The Sun.
London, England, 1853-06-23 00:00:00

upon our own. They, too, act upon the principle of was not possible to turn the gas key, nor so easily cap-
throwing the onus probandi upon parties unaccused ture me. Having rid myself of my first assailant by
otherwise than by constables and magistrates." I throwing him over the pulpit, I took off my cloak, and
The general progress of the colony, however, brandishing the chair which had served me as an orator,
was favourable. All articles of consumption main- I defended my post as a true Italian crusader. I think
tamed good prices, and the prices of colonial pro- that many of this gang will remember for some time
this passage of the Italian missionary's lecture. Hay-
dram and stock were more remunerative. But the
Empire observes :
ing a pulpit about twelve feet wide, with the
stai-s exposed facin moire church, and compelled to
"It is not quite easy to give a fair estimate of the
commercial prospects of the present moment, when the defend it against than sixty savages—was
rather a diMcult task. An artillery sergeant—who
cause of the recent progression has been so strangely
now enjoys the sympathy of all parties—to the
tampered with. The Government recently exulted in
great shame of the policemen (who were standine by
the expectation of a large revenue from the gold
as idle spectators), leaped from these stairs, and6suc-
mines, for 1853, and placed the valuation of the licences
used 41 in defending with me my citadel. After the first
and royalties, which was considered very much be-
neath the probability, at 100 0001. 000/
It would be with an addition
of 110,000/. for escort and conveyance.attack, Paoli, who was at the church door, was enabled
to reach the stairs ; and, having snatched a stick front
hazardous now to form an opinion of the injury which one of the assailants hands, used it in every direction,
these expected sums will have sustained from the opera- and we were enabled to retain the liberty of our platform
tions of the ill-judged Gold Act. There is every reason for more than twenty-five minutes.
to believe that it will operate most disastrously upon the " But again a gang of the outward assailants to the
gold revenue, and it cannot fail to produce some effect number of more than seven hundred, rushed into the
even upon the general revenue, for the quantity of slier- church. This is owing to another unpardonable m a ake
chandise consumed at the diggings was becoming im- of the police ; the stairs and parapet were assaulted with
mense. The goose and golden egg again ! it is always renewed violence. The artillery sergeant, feeling his
best to keep bungling hands from machinery which re- equilibrium fail, clung to Paoli, who, amid the great
quires skill to mind it. If military must be supported throng of assailants, could no longer manoeuvre his stick,
to secure the licences, the profits of the undertaking are meanwhile, two of the savages had seized Paoli to over-
not a little doubtful. throw him from the stairs ; he cried out to me, `Gavazzi,
" The moral and religious aspects of the colony do not help me.' I abandoned the front of the pulpit, and a
vary from month to month. Immigration has done desperate blow of the bench which I held in my hands,
nothing yet to elevate the people. The female immi- fell upon the head of one of the two assassins, which
gration is strangely absorbed, and the comfort of families caused him to bound from the stairs. I was returning
tmhee
from my
I had abandoned to save my friend, lifted
to the front, while some other assassins having gained
does not keep pace with the quantity of young women
the,,pTuitit,wfarysoitnnahheight of snore than fifteen feet.
imported. There is some error in the management of
this matter, which deprives the colony of any sensiblefeet and precipitated me headlong out of
advantage from the acquisition. A few only appear to
be of a class able and disposed to live to some useful
couldmight
have
ee been.avelteenthe hour of my death, and
sufficed to crush m skull • but God was
purpose. The gold has produced a deleterious effect falling with
.scch violence
there to protect his poor, but confident servant.
upon the industrious inclinations even of young females.
wasa floor
afterwards
said
thast
They are not willing to commit themselves to industry
aanad I shoulders,lva was
n f
for support, and to learn all that is requisite to make landfell
iton
them honourable members of society. iron disposition, I weighed also as iron itself •
"The state of crime is inauspicious. Although far
but I sustained , ,
no wound from y fall.
better off than our neighbours, we are reaping the fruits
then dispersing, I found myself mThe crowd
stretched out on the
of the loose convictism of Van Diemen's Land, and of
ground, with a legion of savags over
the cupidity and profligacy produced by the speculating
being .able to slay me. I then receivedm aotrjoyed at
kit on my
tendencies of the time. Outrages are becoming some-
chin, which has produced a slight
wound, and a con-
what alarmingly frequent, and are accompanied with
tusion on the jaw ; as the great crowd prevented the
a ferocity most appalling. Yet, were the state of
use of sticks, they endeavoured to supply. it with their
education in advance, we should entertain no fear of
feet. I perceived that nothing but a gigantic effort
these symptoms. The thing to be deplored, is, that
could save me, and I employed it accordingly. I rose
the young are, to a large extent, growing up abandoned • •
ni spite of them, and by blows opened a passage to thee
in morals, from the utter want of that domestic training - bt
staircase
ie su erra.neous -place where
without. which mere school education will he nearly
the Sunday schools are, and, having met assassins
in vain. The state of education is fearfully bad. Moral
the stairs, I overcame them. The last, who fro on
m his
discipline is everywhere at fault—the result of which impeded
my passage as it were a barricade, and
will be, without speedy amendment, that the next gene- size
with his large
threatened me
ration will be ono of vastly augmented profligacy and
vilest names, I very coolly rolled down the stairs, and
crime. There is enough in they prospect to awaken the jumping him the
over reached entry of the Sunday
deepest solicitude for the future.'
school.
The same journal appears to be discouraged by " Fortunately the school was dark ; having examined
the at present imperfect state of the steam commu- it in the morning I became acquainted with its struc-
nication with England by way of the Cape of Good ture. I took the left path, among an innumerable
Hope. The experiments, it remarks, have as yet quantity of bench, while the savages, who were still
been uniform failures, for which an extra GO per pursuing me, were obliged to delay before they could
cent. upon the postal charges is levied. reach the door. It was then I heard the cry of Paoli,
' God help me,' which led me to believe that he was
assaulted and beaten again by the assassins. Being left
half dead, he would have been killed by the people had
not an unforeseen hand conveyed him to the subter-
raneoas school, where he found himself, as it were,
miraculously saved from a certain death. After five or
six minutes of fatal suspense, some one of the police came.
The lights were again lit, but this did not prevent the
assailants from breaking all the windows of the school,
by throwing large stones, one of which hit Paoli on
the breast while Dr. Douglas was examining his wounds,
But fortunately the military arrived and the assassins
were dispersed. Paoli was the first to be led home. I
followed him in a coach, with the mayor of the city, and
all the street was protected by strong patrols. On ex-
amining our bodies it was discovered that poor Paoli
had received eight wounds from sticks, one of which is
six inches long. I was found to have a wound on my
head from a stone, and another on the occipnt from the
blow of a club. They, however, gave me no pain, as I
contrived to let them bleed as much as possible. How-
ever, I have suffered nothing, and am as well now as on
my setting out from New York.
But the sensation experienced from this brutal as-
sault results contrary to what the assailants had expected.
There is no Catholic Canadian who does not disapprove
of this outrage. It is to be observed that the assault
had been organised, consequently a premeditated mur-
der. The most aggravating circumstances are of having
attacked a church in which women and children were
assembled, and to which the men had hastened unarmed.
But who, then, could have conceived, organised, and led
so infamous a scheme ? . . .
" Sunday, please God, we will gather together at our
Italian service in New York, and I shall feel overjoyed
in seeing anew my brethren, after having escaped the
death of my assassins.
" Meanwhile remember me to them all, and believe
me to be your very affectionate friend,
" ALESSANDRO GAVAZZI."
At Montreal the disorders assumed the shape of
a riot, and we regret to say that various lives wero
After what had occurred at Quebec, Gavazzi
cannot be too severely censured for attempting to
lecture at Montreal. The Montreal Herald, of
June 10, contains the following par't'iculars of the
riot and melancholy loss of life at Father Gavazzi's
anti-Catholic lecture, at Zion Church, on the pre-
ceding evening :
" As advertised, Signor Gavazzi met a numerous au-
dience in Zion Church, at half-past six o'clock p.ni, yes-
terday. Many of our most respectable citizens with
their families were present. About half-past seven
o'clock we went to the door .of the church, where we
found Captain Ermatinger with a strong posse of police,
some twenty or thirty men. At this time, and for
about half an hour after, groups of wild, ragged-looking
men were assembled around the door of the church and
at different points between the church and M'Gill-street.
We mixed freely among these people, and conversed with
more than one of those who were considered the leaders
of the Irish Catholic party. We were assured by them
that they had only come to the ground to use their in-
fluence to prevent a disturbance, and that we might
rest satisfied the lecture would pass off quietly. We
were not, however, satisfied with the aspect o f
affairs, and remained on the ground. At about a
quarter to eight o'clock, a band of ruffians, we learn—
for, although in sight, we were at too great a distance to
see more than a general sadee had taken place—attacked
and overpowered the police (Captain Ermatinger receiv-
ing a severe wound on the head), and proceeded to force
thir way into the church, from which a body of 15 or
20 repulsed them, several shots from guns and pistols
being fired from both sides. The assaulting party were
effectually routed • two or three of their number were
left dead or severely wounded on the ground, but were
shortly afterwards removed in cars by their friends.
Soon after this occurrence, a company of the 26th Came-
ronians marched from Craig-street, and were drawn up
between the engine-house and that street. All seemed
perfectly quiet, and remained so until about a quarter
past eight o'clock, at about which time the lecture was
concluded, and the audience inside the church had be-
gun to leave for home. At this time the troops were
marched across Craig-street, and took their position in
two lines, across Radayonde-street--one line nearly op-
posite Zion Church, and the other some hundred paces
nearer Craig-street. A good deal of hooting and noise
prevailed at this time, and on the M`Gill-street side of
Craig-street, some disturbance with the lowest line of
troops occurred, and two or three shots were fired;
in other respects, all seemed peaceable.
"We were, at this time, at the corner of St. James-
street and M'Gill-street, and had a clear and distinct
view of the troops, and of the people in their immediate
vicinity. There we saw no violence on the part of the
mob—nothing, indeed, but the people hurrying from the
church—when, to our utter astonishment, we heard and
saw the troops fire two distinct running volleys among
the apparently, to us, peaceable citizens. Thinking it
high time to attend to our own safety, we beat a rapid
retreat from this apparent scene of wanton and uncalled
for slaughter. We were too far off to speak personally
of the conduct of the mayor and officers, by whose or-
ders they were directed to fire, but if we are correctly
informed by those who were on the spot, tliere was no.
thing whatever to justify so rash and cowardly a pro-
ceeding. We must not, however, prejudge their con-
duct en the occasion, but the blood of those who fell
calls loudly for a prompt investigation into every circum-
stance connected with the melancholy affair, and, ap-
parently at least, wanton massacre.
"The following, so far as we have been able to ascertain,
is a complete list of the killed and wounded.:—Peter
Gillespie, clerk in Mr. Johnson's store, shot through the
head with a musketball, and mortally wounded, although
alive when we left (since reported dead) ; E. Crosby,
clerk, a relative of Mr. Tyre, of Tyre, Calquehon, and
Co., shot through the heart, and died instantly ; James
Hutchinson, cousin of Mr. Hutchinson, builder, killed ;
Mr. Adams, son of the city Councillor, shot through the
lungs, and mortally wounded; Mr. J. O'Neil, shot through
the body, and expected to recover ; Master Wallace, a
lad of 14 years of age, severely wounded; Mr. Clark,
bookkeeper at W. Lyman and Co.'s, shot through the
foot with a musket ball ; Mr. Hibburt, of Long Point,
also shot through the foot with a musket ball ; a lad,
the nephew Mr. Joseph McKay, of St. Pau-street,
shot through the leg; Mr. Patrick Guy, shot through
the heel with a musket ball ; Mr. Chipman, of the
National Loan Fund, wounded in the side ; Mr.
M'Grath, son of Mr. Thomas M'Grath, shot
through the body, and killed ; a Mr. Hudson, stone
cutter, was killed ; a beautiful little boy, five years
old, was shot through the leg, and broke the bone ; Mr.
Stephenson, formerly of the Post Office, was severely
wounded in the shoulder ; an unknown man was killed
—died in the house of Dr. McDonnell ; Mr. Sydney
Jones was slightly wounded by a musket ball in the
hand ; a lad whose name we could not learn, was so
wounded as to necessitate the amputation of one
of his legs, in rile
Montreal General Hospital, and
is not expected to recover. Many others, whose
names we could not [earn, were more or less in-
jured. At the time we write all is quiet in the city,
There is a strong guard of the 26th Regiment at St.
Lawrence Hall and at the mayor's residence, and the
streets are patrolled by mounted artillerymen."
MONTREAL, June 10, Noon.
All is now quiet, but another disturbance is expected
to-night. Seven persons were killed last evening, and
six mortally wounded ; two were otherwise injured.
There is much excitement here. The mayor is univer-
sally condemned for ordering the troops to fire without
sufficient cause.—Correspendeat of Morning Chronicle.

AFFAIRS OF CANADA.

QUEBEC, JurrE 8.
Quebec has again been disgraced by an Irish riot.
Father Gavazzi, the Italian orator, accepted the
invitation tendered him a few days ago by several
leading citizens, and delivered a lecture in the
Wesleyan Church last week. On Monday he was
to deliver a second, on " The Ancient and Modern
Inquisition," and some time before the eloquent
padre entered the building—the new free kirk—it
was filled by a very respectable audience, of which,
perhaps, ladies constituted a majority. Groups of
suspicious-looking individuals were noticed both in
the church and in the neighbourhood ; but as one
of the Catholic papers had given a hint of what
might be expected from " les Irlandais, qui n'enten-
dent pas raillerie au sujet de leur foi," it was con-
fidently believed that the public were well pre-
pared to quell any disturbance. The padre was
heard in silence for nearly an hour. Then, as lie
made some allusion to the intolerance and des-
potism of the Irish priesthood, a man in the crowd
called out, " That's a lie !" others chorused, " Put
him out !" and a scene of disorder commenced
which it is no easy matter to describe. Showers
of stones were thrown from outside, breaking the
windows, and scattering terror and injury among
the audience. A band of ruffians rushed into
the church, without molestation from the police.
The foremost made for the pulpit where Gavazzi
stood, and one fellow mounted the stairs. He was
instantly seized by the Italian and thrown over the
reading desk. Disengaging himself from his robe,
the padre then grasped the pulpit chair, and with
it felled three or four others who endeavoured to
scale his stronghold. It was a memorable sight to
witness the coolness and undaunted bravery with
which the Italian defended himself singly against
his assailants. The conflict would, however, have
been but brief, had not a serjeant of artillery,
named Lawson, and Gavazzi's secretary, forced
their way through the crowd to the assistance of
the preacher. For a space of twenty minutes these
three held some sixty wild Irishmen at bay. En-
furiated at the failure of their efforts, a reinforce-
ment of several hundreds of the rioters were sent
for, and quickly made their way to the scene of ac-
tion. Paoli, the secretary, first fell. Gavazzi—
who had continued to deal terrible blows with his
stool, as the wretches assailed him, shouting, "Let
us murder him in the church !"—was seized by the
legs, and thrown from the pulpit into the crowd
below. Here he was trampled. under foot. The

Lost.

throng was too dense for his assailants to use their
sticks, and after escaping death by a miracle, ho
contrived to crawl to the staircase which leads to
the vaults, and to effect a retreat by that issue.
During the whole of the melee a desultory fight
was carried on between the male portion of the
audience and the rioters. Several gentlemen,
among whom it is only right that I should mention
Mr. Buchanan (the emigration agent), Sheriff
Sewell, William D. Campbell, and others, fought
manfully, and were severely injured. No lives were
lost.
Englishmen may perhaps be disposed to inquire
what the police were doing during the battle. The
question can easily be answered. They were col-
lected outside the church, apparently enjoying the
scene, and, like Sosie of memorable renown, " pre-
nant courage pour nos gens qui se battaient." The
stipendary magistrate—an Irishman and a Catholic
unfortunately sprained his ankle early in the even-
ing, and was engrossed in applying lotions to the
wounded limb.
Gavazzi reached his hotel in safety, left Quebec
the next day, and is now in Montreal, where very
similar scenes are being enacted by the Irish popu-
lation of our sister city. The Irish mob, after
leaving the church they had assailed, proceeded to
the Parliament House, and called for Mr. Brown,
M.P.P., who has rendered himself peculiarly oh!
noxious to them by his strong anti-Catholic
opinions. Mr, Brown declined their invitation to
" come out that they might do for him," and they
dispersed, with a few mild threats of burning the
houses of some leading Protestants, and " reveng-
ing" the wrong done to them by the defenders of
Gavazzi.
As might be expected, great excitement per-
vades the city. A parliamentary commission has
been appointed to inquire into the outrage, and is
now sitting. Irishmen do not affect to conceal
their satisfaction at the riot, and their regret that
the
_padre escaped with his life. Many of the English
have armed themselves, and if 'a second' outbreak
takes place, much bloodshed will ensue. I hardly
anticipate it, however. Irish mobs in Canada sel-
dom show fight when their adversaries are prepared
to meet force with force. They are prodigiously
brave when the enemy is a single individual, or a
church full of women and children ; but a fair
fight on equal terms with men is not to their taste,
The only comment I will venture on the above
is a single allusion to the antecedents of the rioters.
In 1849, when the cholera was in Quebec, the same
men, with the same leaders, attacked and gutted
the only hospital that existed in Champlain ward.
In 1850 and 1851 the same men, with the same
leaders, destroyed on several occasions the shipping
offices that were established to put a stop to the
crimping system. In December, 1851, the same
men, with the same leaders, attempted to capture
the polls at the election here, and were only pre-
vented by the determined resistance of the French
Canadians. The perpetrators of these outrages are
will known. Not one of them as ever been
brought to trial. And though several of the rioters
on Monday have been arrested, it is well known
that they will escape, as no jury can be empa-
nelled without Irishmen, and no Irishman will find
them guilty. •
Parliamentary news in my next. Parliament is
expected to adjourn on or about the 16th.
The following is Gavazzi's own account of the
affray
LETTER FROM FATHER GAVAZZI TO THE EDITOR OF THE
NEW YORK L'ECO D'ITALIA.
" Quebec, Canada, June 8, 1853.
" Dear Friend—l only write a few particulars of the
shocking case which happened the day before yesterday
you will perceive it inure amply described in the papers
I send you. I will begin by saying that the appear-
ance of the assailants was most despicable, for they came
dirty, torn, and in their shirt-sleeves, the better to show
their origin. It was their aim to secure me alive, in
order to murder me without the church ; but not hav-
ing succeeded, they attempted to kill me within the
church. Many were led to believe it, when they had
by repeated blows felled Paoli to the ground ; for
believing him to be me, they said one to another, This
is the very man. Another scheme of theirs was to
blow out the lights, by turning the gas keys, for by so
doing, from their concerted plan, they would have more
easily succeeded in getting possession of me, seizing at
the same time every one present, mostly ladies and
children But man proposes, and God disposes, It

THE NEW CAB ACT.—This act, which is now passed,
will take effect on the 10th July. Forthwith new re-
gulations will be framed.