After the return of Mr. McDougall to Ottawa, and while
the Government press busied itself in laying upon that
gentleman's shoulders the blame which should have been
debited to the blundering of the administration, steps
were being taken to have an armed force sent at once to
the scene of tumult, to restore the authority of the
Queen. Sir Garnet Wolseley, who has since earned distinction
in bush and desert fighting, was the officer put in charge
of the expedition.
Before this step had been taken, however, the government
had set the wheels of a totally different sort of force
in motion. Monseigneur Tache, to whom I have already
referred, was absent in Rome attending the Ecumenical
Council, when the disturbance broke out. Sir John went
to M. George E. Cartier then, and said:
"My idea is that the man who can do more to settle this
matter than all the wisdom of the Government combined,
is Monseigneur Tache. What think you--would it not be
well to represent the case to him by cable, and ask him
to return?"
"Oui, Sir John,--the suggestion is good." So the bishop
was cabled for, and he came home. "Well, Messieurs," he
said, "what function is it with which you would endow
me? With what have I to deal?"
"The people are in open, armed rebellion. They do not
want to come into the confederation; and there is an
extensive desire for annexation. The head of the movement
is Louis Riel, and he is president of the Provisional
Government. He has seized and invested Fort Garry, set
up laws for himself, and is feeding and supplying his
troops with the property of the Hudson's Bay Company."
[Let it be borne in mind that, at this time, the murder
of Scott had not been committed, and Riel and his followers
were only known to be guilty of having risen in armed
revolt, and consumed much of the stores of the Hudson's
Bay Company].
"Well, Messieurs, the case is made plain. Now, with what
authority do you endow me?"
"We authorize you to say to the Rebels, on behalf of the
Government, that if they will peaceably depart to their
homes, and submit to the authority of the Queen, as
represented by the Government of Canada, no harm will
come to them. We authorize you further, to assure them
that the Government will stand between them and the
Hudson's Bay Company, should the latter seek recompense
for stores consumed, or property appropriated. Finally,
for the offences committed--and which we have specified
--you shall, on our behalf, extend pardon to each and all."
Armed with this authority, the bishop set out. Before he
reached Winnipeg the blood-thirsty president had murdered
Scott. I hope the reader has not forgotten that Monseigneur
was the same divine who used to look with delight upon
Louis Riel when a child, and stroke his glossy, black
hair. That he was the same gentleman who found for the
lad a benefactress in the person of Madame Masson.
The stars were fighting for the murderer, and he knew it
when he heard that his personal friend and warm admirer
was coming. His Lordship was not nearly as badly shocked
as most humane people might suppose, when he heard that
Thomas Scott had been butchered like a dog upon the snow.
Indeed, there is some authority to say that he was not
shocked at all. His good priest, Pere Richot, who got
the bishop's ear, took a highly moral and humane view of
the matter.
"Shooting served the fellow right, Monseigneur," [Footnote:
Captain Huyshe and several other writers of high repute,
are my authority for this statement.] he said. "He was
a disturber, and it was good to make an example of him."
In a little, we may be sure, the Monseigneur's opinion
did not differ very widely from that of the "crocmitaine"
priest.
"Let the people all assemble," the bishop proclaimed:
"I have important declarations to make to them." They
obeyed his mandate, and he said:
"I am authorized by the Government of Canada, to inform
you that if you forthwith depart to your lawful habitations
in peace, you will have nothing to fear. Your rebellious
deeds will be forgiven to you; the other unfortunate
event will likewise be overlooked, and the Hudson Bay
Company, whose provisions you have eaten and whose property
you have appropriated, will be indemnified by government,
if they take steps to obtain restitution for the same."
One month later, years afterwards, this precious divine
maintained that the authority with which he had been
clothed by the Government--and I have given that authority
_substantially_--endowed him with the power to grant
pardon for the murder of Scott! Without tiring the reader,
let me say that it was by means of the discussion and
the perplexities which subsequently arose upon this point,
that the miscreant-fiend escaped the vengeance of the
law. _Monseigneur had not lost his interest or affection
yet for the lad for whom he had procured an education!_
The bloody Guiteau, however, did not consider the pardon
a very great act of liberality. On the contrary, he was
inclined to regard the discussion of his guilt, the guilt
of the president of an independent colony! who was
law-maker and law-dispenser in himself, as somewhat of
an impertinence. He still continued to administer the
government, and to live sumptuously in the house of
Governor McTavish. About him here he had gathered some
of his most powerful followers, one of which was the big
fenian, O'Donoghue. These ate and drank to their heart's
content, but from their wallowing and disgusting habits
the residence soon resembled a filthy lair where pigs
lie down. Yet the Rebel Chief had spared no pains to make
it luxurious; conveying thither, with other plunder, the
effects of the house of Dr. Schultz.
When it was at first told Riel that Sir Garnet Wolseley,
at the head of a large force, was marching against him,
he refused to believe it. It was not till he actually
with his own eyes, saw the troops that he was convinced.
Then with hysterical precipitation the greasy murderer
scurried out of the Fort, mounted a horse, and rode away
in mortal terror. Later, he was reduced to the necessity
of walking, and when his boots were worn off his feet,
there was blood in his foot-prints. In this plight he
met a follower who used to tremble before him in the days
of his power, and to be like unto Caius Marius, he said
to this man:
"Go back and tell your friends that you have met Louis
Riel, a fugitive, barefooted, without a roof above his
head, and no where to go." This beastly, murderous tyrant
did actually imagine himself to be a hero!
Later on he was supplied with money by Sir John Macdonald
to keep out of the country. The amount was not paid to
him in a lump, but his good friend, the whilome bishop,
and now archbishop, paid it out whenever the worthless,
vagabond rascal came and represented himself as being
very needy.
He often, in his fallen days, would go about sighing for
Marie, and declaring that, with all his vengeful feelings
towards her, she was the only maiden whom he had ever
really loved. Old Jean came back and settled with a sad
heart, in the little cottage where had grown up his sweet
Marie. It was very desolate for his old heart now. The
ivy wreathed itself about the little wicker house, as
was its wont, but Marie was not there. The cows came as
usual to the bars to be milked, but there was a lamenting
in their lowing call. They missed the small, soft hand
that used to milk them, and never more heard the blithe,
glad voice singing from _La Claire Fontaine_. Paul worked
bravely and strove to cheer his father; and Violette,
with her bright, quick eyes, just a little like Marie's,
would come down and sing to him, and bring him cool,
pink, dew-bathed roses. He thanked them all; but their
love was not sufficient. His heart was across the prairies
by a grave upon which the violets were growing. Before
the leaves fell he was lying by her side. A cypress
marks the graves, and the little brook goes by all the
summer.