The New York herald., 1849-05-01
AFFAIRS In THE BRITISH PROVINCES.
Our Canadian Correspondence.

Parliament, and the PROCEEDINGS of the Mob, &C.
The work has at length fairly commenced. 1t
was announced yesterday afternoon, in all the
places of public resort, that his Excelency would
go down to Parliament, and sanction numerous
bllls particularly the relating to the customs 1t
was never presumed for moment however,
that the notorious and detested rebel bill was to
be one of them. At4 PM the hour appointed
Tor the ceremony, fair assemblage of people were
collected in front of the parliamentary buildings
1t was not till 5 = M. that the Governor entered
the council chamber, and took his seat on the
throne. In the meantime, a rumor had got abroad
that the So rebel bill'' was, indeed to be assented
TO. The report quickly spread and before tae
conclusion OF the ceremony, crowd, numbering
about 800 persons, were collected together to re-
celve The representative of British sovereignty,
with the long announced honors The royal sane
non was gwen 10 forty-elght bills, amongst which,
the crowd were informed by those who had been
IN the interior of the buildings, was the obnoxious
Dill About O'Clock, his Excellency en- cred his
carriage, and was driven OIL at rapid rate, amidst
curses, yels, hootngs, and "A shower of rotten
eggs, dirt and stones Lord Elgn had to run the
gauntlet o the various missiles, for the distance of
100 yards. The carriage windows were down.
and Colonel Bruce was inside with him. Three
segs entered the carriage, and some struck his
lordship in the face. Horses, equpage footmen,
&c, We're all completely covered with the unsa-
yory missiles. The staff Jared very little better
The fact OF the royal sanction having been given
TO the "rebeon losses bill, now spread like
Wildhre. BY o'clock alarm bells were ringing
all over the town, and crlers went through the
streets calling mass meeting to be held on the
Champ de Mars, at o'clock. By the appointed
time, upwards of two thousand people had assem-
Die Mbled, and by O'Clock, it had swelled to 5000
Ihe following series OF resolutions were proposed
and passed. amidst universal applause.
=, We published the resolutions yesterday.-ED.
HERALD
After the passing of the last resolution, one of
the popular leaders of the mob got upon the chair,
and addressed them in most violent and inham-
matory manner, amidst the continued and deafen-
ing cheers The time for action has arrived. We
must work. We have passed resolutions enough
they have been disregarded To the Parliament
House A chord in the hearts of the vast multi
tude had been touched, which every heart re-
torches, marched at furious rate in the direction
of the Legislature BY 10 p. NJ eight thousand
persons were in front of the buildings, where the
Assembly was in full session at the time. shower
Of stones 'sas thick as leaves in Vallambrosa,''
were poured upon the windows, which, from the
brilliant manner in which they were lighted, af-
torded most tempting mark. When the stones
came pouring into the windows, the members of
the Assembly thought 1t time to beat a retreat, and
retired into the lobby, there to await the issue of
events. No sooner had the members left, than about
one hundred fthe mob, armed to the teeth, rushed
into the Assembly room, and their leader, swear
ing he would come Oliver Cromwell over them,
placed himself in the Speakers chair, assumed the
hat, and announced, with stentorian lungs, Cen
ing sand we are all going to hip One brawny
fellow then seized hold of the mace, which, from
the house being In committee at the time, lay on
the table, and having shouldered it, marched off.
The rest set to work, and the destruction COM
menced.
Whilst this body of men were smashing everything
inside the Legislative Assembly room. cry of fire
was suddenly raised. In the meantime, Col. Gugy
heading the members, clerks, and ladies', rushed
through the hall of the House. and out at the prin-
clpa door, agreeably surprised at not finding them
the flames spread, can hardly be imagined; in less
than fifteen minutes, the whole of the wing occu-
pied by the House of Assembly was in flames, and,
owing to the intimate communications between
the two Houses, the Upper House was rapidly in
yolved in the same destruction
The mob had now amounted to almost incredible
numbers, and remained stolcal spectators of the
scene. The troops arrived shortly afterwards and
Were received With loud cheers, which several @ ra
companies of the 23d Regiment returned. One
soldier, private, fired his musket in the air; he
was Immediately arrested, and sent to the guard
house. BY ii o'clock, nothing but the smoudering
ruins of the House-in which measure fraught
with injustice and nquity was introduced, passed,
and received the royal assent-now remain;
lifting tribute to the rage of an nsulted people.
None regret the loss of the buildings; every one,
the splendid Libraries, in which were the ar
chves and records of Canada for hundreds of years;
valuable works, from every quarter of the globe,
were heaped profusion within those walls eleven
hundred volumes of records Of the British House
of Commons, of which no other copy was extant,
were destroyed, Not eighty dollars worth of pro;
is regretted by all. The Queens picture was
saved from the burning buildings but destroyed
In the streets. The party in charge of the mace
carried 1t to Donegana's Hotel and there placed it
in the hands of Sir Allan McNab. No lives were
lost. I. B. Turner, Esq, of the Montreal Courier,
Sir Allan McNab and the Hon. w. Badgely, in
attempting to save some books from the library,
were nearly lost. They were obliged to drop the
works and rush for the Legislative council cham
Der door, which, to their horror, they found locked.
Their cries were heard by party in the library of
the council, who had axes, and the panel was
smashed In; they then escaped by ladder from
the balcony. IT was rumored amongst the mob,
that the French members were hid in the cellars,
and would be destroyed by the fire. The announce
ment was received with the most brutal cheers
At II O'Clock, satisfied with the work of the eve
ming, the multitude dispersed. His Excellency,
the Governor General, with his family, came into
town, and remained all night under the protection
of large guard at Government House. Early
this morning, Messrs. Mack, Howard, Mont
gomerle, and FeTes, proprietor of the Montreal
Gazette, were arrested on a charge of arson. They
were taken before the police magistrates, and after
an examination of a few hours, remanded to jail
till tomorrow. The excitement during the day
was intense: A mob of three thousand persons
accompanied them to the Jail. Through the IN
fuence OF their leaders, the mob were prevented
from any outbreak. Had they chose to do so, the
one hundred soldl ers who guarded the cabs would
have soon been settled. But it was represented
that more good would arise from their incarcera-
uOn lOI d lew HOuTS.
In the evening 1t was announced that meeting
would be held on the Champ de Mars tomorrow
at two o'clock the Hon. George Mofi'att to be in
the chair; when the peace and safety of the coun-
try will be discussed 1t has already been de-
cided, that safety and peace can only be insured
by His Excellency going home. Notice will be
given him to quit the confines OF Canada before
the expiration OF the week. Sir Benjamin D'Hoban
rs TO be called upon 10 administer the affairs of the
country till he receives tldings from home. A
French magistrate, named Arniot, who went to
the jail with the prisoners, was nearly torn to
was collected outside the government house du-
ring the whole day, for the purpose of laying hold
of the ministry, and were only prevented from
entering the house by the presence of the military.
with whom it is the determination of the British
party not TO quarrel, and it was also the miltarv's
desire. The sodiery enjoyed the fun excessively.
and many were the SCOTS and ieers passed by both