St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-11-12
RIEL'S REPRIEVE.
Special to the Globe.

WINNIPEG. MAIL, NOV. 1l.-N men Dep
uty Sheriff Gibson told Riel that he had
been respited until next Monday he fell on
his knees, and lifting his hands HEAVIER
ward, exclaimed:
thank Thee, Almighty God, for this great
mercy and for the clemency thou hast put
into the hearts of the people.
To Pere Andre, his spiritual adviser, who
asked if his suspense was not terrible, he
said:
Father, am thankful for eight days more
to live.
Riel took his customary exercise outside
the jail to-day. He looks pale and some
what emaciated. He has lost great deal
of flesh and eats very little, fasting about
half the time, and often for day. 1t is
said that he is resigned to death and is re-
solved, if such be his fate, to walk to the
scaffOld fearessly. He spends his days
praying and writing, often sitting late into
the night scribbling prophecies, etc. News
paper men are not allowed to see him.
Lord MeIgund sent some tracts, which were
offered. but he refused them with disdain.
Father McWilliamS of Railton, Ont, saw
Riel and asked him how he felt. Riel re-
piled with vehemence:
l am going to die, but [ am prophet, come
to reform the state-tO reform everything.
You priests ought to be reformed, too. I
have not long to live but the word of God is
SO strong | must speak.
He continued his more or less incoherent
harangue for a long time. The apparent
cause of the respite was the report of the
so-called insanity commission which arrived
Friday morning at Regina. 1t consisted of
DR.. Lavelle of Kingston and Dr.. Z. Y. La
voire of Quebec. Their movements were
kept profoundly secret. They examined
RieI carefully on Friday, Saturday and
Sunday and reported to Ottawa on Sunday
night. They departed for Ottawa last
night. Their examination consisted of
conversations with RieI, who was kept in
the dark as to who the strangers were. To
one of their leading questions:
Would you like to live?
Riel answered, yes, would like to live, be-
cause everybody likes to live.
Pressed for fuTthur reasons, he added:
/ am prophet. and the longer / live the
more | can accomplish on earth. I have a
mission to perform, though God may raise up
prophet in my place.
The doctors asked him if he loved God,
and remarked that he had been accused of
blasphemy. The answer was:
You ask me if love God? Why, I sacri-
feed everything, even my life, for God. See
the scafold! Whom do I love if not God?
Certainly I love God. I have tried my best to
prepare to meet God and think am as near
ut as human nature permits.
Pere Andre was examined by the COM
mission. He thinks Rel is mad; his ner-
vous system is shattered and he cannot live
three years. Nothing is known here re-
garding the nature of the commissions re-
port, but it is believed that it settled the
question one way or the other. At the
banquet of Sir Aaron and Hon. Thomas
White last night, Aaron caused vociferOus
applause by stating that he hated rebels and
had no sympathy with the rebellion. Re-
ferring to the rebellion, White said:
visited Prince Albert district, of which we
have heard so much of late. bad an oppor-
tunity of seeing the terrible misery brought
upon the poor, misguided half-breeds by the
treachery OF designing knave. 1t seems to
me that if anywhere the name of the man
who led the creatures in that neighborhood
and caused such misery and destitution, the
name of him who for the second time in this
Northwest country brought disturbance upon
the people, should be held up to execration,
it would be among the unfortunate dupes
who were led at the time to take up arms
against the constituted authorities of the
country.
1t is believed that after the utterances of
these two members of the cabinet that Riel
has lutte chance of escaping the gaIlows.