he rejoiced that be and the
other stanch Protestants of
this country were now
`horded an opportunity of showing to the world that
bei.eY would not allow any difference of creed to come
then them and the sacred claims of charity, and
116 cry of suffering humanity..---(Hear, hear.) He
"'lied that by their conduct that day they would
otr°ve'that they were indeed followers of that Blessed
nerd who went about doing good, and were anxious,
lall occasions, to act in accordance with the epos-
'alio injunction to do good as they had opportunity.
Mr. MILLS, of the firm of Glyn, Halifax, and Co.,
lecomled the resolution. He felt that, under the
!item:mit:tunes which had been detailed to the meet-
g, it would be unnecessary to make any lengthened
4Ppeal to London or to England in behalf of the suf-
ferers of Montreal. Ten thousand of our fellow-
subjects had been rendered houseless. Of their pecu-
liar claim to our sympathies many in that meeting
kust be aware. The parents of many of those suf-
ferers resided in this kingdom, and they all looked
With affectionate interest to the mother country, from
*hone the great political convulsions of the last few
Sears had happily not released them.—(Hear, hear.)
4:11e rich had insured themselves, but the poor could
resort to no such such remedy. All that the poor
Gould do was to appeal to their richer brethren whom
ei bad blessed with more wealth. Such appeals
bad ever been responded to in this country. He was
tconfident that England would on this occasion cheer-
'llllY maintain her proud character of being the fore-
most to relieve suffering humanity.— (Cheers.)
The resolution was unanimously carried.
The GOVERNOR of the BANK OF ENGLAND moved
the next resolution, the effect of which was, that any
aid Which Montreal itself could afford to the sufferers
must necessarily be but temporary, and that their
suffering loudly appealed to the sympathies of the
people of this country. He was sure that Englishmen
Would ever be ready to sympathise with the calami-
ties of their fellow-countrymen in whatever part of
the world they might happen to be. Though the pre-
sent meeting was but thinly attended, yet for such a
Purpose as this there was no necessity for an over-
flowing attendance. All that was required was to form
committee to whom the public might forward their
subscriptions. The appeal now made, he felt confi-
dent, would he responded to in the same generous
Tanner in which similar appeals ever had been, and
t2hoped ever would be, responded to in this coun-
-4,•--(Cheers.) He should indeed be ashamed of his
fellow.
a. countrymen if he found that, whilst the people
ee°' New York had forwarded aid to the sufferers of
ttioetreal Englishmen allowed their fellow-subjects
1: ICanada to suffer without contributing to their re-
lief d that meeting had been called in
1.01 was g aa
te,luoll for this object so soon after that fearful visi
length which had destroyed a district double the
Ith of Oxford-street.
,-)aro 'D seconded the resolu-
tioe n itOTLISCUILD, M.P.
lit,'" The British public, he was sure, would respond
tzrally ;ind generously to this appeal. We bad con-
erc7ntsd liberally to the aid of those who had suffered
th Teoonflagrations Henaburgh and other places on
Q!e.;ontinent ; and surely when the subjects of our
ueen_ suffered by fire—when those with whom we
aid to maintain a close connexion needed similar
Nee would not be deaf to their appeal.—(Hear,
bear.) F-very one must know what fearful suffering
re
tionentailsd upon a population—in fact, a
the conflagra-
to wae the most frightful calamity that could befall
O wn. Let every one, then, contributecheerfully
r e,
The Lief of our suffering fellow-subjects.
trr. Tesolution was agreed to.
nettoptiLdi3Evats, banker, moved that a subscription be
ed for the sufferer., and that all the bankers of the
4,l,CPolis be requested to receive such subscriptions.
as we this country heartily responded to such calls
iDio. re
made upon her, he felt confident God's bless-1
• n vircol
it Was u't U rest with her.—(Hear, hear.) He believed
4118. rear duty and our interest to respond to such
to take Ile, felt particularly happy in being permitted
to „ part in that meeting, convened as it had been
skri?_emo_ote subscriptions to suffering people, the ma.
lee t Whom were Roman C,tholics.— (....ear,bear.)
was
v
itclee ery strongly oppossd to the doctrines ot the
which Cat"lies; fact, on the lest occasion on
he had stood on that platform, he declaimed
L.rt st those doctrines
. , bur, he. should be ashamed of
ei if he allowed P
from - rotestanti to prevent
performing the Christian duty WErds duty of charity
fe,
lumen Catholic ,` 'leers.) When people sufferedzs from such a visi-
ere bee thm d
ay, we were bound