The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-17 00:00:00

newspaper offices, calling a meeting-in the open air. At
the meeting inflammatory speeches were made. On a
sudden, whether under the eiftct of momentary excite-
ment, or in pursuance of a plan arranged beforehand, the
mob proceeded to the House of Parliament, where the
Members were still sitting, and, breaking the windows,
set fire to the building, and burned it to the ground. By
this wanton act public property of considerable value,
including two excellent libraries, has been utterly de-
stroyed. Having achieved their object, the crowd
dispersed, apparently satisfied with what they had
done. The Members were permitted to retire
unmolested, and no resistance was offered to
the military, who appeared on the ground, after
brief interval, to restore order and aid in the extinguish-
ing the flames. During the two following days a good
deal of excitement prevailed in the streets, and some
further acts of incendiarism were perpetrated. Since
then the military force has been increased, and the
leaders of the disaffected party have shown a disposition
to restrain their followers and direct their energies to-
wards the more constitutional object of petitioning the
Queen for my recall, and the disallowance of the ob-
noxious Bill. The proceedings of the House of Assem-
bly will also tend to awe the turbulent. I trust, there-
fore, that the peace of the city will not again be dis-
turbed. The newspapers which I enclose contain full,
and I believer pretty accurate accounts, of all that has
occurred since Wednesday last.
11. 'The Ministry are blamed for not having made
adequate provision against these disasters; that they by no
means expected that the hostility to the Rebellion Losses
Bill would have displayed itself in the outrages which
have been perpetrated during the last few days is certain.
Perhaps sufficient attention was not paid by them to the
menaces of the Opposition press. It must be admitted
however, that their position was one of considerable
difficulty. The civil force of Montreal—a city contain-
ing about 50,000 inhabitants of different races, with
secret societies and other agencies of mischief in con-
stant activity—consists of two policemen under the
authority of the Government, and 70 appointed b y the
corporation. To oppose, therefore, effectual resistance.
to any considerable mob, recourse must be. had.. in all
cases either to the military or to a force of civilians en-
rolled for the occasion. Grave objections, however,
presented themselves in the present . instance to the
adoption of either of these courses, until the disposition
to tumult on the part of the populace unhappily mani-
fested itself in overt acts. More especially was it of
- importance to avoid any measure which might have had
a tendency to produce a collision between parties on a
question on which their feelings were so strongly excited.
The result of the course pursued is, that there has been
no bloodshed, aud, except in the case of some of the
Ministers themselves, no destruction of private property.
12. The proceedings in the Assembly have been im-
p ortant. I enclose the copy of an address which has
been voted to me by a majority of 36 to 16, expressive
of abhorrence at the outrages which have taken place
in the city of Montreal, of loyalty to the Queen, and
approval of my just and impartial administration of the
Government with my late as well as my present ad-
visers. Some of the Opposition approve of the course
which I have taken with respect to the Rebellion Losses
Bill, as appears from the speeches of Messrs. Wilson
and Gait, of which reports aro given in the newspapers
which I enclose. Mr. Wilson is an influential member of
the Upper Canada Conservative party, and Mr. Galt's
views are the more important, because he has been re-
turned. to Parliament only a few days ago by a Lower
Canadian constituency which comprises a large British
population. Generally, however, as the amendments
they have moved to the address show, they desire to
avoid committing themselves on this point. The votes
against the address may be thus classed—Sir A.
M‘N. ab and his party; my late Ministers and
their party; and Mr. Papineau. The first acts with
perfect consistency in voting as he has done on this
question; for he has always contended that Govern-
ment conducted on British principles is unsuited
to Canada. The course of the second class is less intel-
ligible; for, until the day on which they resigned their
offices into my hands, they uniformly expressed approval
of the principles on which my conduct as Governor-
General vial guirt d; and these, as your Lordship well
knows, have undergone no change with the change of
Administration. Mr. Papinesu's vote conveys a useful
lesson which will not, I trust, be lost on persons who had
been induced to believe that the pers,cution of which I
am now the object is really attributable to my having
shown undue lenity to those who were led by him into
rebellion.

13. I have now furnished your Lordship with as clear
a statement of these important oczurrences as I can give,
and I can conclude by assuring you that the city is per-
fectly tranquil, and that there is no present likelihood of
a renewal of disturbances. A few days will show NI hat
echo the prcceedings of the violent party awaken in
Upper Canada, and to what extent they are followed
by reaction. Meanwhile, it is my firm conviction, that
if this dictation be submitted to, the Government of
this province by constitutional means will be impos-
sible; and that the struggle between overbearing
minorities, backed by force, and majorities resting on
legality and established forms: which has so long
proved the bane of Canada, driving capital from the pro-
vince and producing a state of chronic discontent will
be perpetuated. At the same time, I think that if lam
unable to recover that position of dignified neutrality be-
tween contending parties which it blts been my unremit-
ting study to maintain, and from which I would appear
to have been fur the moment driven—not, as I firmly be-
lieve, through any fault of my own, but by the unreason-
ing violence of faction—it may he a question with your
Lordship whether it would not be fur the interests of
her Majesty's service that I should be removed from my
high effit.,e, to make way for one who should not indeed
hold views at variance with mine with respect to the du-
ties of a Constitutional Governor, but who should have
the advantage of being personally unobnoxious to any
section of her Majesty's subjects within the province.
I have, &c.,
ELGIN and KINCARDINE.
The Right Hon. Earl Grey, &c.

(Enclosure 1 in No. 1.)
An Act to provide for the Indemnification of Parties
in Lower Canada whose Property was destroyed
during the Rebellion in the years 1837 and 1838.
Received and read a first time, Tuesday, February
27, 1849. Second reading, Friday, March 2, 1849.
Whereas on the 28th day of February, 1845, an
humble address was unanimously adopted by the Legis-
lative Assembly of this province, and by them presented
to the Right Hon. Charles Theophilus Baron Metcalfe,
the then Governor-General of the same, praying " that
his Excellency would be pleased to cause proper
measures to be adopted in order to insure to the inhabi-
tants of that part of this province, formerly Lower
Canada, indemnity for just losses by them sustained
during the rebellion of 1837 and 1838;" and whereas on
the 24th day of November, 1845, a commission of five
persons was, by his Excellency the said Governor-
General, duly appointed to inquire into such losses arising
from and growing out of the said rebellion; and whereas,
it appears by the report of the said commissioners, dated
the 18th of April, 1846, that " the want of power to
proceed to a strict and regular investigation of the losses
in question left the commissioners no other resource than
to trust to the allegations of the claimants as to the
amounts and nature of their losses;" anti whereas, in
order to redeem the pledge given to the sufferers of such
losses, or their bona fide creditors, assigns, or ayant:droit,
as well by the said address of the said
Legislative Assembly, and the appointment of
the said commission, as by the letter addressed
by the Hon. the Secretary of the province, by order
of the Right Hon. Charles Murray, Earl of Cathcart,
the then Administrator of the Government of the same,
to the said commissioners, on the 27th day of February,
1846, it is necessary and just that the particulars of
sach losses, not yet paid and satisfied, should form the
subject of more minute inquiry under legislative autho-
rity, and that the same, so far only as they may have
arisen from the total or partial, unjust, unnecessary, or
wanton destruction of the dwellings, buildings, pro-
perty, and effects of the said inhabitants, and from the
seizure, taking, or carrying away of their property and
effects, should be paid and satisfied; provided that none
of the persons who have been convicted of high treason
alleged to have been committed in that part of this pro-
vince, formerly the province of Low: r Canada, since
the Ist day of November, 1837, or who, having been
charged with high treason or other offence of a treason-
able nature, and, having been committed to the custody
of the Sheriff in the gaol of Montreal, submitted them-
selves to the will and pleasure of her Majesty, and were
thereupon transported to her Majesty's islands of Ber-
muda, shall be entitled to any indemnity for losses sus•
tained during or after the said rebellion or in conse-
quence thereof. Be it therefore enacted, &c.
And it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same,
that, for the purposes of this Act, it shall be lawful for
the Governor in Council to authorise the issue of deben-
tures, payable out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of
this province, at or within 20 years after the date thereof
respectively, and bearing interest at the rate of 6 per
cent., payable out of the said fund on such day in each
year as shall be therein specified, provided the total
amount of the said debentures shall sot exceed the sum
hereinafter mentioned.
11. And be it enacted, that the said debentures
may be issued in such form and foillich separate sums
respectively as the Governor in Council shall deem ex-
pedient, and may be issued either to such parties as
shall be willing to advance money for the same, or to
parties to whom money shall be awarded for compensa-
tion of losses under this Act, or who shall demand them
in exchange for debentures of like amount issued under
the Act hereinafter mentioned.

111. And be it enacted, that the holder of any deben-
ture issued under the authority of the Act passed in the
ninth year of her Majesty's reign, and intituled, " An
Act to provide for the Payment of certain Rebellion
Losses in Lower Canada, and to appropriate the Pro-
ceeds of the Marriage License Fund," may, on any day
on which the interest on such debenture is payable, have
the same exchanged for a debenture for a like amount
to be issued under this Act, and the interest then
payable on such debenture shall at the same time be paid
out of the said Consolidated Revenue Fund ; and the
proceeds of so much of that portion of the Marriage
License Fund arising in Lower Canada as shall not be
required to pay off the principal and interest of an unex-
changed debenture shall form part of the said Consoli-
dated Revenue Fund.
IV. Provided always, and be it enacted, that the Go-
vernor in Council may, at any time, by notice in the
Canada Gazette, require that all the debentures issued
Under this Act be presented at a time certain, and not
less than six months from the date of such notice, for
payment of the principal and interest thereof in full ;
and such payment shall be made accordingly out of the
said Consolidated Revenue Fund, and after the time so
appointed no interest shall accrue on the debentures
which shall not be so presented.
V. And be it enacted, that the debentures issued
under this Act shall be distinguished from those issued
under other Acts, and that separate accounts shall be
kept thereof, and of all money expended under this Act;
and that such accounts shall be laid annually before the

provincial Parliament; and that the due application of all
money expended under this Act shall be accounted for
to her Majesty, through the Lords Commissioners of her
Majesty's Treasury, in such manner and form as her
Majesty shall please to direct.
VI. And be it enacted, that it shall be lawful for the
Governor to appoint five persons to be commissioners
under this Act, and from time to time to remove them or
any of them, and to appoint another or others in the place
of any so removed, or dying, or resigning office.
VII. And be it enacted, that each of the said commis-
sioners shall, before entering upon the duties of his office,
take and subscribe, before any justice of the peace, the
following oath :
" I, , swear that I will faithfully, and
without partiality, fear, favour, or affection, perform my
duty as commissioner under the Act intituled An Act,
&c. [insert the title of this Act], and that I will allow
to each claimant under the said Act neither more nor less
than the sum which he is entitled to claim for compensa-
tion, according to the true intent and meaning of the said
Act. So help me God."
Which oath shall be entered on the minutes of the
proceedings of the said commissioners, and make part
thereof. _ _

VIII. And be it enacted, that it shall ba lawful for
the Governor from time to time to appoint a clerk to the
said commissioners, and the same to remove, and in case
of any such removal, or of death, or of resignation of
office of the said clerk, to appoint another in his place;
and the commissioners and their clerk shall receive for
their services under this Act, and for their necessary
expenses and disbursements, such compensation as shall
be allowed by the Governor in Council, and no other
fees or emoluments whatsoever; and such compensation
shall be defrayed out of the said Consolidated Revenue
Fund. _

I.X. And be it enacted, that the amount of the de-
bentures to be issued under this Act, and the amount of
the said compensation to be allowed to the said commis-
sioners and clerk, shall not exceed the sum of 100,005/.
currency, which sum shall also include the sum of
9,9351. 7s. 2d., raised by debentures issued under the
said Act hereinbefore mentioned.

X. And be it enacted, that it shall be the duty of the
said commissioners faithfully and without partiality to
inquire into and ascertain the amount of the losses men-
tioned in the preamble to this Act, as those for which
compensation ought to be made, and to report the same
to the Governor of this province.
XI. And be it enacted, that the powers vested in, and
duties required of, the said commissioners, or of any
three of them under this Act, shall also extend, and be
construed to extend, to inquire into all such losses sus-
tained by her Majesty's subjects and other residents
within the said late province of Lower Canada, and the
several claims and demands which have accrued to any
such persons by such losses, in respect of any loss, de-
struction, or damage of property occasioned by violence on
the part of persons in her Majesty's service, or by violence
on the part of persons acting, or assumine•6 to act, on be-
half of her Majesty, in the suppression of the said rebel.
lion, or for the prevention of further disturbances; and
all claims arising under or in respect of the occupation
of any houses or other premises by her Majesty's naval
or military forces, either imperial or provincial, subject
always to the limitations and exceptions contained in the
preamble to this Act.
XII. And be it enacted, that the commissioners ap-
pointed under this Act shall hold their sittings publicly
at such places and times, and for such counties, parishes,
or other territorial divisions respectively as the Governor
in Council shall from time to time direct and notify
to them through the provincial secretary, and
shall give such public notice of their said
meetings as they shall in like manner be required to
give ; and at such meetings any three of the said com-
missioners shall be a quorum, and any report, award, or
proceeding in which three of the commissioners shall
concur, shall be deemed to be made or done by the com-
missioners ; provided always, that no sitting of the said
commissioners shall be hell after the lst day of Septem-
ber, 1850, and no claim shall be received by them after
the Ist clsy of May, 1850.
XIII. And be it enacted, that the said commissioners
shall have full power and authority to examine upon
oath (which oath any one of them may administer) any
person who shall appear before them, either as a claimant
or as a witness for or 'against, any claim, or for the better
information of the commissioners concerning the same;
and shall have full power and authority to summon be-
fore them any person or party whom they may deem it
expedient to examine touching any claim, and to require
him to bring with him, and produce any book, paper,
instrument, document, or thing mentioned in the sum-
mons, and suppcsod to be necessary to the determina-
tion of any such claim ; and if any person or party so
summoned shall, after due notice, refuse or neglect
to attend before them, or being so summoned
and attending shall refuse to answer any law-
ful question put to him by the commissioners,
or any one of them, or to bring and produce
any book, paper, instrument, document, or thing in his
possession, which he shall, by the summons, have been
required to bring with him and produce, the said com-
missioners may cause such person or party, if not already
before them, to be apprehended and brought before
them, and may, in their discretion, commit him to the
common gaol of the district, for a period not exceeding
three months; and any person making any wilfully false
statement on oath before the said commissioners, or any
one of them, shall be adjudged guilty of wilful and cor-
rupt perjury; provided always that no claim shall be
allowed upon the oath of the claimant, unless he shall
be corroborated in all the important particulars by indif-
ferent and unsuspected witnesses, or other testimony.
XIV. And be it enacted, that the said commissioners
shall, on or before the Ist day of September, 1850, re-
port their proceedings to the Governor, stating more
especially the sum they shall have allowed for such
losses as aforesaid to each claimant respectively; and if
the total amount of the sums so allowed, and the said
sum of 9,9861. is. 2d., and the expenses incurred under
this Act, shall exceed the sum of 100,0001., then the
expenses incurred under this Act shall be first provided
for, and secondly the said sum of 9,9861. 7s. 23., and the j
remaining suns shall be distributed among the claimants
in proportion to the sums allowed to them respectively,
by the commissioners, or any three of them.
(Enclosure 2 in No. 1.)
Extract from the Montreal Gazette, dated April 25,
1849:

The disgrace of Great Britain accomplished! Canada
sold and given away! The Rebellion Losses Bill passed.
The Governor pelted with rotten eggs!
This afternoon it was generally rumoured in the town
the Governor-General
-would proceed to the House and
give his sanction to certain Bills, but it never was sup-
posed the Rebellion Losses Bill would be one of them.
Ashamed of the part he was about to act, and ex•
pecting to steal a march upon the public feeling, Lord
Elgin sneaked down to the House an hour after the time
appointed, and, after it was believed he had given up his
inten ion, he made his appearance ia the chamber of the
Legislative Council.
After assenting to several Bills of little importance,
the clerk read, with as little desire to attract attention as
possible, " The Rebellion Losses Bill!"
And to the eternal and damnable disgrace of Great
Britain, Rebellion is the law of the land !
The announcement was received with groans and
stamping of feet. There were several other Bills to be
assented to afterwards; but the galleries, in disgust,
rushed from the Council Chamber, "muttering curses
both loud and deep,"—curses which will bear effect some
other day.
The few persons who had collected outside, on learn-
ing what had passed, burst into yells, hootings, and
groans for " the last Governor of Canada."
When Lord Elgin—he no longer deserves the name of
Excellency—made his appearance in the street to retire
from the Council Chamber, he was received by the crowd
with hisses, hootings, and groans. He was pelted with
rotten eggs; he and his Aide-de-Camps were splashed
with the savoury liquor, and the whole carriage covered
with the nasty contents of the eggs and with mud. When
the eggs were exhausted stones were made use of to
salute the departing carriage, and he was driven off at a
rapid gallop amidst the hootings and curses of his coun.
trymen.

The end has begun.
Anglo-Saxons! you must live for the future. Your
blood and race will now be supreme if true to yourselves..
You will be English "at the expense of not being
British." To whom and what is your allegiance now?
Answer each man for himself.

The puppet in the pageant must be recalled, or driven
away by the universal contempt of the people.
In the language of William IV., "Canada is lost, and
given away."
A mass meeting will be held on the Place d'Armes
this evening at eight o'clock. Anglo-Saxons! to the
struggle; now is your time.
MA:

NCHESTER. QUEEN'S THEATUE.—Mr. George
Owen, the tragedian, made his first appearance at the
above 'Theatre, in. the arduous character of Hamlet, on
Monday last.. He was loudly applauded, and called on
the stage at the conclusion of the play; he obeyed the
summons, and addressed the house with thanks for the
warm reception he had received in Manchester. He was
requested tc; repeat the character on Friday. Mr. G.
Owen possesses youth, a fine voice, and a good figure. So
great was his success in the same character at Birming-
ham two years ago, that the house was crowded, and he
then by desire repeated the character. On Tuesday he
played Shylock; Wednesday, Richard III.; Thursday,
his benefit, King Lear; Friday, Hamlet; Saturday, Mac-
beth. In all he acquitted himself to the entire satisfac-
tion of the public.
DANGEROUS ILLNESS OF MR. SHORE.—Although
in a very bad state of health, the Rev. James Shore
firmly declines liberation from prison, ifpurchasedb
by
payment of the costs. In answer to a letter, acquaint-
ing 'him with the decision of his Committee, he ob-
serves:—" The more I reflect upon the subject of the
payment of the Bishop's costs, the more am I convinced
of the propriety of my former determination in this
matter. While, therefore, I csnnot sufficiently express
my thankfulness for the kindness intended, I can, in
no way, be a party to such payment." At the same
time, a letter has reached the Committee, from Mr.
George Atkinson, of Torquay, stating that, having visited
Mr. Shore' he found him exceedingly ill, and under-
stood from Mrs. Shore, who is now permitted to attend
him night and day, that since Saturday week he had been
dangerously ill. Sir Benjamin Brodie having particu-
larly advised Mr. Shore not to put himself under the
treatment of any one for his complaint, Mr. Atkinson
suggest., that the committee should immediately request
Sir Benjamln to visit him. The committee, we have no
doubt, have already complied with this request. It is to
be hoped that Sir Benjamin Brodie's certificate of the
state of Mr. Shore's health, and of the influence of im-
prisonment upon him, will be forthwith transmitted to
the Secretary of State. Both Church and State may have
much to answer for, unless the requisite measures be
quiekly adopted for preventing, if possible, a fatal catas-
trophe.—Patriot.
Dispatches were sent off last evening from the Co-
lonial-office, for the Governors of the West India Co-
lonies.

NOTICE! THE

NEW EDITION of BURKE'S PEERAGE
AND BARONETAGE

IS NOW READY AT ALL THE BOOKSELLERS.
Revised and Corrected throughout to the Present Time, from the
Personal Communications of the Nobility, &c., in one Vol., with
1,500 Engravings of Arms, &c., 38s. bound.

This work has long maintained in ground as the best Genealogical
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first authority on all questions affecting the Aristocracy.—Globe.
Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13, Great 3larlborough-street.

I=mediately, in 2 vols. post Svo.,
HISTORY OF THE

CONSTITUENT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
OF FRANCE,
From February, 1848.
Comprising Personal Sketches and Notes.
By J. F. CORKRAN, Esq.
Richard Bentley, Ne vv Burlington-street.
(Publisher in Ordinary t•o her Majesty.)

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.
GRAND EXTRA N[GIIT, THIS EVENING.
It is respectfully announced that a Glt AND EXTRA NIGHT,
on the scale of former seasons, will to presented THIS EVENING,
May 17, when will be performed Rossini's celebrated Opera,