The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-01 00:00:00

m

MORNIN G SUN

This is indeed a remarkable occurrence almost at the end
of the first half of the 19th cer.titry? As the Counsel of
Alexander M'Leed, then, I shall have occasion to contend
that there can be no such thing as murder charged
f;ainst any of the persons who formed the expedition
I_l!eat to destroy the Caroline. And let me here acid, that
he question as to whether that act was a justifiable pro-
cedure or not on the part of the British Provincial Go-
Ifrument cannot lie, entertained by you. The facts,
gentlemen, to '043 adduced will show that this party
which made
s;ne attack upon the Caroline, consisted of
the crew of seven boats—six of them containing eight
• ribl,lrs6ust and one contained nine—and which were made
"of l3ritish provincial soldiers then on duty at Chip-
Wa ; that Colonel M'Nab ordered the expedition ;
e-r 4.: heacted under the authority of Sir Francis Bond
8e rid, the Provincial Governor, who directed them to
e IrAle out and destroy the Caroline, which he then be-
slacl to be in the employment of the party on Navy
,d, who had there raised the standard of revolt, for-
'Ailed their camp, and opened their batteries on the
6_nAtlian shore, When this party was thus circurn-
nbunced, and at a season of the year when navigation by
117 other vessel was extremely perilous, that boat
tame down for the express purpose of being employed
4.,the occupants of Navy Island, and in their
that boat was from day to day engaged.
fieoat was then as liable to destruction at Schlosser
she had been moored at Navy Island, so far as
esr ieeted individual responsibility. Indeed, it was now
Pro ved that Schlosser was the very rendezvous of the
ta):ty of the invaders of the Island, or of those who
e' ere continually carried over to the Island. We shall
v`Jntend, then, that the boat, while at Schlosser, was
'there for as hostile purposes as if at Navy Island, and
- that the British authorities were therefore as much
Justified in destroying her there as if she had been at
the latter place ; and I ask every American citizen if he
. tould have regarded the destruction of the boat at Navy
land as an offence ? Might not the Island have been
Justifiably invaded, and the persons on it taken pri-
rtlers and slaughtered, without the persons so in-
(lading it being chargeable with the crime of murder,
• ,1•.,11.•:.Y other offence against the laws whatever ?
Z' wailer the insurgents on the Island were right
eirl;wr,6llg, is wholly immaterial. Whether the Bri-
tj:'s Government had been tyrannical, and had driven
nese peo subjectssp is wholly immaterial. The
‘janadianj of Great'Britain had seen fit to revolt,
end with thgt aid of American citizens had made open
Zar in Canada, and whether they were right or wrong,
i NV"
a war, and all the rights and immunities that be-
21ged to those engaged in war, pertained to them. We
,g 1 shove
oft
to you, Gentlemen, that the Government
United States took this view of the case—that
r „„y,.tcir-At cognizance of this offence, and demanded
iteg`9:den from the Government of Great Britain,
- that at a later day the British Government acknow-
...letiged the responsibility of that act, and declared that it
Was dou. in obedience to the British Provincial Govern-
. and justified it as a necessary act for the protection
°f the subjects of Great Britain, then living in Canda.
471 Federal qovernment, then under the constitution,
taken full cognizance of the whole matter, embrac
-
tnotte
only the invasion of our territory, but also the
ptruction of the steam-boat, the property of one of our
Zitizans, and the taking away of the life of another. All,
l
those considerations were presented to the notice of
Treat Britain, and our Government mindful of the na-
f„r, is
rights, and ready to vindicate them, had demanded
tand entire satisfaction for the injury which our coun-
rY, has received. . But the individual who formed part
14. that public force of Great Britain, stands excused as
e alwaYs must, from all the consequences of his action
.•
..• Under those orders. As an individual offender he is not
'answerable to any tribunal. Passing from this, I will
-4 take up another branch of the case, on which I am
1,144 Persuaded the intelligent Judge who presides here,
nlYself will have no difference of opinion, whatever
4.` ea :Y be our respective views of the other features of the
• ei and thus unfold more deeply interesting ques-
. t
o°llWs of constitutional right, and that is the point as
a 'tether M'Leod had anything to do with this tran-
11etiell or not. lam willing, and I intend to call
ur attention more minutely to the evi-
wence sustaining that ground of defence, than that per-
;belling to the other position which we have assumed ;
per-
' cog that evidence sustaining the latter is not in any
,gree susceptible of dispute. Every word of evidence
C,hen eu the part of the prosecution has gone to estab-
our case,
and what is yet to come will only confirm
Zuat
cocas been shown already. But the point to which
to-F
You now is, that Alexander M‘Leod had no more
kin.° With the destruction of the Caroline, or with the
aw: g Durfee, than either of you, Gentlemen of the
that' Not any More. And I speak.with knowledge of
is euliet% and willteatisfy you that what I have now said
, *um elr and literabr true. I confess that lam somewhat
et,,Zl.Lsed by the results of this trial which we hare yet
, of (e
I anticipated much greater strength on the part
litprosecuton. lam here to defend a man whose ,
1.,',Ct1L3.4s dear to him as yours is to you, and to whom I
,are bound to give a fair trial—a patient hearing—
endll,, a'faithful and impartial verdict, just as much as if
CWere an American citizen. I ask no favour at your
whtaN because he is a foreigner. We expect nothing
• ateYer from your hands, on account of the difficulty
which your verdict may place the Governments of
The two countries. We ask only that you will listen to
evidence cautiously weigh it, and then pronounce
whether-Alexander,k' APLeod is a murderer or not. First,
451 in 7e-Vart of the defence we have Col. M'Nab, who proves
the tisuitee of the orders to Captain Drew, the individual
tW-:), had -Charge of the expedition. Col. .11‘Nab states
eLL Ihee ,exped:ti pn, when planned, was a profound
;:4'ret, unknown to any except himself and one or two
• iktiee4"tial officers. The party collected on the shore,
tt et, oeee,
it: expedition was declared when the party was on
Way to accomplish its object. When the expedi-
blueluretureel, Colonel Al4Nali ordered a list of all the
tem: engaged in tho expedition to be made out, in-
antrg to bestow upon them some mark of appro-
for their hardihood and successful conduct of the
eitte4itlen. In the lists thus made out, the name of M'Leod,
a,h •
oer -Alexander nor Angus, does not appear. Col. M'Nab
embasys that he was on the shore when the expedition
ed,•.and that he did not see M.Leod, whom he
keen''‘
Most intimately. Then every boat's crew were
th-ninteel with each other, and they respectively testify
th:l PLeod was not among them. This is in substance
thateldic we have taken on commission, and
wi„ Will be first laid before you in our defence. You
,trils.,:teetioluebyldeLfk
Ina" listen to that reading with attention, although it
not be so satisfactory as the evidence of witnesses
euue,
ohnreeowb.efore you personally. But we will also
you living witnesses, who will speak of
At hCur` 6 close of the Learned Gentleman's remarks, the
Nu Was adjourned until Thursday morning, at fifteen
,Utes to eight o'clock.

FOURTH DAY.
UTICA, OCT. 7.
hjohe Court re-assembled this morning at 15 minutes
re eight o'clock.
elle first witness called upon was Alex. C. Hamilton,
onockyrlao was examined by Mr. Spencer, to contradict
to et the witnesses for the prosecution, who deposed
Conversation between him and Raineock and
Nt"cod, after the affair of the Caroline. I reside at
hviagata, in Canada. Raincock, the person spoken of
/s-zec'ne of the itnesses esterday, had left Canada in
"vernber
year 1837. I was married in January of that
and 1, a ' u
went to England. 1 returned in November,
Llttineock bad left then. I had been on hai e,s of
4'
-aCY with him, and I think he could not have been
g Qre without my knowledge. I understood he had
eltnee etc' England. The Canadian outbreak occurred
r e retund.
is
then '',l°3B'examined by the Attorney-General—Raincock
''ePutY-collector of Customs. I don't know rile-
.
bt ie.
''.4acoek was a Patriot or a Royalist. The out-
%lt leek place after ho had left.
a,oktte following will be found to contain the main and
Gat imPortant facts proved by the witnesses examined
e , the Commission in Canada, to which the Learned
",,Illeman alluded in his opening speech :
The testimony of Sir Allan M'Nab was taken at
belf9iiatea, in Canada, on the 13th of September, 1841,
Co ra James E. Small and James Harvey, Esqs.,
elilat4issioners—Joseph Center, Esq., being present
4, approving for he people, and Hiram Gar ner,
I') for the accusetd. He said—l am a barrister.
liraelde at Dundwin, in the Gore District, in the
tbeTco of Canada, about forty•five miles from
nof Niagara. I know a body of militia
bur assembled at Chippewa in the month of Deeem-
twre','B37, and January, 1838, to the number of h
r'o thousand and three thousand, to repel an
as—eted invasion from rebels and American brigands
near Schlobled on Navy Island, and on the American shore,
tesser. They were ordered out by the Lieud-
lirleati,t•Governor of Upper Canada, Sir Francis Bon
for the purpose aforesaid. I was the officer in
command of the forces then and there assembled.
iez 15- Head was at Chippewa more than once dur-
be eseme months named. 01 the force assembled there
(II,'" directions I assumed the command by his order,
)iferc!ed to me as Colonel of the 3d regiment of Gore
1,11141 a,
The Governor-General of the two provinces
reragen°,t at Chippewa at the time mentioned. Ido
4,411nr the last time the steam-boat Ctroline came
Itswt? previous to her destruction. From the infer-
thattlaL I received. I had every reason to believe
iee. ,8"6 Came down for the express purpose of assist-
-4;110 rebels and brigands on Navy Island with
Ta men, ammunition, provisions, stores, &e.
3._ ascertain this fact. I sent two officers with in-
ti`ortoections to watch the movements of the boat, to
the
saw same, and report to me ; they reported they
Chercal land a cannon, (a six or nine pounder), cove-
hatiTl armed and equipped as soldiers, and that she
uraPped her anchor on the east side of Navy
fromlid ; on the information I had previously received
to'!l,ghlY respectable persons in Buffalo, together
des, 'ue report of these gentlemen, I determined to
exiled `roy her that night ; I entrusted the command of the
Deeit,'", for the purposes aforesaid, to Captain A.
left 17'
"al Navy ; seven boats were equipped, and
rums Canadian shore ; I do not recollect the number
n each boat ; Captain Drew held the rank of
thender of her Majesty's Royal Navy. I ordered
Ati,rxPedition, and first communicated it to Ciptain
e "I' Drew, on the beach, where the men embarked,
Drew time previous to their embarkation. Captain
v„,b__ was ordered to take and destroy the Caroline
ofi`crcrer. he could find her. I gave the order as
the " in command of the forces assembled for
tuantrrPeses aforesaid. They embarked at the
they
embarked the Chippewa river. I was there when
handotiuceeedu, and when the boats shoved off,
theres
about a quarter of an hour.
me t of the persons going into the