The Sun.
London, England, 1838-01-04 00:00:00

THE S.UN'i LONDON, Tat fiSDAY, SANITAttY 4, IS3g.

attaching them to us, render the tonne'etien more secure and
permanent, than I,y endeavouring to keep them does 11,:
Ere and the sword.—( hoar and cheers.) It rnieht
the honour of Ministers that coercive mensnree elmuhl be re-
sorted to, for they had plunged the reentry into this embar-
rassment by their misconduct, although warned over and over
again of the natural tendency of the measures which thee
adopted with respect to Lower Canada. He ettelglied our
whole system of Colonial policy, as tending. to alien ate the
most valuable possessions of the British Crown, and render
what ought to be a blessing end an outlet for the over-
abundant population of the mother country, a harden
and a weight They had been too ready in consider-
ing the disaffections which from time to time had sprung
up in the Colonies, to blame the Governors ; and he him,
self had often accused himself of being wanting in duty
in not bringing those persons individually before the bar
of the House of Commons to answer for the mistakes which
they had committed, and the arbitrary acts of which they had
been guilty. But he now saw that those persons had incurred
more censure than they deserved.—( Hear, hear.) They now
saw that they had been acting under orders from a town,
and as military man felt themselves under the necessity of
obeying then', 'a
fault, he was sorry to say but too prevalent
amongst military men, who scarcely ever deal with
the population under their controul as they would have
I:een bound to do had they been civilians. Was it
not too much to accuse the Canadian people of disloyalty
when they had historicist proof to the contrary ? Did not
Canada, when America asserted her rights, and succeeded in
effecting her independence, refuse to participate in that loyal
struggle? Yes; for they were then impressed with the
belief that the change from the French to the English system
of government would have been advantageous to them. They
flattered themselves with the delusive hope that they would
obtain justice from England, and they resisted all attempts
that were made to induce them to join the Americans.—
(Hear, hear.) Coming down to a later period did
they not., in the year 1814, resist every attempt made by
the Americans to induce them to swerve from their
allegiance to the mother country, and did they
not take the field and preserve Canada to the British Crown ?
Was it for these proofs of devotion and attachment that they
now were to endeavour to trample and put them down ? The
Hon, Gentleman then alluded to the Address which appeared
in the Morning Chronicle of this day, and to the returns, which
were so inconsistent with what the Canadians had a right to
expect ; and it was only by Sir F. Ilead publishing the order the
people found out they had been deceived, and they then com-
menced expressing their indignation at the manner in which
they had been treated. Notwithstanding this, they were
willing to give the Commission time to make inquiries, and
wait the result. What took place ? The House of Com-
mons last year, instead of redressing the grievances of
Upper Canada, passed those resolutions, known by the
name of " Lord John. Russell's Resolutions."—(Hisses. )
Those resolutions were as disgraceful as they had been
mischievous.—(Cheers.) He (Mr. Hume) had, in hie
place in Parliament, stated that, so far from healing the
wounds of the injured Canadians—so far from producing that
conciliation which they professed openly they wanted, these
resolutions would only add to the flame, and create still
stronger feelings of excitement, and drive them to desperation.
—( Hear, hear, hear.) What was the consequence ? They
had heard a great deal about the Canadinns having done
wrong in refusing the supplies. Why, that was their consti-
tutional privilege. They did not refuse the supplies to a fit
and proper government ; but when they saw persona who
had no duties to perform, receiving large salaries,
they contended they had a right to control their revenues, and
they therefore refused the supplies. Such was the right the
people of England poseessed, and he (Mr. Hume) would be
glad to know what they would say if the Crown were against
the wishes and feelings of the House of Common, nine-tenths
of the body being agaierst granting supplies, to take from the
coffers of the courtery the taxes that had been received for the
purpose of beLng applied to those purposes that the re-
presentatives of the people had refused to apply it to.
Let the people of England place themselves in the situation
of the Canadians. The Government had taken sums of money
from their coffers, which the Canadian representatives had
reNeed, and had given it to men whom the Canadian repre-
sentatives declared to be unworthy of it.—(Cries of Hear,
hear.) But, until that course was adopted, he would
venture to say there was not in the breast of any Canadian
the slightest disposition or desiro to separate from England,
or to have recourse to arms, or to adopt any violent measures.
(Cheers.) It was not till they saw their only security against
oppression in this country set at defiance—the only means the
people of England had of preventing the Hanoverian system
being adopted.—(Cheers, and a few cries of " Off, off.")
Only for this we should be in the same situation as Canada ;
and if so, was there any one at that meeting would answer for
what they should do?—(Hear, hear.) In Canada there was
now the example of a whole nation driven to extremities by
the conduct he had described ' • and at a time of the year when
the men of that country, with their wives and children, were
least able to brave the horrors of a civil war, in the midst of a
Canadian winter. Nor was it by any sudden act of tyranny
they were driven to extremity ; it was by a constant and gra
dual system of oppression. It was admitted by Lord Glenelg
himself that the Canadians had been for 18 years petitioning for
redress.—( Hear.) Ycs, for 18 years they had been patiently
and respectfully petitioning the Crown and the Parliament in
vain._( Hear, hear.) He insisted that it was the duty of the
Government to conciliate the colony, and to afford redress
of those many grievances which had driven it' into resistance.
—(Cheers.) It was by conduct such as the Government was
now pursuing, that had caused this country to incur a debt
equal to one t'nousand millions of Three per Cents.—( Hear. )
But look 'to the Gazette—there was no proclamation to con-
ciliate- —( Hear, hear)—but new regiments were ordered--
(Cleeers and hisses)—and it was worth while to observe
it this case, what an excellent system of Government we have
in this country. New regiments are wanted, and the Com-
mander-in-Chief, whose business it was to know the matter
himself, is obliged to write to another officer to enquire
what regiment of the Guards was last on Foreign service.
(Hear and laughter.) There was a sort of imperiunt in int-
perio amongst our official Gentlemen.—( A laugh.) Regi-
ments were ordered from Gibraltar and other out-garrisons, and
ships of war were ordered to be in readiness to carry them to
Canada. Thus the lives and property of our seamen were
about to be sacrificed by sending them across the Atlantic, in
the midst of a 'cm estuous winter.—(Hear, hear.) But, in
fact, troops could no arrive in Canada until Spring.---( Here
there was an interruption of some duration, with mingled
laughter and hisses, occasioned by an exceedingly vulgar ex-
pression from some person at the end of the room. There
were loud cries of " Turn him out—he's a Tory.")
Resolutions would be proposed for the approbation of the
meeting, and he trusted that whoever should speak, either in
favour of or against them, would avoid the use of hard words.
—( Hear, hear.) The friends of Canada had truth and justice
or, their side, and they had no occasion to resort to language
that might give their enemies a ground of objection. The
ouly objection to the able speeches which were made in
the House of Commons on the 22d of last month
was that strong language was used.—( Hear, hear )
He could satisfy the meeting by many documents, which he
had no doubt would be brought before the meeting, that they
had a good cause to plead—the cause of humanity.—( Cheers. )
The people were now to say whether lives and property were
to he sacrificed in consequence of the Ministerial blunder ?
Mr. LEADER then came forward to propose the first resolu-
tion amidst the most deafening cheering, which lasted some
time. Brother electors and citizens of Westminster, the lion.
Gentleman said, I rejoice to to see so large an assembly met
for the purpose of expressing their opinion against oppression.
—( Cheers and confusion.) I am most especially grateful
at seeing this meeting before me, and I have several good
reasons for being so. First, it proves at least—(Confu-
sion, and cries of " tern him out," "he's one of Murray's men.")
If there he in this assembly any friend of Tory domination, or
'White misrule, I only hope they would come forward in a
manly 'Deemer. We are here to argue the question.—
(Cheers.) We wish not to dictate to eny man. If any man
disagree with me, let him come forward e-hen I have done,
—bet him come forward on the hustings end I will ensue him
a heal ing.—(Cheers. ) The great assembly before me proves
that you have not been deluded by the gross misrepresentations
of the London daily press.—( Cheers.) For the last ten days
the London daily press has been emplo)ed to misrepresent
the Canada question. They have been doing all that they
van to urge the Canadians to war, because they differed from
us in opinion, and above all, because they had been bold
enough 0 protest against the insulting conduct of Ministers.
—( Hear, hear, hear.) They had done this, too, because
there had been found men in the House of Commons
who dared in their place in that House to ask for the
redress of grievances, end justice to the Canadians. The next
thing this great assembly shows is, that the assertion that the
the inhabitants and citizens of Westminster viewed with dis-
approbation the exertions in the cause of Canada, is totally
without foundation. Same of the Tory press are quite rabid
against us ; •they seemed to think that some of us should be
hanged for the peace of the world.--( Cheers) They have
'en h
no reason
their side, and therefore it is that they have re-
course to this slander. The whole of the Whig daily press
have followed their Tory leader.—( Cries of the " Tap-tub.")but
We have heard of collision in the House of Commons,
here we have a collision between the Tory and Whit,
Whigd drily
press of London.—(Cries of the " Tap. tub.") The
Papers, like the Torioe, have been grossly misrepresenting
the question of Canada, and urging you to tight against All the great interests were against them.
Com-
There
ia. the shipping All
the
interest, the American Land
rill interest, and the aristocratic interest.
'tile monopolising interests, which are opposed to
us—they
the great interests of' nations, are arrayed again.st
t"..3 all in arms against us, attacking us, slandering u)us,
And
denouncing us as traitors to our coun arid
try.—(Groens.
What is the cause of all this outburst of Whig and Tory venom
against us ? It is this, that they dread to expre
real opinions—that they dread to blame the conduct-'s their
of the
Government and the Aristocracy—that they dread to ask that
justice for Canada" which the Whigs themselves ask for
Ireland.—(Great cheering.) That, Gentlemen, is the cause
a
of the outcry against us ; but you know I will not join in
that
Whig and Tory outcry.—(No, no.) The people of England.
I will venture to say, will not join them or suppoit them. But
B
We have much power en our side also—we have the whole 4
the Liberal Sunday Press, and we have almost all the Liberal
Provincial Press, which is more honest and independent ofpers-.
'°llal and Ministerial interests than the daily London .
W hear.)
All have all the Dissenting body with us.—(Hear,
All the friends of peace and humanity, and the great mass_ o
I
the people who sec in the contest with Canada the samede-
fence of the Constitution as that of the great mass of ole
People of England. who now demand their rights against the
aristocratic faction.—(Cheers.) It has been said that the
the
Canadians have no real grievances. My hon. friend,
Chairman, has given you a sketch of the Canadian griev.:
Slices, and the manner in which they have been argued and
acknowledged during the last ten years. Yes, gentlemen,

the. hag e ',...iSknoseledged, and they have been made the
Isks ;',f Parliamentary discussion—they havrt been acknow-
ledged by all parties, and they have Ve.Sen il'aiVticated by the
ablest men, of the lileWrikl party.—(Hear, hear, beer. )
But supp,ove tiviy l'ea've not a large list of grievances, there was
one ikingte one, and that is the s&zure of their FeventieS by the
Government.—( Hear, hear.) It hot that a grievance ?—and
suppesing furthertherts are no real practical grievances, is
there net such a thing as moral grievances—more galling and
les* tOlerable than any ether ? The Canadians have had tip
endure a grievance of that sort for the last twenty or ti.irts
years--they have been treated as a conquered and inferior
race, and excluded from any share in the government of their
own people ; and subjected to a cruel, suspicious. and do-
mineering minority.a---.( Loud cheers. Is not that a grievance ?
Why the see.), fact that they have flown to arms is a sufficient
proof that real grievances exist. No person ever rebelled on
slight grounds. You may be sure that it required strong in-
ducements to act in that way, who had been oppressed by long
continued wrong.—( A voice in the crowd here repeatedly
ealle‘d nut, " What are the grievances?" which occasioned
eons' :arable interruption, which was at length put an end to
by Mr. Place exclaiming, " Send him up or send him out.")
If I were to stop in order to go into all the details of the grie-
vances, I would detain you till to-morrow morning. They
are all detailed in the 92 resolutions, in the petition to the
House of Commons, and in a hundred other documents,
which you can consult. —( A voice—" I can't read."—
Laughter.) Well, if you can't read, that is a different
thing. It is only the trick of an enemy to ask what are
the grievances—it is quite c'ear that they must have been in-
tolerable, or the people of Canada never would have taken up
arms—a people must he tyrannised over to a most intolerable
degree before they would y run the risk of a civil war. It is
quite clear that no people ever rebelled against their rulers
without very great cause. I ask you then, will you support
the government in their attempt to put down the people of
Canada by the force of arms.—(No, no I) Oh ! I wish that
some of the Ministers were present to hear that gloriously un-
animous Nu.—( A voice—their whipper-in is here—laughter. )
Let me ask you %%hat could you possibly gain by a war with
Canada ?—( Nothing). Nothing indeed. 'You have the power
unquestionably, at least, I believe you have the power. The
English people have the strength to put down the
Canadians—but would they use it for so unholy a
purpose—(No, no)--would you plunge the country in a civil
war which most probably will lead into a general war, for
no earthly benefit to the country, at the certainty of greatly
increasing your taxes ?—( Loud cheers.) Ten or twelve
thousand troops may in the spring go over and put down the
Canadians, as the phrase is, but could the Canadians in such
a case ever look upon this country with feelings of affectionate
regard ?—( Cries of " No, no.") Could we ever restore those
commercial relations with Canada which are now so unhap-
pily and so hastily broken asunder? Canada might be re-
tained for some time by the maintenance of a large army
there, but for whose benefit would that be—would it be for
yours ? (No, no.) No, it would be for the benefit only of the
aristocracy.—(Cheers.) Ido not deny your power—l deity
your right to enslave the Canadian. You, and lam proud to
say it, sympathised with the Greeks in their rebellion against
the Turkish Government—you assisted them in throwing off
the Turkish yoke—you sympathised with the South Americans
in their attempts to free themselves from Spain—you sy mpathised
with the Belgians in their attempts to emancipate themselves
from the Dutch ; but, above all, you sympathised with the
Poles, the brave Poles, in their attempts against the barbarous
Russians.--( Loud cheers.) Will you now desert your prin-
ciples?—(" No, no I") Will you assist the Government in
coercing one of our own colonies, after so deeply sympathising
with all others in their struggles for freedom ? We have no
more right to do so than the Turks, the Spaniards, or the
Russians had. They could have urged as well as us no other
right than that of strength ; and God forbid that we should
now put it forward against the Canadians. Oh lit is good
to be endowed with a giant's strength, but it is tyrannous
to use it like a giant.—( Loud and continued cheers.) We
arc told forsooth that the honour and dignity of the British
empire requires that the rebellion, as it is called, should be
put down.—( Laughter.) We may be told again, as we were
the other day by a worthy old gentleman in the House of Com-
mons, that this bright jewel of the crown must not be given
away. Gentlemen, my opinion is, that that dignity would be
better consulted, and much better supported by doing justice
—by redressing grievances, and giving the Canadians the
benefit of good government.--( Loud cheers.) The Toiies,
who I suppose hate me because I licked Sir George Mur-
ray—(Loud cheers)—they call me a traitor to my country for
my speech in the House of Commons upon this question.
Gentlemen, there is not a man, either in this room,
or in the country, who would make a greater
sacrifice in order to maintain the true honour and dignity of
the country ; but instead of preserving this " jewel of the
Crown," I would rather loose it, than that it should be tar.
nishcd by the blood of British citizens—( Loud cheers) ;
And yet they have dared to call me traitor. I appeal to you--
I appeal to meetings like this—l appeal to my country—and I
ask, am I a traitor ?—( No, no.) I am glad of that
shout; for had you indeed condemned me, I would have
then thought it time for me to despair of my country.
My only crime has been to defend right, and to denounce the
oppressor—(Cheers)—and I confess I would despair of my
country, if it were considered by Englishmen a crime to de-
fend the cause of the unhappy oppressed against the powerful
oppressor.—(Continued cheering.) Now, my friends, I will
ask you what we have to gain by oppressing and persecuting
Canada? Supposing you succeed, Canada will be to you a
burdensome and oppressive Colony—you will derive from her
no advantage—you will be encumbered with the expense of
keeping troops there, while she will be more disaffected than
ever, and only looking for another opportunity to revolt. What,
I ask, will be the result of this unhappy contest ; the aristocracy
alone will benefit by it, and the mass of the people will suffer.
If you fail, there will then be a hostile and independent power
in North America, which it will tske a long time to establish
amicable relations with. If you'succeed, you will have a
colony with its entire population hostile to you and your inte-
rests ; you will, besides, have to pay for the honour of conquer-
ing them, and for the additional honour of keeping them in
unwilling subjection.--( Hear, hear.) Remember, too, •that
while in this country, although it may be the interest of
the Ministry to engage in any violent measures,
to conciliate the Opposition, it never can be the interest of the
people to plunge into an unjust and ill-advised civil wer—
( Hear)--for even admitting that no practical evil resulted
from it, there is this great motel principle involved :—you
would get into the habit of considering, not whether your
actions were right or wrong, but whether you had the power
to enforce them.—( Hear.) If again, aggression should suc-
ceed in Canada, recollect that a successful aristocracy will
attack your rights at home, and endeavour to curtail and
abridge them.—(Hear, hear.) This question is not a mere
question between parties in Canada. It is essentially
an English question, and one which Englishmen ought
to consider well. I call upon every Englishman, as he
values his own liberties, to protest against a burdensome,
oppressive, and unjust war.—(Great cheering.) Are there
any Irishmen in this room ?—( Cries of " Yes, yes.") To
you I appeal to come forward, and assert the rights of the
Canadians.—( Hear, hear.) It is the Orangemen who have
oppressed Canada, that have oppressed and insulted you at
home. —( 'fear.) It is your cause, the cause of the Canadians.
It is the cause of an oppressed and insulted minority against
a powerful and t) rannous majority. I rejoice that the city of
Westminster has come forward on this occasion.—(Cheers.s
I congratulate them on the numbers in which they have as-
sembled. It is a good example to the country, aid I have no
doubt that it will be generally followed, and that it trill have
the effect of shaming the Ministry and the Tories from engag-
ing in this unjust and unprincipled wee. —( Cheers.) I will
now, gentlemen, read the resolution that has been entrusted
to me.
" I. That this Meeting, while they deeply lament the disastrous
disturbances now existing in the Colony of Lower Canada, are of
opinion that this deplorable occurrence is to be ascribed to the mis-
conduct of the British Ministry, in refusing timely redress to the
repeated complaints of the Canadian People, and in attempting to
sustain that refusal by measures of gross injustice and coercion.
Colonel TuosirsoN came forward to second the resolution,
not because ho was altogether contented with it, but because
he had been asked to do se. He was exceedingly glad to find
that the lion. Gentleman who had preceded him had given
the real version of the resolution, as he believed it originally
stood, and not the modified version._( Loud cheering.)
When resolutions passed through a Committe (and on this
occasion he happened to he Chairman of the Committee,)
it did frequently happen that men who happened to be of a
nervous d'sposition, constitutionally found opportunities to slip
out little bits of words they thought were forcible, and put
into their mouths bits they thought better calculated to let the
thing down gently.—( Laughter.) He rejoiced to hear the
Hon. Member for Westminster declare there was a disastrous
civil war now raging in Canada. W'as there not ?—( Loud
cheers.) And should they try to dwindle that away by calling
it a disastrous disturbance ?—( Cheers.) Why, when three cats
quarrelled in a chimney, that was called a disastrous disturb-
insee.—( Great laughter. ) The Meeting, therefore, would
not be surprised at his stating, by way of explanation that if
his will had only been consulted, the resolution would have
been another kind of resolution altogether, and a much stronger
one. If the Ministers of the Crown had endeavoured to
take the supplies of this country by means of military force,
what would Englishmen have called it ?—( A voice in the
meeting—" Treason.") Ile thanked the gentleman for that
word. Treason in England was treason in Canada, and he
stood there to avow and to maintain that the Ministers of the
Crown, in attemptiug to seize on the revenues against the
consent of the Representative Assembly, had committed an
act of treason.—( Vehement cheering. )—which the
British people, if they were not unwise, would not fail
to punish when they had the power.—(Continued cheering
for some time.) Strong words should be proved—l refer
you to the history of this country. Do you ask
what page in
that history? You still hear of it somewhere about Whitehall
There was a glorious scene of substantal justice once
enacted in that neighbourhood, which has been said to give a
" crick in the neck" to every monarch at least once a-year.
(Laughter and loud cheers.) That is our precedent. Is it
policy, is it wisdom to force us again to appeal to it.—(
Loud
cheers.) We come forward here to denounce what we con-
sider a case of oppression and injustice, oit the part of the Mi-
nisters, against the Canadian people.—(Cheers.) Fancy the
case your own. Suppose the Government were to send sol-
diers to seize your goods—would you have been satisfied with
being told that it was not patriotism in you not to pray for the
success of those troops, because forsooth they were English-
men ?—( Loud cheers.) You maintain, necessarily, in some
degree a body of troops for the defence of this country, but
would you like them to put their hands into your pockets?
Laughter anal cheers.), I say this is illegal. I know
well that the Ministers have a majority in both Houses—
but have you made up your minds to surrender all the rights
that have been handed down to you by your ancestors, by
submitting, that they shall be held merely at the will of a
corrupt House of Commons.—( Loud and repeated cheers.)

If it were so, they iii this case Ministeri, hr. 4 no defence.—
( Hear, liear.) It was a sad thing to see inilitai'y r.'sctiution
let loose upon any peoi.le.--( Elea-, hear.) - But look to what
had been done in Canade.—(Hear, hear, he ar.) Not
only' had Militark eitkittttoe bten let loose, but it had
iimiled to ikCeisarY severity.—( Sharite, shailio.l What
secessity was there to burn a hundred men in a barn?—
(Loud cries of " Shame.") How would the people of this
country like such an atrocity perpetrated amongst themselves.
—( Hear, bear.) He wished these things to be sifted, and
the time would colie when the people of England would sift
them. It might not be to-day or Lest week, but it would
come.—( Hear, hear.) If they looked to the west they would
see a Parliament house given up "to the use of the
soldiers,"—these were the very words. If they
looked to Hanover they would see an absolute monarch un-
dertaking to reform a Constitution.—( Laughter. ) Yes,
that was the very last word he ( Colonel I'.) heard of the King
of 11 sisover.—( Laughter.) His Absolute Majesty was ac-
tually a Reformer, and he was backed by a certain class of Re-
formers in this country —( Hear, hear. ) " Dull, and stupid
people of England ! what is ill become of you if you do not
take alarm in time ?" What ground was there for con-
fidence in the present Ministers, who by tbe violation
of their pledges had been guilty of conduct which
would cause men to be expelled from private society.—( Hear,
hear.) Some people, however, were in the habit of exclaim-
ing "Oh ! we might have worse." Yes, indeed, he knew
where there could be found a set of Ministers somewhat
worse. But there was a great deal more responsibility at-
tached to a bad Minister, who was obliged to act for himself,
being ostensibly in office, than when, although out of office,
he effected his purpose by means of a cat's pew in
office.—(Loud cheering and laughter.) In conclusion,
he ( Colonel Thompson) called upon the meeting to support the
people of Canada—to forgive what was weak--and to
strengthen what was strong, and to collect as strong a force
of public opinion in their behalf, as would be sufficient to com-
pel the Ministers to retrace their steps.—(Cheers.)
Dr. WADE held that nations as well as individuals were
destined by God to be happy and free.—(Cheers.) They
were entitled to humanity and justice.—(Cheers.) The
Ministers having denied humanity and justice to Canada,
must be considered as the beginners of an offensive war, and
would be responsible for all the blood shed by those whom they
had sent to butcher the Canadians.—( Cheers.) It might be
said that the Canadians had struck the first blow—( Cheers)
—it was not the first blow that was to be considered the
origin of the war, but the cause of that first blow.—
(Cheers.) Lord Abingdon had laid it down that when
a nation nal' deeply injured unless ample recompense was
made, it had a right to go to war.—( Cheers.) This was
exactly the case with Canada. As a Christian Clergymen,
he detested war altogether.—( Loud and repeated cheering.)
He would not hold up the scales to balance between property
and human blood. He hat, d war, and he despised the pre-
sent Ministers for provoking the people of Canada to war.
Lord John Russell and the other Ministers had acted like the
satyr in the fable ; they blew hot and cold with the
same breath—they blew heat on Ireland because she was
powerful, but cold on Canada because she was weak.—
(Cheers. ) He held the Ministers to be unchristian, because
they had shut up the schools in Canada. —( Cheers.) Why had
they done so ? To prevent 4,000 children obtaining knowledge
and thereby preventing them from having a knowledge of their
rights.—(Cheers.) The act: of the ministry had turned peace-
ful peasantry into demons for fight, their pruning hooks into
spears, and their ploughshares into swords.—( Cheers.) Who
were the rebels ? (Cries of the Whigs,—Cheers.) Some part
of the press said that the Canadians were rebels.—(Cries of
" No.") He would, however, give the Spectator the credit
to say that it deserved well of the community for having advo-
cated, as it had done, the cause of the Canadians.—(Cheers.)
Who were the rebels ? Not the Canadians. It was laid down
as a political axiom that a whole people could never rebel.
( Cheers.) Such a thing was a solecism in political language—
it was impossible 1 He would show them on the authority Of
Locke who were the rebels. Locke said, " Legislators
are for the service of the people—for the protection of
their liberties and their properties"—and he added moreover,
" If they violate them, or neglect them, the legislators are
rebels."--(Loud cheers.) He would not confine himself to
the Legislative Council of Canada, but he would say that all
legislatures and Imperial Parliaments, whatever they might
he, who assisted the Legislative Council of Canada against the
people, were rebels, and: he would denounce them as such.
They all knew what the Legislative Council had done.
to upset the liberties of the people. It was an irresponsible
council whioh had resisted every popular movement. It Wtls
a mock sort of bastard House of Lords.—(Cheers, and
laughter.) What had a French writer said of it—that
it is a firebrand in a House of Good. The Canadian
Treasury had been robbed.—( Hear, hear.) Jobbers had
been fixed on them. They had been swindled on every side,
and a hungry aristocratic crew had been permitted to plunder
them. The Canadians, therefore, had as much right to resist
as any individual in that country when a highwayman at-
tacked them and threatened to rob and throttle them.--( Hear. )
Who, then, were the traitors ? —( Loud cries of " The Whigs.")
The Ministers were the traitors, and they had shown them-
selves the cause of robbing the Crown, by not keeping the
Canadians in connection with the British country.—( Hear,
hear, hear.) lie had seen a letter from Canada lately, and
h.e would tell them what the opinion of that people was
in two words, with respect to Lord Gosford end the Whig
Ministry. The letter stated that Lord Gosford was an
old rag—a dirty disliclout, and they wished that the Ministers
were put into a sack, and Lord Glenelg at the bottom, and
thrown into the Thames, for his leaden weight would be
sure to sink them for ever.—( Laughter and Cheers.)
The differences between the Canadians and that country had
been discussed by jurists, as regarded the conduct to be pur-
sued towards the Colonies. He (Dr. Wade) would expose
the false doctrine taught at the Universities of Oxford
and Cambridge, which was that a government,
whether just or unjust, when once established,
was to be supported.—(Groans.) It became the people of
England to look well to the doctrines taught in their own
Universities, from whence their legislators principally came.
He (Dr. Wade) held the principle that if the Go-
vernment established in a colony was unjust it ought to be
corrected or put down.—( Cheers.) He would say farther,
that the great bond of union between the Mother Country
and the colonies was mutual utility, and when that was
put an end to, the union should be dissolved. Such was the
case in the histories of Greece and Rome, where
the conquered countries were allowed to appoint their own
governors and enact their own laws, but he supposed it did not
become them, who were Christians, to imitate the conduct of
heathens. It was the duty of the people of England to stand
forward on the present occasion, and to support such men as
Mr. Leader, Mr. Roebuck, Colonel Thomson, and Sir Wil-
liam Molesworth.—( Loud cheers.) It was no slight merit
for such men to have been first its the field to denounce
the iniquitous conduct of the Ministers.—( Loud cheers )
He would sit down by saying—a motto which he would have
inscribed on every banner in Canada—
" I.i Freedom let Canadians live,
And brave the death which Tyrants give.
—(Great cheering.)
On the resolution being put from the chair,
Mr. Joni BELL rose to move an amendment.—(Cries of
" Name, ntene.") He knew this was said to be a party ques-
tion.—(Cries of " Who are you ?") An individual on the
platform replied—the Editor of the True Sun.) If the meet-
ing would be quiet, he would tell them who lie was. Men
wh I knew bins would not suppose that he came there to fight
the battle of the Whigs. He had been opposed to the
Whigs all his life. —( Loud cries of " Hear, hear.")
lie had been tried as a criminal by the Whigs, had been im-
prisoned by the Whigs, had been persecuted by the Whigs, and
had been ruined by the Whigs.—( Hear, hear.) lie denied
the Canadians laboured under grievances.—(Cries of " No,
no.") The great body of the productive classes of England
laboured under deep grievances.—( Cries of " Question.")
That was the question —(Cries of " No, no 1") lie admitted
the Canadians laboured under grievances, but would the lion.
Chairman, and the gentle:nets who supported him, the Par-
liamentary Radicals, would they state tl,at the productive classes
of England laboured under no grievance ?—( Cries of " Ques-
tion.") He stood alone—he bad not spoken to any gentleman of
his intentio.:s—he did not know that he would find any one to
second his amendment. He had come forward to grapple
Leader, Roebuck, Sir William Molesworth and Mr. Hume.
—( Loud hisses and cries of " Off, off.") The working
class; s in England were obliged to sell their children
for factory slaves.—( Interruption.) The hand-loom weavers
were compelled to work 16 hours a-day for five shillinge•
a week.—(Question. question, and continued interruption.)
After a while Mr. BELL said—lf you don't hear met
you
uen
proceeded%vil l hear not oneo reelasde t oh-ids
ayi.smed The worthy
As well as we
could hear it for the interruption, it was for postpoi:isongst
,
the consideration of Canadian grievances until t
d.
gentlemenh
of the English working classes were redressed.
Do you deem the new Poor Law no grievance ?—(Loud
c: ics of " no," " down„" "chair."
In the midst of the uproar,
Mr. DCFF suggested to Mr. Bell, the propriety o-
drawing
drawing the amendment, and not to interpose it between di!!'sc
meeting and the important object which they ha'l met to
cuss.—( Loud cheers, cries of "withdraw," and confusion.
the
Mr. BELL—(:with vehemence)—l will not withdraw, n
amendment ;—let the Chairman put it to the meeting.--(Re-
newed uproar.)
The CHAIRMAN,—I only wish Mr. Bell to confine liim!elf
to the subject before the meeting.—( Hear, and loud cliee,t )
Mr. BELL,-1 consider that I did.— (Loud cries of no,
no,—down,—and Chair.")
The CHAIRMAN put it to the meeting whether the subject
of Canada ought not to be proceeded with.—( Loud cries of
" Yes," and tremendous cheering.)
The CHAIRMAN then put the resolution. A forest of hands..
was held up in its favour; there was only one juvenile twil-
vidual, standing on the platform, who had been particularly
enthusiastic in support of Mr. Bell : the circumstance occa-
sioned great laughter. The resolution was then declared to
be carried, amidst loud applause.
Mr. GaoTa, M. P., then came forward, and was received
with lurid cheering. The lion. Gentleman commenced by
reading the second Resolution, which was to the following
effect :
2. —That this meeting desire to mark with pecitliar reprobation
the iniquitous determination to seize and apply the monies "I
the Canadian Treasury, in direct repugnance to the Acts of the
House of Assembly, whose exclusive right to grant or withhold
supplies, has been solemnly guaranteed by the British Parliament
The lion. Gentleman said that he was quite sure that the
Act alluded to in the Resolution, required only to be distinctly
stated, without amplification or comment, in order to move
the inmost feelings of every assembly of Engli'hmen. It s°-
hated to the resolution proposed by Lord John Russell, in the
House of Commons last Session, and since acted on by
the Governor of Lower Canada, by which the money
returned into the Treasury of that colony, was removed from

tinder which the Rritish Paliarnetf! by its Own
ioloran-and deliberate .ac;, placed it- This Wa3 but the first
1 no he tiad cYc,.; rar, 4 his Ndice ,againct that resolution
`Yuen the resolutions of lidVd PV;sell were proposed in
tlio spring of last year, he (Mr. G.) riad oleic4 to them all
the opposition which a Member of Parliament could eniplay
fegftfPld tl;Jt he had only the support of a very small
,ninority, anri all that Ile eat! f4P.5 to retard, though they
c mld not prevent the passing, of one of the tilOst unjtot acts that
hid ever disgraced tile British Parliament. Ile wag altO'

nish:d to see such resolutions proposed by a man like Ler I
John Russ7ll, deeply read in the Bluish Constitution, and
peculiarly sensible to the weight of historical authority. If
any one bad told him (Mr. G.) in the year 1831, when
he heard Lord John Russell propose the Reform Bill, that he
should afterwards hear him propose resolutions to deprive the
people of Canada of their liberties, he would not have bel'eved
it. That Act of Parliament—unjust, unconstitutional, and
oppressive as it was—was, he was sorry to say, only the last
and closing act of a course of impoliey, and his government
which England has pursued towards Canada. Bat it was
said that the Canadians had no grievances, and in support of
that ass?rtion he was told that they lire in a state of great
social comfort and independence, and that they were lightly
taxed. But that social comfort was common to all the
people of the whole Continent of North America.-_( Hear.)
It would have belonged to the Canadians if they had remained
a colony of France. The English Government never gave] it
to them, nor did he think that Government would take it away.
Certainly, as their enemies asserted, they were lightly taxed.
But was heavy taxation the only thing a people conld complain
af. Had the people of Hanover nothing to complain of when
King Ernest violated their political rights?—( Hear.) But
King Ernest had also taken off taxes—( Hear, and a laugh)—
and when people were told that Canada was lightly taxed, let
them look to Ireland. The Irish people had never been very
heavily taxed. From that grievance they, as well as the
Canadians, had escaped.—( Cries of Hear.) But had they
nothing to ocmplain of in the long course of misgovernment
and oppression, from which I grant they had recently been to
some extent relieved by the benevolent Government of Lord
Mulgrave.—( Loud and repeated cheering.) And it was
h's (Mr. S.'s) opinion, that if Lord Mulgrave had been
sent out to Canada with his hands free, and with
full power to carry into effect his own wise and
benevolent views the resolutions of Lord John Russell would
never have beon heard of, nor would the melancholy occur-
rences which had brought that meeting this day together have
ever taken place.
The felicitous resnits which had attended the administration
.of Lord Mulgrave in Ireland appeared to him to illustrate
most strongly the contrast between the adoption of that course
and that pursued towards Canada. The Canadian
Executive Government had been and was now employed
_ . _

the same means as the Irish Executive Government -did
in Ireland, previous to the Administration of Lord Mul-
grave ; it had been conducted in entire repugnance to
the inclinations of the great majority of the people of
Canada, The French Canadians and M. Papineau, had
been looked upon by the Executive Government as the
Irish Catholics and Mr. O'Connell were looked upon
some time since in Ireland, and the House of Assembly had
been uniformly treated by successive Governments as a hostile
force to be put down by authority, or be cajoled by stratagem ;
and the Legislative Council that had no direct bearing in the
country, was considered the chief ally of the Government of the
province. In his opinion, the government of the country
owed ample reparation to the peeple of Canada for the gross
insult that had been offered to them of taking their money
without the act of the House of Assembly, and for that act
the country must pay reparation some day or other. When the
acts of the English Government should be viewed calmiy by
posterity, the English Government would not be found to be
innocent of any of the evils that might occur to that country.
They would be found to have as they had done towards the
American colonies in 1785.—( Hear.) The cause stated by
Lord John Russell, for taking away from the House of
Assembly the right of interfering with the funds of
the country was that they had dealt with them in an improper
manner previously. He denied that they had done so, and
he would assert that the very complaint which Lord John
m tide against the House of Assembly of Canada, might foe
made with equal justice against the House of Commons in this
country whole d taken the controul of the re \ • Ares of England
on the same grounds as the House of Assembly had done.
They would find that in the reign of William 111. particu-
larly the House of Commons had refused the supplies, on the
distinct and specific grounds that the King's negative had
been put upon a bill for abolishing triennial Parlia-
ments, then on its passage through the Houses of Parliament.
—(Cheers.) He was sorry to say that Lord
John Russell had overlooked all that portion of his-
tory which would have made so strongly against he act
he recomended and he regretted further, that he had
confined himself to that which from the be; inning of
Colonial Government had unhappily besot and deluded every
Colonial minister, by trusting to nothing but the statements of
official personage in the Colonies. He would hear of no
other information, and he adopted it to the exclusion of that
sounder reasoning and that more just representation of the
feelings of the people which would have guided him to better
results. It was not true that the people of Canada had
exercised their constitutional power of refusing the sup-
plies to obtain organic changes, until they had exhausted
prayers, petitions, and supplications for a legislative change.
The Executive Government, which appointed Members to the
legislative Council, had exercised its functions most impro-
perly, and they prayed that it would in future place in
that Council men whose opinions were in harmony with
the feelings of the people. The Parliamentary Committee which
had set in 1828, bad expressed an opinion that that should be
dune, and it was not until the year 18:34 that the people of
Canada were driven to have recourse to petitions to ob-
tain a Legislative Council elected by the people. —( Hear,
hear.) That was a step forced upon them by the neglect
and repulsive conduct of the British Government, and it was
so distinctly recorded by the Commis,ioners who went out to
Canada with Lord Gosford in 1835. They had stated as their
opinion, that if the recommendation of the Parliamentary
Committee of 1828 had been seasonably and faithfully carried
into effect the discontent of that province would have been ap-
peased without difficulty.—( Loud cheers.) Now he would
ask any man who took the pains to study and inform himself
of the career of the Government pursued towards Canada,
if there was not distinct esidence that the English Govern-
ment and the stronger party had been in the wrong Hear,
hear.) He did not mean to say that the Canadians had not
made some demands which it was not proper to grant ; but he
would say that on all great occasions they had been behirel
the necessity rother than asked too much.—(Loud cheers.)
When such is the state of things, I do trust the people of
England will consider whether they can justify it to them-
selves and their own good reason and good feeling to sanction
the use of force and coercion against a people who have
not sinned against us even in the smallest
iot who have done no harm to any of our
brethren—a people who live in peace and in amity, both among
themselves and with our English brethren who inhabit the
country—a people whose generosity and kindness of character,
and whose hospitality to every one, is proverbial—l ask
whether the people of England can reconcile it to their own
views of political prudence (to put the matter only on
question of prudence) whether they can reconcile it to their
own views of good feeling and prudence, to go to war against
a colony like Canada, and to hold that colony, when they shall
have subdued it, in defiance of all the affections and in-
clinations of the people themselves, and close in con-
tact teith the border of the United States.—(Cheers )
( Mr. Roebuck was loft speaking.)
The following arc the other Resolutions and the Petition
to be proposed :-
3: That the Colonial connection of the Canadas with Great Britain is
not conducive to the general wealth and prosperity of the country, in-
asmuch as it has been made the pretext for imposing grievous commer-
cial monopolies, by which a fraction of the public press is given in the
shape of pecuniary advantage to a few, and that the preservation of
such connection, if it can only be preserved by means of perpetual force
and constraint on the inhabitants of the colony, will be alike burden-
some to the national resources, and repugnant to our feelings as citizens
of a free count: y.
4. That this meeting earnestly and solemnly call upon the people
of England to meet forthwith in counties, cities, boroughs, towns,
parishes, and trades, and to adopt such proceedings as may in their
judgment be most likely to induce Ministers to revise their mea-
sures, and accede to the wishes of the people for pece.
" 5. The petitions founded on the above Resolutions be laid for
signature, and presented to both Houses of Parliament.
To the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Tem-
poral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
assembled,
The petition of the undersigned inhabitants of West-
minster sheweth—
" That your petitioners deeply lament the disastrous civil
war now raging in the Colony of Lower Canada, and are of
opinion that the deplorable calamity, and all the evil conse-
quences which is reasonably to be feared it will produce, are
to be ascribed to the misconduct of the British Ministers, in
refusing redress to the repeated complaints of the Canadian
people, and in attempting to sustain that refusal by means
of gross injustice and coercion.
That your petitioners feel it their duty to declare to your
Right Honourable House their reprehension of the unconsti-
tutional and iniquitous determination to seize and apply the
monies in the Canadian Treasury in direct repugnance to the
acts of the House of Assembly, whose exclusive right to grant
or withhold supplies has been solemnly guaranteed by the
British Parliament.
" That your petitioners are fully satisfied that the connec-
tion of the Canadas, as Colonies, is not, and never has been,
conducive to the prosperity of this country.
" That it has always been made a pretext for imposing grie-
vous commercial restraints on the people of this country.
" That it has been made an excuse fcr patronage and ex-
pense highly injurious to the people of both countries.
" That. your petitioners are fully convinced that the Canadas
can never more be placed in a state satisfactory either to the
people of that country or to the people of this country.
" That, should the Canadas be reduced to submission by
force of arms, it must henceforth be governed by means of an
itninense standing army, and by other means equally repug-
nant to the people of both countries.
" That any such attempt to govern Canada by the at
will inflict on this country an enormous annual expense, to
which the people are not prepared to submit.
" That no such attempt can be long continued, but must
soon end in the independence of the Colony, and the utter
disgrace of the British Government.
" Your Petitieners, therefore, pray your Right Honour-
able House to take the allegations of this Petition into
your most serious con-dderation, and by timely arrange-
ments prevent ac otherwise lamentable but inevitable
consequences of the present civil war.
" And our Petitioners, Sec."
(We shall give the Conclusion in a Second Edition,
probably about Five o'clock.)