stated that the Speaker elected by the first House of Assembly could
speak no other tongue than the French language. Mr. Archer, in his
History of Canada for the Use of Schools, says: "By a vote of twenty
eight to eighteen, M. Panet, _who could speak no language but his native
French_, was chosen" (p. 269). Mr. Withrow, in his excellent History of
Canada, says: "Mr. Panet, a distinguished advocate, _who spoke no
language but his native French_, was elected Speaker of the Assembly"
(p. 291). The very discussion which took place on the election of
Speaker turned chiefly on the point whether a Speaker should be elected
who could speak one or both languages. Mr. P.L. Panet, brother to Mr.
J.A. Panet, who was elected Speaker, in reply to some of his own
countrymen who advocated the exclusive use of the French language, while
he advocated the ultimate use of the English language alone in the
Legislature and in the courts of law, commenced and concluded his speech
in the following words: "I will explain my mind on the necessity that
the Speaker we are about to choose _should possess and speak equally
well the two languages_."--"I think it is but decent that the Speaker on
whom we may fix our choice be one who can express himself in English
when he addresses himself to the representative of our Sovereign."
(Christie's History of Canada, Vol. I., Chap. iv., pp. 127, 128, in a
note.) Mr. Christie, after stating in the text about "J.A. Panet, Esq.,
an old and eminent advocate of the Quebec bar, returned a member for the
Upper Town of Quebec, was chosen by the Assembly for its Speaker,"
remarks, in a note, before giving the speech of Mr. P.L. Panet quoted
above, that "this excellent man and good citizen (J.A. Panet) served, as
we shall see in proceeding, many years as Speaker, and without other
remuneration or reward than the approbation of his fellow-citizens and
subjects." (Tuttle's History of the Dominion of Canada, Chap. lxvii., p.
127.)]
[Footnote 159: The transmission of this letter occupied _ten weeks_, it
being dated the 9th of February, and reaching Quebec the 25th of April.
In the _Quebec Gazette_ of the 10th of November, 1792, it is stated that
the latest news from Philadelphia and New York was to the 8th of
October, giving accounts of a battle on the Wabash and Arguille rivers,
between an expedition of American forces under General Wilkinson and a
body of Indians, in which the latter were routed. In a notice from the
"General Post Office, Quebec, 17th of November, 1791," information is
given that "a mail for England will be closed at this office on Monday,
the 5th of December next, at four o'clock p.m., to be forwarded by way
of New York, in H.M. packet-boat which will sail from thence in
January." (Christie's History of Canada, Vol. I., Chap. iv., p. 142.)]
[Footnote 160: "Thus ended the first session of the first Parliament of
Lower Canada, and as a whole we may say that the session was a
satisfactory one. The demons of party spirit and of national prejudice
had indeed shown themselves; but only enough to show that they were in
existence, and would become potent agents of discord as the heat of
political contest warmed them into life. The war of races, which had
been going on between the French and English on this continent for over
a century and a half, was not ended by the capitulation and cession of
Canada; only the scene of action was changed from the battle field to
the council chamber, and words and ballots took the place of swords and
bullets. The French Canadians showed at the very commencement of
constitutional government that they considered the French language, the
French people, the French laws, and the French religion, the language,
people, laws, and religion of Canada, and that the English were only
interlopers who had no business there, and with whom they were to
affiliate as little as possible." (Tuttle's History of the Dominion of
Canada, Chap. lxviii., p. 332.)
With the exception of the first sentence, we have no sympathy with the
spirit or sentiment of the above quoted passage. The addresses to the
Governor and the King show that the French did not regard the British as
intruders, but as the legitimate rulers of the country, to whom they
expressed all possible respect and loyalty. All that they asked on the
question of language was, that in legislative and judicial proceedings
the French language might be equally used with the English language; and
was this unreasonable on the part of those who then comprised
nine-tenths of the population, and whose laws and exercise of worship
had been guaranteed by the articles of capitulation and the Quebec Act
of 1774?]
[Footnote 161: "The Provincial Parliament met again at Quebec on the
11th of November, 1793, and was opened by Lord Dorchester, who had
arrived at Quebec from England on the 24th of September, and re-assumed
the government; his Excellency Major-General Clarke returning to
England, bearing with him the best wishes of those whose Constitution he
had fairly started, and put in operation to their satisfaction. His
government had been popular, and he received several flattering
addresses at departing.
"Lord Dorchester's return was cordially welcomed, a general illumination
taking place at Quebec the evening of his arrival." (Christie's History
of Canada, Chap. v., p. 145.)
"The great French revolution, causing France such awful scenes of
distress and bloodshed as the world had never seen before, was in
progress. It made the Canadians feel that their transfer to the Crown of
England now saved them from innumerable evils which would have been
their lot had Canada been again restored to France.
"Lord Dorchester's popularity and personal influence were made useful in
preventing the people of the provinces from being misled by seditious
persons who came from France on purpose to tamper with them." (Miles'
School History of Canada, Part Third, Chap. i., p. 190.)
"All Europe was engaged in war, and the emissaries of the French
republic were busily at work trying to gain sympathy in the United
States, and stir up that country to war with England--an effort which
would probably have succeeded had it not been for the firmness of
Washington. The consul for France in the United States was also
endeavouring to spread republican ideas in Canada, to incite the people
to revolt against British authority, and to declare themselves in favour
of the republic. It was no wonder then that the great bulk of the
law-abiding and peace-loving citizens of Canada welcomed Lord Dorchester
with delight--one who had for so many years been associated in their
recollections with peace and prosperity, and who had successfully
resisted the attack of the only foe who had assailed Quebec during his
many administrations." (Tuttle, Chap. lxviii., p. 333.)]
[Footnote 162: It appears by a proclamation of Lord Dorchester, dated
the 26th of November, a fortnight after the commencement of the session
of the Legislature, that there were emissaries of France and others in
the province, who were busy in propagating among the inhabitants the
revolutionary principles of the infidel and bloody rulers of France. He
says: "Whereas divers evil-disposed persons had lately manifested
seditious and wicked attempts to alienate the affections of his
Majesty's loyal subjects by false representations of the cause and
conduct of the persons at present exercising supreme authority in
France, and particularly certain foreigners, being alien enemies, who
are lurking and lie concealed in various parts of this province, _acting
in concert with persons in foreign dominions_ (evidently alluding to
parties in the United States), with a view to forward the criminal
purposes of such persons, enemies of the peace and happiness of the
inhabitants of this province, and of all religion, government, and
order." His Excellency therefore called upon all magistrates, captains
of militia, peace-officers, and others of his Majesty's good subjects
throughout the province, to be vigilant, and to do their utmost to
discover and secure all and every person who might hold seditious
discourses, or utter treasonable words, spread false news, publish or
distribute libellous papers, written or printed, tending to excite
discontent or lessen the affections of his Majesty's subjects, or in any
manner to disturb the peace and happiness under his Majesty's government
in this colony, etc.]
[Footnote 163: "The prince, shortly after this, receiving notice of his
promotion to the rank of major-general, and appointment to a command in
the West Indies, was presented, previous to his departure from Quebec,
with several congratulatory letters of a most gratifying character. The
Legislative Council, the Roman Catholic clergy, the citizens of Quebec,
and the burgesses of William Henry paid his Royal Highness spontaneous
respects in this manner, to whom he responded feelingly and
affectionately, for the spontaneous proofs of esteem which in parting
they gave him; and which in truth were not the effusions of adulation,
but an homage of a grateful people to the intrinsic virtues and the
social and manly character of a son of, as he was truly called, 'the
best of sovereigns.'" (Christie's History of Canada, Vol I., Chap. v.,
p. 140.)]
[Footnote 164: The account transmitted was under six heads:
1. "The casual and territorial revenue established prior to the
conquest, which his Majesty has been most graciously pleased to order to
be applied towards defraying the civil expenses of the province."
2. "The duties payable to his Majesty under the Act of the 14th of his
reign, chap. 88 (the 'Quebec Act'), on articles imported into the
province of Quebec, and on licenses to persons for retailing spirituous
liquors."
3. "The duties imposed by the Provincial Legislature, with the
appropriation and balance."
4. "Amount of cash received from fines and forfeitures imposed by the
courts of justice."
5. "The naval officers' returns inwards since the division of the
province, which were originally intended as a check on the customs, but
seem not to answer the end imposed."
6. "A statement of the monies taken out of the pocket of the subject on
this account; its progress and diminution before it lodges in the public
coffers, with the after diminution on account of the collection, that
every circumstance of this important business may be constantly before
their eyes; that in the outset of the Constitution, and its progress,
they may guard this important branch from those corruptions and abuses
which have brought so many miseries on other nations."]
[Footnote 165: Christie's History of Canada, Vol. I., Chap. v., where
the accounts referred to are given in detail.]
[Footnote 166: This return contained all the accounts transmitted the
year before, under the six heads mentioned in a previous note, page 298,
(Footnote 164: above) and other accounts under fourteen additional heads,
the eighth of which is as follows:
"No. 8. Estimate of such part of the civil expenditure for the ensuing
year as may enable the House of Assembly to calculate the ways and means
for the most necessary supplies; all the pensions, amounting to £1,782
6s. 6d. sterling, though chiefly granted for services rendered in
Canada, are deducted, these services being considered as rendered to the
empire at large; it is from thence, therefore, their rewards, with other
acts of benevolence, may be expected to flow. The salaries of sundry
officers, to the amount of £782 10s., appearing to belong to the
military rather than the civil expenditure, are also deducted."]
[Footnote 167: The following extract from their report illustrates the
amicable spirit in which the Commissioners of the two provinces entered
upon their work and arranged the matters committed to their trust:
"The Commissioners, as well as those for Upper Canada, being authorized
to enter into an agreement for a further period, and being equally
desirous to treat on the subject, which if unprovided for might give
rise to difficulties hereafter; being at the same time most solicitous
on both sides to preserve the harmony and cordiality which prevail
between the two provinces, the article of the provisional agreement for
two years was cheerfully assented to. By that article the province of
Upper Canada is entitled to one-eighth part of the revenue already
payable on goods, wares, or merchandise coming into Lower Canada, under
an Act of the Legislature thereof; and to assure the most perfect
freedom of trade with the sister province, it is provided that no
imposts or duties shall be imposed or shall be laid by Upper Canada,
which renders unnecessary the establishing of Custom-houses on the line
which divides the two provinces, but saves to both an expense which, in
all probability, would far exceed any trifle of revenue that this
agreement may take from one or the other of the provinces more than
their legitimate proportion."]
[Footnote 168: The conduct and character of Lord Dorchester as governor
and commander-in-chief of the army may be inferred from the following
among many other notices in the Index to Bancroft's History of the
United States, Vol. X., p. 616:
"Carleton, Guy, afterwards Lord Dorchester, colonel of Grenadiers in
Wolfe's army; is wounded; is at Havana (one of the commanders in taking
it); Governor of Canada; has full authority to arm and employ the
Canadians and Indians against the Americans; abhors the scheme; takes
measures for the defence of the province; the command of Canada assigned
to him, he will not turn the savages loose on the frontier; returns no
answer to Montgomery's summons; repels the assault made by that general;
is lenient to his prisoners; his humanity to sick Americans left behind;
blamed for restraining the Indians; restrains the ravages of the
Indians; the King and Ministers are displeased at this; Carleton
prepares to invade the United States; is displeased at being superseded
by Burgoyne; refuses to assist Burgoyne; is complained of by that
officer; supersedes Clinton in America; his humanity; restrains Indian
hostility."]
[Footnote 169: "It was also one of the grievances in Lower Canada that
Protestants alone were appointed Executive Councillors, and that while
the chief Protestant ecclesiastic was admitted, the Roman Catholic
Church was not allowed to be represented. Great offence was also caused
by this to the great majority of the inhabitants, which was made to be
felt the more keenly by the determination of the Council not to
acknowledge the title, or even existence, of a Roman Catholic bishop in
the province." (Miles' School History of Canada, Part III., Chap. ii.,
pp. 195, 196.)]
[Footnote 170: Miles' School History of Canada, Part III., Chap. i., pp.
192, 193.]
CHAPTER XLVI.
GOVERNMENT OF UPPER CANADA.
The Constitution of Upper Canada was the same as that of Lower,
established by the same _Constitutional Act of 1791_, the Act 31 George
III., Chapter 31.
Before the Constitution of Upper Canada was established, when it formed
part of the province of Quebec, Lord Dorchester, by proclamation,
divided the now western part of the province, afterwards Upper Canada,
into four districts with German names--namely, _Lunenburg_, extending
from the River Ottawa to Gananoque; _Mecklenburg_, extending from
Gananoque to the Trent; _Nassau_, extending from the Trent to Long
Point, on Lake Erie; and _Hesse_, including the rest of the western part
of Upper Canada to the Lake St. Clair. To each of these four districts a
judge and a sheriff were appointed, who administered justice by means of
Courts of Common Pleas.
Under the new Constitution, Upper Canada, like Lower Canada, had a
Legislature consisting of a Governor, appointed by the Crown, and
responsible only to it; a Legislative Council, appointed by the Crown,
and the members appointed for life; and a Legislative Assembly, elected
by the freeholders of the country. The Assembly was to be elected once
in four years, but might be elected oftener if dissolved by the
Governor, and was empowered to raise a revenue for public services,
roads, bridges, schools, etc.; the Legislative Council consisted of
seven members, appointed for life by the Crown; the House of Assembly
consisted of sixteen members, elected by the people.
By usage and by approbation of the Imperial Government, though not by
the provisions of the Constitutional Act, the Lieutenant-Governor was
assisted, mostly ruled, by an Executive Council, consisting for the most
part of salaried officers, judges, and members of the Legislative
Council, who were not responsible either to the Governor or to the
Legislative Council, or to the House of Assembly--an independent,
irresponsible body--an oligarchy which exercised great power, was very
intolerant, and became very odious.
The first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada was General John Graves
Simcoe, who had commanded the Queen's Rangers in the revolutionary war;
he was a landed gentleman, elected to the British House of Commons, in
which he supported the Constitutional Act of 1791, and afterwards
accepted the office of Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada created by
that Act, and did all in his power to give beneficial effect to it. He
arrived in Upper Canada the 8th of July, 1792, when the members of the
Executive and Legislative Councils were sworn in at Kingston, and writs
were issued for the election of members of the Legislative Assembly.
After much hesitation and perplexity, the seat of government was first
established at a village then called Newark, now Niagara, at the mouth
of the Niagara River, where the Governor built a small frame house which
had to serve as a Parliament House, as well as residence for the
Lieutenant-Governor. The Governor, with the usual state and ceremony,
opened the first session of the first Parliament of Upper Canada the
17th of September, 1792. There were present three members of the
Legislative Council and five members of the House of Assembly. The
members of the Assembly have been represented as "plain, home-spun clad
farmers and merchants, from the plough and the store." The members of
the Legislature have always, for the most part, been such from that day
to this, but many of the members of the first Parliament of Upper Canada
had possessed respectable, and some of them luxurious homes, from which
they had been exiled by narrow-minded and bitter enemies; they had
fought on battle fields for the country whose forests they now burned
and felled; their home-spun garments were some of the fruits of their
own industry, and that of their wives and daughters. Eight years had
elapsed since 10,000 of these United Empire Loyalists, driven from their
homes in the States, came into the dense wilderness of Upper Canada, to
hew out homes for themselves and their families in the vast solitude,
the silence of which was only broken by the barking of the fox, the howl
of the wolf and the growl of the bear, and the occasional whoop of the
Indian.[171]
The population of Upper Canada was, in 1792, about 12,000 souls. The
Loyalist pioneers of Upper Canada fought as bravely against privations,
hardships, and dangers in founding their forest homes, as they had done
in the Royal ranks in the defence of the unity of the empire. During the
first ten years of their hard enterprise and labours, the forest began
to yield to the axe of industry, and the little cabins, and clearings,
and growing crops gave evidence of human life and activity; but there
were no towns or large settlements; the inhabitants were scattered in
little groups, or isolated log-houses, along the north shores of the
River St. Lawrence, Lakes Ontario and Erie, and of the Detroit river,
the only gathering of houses or villages being Kingston, Newark, and
Amherstburg.
The first session of the first Parliament of Upper Canada lasted only
four weeks, commencing the 17th of September, and closing the 15th of
October, 1792; the first session of the Parliament of Lower Canada
lasted nearly five months--from the 17th of December, 1792, to the 9th
of May, 1793. During these nearly five months, the Legislature of Lower
Canada passed eight Bills, all well prepared and useful, but with much
ceremony and delay from the polite French seignors; the Legislature of
Upper Canada, in their session of four weeks, also passed eight Bills,
indicating no haste, well prepared, and of importance and useful. The
Bills passed provided for the introduction of English law; the trial by
jury; for the charge of millers, limiting their allowance for grinding
and bolting grain to the rate of one bushel for every twelve bushels
ground; for the easy recovery of small debts; for the change of the
German names of the four districts into which Lord Dorchester had
divided what now constituted Upper Canada, and granted to the United
Empire Loyalists. _Lunenburg_, extending from the River Ottawa to the
River Gananoque, was now called the _Eastern District; Mecklenburg_,
extending from Gananoque to the River Trent, was called the _Middle_ or
_Midland District; Nassau_, extending from the Trent to Long Point, on
Lake Erie, was called the _Home_ or _Niagara District_; and _Hesse_,
embracing the rest of Canada, west to the Lake St. Clair, was called the
_Western_ or _Detroit District_. These districts were again divided into
twelve counties. An Act was also passed to erect a jail and court-house
in each district.
Governor Simcoe closed this session of the Parliament the 15th of
October, 1792, and after complimenting both Houses on the business-like
manner in which they had performed their legislative duties, concluded
his proroguing speech with the following significant words:
"I cannot dismiss you without earnestly desiring you to promote, by
precept and example, regular habits of piety and morality, the surest
foundations of all private and public felicity; and at this juncture I
particularly recommend you to explain _that this province is signally
blessed, not with a mutilated Constitution, but with a Constitution
which has stood the test of experience, and is the very image and
transcript of that of Great Britain_, by which she has long established
and secured to her subjects as much freedom and happiness as is possible
to be enjoyed under the subordination necessary to civilized society."
When Governor Simcoe selected Newark as the seat of government, he
thought that Fort Niagara, on the opposite side of the river, would be
ceded to England, as it was then occupied by a British garrison; but
when he found that the Niagara river was to be the boundary line between
Great Britain and the United States, and that the British garrison was
to be withdrawn from Fort Niagara, he judged it not wise that the
capital of Upper Canada should be within reach of the guns of an
American fort. He made a tour through the wilderness of the western
peninsula, and proposed to found a new London for the Canadian capital,
on the banks of what he then called the River Thames, the site of the
present city of London, in the heart of the western district, and secure
from invasion; but Lord Dorchester preferred Kingston, which he had made
the principal naval and military station of the province. To this
Governor Simcoe objected. It was at length agreed to select _York_, as
it was then called, the site of an old French fort. Though the
surrounding land was low and swampy, the harbour was excellent.
Governor Simcoe removed to the new capital before a house was built in
it, and lodged some time in a large canvas tent, pitched on the site of
the old fort, at the west end of the bay. He employed the Queen's
Rangers, who had accompanied him, to open a main road--Yonge
Street--from York to Lake Simcoe, called after the Governor himself. He
proposed to open a direct communication between Lakes Ontario and Huron,
and then with the Ottawa; and projected an enlightened and vigorous
policy for promoting the development of the country, its agriculture,
fisheries, population, trade, etc.; but before he had time to mature and
give effect to his plans, he was suddenly removed, in 1796, from the
government of Upper Canada to that of St. Domingo, in the West Indies.
He was succeeded in the government by the senior member of the Executive
Council, the Hon. Peter Russel, who improved his two years'
administration, not by carrying out the patriotic plans of his
predecessor, but by granting lands to himself and his friends for
speculation, to the impediment of settlements and often to the
disappointment and wrong of real settlers, whose applications for lands
were rejected, which were afterwards granted to the land-speculating
friends of the Governor, or to himself--whose grants to himself are said
to have run something on this wise: "I, Peter Russel, Lieutenant-Governor,
etc., do grant to you, Peter Russel, etc."[172]
General Simcoe zealously encouraged emigration to and settlement in the
country, and during the four years of his administration the population
increased to 30,000. There was a very considerable emigration from the
United States of persons who did not like the new system of government
there, and to whom the first Loyalist settlers had written, or visited,
giving a favourable account of the climate and productiveness of the
country.
Though the seat of government was removed to Toronto in 1795, the
Parliament continued to meet at Niagara until 1797. During its
successive sessions at Niagara (then Newark), the Parliament passed Acts
for the civil and municipal administration of the country, the
construction of roads, fixing duties on goods imported from England and
the United States, etc., etc. The Legislature gave a reward of twenty
and ten shillings respectively for the heads or scalps of wolves and
bears, an Act suggestive of the exposures of the early settlers; and
allowed the members of the Assembly ten shillings per day each. In the
second session, the first Parliament passed an Act forbidding the
introduction of slavery into the province--ten years in advance of Lower
Canada on this subject.
Major-General Hunter succeeded the Hon. Peter Russel, in 1799, as
Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. He possessed little energy or
enterprise, and did little or nothing except as advised by his Executive
Council of five; so that the Government of Upper Canada was practically
an oligarchy, irresponsible alike to Governor and people, each member
receiving £100 per annum as Councillor, besides the lands he was able to
obtain. Yet the Government, upon the whole, was satisfactory to the
country, and commanded for many years the support of its elected
representatives.
When General Hunter first met the Parliament in Toronto, the 2nd of
June, 1800, the growth of Upper Canada having been rapid, its population
now numbered upwards of 50,000. This year, 1800, the Legislature passed
an Act prohibiting the sale of spirituous liquors to the Indians. In
1802, the Legislature of Upper Canada, as had that of Lower Canada,
passed an Act appropriating £750 to encourage the growth of hemp, in
order to render England independent of Russia in the supply of hemp for
cordage for the navy, as was being rapidly the case in the supply of
timber to build ships. As obstructions on the St. Lawrence rendered
communication more difficult between Upper and Lower Canada than with
Albany and New York, articles of commerce from Europe could be more
readily brought in by that route than by the St. Lawrence; a
considerable trade sprang up with the United States, which rendered
necessary the establishment of custom-houses on the frontiers.
Accordingly, ports of entry were established at Cornwall, Brockville,
Kingston, Toronto, Niagara, Queenston, Fort Erie, Turkey Point,
Amherstburg, and Sandwich, the duties being the same on American as on
English goods. The Governor was authorized to appoint collectors, at
salaries not exceeding £100 currency per annum, except when the amount
of duties collected at a port was less than £100, in which case the
collector was allowed one-half of the amount collected in lieu of
salary.
In 1807 Parliament made provision for eight masters of grammar schools,
one for each district, and at a salary of £100 currency ($400) for each
master.
In the meantime emigration continued large. Many of the emigrants were
from the United States. The troubles of '98 in Ireland were followed by
a large Irish emigration to Canada; there were also a considerable
number of Scotch and a few English emigrants; but the larger number of
emigrants were from Ireland and the United States.[174]
The Legislature continued from session to session to pass Bills for the
various improvements of the country; after doing which its members did
not give much attention to politics, but devoted themselves to the
culture and enlargement of their farms, of which their descendants are
at this day reaping large advantages.[175]
Mr. McMullen, in his History of Canada, speaking of the year 1809, says:
"No civilized country in the world was less burdened with taxes than
Canada West at this period. A small direct tax on property, levied by
the District Courts of Session, and not amounting to £3,500 for the
whole country, sufficed for all local expenses. There was no poor rate,
no capitation tax, no tithes, or ecclesiastical rates of any kind.
Instead of a road tax, a few days' statute labour annually sufficed.
Nowhere did the working man find the produce of his labour so little
diminished by exactions of any kind. Canada West literally teemed with
abundance; while its people, unlike the early French and Americans, had
nothing to fear from the red man, and enjoyed the increase of the earth
in peace."
I have thus given a brief narrative of the formation of the government
of Upper Canada, and of the first seventeen years of its operations,
down to the period when the anticipated hostilities between Great
Britain and the United States--the latter being the tools of Napoleon to
rescue Canada from Great Britain--rendered preparation necessary on the
part of the Loyalists of Canada to defend their country and homes
against foreign invasion.
I have also given some account of the first settlement of the country,
and the privations and hardships of the first settlers. But believing
that a narrative from a single pen could not do justice to this subject,
or could present to the reader, in so vivid and interesting a light, the
character, sufferings, courage, and enterprise of our country's
forefathers and founders, as narratives from themselves, with the
diversity of style characteristic of communications from various
sources, I have therefore inserted in Chapter XLI. those interesting
papers transmitted to me from time to time, at my request, during the
last twenty years.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 171: But the Indians were friendly to white settlers, as they
have always been. Almost the entire Mohawk tribe, with other loyalist
Indians, under their chief, Joseph Brant, followed the fortunes of their
white loyalist brethren, and settled on their reservation on the Grand
River. Brant had been educated in a Christian school in Philadelphia;
had a comfortable home, and lived respectably on the Mohawk river before
the American revolution; had entertained missionaries, and had assisted
one of them in translating a part of the New Testament and Prayer Book
into the Mohawk language. Colonel Stone, in his "Life of Brant" and the
"History of the Border Wars of the American Revolution," has nobly
vindicated the character of Brant, and of his brethren of the Six
Nations, from the misrepresentations and calumnies of American
historians. Brant was a member of the Church of England, and built a
church in his settlement in 1786, in which was placed the first church
bell ever heard in Upper Canada.]
[Footnote 172: "During Colonel Simcoe's administration he had been
exceedingly careful with regard to the distribution of lands; but
immediately on his departure, irregularities began to creep into the
Crown Land Department, just as it had in Lower Canada, and great
injustice was done to the actual settlers. Large tracts of the most
eligible sites were seized upon by Government officials and speculators,
and the actual settlers found themselves in many instances thrust into
out-of-the-way corners, and cut off from intercourse with any near
neighbours for want of roads." (Tuttle's History of the Dominion of
Canada, Chap. lxxxiii., p. 387.)
"On the removal of Governor Simcoe,[173] of his wise schemes fell
through. Land designed for settlements was seized by speculators,
especially in the vicinity of Toronto, and the general development of
the country was greatly retarded." (Withrow's History of Canada, Chap,
xvi., p. 293.)
Scarcely any--if any--of these early land speculators had served as
_United Empire Loyalists_ during the revolutionary war; and their
descendants, if existing, are as little known as if their fathers had
never lived.]
[Footnote 173: Lord Dorchester did not endorse Governor Simcoe's policy,
as the latter had not concurred with the former in giving German names
to the four first districts of Upper Canada, and in the selection of the
seat of government. The American Government represented Governor Simcoe
as exciting the Iroquois or Mohawks, both in Canada and Western New
York, against it--representations in which there was not a shadow of
truth, though Americans were endeavouring to excite disaffection to the
British Government and sympathy with republican France against England
in both Upper and Lower Canada, especially in the latter province. But
by these representations, and those of disappointed local speculators,
the Home Government removed Governor Simcoe, the father of
constitutional, pure, and progressive government in Upper Canada.]
[Footnote 174: "In Upper as well as Lower Canada the first sixteen
years' experience of the new Constitution had been very encouraging. All
concerned in working it out during that period kept as clear as possible
from causes of discord. The consequence was that harmony and good
progress marked the early career of the province." (Miles' School
History of Canada, Part III., Chap. i., pp. 193, 194.)]
[Footnote 175: "Meanwhile the country had steadily prospered,
undisturbed in its forest isolation by the great European war, which was
deluging with blood a hundred battle fields and desolating thousands of
homes. By the year 1809, the population had increased to about 70,000.
Taxes were exceedingly light. The Customs revenue, derived principally
from the imports of groceries--for clothing was chiefly
home-spun--amounted to £7,000." (Withrow's History of Canada, Chap.
xxi., p. 296.)]
CHAPTER XLVII.
WAR BY THE UNITED STATES AGAINST GREAT BRITAIN, FROM 1812 TO
1815--INTRODUCTORY AND GENERAL REMARKS.
The war between Great Britain and the United States, from 1812 to 1815,
furnishes the strongest example of the present century, or of any age or
country, of the attachment of a people to their mother country, and of
their determination, at whatever sacrifice and against whatever
disparity, to maintain the national life of their connection with it.
The true spirit of _the Loyalists of America_ was never exhibited with
greater force and brilliancy than during the war of 1812-1815.
England was engaged in a death struggle for the independence of the
continental nations of Europe and the rights of mankind. At the darkest
hour of that eventful contest, when the continent was drenched with the
blood of nations, and the Tyrant had his feet upon their neck, and
England alone stood erect, taxing her resources to the utmost and
shedding her best blood for human freedom, the Democratic party in the
United States--the ever anti-British party--the pro-slavery party--the
party in the United States least subordinate to law and most inimical to
liberty--at such a crisis such a party declared war against Britain, and
forthwith invaded Canada, before the declaration of war was known in
England.
At that time the population of Lower Canada was 225,000 souls--200,000
of whom were French; the population of Upper Canada was 75,000; the
population of the United States was upwards of 8,000,000: so that the
population of the _two Canadas_ was to that of the United States as one
to twenty-seven; and the population of _Upper Canada_ was to that of the
United States as one to one hundred and six.
Yet the Canadas, with a frontier of more than 1,000 miles, and aided by
a few regiments of regular soldiers, sent as a mere guard for the
principal cities, from Halifax to Amherstburg, resisted the whole
military power of the United States for two years, at the end of which
not an inch of Canadian ground was in possession of the invaders; and
within six months after England had given freedom and peace to
Europe--chaining its Tyrant to the island rock of Elba, sweeping with
its fleet the coasts of the United States, and sending 16,000 veteran
soldiers to aid the struggling Canadas--the boasting Madison and his
Government sued for peace, without even mentioning the original pretexts
of war, which Great Britain generously granted.
It does not come within our purpose to write a history of this war; we
present only such phases and events of it as will illustrate the
Loyalist spirit and courage of the Canadians, French as well as English,
and even true Americans; for the American settlers in Canada were, with
few exceptions, as loyal subjects and as bold defenders of their adopted
country as the U.E. Loyalists themselves; and even the most virtuous and
intelligent part of the citizens of the United States protested against
the alliance of the Democratic rulers at Washington with the tyrant and
scourge of Europe.
We shall notice, in the first place, the alleged and real causes of the
war; secondly, the preparations for it made by the Governments and
Legislatures of the two Canadas; thirdly, the invasions of each
province, each year, separately, and the battles fought. There were no
less than eleven invasions of the Canadas by the American armies during
the three years of the war, besides naval engagements, and various
incursions of marauding and plundering parties.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
ALLEGED AND REAL CAUSES OF THE WAR.
From the first--from the treaty of peace between Great Britain and the
United States in 1783--there was a large party in the United States
bitterly and actively hostile to England and its colonies; that party
had persecuted and driven the Loyalists from the United States, and
compelled them to seek homes in the Canadian wilderness, and had even
followed them with its enmities in their new abodes; that party had
sympathized with the revolutionists of France, who crimsoned the streets
of Paris with the blood of their Sovereign and fellow-citizens, and who
sent emissaries to Canada to subvert legal authority, and excite the
strife of anarchy and bloodshed. The base of the operations of all the
emissaries of French revolutionists in Canada was for twenty years the
United States, aided directly and indirectly by American sympathizers;
that same party sympathized and even leagued with Napoleon against
England while she was defending the liberties of Europe and of mankind;
it was the same party that in subsequent years aided the rebel Mackenzie
and the rabble Fenians to invade Canada, allowing the United States to
be the base of their organizations, and opening to them the American
arsenals of arms and ammunition; it was the same party that, in
conspiracy with the Tyrant of France and the enemy of human freedom,
declared war against Great Britain in 1812, in order to wrest Canada
from her possession, and make it an appendage of France and the United
States.[176]
The American Government alleged two reasons as the ground of its
declaration of war against Britain: the one was, that the British
Government had issued Orders in Council which injured the American
commerce with other countries; the other was, that the British
Government had infringed the rights of the United States by authorizing
the boarding of American vessels in search of deserters from the English
army and navy, and seizing them.
As to the first of these reasons, namely, the English Orders in Council,
the facts are as follow: "After the annihilation of the naval power of
France at _Trafalgar_ in 1805, by Lord Nelson, the principal
transactions of France at sea were the fitting out and arming of
privateers to prey upon the English merchant vessels and commerce. To
accomplish his purpose more effectually, Napoleon promulgated the
following year after the destruction of his fleet what is called the
Berlin Decree."[177]
"No nation was allowed to trade with any other country in any articles
the growth, produce, or manufactures of any of the British dominions,
all of which, as well as the island of Great Britain itself, were
declared to be in a state of blockade. He appointed residents in every
trading country, and no ship was to be admitted into any of his ports
without a _certification of origin_; that is, of the nature of the goods
they carried, and that no part of these was English. In consequence of
these Decrees, the English commerce, during the months of August,
September, and October, 1807--that part of the year in which the Berlin
Decree of November, 1806, was carried into full effect--was not only
greatly cramped, but lay prostrated on the ground, and motionless,
before a protecting and self-defensive system was adopted by our Orders
in Council."[178]
The British Orders in Council were dated January 7th, 1807, and were a
measure of retaliation for the protection of British commerce in
response to Napoleon's Berlin Decree of the 21st of November, 1806. By
these Orders in Council, "all trade to France or her dependencies was
strictly prohibited; all vessels, of whatever nation, which ventured to
engage in this trade were declared liable to seizure, and France and her
dependencies were thus reduced to that state of blockade with which she
had vainly threatened the British islands. The Orders in Council
admitted but of one exception to this general blockade of the French
empire. The French had declared all vessels liable to seizure which had
touched at a British port; the Orders in Council, to counteract this
provision, declared, on the other hand, that only such ships as were in
that situation should be permitted to sail for France. Thus did the
utter extinction of the foreign trade of France result as a natural
consequence of the very measures of her own Government; measures which
no despotism, how ignorant soever, would have ventured to adopt, had it
not trusted to a power which effectually silenced all popular
opinion."[179]
As France was the aggressor upon the rights of neutrals by the Berlin
Decree, and as the Orders in Council were a defensive retaliation upon
France for her attempt to destroy English commerce, the American
Government should have first remonstrated with France and demanded
reparation; but this was not the case; the outcry of the Madison
partizans was against England alone. It is true some grumbling words
were uttered by some parties against the policy and acts of the French
Government; but mere words to save appearances, not followed up by any
acts; for by a collusion between Napoleon and Madison, it was understood
that the Articles of the Berlin Decree were not intended to apply to
ships of the United States--would not be executed against them--and were
intended to destroy the commerce of Great Britain. An American writer
(Lossing) remarks, "_With a partiality towards the Americans that was
practical friendship_, the French cruisers did not, for a whole year,
interfere with American vessels trading with Great Britain;" and Mr.
Alex. Baring, M.P. (afterwards Lord Ashburton), in his _Inquiry into the
Causes and Consequences of the Orders in Council_, said that _"no
condemnation of an American vessel had ever taken place under it"_.
By this collusion between the Tyrant of Europe and the President of the
United States, the necessities of France were supplied, and the shipping
interests of the United States largely promoted, at the expense of the
commerce and shipping interests of England.
But the collusion, or conspiracy, between Napoleon and Madison were
carried on to weaken the English navy by the desertion of its sailors,
as well as to injure English commerce by connivance in behalf of
American trading vessels. The seduction of deserters from the British
navy, and even army, was carried on successfully on a large scale. The
safety of England consisted chiefly in her navy, which she was
increasing and strengthening by every possible means. Therefore every
skilled sailor was of importance to England, while every practicable
scheme was resorted to by her enemies to induce and facilitate the
desertion of her seamen and soldiers--especially of her seamen, several
thousands of whom were detected and seized on board of American
vessels--constituting as they did the best sailors on board American
merchant vessels, and the vital strength of the French privateers. To
stop this depleting of her naval resources, England put in exercise her
right of boarding vessels of neutral powers in search of deserters from
her navy. The only neutral power in Europe was Sardinia; so that the
United States was the only neutral power that had vessels upon the
ocean; and the President of the United States was conniving against
England with the usurper and oppressor of Europe.
The right of a belligerent power to search the vessels of neutral powers
in search of deserters had never been denied, though the modification of
its exercise had frequently been sought; but under the teachings of
Napoleon, his American pupils now began to exclaim against it as an
infringement of national dignity and rights. The English Government had
directed the exercise of this right with the greatest caution and
courtesy, and only in regard to vessels on board of which, from specific
information, there was reason to believe there were English deserters.
These deserters, on getting smuggled on board of American vessels, would
forthwith take the oath of allegiance to the United States, and be
recognized and claimed as American citizens.[180]
An event now occurred which enabled President Madison to excite his
partizans throughout the United States to a flame of indignation
against England. Information had been received that there were English
deserters on board the American ship _Chesapeake_; the British warship
_Leopard_ sought their restoration, and on being refused fired into the
_Chesapeake_, and recovered the four deserters claimed. The attendant
circumstances being omitted, the simple fact announced by the President
to Congress, that the English warship _Leopard_ had fired into the
American ship _Chesapeake_, and in American waters, killing several
persons, and had seized and carried off four American citizens, produced
the excitement he was anxious to create against England, preparatory to
the war on which he was then determined--in the zenith of Napoleon's
success and power, and in the extremity of England's struggle for her
own existence and the liberties of mankind. The statement of the
American President as to the affair of the ships _Leopard_ and
_Chesapeake_ has been repeated to this day by American historians, and
is used in American school books to illustrate England's arrogance and
cruelty; whereas all the facts of the case prove directly the reverse.
We give the account of the affair from one American writer, who, though
partial, was too honest to omit essential facts, much less to pervert
them; we refer to Dr. Holmes, author of _American Annals_, and quote at
length his account of the affair. He says:
"The frigate _Chesapeake_, being ordered to cruise in the Mediterranean
Sea, under the command of Commodore Barron, sailing from Hampton Roads,
was come up with by the British ship-of-war _Leopard_, one of a
squadron then at anchor within the limits of the United States. An
officer was sent from the _Leopard_ to the _Chesapeake_ with a note from
the captain respecting some deserters from his Britannic Majesty's
ships, supposed to be serving as part of the crew of the _Chesapeake_
and enclosing a copy of an order from Vice-Admiral Berkeley requiring
and directing the commanders of ships and vessels under his command, in
case of meeting with the American frigate at sea, and without the limits
of the United States, to show the order to her captain, and to require
to search his ship for the deserters from certain ships therein named,
and to proceed and search for them; and if a similar demand should be
made by the American, he was permitted to search for deserters from
their service, according to the custom and usage of civilized nations on
terms of amity with each other. Commodore Barron gave an answer that he
knew of no such men as were described; that the recruiting officers for
the _Chesapeake_ had been particularly instructed by the Government,
through him, not to enter any deserters from his Britannic Majesty's
ships; that he knew of none such being in her; that he was instructed
never to permit the crew of any ship under his command to be mustered by
any officers but her own; that he was disposed to preserve harmony, and
hoped his answer would prove satisfactory. The _Leopard_, shortly after
this answer was received by her commander, ranged alongside of the
_Chesapeake_, and commenced a heavy fire upon her. The _Chesapeake_,
unprepared for action, made no resistance, but remained under the fire
of the _Leopard_ from twenty to thirty minutes; when, having suffered
much damage, and lost three men killed and eighteen wounded, Commodore
Barron ordered his colours to be struck, and sent a lieutenant on board
the _Leopard_ to inform her commander that he considered the
_Chesapeake_ her prize. The commander of the _Leopard_ sent an officer
on board, who took possession of the _Chesapeake_, mustered her crew,
and, carrying off four of her men, abandoned the ship. Commodore Barron,
after a communication, by writing, with the commander of the _Leopard_,
finding that the _Chesapeake_ was very much injured, returned, with the
advice of his officers, to Hampton Roads." (American State Papers,
1806-08.)
"On receiving information of this outrage, the President, by
proclamation, interdicted the harbours and waters of the United States
to all armed British vessels, forbade all intercourse with them, and
ordered a sufficient force for the protection of Norfolk, and such other
preparations as the occasion appeared to require. An armed vessel of the
United States was dispatched with instructions to the American Minister
at London to call on the British Government for the satisfaction and
security which the outrage required." (American State Papers, 1806-08,
pp. 183, 184, 248-252.)[181]
Such is the American State Paper account of this affair, published some
years afterwards; and from this it will be seen that what was asked by
the captain of the _Leopard_ was what had been granted by all neutral
nations to belligerents--to seek for and take their own deserters on
board of neutral vessels, in order to prevent neutrals from being, or
suspected of being, in collusion with either belligerent party. The
American Government being in sympathy with the French Government during
the whole of its twenty years' war with England, sought to change and
evade this hitherto undisputed usage of mutually friendly nations in
regard to belligerents. The _Chesapeake_ seems to have been selected to
make up a cause of war with Great Britain, by the warlike proceedings of
the President before communicating with the British Government on the
subject. The American people had nothing but a complete perversion of
the facts of the case until years afterwards.
It is plain from the true version of the affair that the captain of the
_Leopard_ acted courteously and fairly, though in excess of the
authority granted by the British Government; that he offered the same
facilities to the captain of the _Chesapeake_, in regard to examination
for deserters, that he asked himself; that the commander of the
_Chesapeake_ stated what he knew to be untrue when he asserted that
there were no deserters on board the _Chesapeake_, which he knew would
be detected on examination of his crew.
In all the American accounts and discussions on the question, they
ignore the usage or customary law of civilized nations as to neutral or
mutually friendly nations in respect to belligerent powers, and are
silent as to France and England being at war with each other, and that
in encouraging desertions from the English ships, and then claiming them
as American citizens, they were playing into the hands of Bonaparte
against England.
It appears that President Madison, without awaiting or asking
satisfaction or explanation on this affair of the _Leopard_ and
_Chesapeake_, forthwith prohibited the anchoring of British war ships in
American waters, and then sent a special messenger and communication to
the American Minister in London to demand satisfaction of the British
Government for the alleged "outrage" upon the _Chesapeake_. But did the
British Government show the passion and violence of the President of the
United States? Let the American author above quoted be our witness again
on this point. Dr. Holmes says:
"Reparation was made by the British for the attack on the _Chesapeake_.
Augustus J. Foster, the British envoy, informed the Secretary of the
United States that he was instructed to repeat to the American
Government the prompt disavowal made by his Majesty, on being apprised
of the unauthorized act of the officer in command of his naval forces on
the coast of America, whose recall from a highly important and
honourable command immediately ensued, as a mark of his Majesty's
disapprobation; that he was authorized to offer, in addition to that
disavowal on the part of his Majesty, to order the immediate
restoration, as far as circumstances would admit, of the men who [though
deserters], in consequence of Admiral Berkeley's orders, were forcibly
taken out of the _Chesapeake_, to the vessel from which they were taken;
or, if that ship were no longer in commission, to such seaport of the
United States as the American Government may name for the purpose; and
that he was authorized to offer to the American Government a suitable
pecuniary provision for the sufferers in consequence of the attack on
the _Chesapeake_, including the families of those seamen who fell in the
action, and of the wounded survivors. The President acceded to these
propositions; and the officer commanding the _Chesapeake_, then lying in
the harbour of Boston, was instructed to receive the men, who were to be
restored to that ship."--_Ib._, p. 443.
It might be supposed that such a spontaneous, courteous, and just
proceeding on the part of England would have satisfied even the
bellicose President Madison; but he was bent on joining the Tyrant of
Europe in war against England; the American public were kept in
ignorance of the instigating circumstances, and the just and generous
conduct of the British Government in regard to the affair of the
_Leopard_ and the _Chesapeake_, and availed himself of every occurrence
or incident to excite and increase the war feeling in the United States
against England.
An incident soon occurred answerable to President Madison's purpose. A
renegade by the name of _Henry_, who had in youth emigrated from
Ireland, and who had, by the interest of friends, got appointed captain
of militia; but not succeeding in the United States to the extent of his
ambition, emigrated to Montreal, where, by some talents and address, and
professed love of British institutions, he ingratiated himself in the
good graces of the principal persons at Montreal, and commenced his
studies at law there, with a view of qualifying himself for a seat on
the judicial bench of _Upper Canada_, to which he was vain and ambitious
enough to aspire. He at length got access to the Governor-General, Sir
James Craig, into whose confidence he so wormed himself as to obtain a
letter of recognition and recommendation to visit Massachusetts and
other eastern States to ascertain and report upon the state of feeling
there in regard to the sympathy of those States with England in case of
war with England; but neither the British Government nor even Sir James
Craig's Canadian Executive Council had the slightest knowledge of this
confidential epistolary intrigue between his Excellency and the renegade
American militia captain, who professed to be familiar with the politics
and parties of the New England States, where there was vehement
opposition to the democratic and war government of President Madison,
and supposed to cherish a strong leaning to England. While this
unprincipled "Captain Henry" was sauntering in the public-houses and
brothels of Boston, he wrote from time to time letters to Sir James
Craig and other principal persons in Quebec; but the Governor and others
who received his ostentatious and pretentious letters--though amused by
them--derived no more information from his epistles than from the public
newspapers of the day. Henry, however, estimated his own worthless
services of the greatest importance; and failing to get from Sir James
Craig the amount of his demands, he appealed for compensation to the
Government in England. He addressed a memorial to the Earl of Liverpool,
Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, stating his services, and
suggesting that the appointment of Judge Advocate General of Lower
Canada, with the salary of £500 per annum, or a consulate in the United
States, _sine cura_, would be considered by him as a fair discharge of
the obligation of the Government to him for his services. Lord Liverpool
was not disposed to prostitute such favours upon a mercenary and
intriguing vagrant, and referred him to the Government of Lower Canada,
then in charge of Sir George Prevost, who had succeeded Sir James Craig.
Henry knew the little estimate that was placed upon his services in
Canada; he therefore betook himself back to the United States, and
offered his traitorous letters to the American Government for $50,000,
which he obtained, paid out of the United States Secret Service
Fund.[182] President Madison, instead of laying the correspondence
before the British Government for explanation and satisfaction,
communicated it to Congress, as a discovery and illustration of a
conspiracy by the British Government to subvert the Constitution and
Government of the United States, and by his message inflamed the
Congress to the highest pitch of excitement, in the climax of which he
got a vote in favour of a declaration of war against Great Britain. The
President, in his message to Congress, referring to the Henry documents
said: "They prove that at a recent period, while the United States,
notwithstanding the wrongs sustained by them, ceased not to observe the
laws of neutrality towards Great Britain, and in the midst of amicable
professions and negotiations on the part of the British Government
through its public Minister here [Mr. Erskine], a _secret agent of that
Government_ was employed in certain States--more especially at the seat
of government in Massachusetts--in fomenting disaffection to the
constituted authorities of the nation, and in intrigues with the
disaffected, for the purpose of bringing about resistance to the laws,
and eventually, in concert with a British force, of destroying the
Union, and forming the eastern part thereof into a political connection
with England."
Two days before the transmission of President Madison's message of
accusation against England, the British Minister at Washington declared
in the public prints his entire ignorance of any transaction of the
kind, and asked the United States Government to consider the character
of the individual who had made these disclosures,[183] and to "suspend
any further judgment on its merits until the circumstances shall have
been made known to his Majesty's Government." But such fairness to
England did not answer President Madison's purpose to get himself
re-elected President, by exciting hostility and declaring war against
England.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 176: "The war party in the United States was not very strong,
numerically speaking, and it was not composed of the most respectable
portions of the community; but what it lacked in these two requisites it
made up in loud and demonstrative clamour, and the more serious-minded
and important portions of the people were being forced, against their
better judgment, into a position hostile to Great Britain, by the
continued cry of a few demagogues, who were more anxious to give vent to
their old feeling of spite against Great Britain than to consult the
best interests of their country." (Tuttle's History of the Dominion of
Canada, Chap. lxxii., p. 349.)]
[Footnote 177: This Decree is dated "Imperial Camp, Berlin, November
21st, 1806." Its principal Articles are as follow:
"Art. 1. The British islands are in a state of blockade.
"Art. 2. _All commerce and correspondence with them is prohibited_;
consequently, all letters or packets written _in_ England, or _to_ an
Englishman, _written in the English language_, shall not be dispatched
from the post-offices, and shall be seized.
"Art. 3. Every individual, a subject of Great Britain, of whatever rank
or condition, who is found in countries occupied by our troops or those
of our allies, shall be made prisoner of war.
"Art. 4. Every warehouse, all merchandise or property whatsoever,
belonging to an Englishman, are declared god-prize.
"Art. 6. No vessel coming directly from England or her colonies, or
having been there since the publication of this Decree, shall be
admitted into any port.
"Art. 7. Every vessel that by a false declaration contravenes the
foregoing disposition, shall be seized, and the ship and cargo
confiscated as English property.
"Art. 10. Our Ministers of Foreign Relations, etc., are charged with the
execution of the present Decree."]
[Footnote 178: British Annual Register, 1807, Vol. XLII., Chap, xii., p.
227.]
[Footnote 179: Thompson's History of the War of 1812, between Great
Britain and the United States, Chap. III., pp. 23, 24.]
[Footnote 180: The justice of the proceedings and demands of the British
Government, the fairness of its proposals, and the injustice and
unreasonableness of the conduct of the Madison U.S. Government, are
forcibly presented in the following preamble to resolutions adopted by
the Legislature of the State of Massachusetts, as late as the 5th of
February, 1813:
"Whereas the President, in his message to Congress, has made known to
the people of the United States that the British Orders in Council have
been repealed 'in such manner as to be capable of explanations meeting
the views of the Government' of the United States; and therefore none of
the alleged causes of war with Great Britain now remain except the claim
of the right to take British subjects from the merchant ships of the
United States:
"And whereas, during the administration of General Washington and
President Adams, this claim of Great Britain was not considered a
reasonable cause of war; and under the administration of President
Jefferson, the Government of Great Britain did offer to make an
arrangement with the United States, which in the opinion of Messrs.
Montrose and Pinkey, their Ministers, placed this subject on a ground
that was both honourable and advantageous to the United States, and
highly favourable to their interests, and was, at the same time, a
concession which had never before been made; and it is highly probable
that the Government of Great Britain would still be willing to make an
arrangement on this subject which should be alike honourable and
advantageous to the United States:
"And whereas, under the administration of President Madison, when the
arrangement of matters in controversy between the United States and
Great Britain was made with his Britannic Majesty's Minister, David
Montague Erskine, Esq., the impressment of seamen was not considered of
sufficient importance to make it a condition of that arrangement:
"And whereas _the European powers, as well as the United States,
recognize the principle that their subjects have no right to expatriate
themselves, and that the nation has a right to the services of all its
citizens, especially in time of war; and none of those powers respect
the neutralization laws of others so far as to admit their operation in
contravention of that principle--and it is manifestly unjust for a
neutral power to make war upon one nation in order to compel it to
relinquish a principle which is maintained by the others, etc_."]
[Footnote 181: Holmes' American Annals, Vol. II., pp. 434, 435.
The manner in which this affair was presented to the public by the
President and American writers may be inferred from the following:
"This vessel (the _Chesapeake_) was suddenly attacked within our waters
in the time of profound peace, compelled to surrender, and several
seamen, alleged to be British, were then forcibly taken from her. The
burst of indignation which followed was even more violent than that
which was produced by the Orders in Council in 1793 [1807]. Party
animosity was suspended; meetings were assembled in every village; the
newspapers were filled with formal addresses; volunteer companies were
everywhere set on foot; and, in the first frenzy of the moment, the
universal cry was for immediate war. Although hostilities were not
declared, the feelings of America were from that day at war with
England." (Breckenridge's History of the War of 1812.)
This state of feeling was precisely what President Madison wished to
create, preparatory to his meditated war with England, in connection
with the French usurper.]
[Footnote 182: "Indignant at this neglectful treatment, Henry returned
to Boston, and obtained a letter of introduction from Governor Gerry to
Madison, to whom he offered to divulge the whole conspiracy, _of which
he had been the head and soul_, for a certain sum of money. Madison gave
him $50,000, and the swindler embarked for France. There is but little
doubt that Henry made a fool of the Governor of Canada, and completely
overreached the President. The publication of the correspondence,
however, increased the hatred both against the Federalists and the
English nation." [The object President Madison had in view.] (Headley's
History of the War of 1812-1815 with England, p. 49.)]
[Footnote 183: "The _Henry Plot_ (as it was denominated) was clamoured
through America as a crime of the deepest dye on the part of Great
Britain, tending to disorganize the Government, to dismember the Union,
and to destroy the independence of the States. The fictitious and
exaggerated importance which the American Government affected to attach
to this trivial matter had, however, some influence in confirming the
spirit of hostility towards Great Britain which at that time pervaded
America, and shortly after broke out in open war. This self-sufficient
miscreant having, as he fancied, taken ample vengeance upon the
Government of his native country, could not, with any degree of decency,
remain in the States, from whence he sailed for France in an American
sloop-of-war, carrying with him the reward of his treason and the
universal contempt of mankind." (Christie's History of the War of 1812,
p. 55.)
Yet, at this very time, there were American and French emissaries in
both the Canadas (as the proclamations of the Governors show), with a
view of exciting disaffection to the British Canadian Government, in
order to wrest the Canadas from England and subject them to France and
the United States.
"The Americans had been declaring, for several years, that they would
take the provinces. They had even boasted of the ease with which the
intended conquest could be made by them whenever they pleased. They
believed, or pretended to believe, that the majority of the people,
owing to dissensions and a desire to be free from the mother country,
would not take part against them in this contest with Great Britain."
(Dr. Miles' History of Canada, Part III., Chap. iii., p. 201.)]
CHAPTER XLIX.
DECLARATION OF WAR BY THE UNITED STATES AGAINST GREAT BRITAIN, AND
PREPARATIONS FOR THE INVASION OF CANADA.
The Bill for declaring war against Britain passed the Congress June
18th, 1812, after protracted discussions: by the House of Congress, by a
majority of forty--seventy-nine to thirty-nine--by the Senate, by a
majority of six.[184] The vote for the declaration of war was a purely
party vote; the war itself was a purely partizan war--the carrying out
of intrigue between the American Democratic President and the French
despoiler of Europe--a war against the intelligence and patriotism of
the American people, as well as against the independence and liberties
of nations; a war in which the very selection of generals and officers
were, as a general rule, partizan appointments.[185]
The war party consisted largely of the mob or refuse of the nation--of
those who had nothing to lose and everything to gain by such a
war--facts which will go far to account, with three or four exceptions,
for the inferior character of the American generals and officers in the
war; men appointed to offices for which they had no qualifications, and
to situations in which they could, without stint, rob their country of
its money, if not of its reputation.
In New York, a Convention of delegates from several counties of the
State was held at Albany, on the 17th and 18th days of September, 1812,
in which the war was denounced as unjustifiable, unprincipled, and
unpatriotic, and as subservient, simply subservient to the cause of the
French Emperor against England.[186]
The address of the House of Representatives of the State of
Massachusetts presented in a still stronger light and with unanswerable
argument the causes of this unjust and cruel war, as wanton and
unprovoked, and the climax of the various outrages committed against
Great Britain.
Yet even the English Orders in Council--made the pretext for the war by
President Madison and his partizans--impolitic as those Orders were on
the part of England, being founded not on sound national policy, but
dictated by revenge on Napoleon on account of his Berlin and Milan
decrees for the destruction of British commerce--even these British
Orders in Council were actually a source of profit to American
merchants from the indulgent way in which they were administered by the
British authorities. The American historian, Hildreth, says:
"The comparative indulgence of the British, their willingness to allow
to Americans a certain margin of profitable employment, contrasted very
favourably in the minds of ship-owners with the totally anti-commercial
system of France. Forgetting their late pretensions to a neutral trade,
perfectly unshackled, and the loud outcry they had raised against
British invasions of it, they were now ready, with characteristic
commercial prudence, to accept as much of the views of British Ministers
and merchants still left within their reach. A trade still profitable,
however shackled and curtailed, they regarded as decidedly preferable to
no trade at all. In fact, by the calculations of eminent merchants,
fully confirmed by subsequent experience, the trade still allowed under
the British Orders, while far more profitable, was also quite as
extensive as there could be any reasonable expectation of enjoying after
the restoration of general peace.
"The merchants and ship-owners had, however, but a limited influence
over public opinion. Their vast profits of late years had made them
objects of envy. Though their accumulations were but an index of the
general enrichment of the nation, there were multitudes who more or less
openly rejoiced over their present distress [arising from the American
embargo.] Unfortunately, too, they were divided among themselves. Some
even of the wealthiest of their number were among those who applauded
the embargo, of which conduct this not very charitable explanation was
given: that it would enable those who were able to wait for the revival
of trade to buy up at a great discount the ships and produce of their
poorer neighbours."[188]
President Madison having declared a professedly defensive war against
Great Britain for the purpose of defending maritime rights on the
Atlantic Ocean, commenced by invading Canada in three "Grand Armies."
The one was the Grand Army of the West, consisting of 5,000 men, under
General Hull, and the base of whose operations was Detroit; the second
was the Grand Army of the Centre, under the command of General Van
Rensellaer, consisting of 5,000, which was to operate against Canada
from Lewiston; and the third, but first in command, was the Grand Army
of the North, under General Dearborn, consisting of 10,000 men, to
operate from Lake Champlain against Montreal and the rest of Lower
Canada.
Such, then, was the declaration of war against England by President
Madison and his democratic faction; such were the false pretensions for
the war; such was the confederacy between the democratic President of
the United States and the Tyrant of Europe against the liberties of
mankind, under pretence of war with England; such was the noble
opposition of the States of New York and New England to that unholy
coalition between the American President and the oppressor of Europe
against human liberty--States which had been the head and the sinews and
the backbone of American resistance to Great Britain during the struggle
for American independence, and which, having achieved that independence,
abhorred being buccaneers against the independence of Canada, and the
acquisition of the Indian territories of the West and North of the
United States.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 184: In the report of the Committee recommending the Bill for
the declaration, it was, of course, attempted to make England the
aggressive and the United States the injured party. "On presentation of
this report," says Lossing, "the doors were closed, and a motion to open
them was denied by a vote of seventy-seven against forty-nine. Mr.
Calhoun [the democratic leader of the war party of the South] then
presented a Bill, as part of the report, declaring war between Great
Britain and her dependencies and the United States and its territories.
Amendments were offered. Ten votes were given for a proposition by Mr.
McKee, of Kentucky, to include France. Mr. Quincy (of Boston)
endeavoured, by an addition to the Bill, to provide for the repeal of
all restrictive laws bearing upon commerce; and John Randolph, of
Virginia, moved to postpone the whole matter until the following
October. All were rejected, and the Bill, as Mr. Calhoun presented it,
was passed on the 4th day of June by a vote of seventy-nine for it and
thirty-nine against it.
"When the Bill reached the Senate it was referred to a Committee already
appointed to consider the President's message. It remained under
discussion twelve days. Meanwhile the people throughout the country were
fearfully excited by conflicting emotions. A memorial against the war
went from the Legislature of Massachusetts; and another from the
merchants of New York, led by John Jacob Astor. War-meetings were held
in various places, and the whole country was in a tumult of excitement.
Finally, on the 17th of June, the Bill, with some amendments, was passed
in the Senate by a vote of nineteen against thirteen. It was sent back
to the House on the morning of the 18th, when the amendments were
concurred in. The Bill was engrossed on parchment, and at three o'clock
in the afternoon of that day became law by the signature of the
President [who next day declared war against Great Britain]. In the
House, the members from Pennsylvania, and the States of the South and
West, gave sixty-two votes for it to seventeen against it. In the
Senate, the same States gave fourteen for it, to five against it,
'Thus,' says a late writer [Edwin Williams], 'the war may be said to
have been a measure of the South and West to take care of the interests
of the North, much against the will of the latter.'" (Lossing's Field
Book of the War of 1812, Chap. xi., pp. 227, 228.)
The minority of the members of the House of Representatives who voted
against the war, addressed a protest, signed by them all, to their
constituents, exposing the impolicy and objects of the war, and
indicating their own conduct. We quote two sentences of this able paper:
"As to the invasion and seizure of Canada, which was a part of the
programme of the war party, they considered an attempt to carry out that
measure as unjust and impolitic in itself, very uncertain in the issue,
and unpromising as to any good results."--"It cannot be concealed that
to engage in the present war against England is to place ourselves on
the side of France, and expose us to the vassalage of States serving
under the banner of the French Emperor."]
[Footnote 185: The distinguished Joseph Quincy, of Boston, leader of the
Federalist party, said, in his place in Congress, "I have evidence
satisfactory in my own mind, that the Secretary of War has made it a
principle not to appoint any man to a command in that army who is not an
open partizan of the existing Administration. If it be denied, appoint a
Committee of Inquiry. If the intention had been to unite the nation as
one man against a foreign enemy, is not this the last policy that any
Administration ought ever to have adopted? Is not a partizan army the
most dreadful and detestable of all engines, and most likely to awaken
suspicions and to inspire discontent?" (Hildreth, Second Series, Vol.
III., Chap. xxi., p. 123.)
"The place of the first major-general, with the command of the Northern
Department, had been given to the petted favourite, Henry Dearborn, late
Secretary of War, and, since Madison's accession, collector of the port
of Boston--a lucrative post, kept in his family by his son's appointment
to it."--"Wilkinson, the senior brigadier, just acquitted by
court-martial of long-pending charges against him, had been sent to New
Orleans [afterwards to Canada] to relieve Hampton [who was afterwards
sent to Canada], whose command there had been a constant scene of
collision and turmoil with his officers. Commissions as brigadiers,
under the late Acts, had been given to Bloomfield, Governor of New
Jersey; to James Winchester, of Tennessee; and to Hull, Governor of
Michigan Territory. * * Hampton and Smythe had been civilians for more
than thirty years, and were indebted for their present appointments
rather to political than to military considerations. Of the inferiors of
the old army, presently distinguished, Alexander MacNab, of the
Engineers, was now a colonel, and Winfield Scott and Edmund Gaines
lieutenant-colonels. A lieutenant-colonelcy in one of the new regiments
had been given to Eleazar W. Ripley, a young Democrat from Maine, who
had succeeded Storey, of the late Democratic Massachusetts House of
Representatives. Ripley's subsequent conduct justified his appointment;
but the colonel of that same regiment was afterwards cashiered for
peculation; and as few of the new regimental officers had any military
knowledge, so numbers of them were quite destitute of those qualities
without which even that knowledge would have been of little avail."
(Hildreth's History of the United States, Second Series, Vol. III.,
Chap, xxiv., pp. 308-310.)]
[Footnote 186: "The following are extracts from the resolutions of this
famous Convention:
"Taking solely into consideration the time and circumstances of the
declaration of the present war, the condition of the country, and state
of the public mind, we are constrained to consider, and feel it our duty
to pronounce it a most rash, unwise, and inexpedient measure, the
adoption of which ought forever to deprive its authors of the esteem and
confidence of an enlightened people; because, as the injuries we have
received from France are at least equal in amount to those we have
sustained from England, and have been attended with circumstances of
still greater insult and aggravation, if war were necessary to vindicate
the honour of the country, consistency and impartiality required that
both nations should have been included in the declaration; because, if
it were deemed expedient to exercise our right of selecting our
adversary, prudence and common sense dictated the choice of an enemy
from whose hostility we had nothing to dread. A war with France would
equally have satisfied our insulted honour, and at the same time,
instead of annihilating, would have revived and extended our commerce;
and even the evils of such a contest would have been mitigated by the
sublime consolation, that, by our efforts, we were contributing to
arrest the progress of despotism in Europe, and essentially serving the
great interests of freedom and humanity throughout the world;" * *
"because, before the war was declared, it was perfectly well ascertained
that a vast majority of the people in the Middle and Northern States, by
whom the burden and expenses of the war must be borne almost
exclusively, were strongly opposed to the measure." * *
"Whereas the late revocation of British Orders in Council has removed
the great and ostensible cause of the present war, and prepared the way
for an immediate accommodation of existing differences, inasmuch as, by
the concession of the present Secretary of State, satisfactory and
honourable arrangements might easily be made, by which abuses resulting
from the impressment of our seamen might in future be effectually
prevented. Therefore,
"Resolved,--That we shall be constrained to consider the determination
on the part of our rulers to continue the present war, after official
notice of revocation of the British Orders in Council, as affording
conclusive evidence that the war has been undertaken from motives
entirely distinct from those which have been hitherto avowed, and for
the promotion of objects wholly unconnected with the interest and honour
of America.
"Resolved,--That we contemplate with abhorrence even the possibility of
an alliance with the present Emperor of France, every action of whose
life has demonstrated, that the attainment, by any means, of universal
empire, and the consequent extinction of every vestige of freedom, are
the sole objects of his incessant, unbounded, and remorseless ambition.
His arms, with the spirit of freemen, we might openly and fearlessly
encounter; but of his secret arts, his corrupting influences, we
entertain a dread we can neither conquer nor conceal. It is therefore
with the utmost distrust and alarm that we regard his late professions
of attachment and love to the American people, fully recollecting that
his invariable course has been, by perfidious offers of protection, by
deceitful professions of friendship, to lull his intended victims into
the fatal sleep of confidence and security, during which the chains of
despotism are silently wound round and riveted on them.
(Signed) "JACOB MORRIS, _President_.
"WILLIAM HENDERSON, _Secretary_."]
[Footnote 187: These Orders in Council were cancelled five days after
President Madison's declaration of war--weeks before that declaration
could have been known in England.]
[Footnote 188: Hildreth's History of the United States, Second Series,
Vol. III., Chap. xxi., pp. 86, 87.]
CHAPTER L.
PREPARATIONS BY CANADA AGAINST THE AMERICAN INVASIONS.
1. LOWER CANADA.
It now becomes our duty to state the preparations made by the Canadians
for their own defence against the American invasions. Though so few in
number and modest in pretensions to their multitudinous and boasting
invaders, they had the hearts of freemen and patriots, and trusted to
the Divine blessing in the justness of their cause.[189] We shall notice
first the preparations of Lower Canada, and then those of Upper Canada.
Sir George Prevost, in the autumn of 1811, succeeded Sir James H. Craig
in the government of Lower Canada, and in the chief command of the North
American provinces. He had been Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia. The
known mildness of his character, and the popularity of his
administration in Nova Scotia, caused his arrival at Quebec to be
heartily welcomed by the friends of just and liberal government. The
narrow-mindedness and harshness of Sir James Craig's administration had
caused serious agitation and differences in Lower Canada, which Sir
George Prevost, by his impartiality and kindness, soon succeeded in
allaying and reconciling. He called the first meeting of the Legislature
on the 21st of February, 1812, and, in his opening speech, stated that
he had hastened, in obedience to his orders, to assume the
administration of Lower Canada; congratulated the Legislature on the
brilliant achievements of the British arms in rescuing Portugal and
Spain "from the tyranny of the Ruler of France;" and recommended an
increased and unremitted care and vigilance in securing the country from
either open invasion or insidious aggression, and hoped the Parliament
would testify its loyalty by an early attention to those Acts which
experience had proved essential for the preservation of his Majesty's
government, as also by its readiness in supplying the Government with
such aid as should be suitable to the exigence of the times, by enabling
the loyal Canadian subjects to assist in repelling any sudden attack
made by a tumultuary invasion, and effectually to participate in the
defence of their country against a regular invasion at any future
period.
The Assembly, in answer, among other things assured the Governor that
they would give attention to those acts recommended by him. The Assembly
passed a Militia Bill, by which the Governor was authorized to embody
2,000 unmarried men, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five years,
for three months in the year; and in case of invasion or imminent
danger, to retain them for one year, relieving one-half the number
embodied, by fresh drafts at the expiration of that period. In the event
of war, invasion, insurrection, or imminent danger thereof, he was
empowered to embody the whole militia of the province, should it become
necessary. No substitutes were allowed, nor commissioned officers
permitted to take any militiamen for their servants, under a penalty of
£10 for every offence of that nature. These provisions, from their
harshness and inconsistency, were, however, winked at in practice. It
was penal to enlist any militiamen into the regular forces, and such
enlistments were declared null.
_Twelve thousand pounds_ were granted by the Legislature, one moiety
thereof for drilling and training the local militia, the other moiety
for other purposes of the Militia Act. _Twenty thousand pounds_ were
granted to be employed for such services as the safety of the province
and the exigence of the times might require. And a further sum of
_thirty thousand pounds_ currency, to be at the Governor's disposal in
case of war between Great Britain and America.
These liberal supplies enabled the Government to meet the approaching
crisis with confidence in the patriotism and support of the Provincial
Legislature, and the whole mass of the Canadian population. In closing
the session, the Governor thanked the House for the labour they had
bestowed upon the improvement of the militia system, and for the
increased means thereby afforded him for the defence of the province. He
also expressed his best thanks for the proofs he had received of their
confidence in his administration, by the liberal provision they had made
for the exigencies of the public service.[190]
After the declaration of war by President Madison, June 19th, 1812,
which was made known at Quebec the 28th of June, a notification was
immediately made by the police that all Americans must leave Quebec by
the 1st of July, and be out of the district by the 3rd of the same
month. On the last day of June the period was extended by the Governor's
proclamation; fourteen days were allowed to such Americans as were in
the province, they being principally persons who had entered the same in
good faith, and in prosecution of commercial pursuits.
"On the same day a proclamation issued imposing an embargo upon the
shipping in port, and convoking the House of Assembly on the 16th of
July."[191]
"At the opening of the session, the Governor, after informing the
Legislature of the recent declaration of war by the United States
against Great Britain, expressed his reliance upon the spirit of his
Majesty's subjects in the province, their loyalty to their Sovereign,
and their ardent love for the true interests of their country; and that
he should depend implicitly, under Divine Providence, upon their best
exertions, aided by the courage and loyalty of the militia, and by the
valour, skill, and discipline of his Majesty's regular forces, for
repelling every hostile attempt that might be made upon the colony. He
observed with concern that the necessary establishment of the militia
forces, together with the various services and operations of the
approaching campaign, would be attended with considerable expense, but
that he relied upon their wisdom and public spirit for such supplies as
the exigencies of affairs might be found to require: he at the same time
expressed his approbation of the embodied militia, and his confidence in
their increased discipline, which encouraged an expectation that they
would materially contribute to the defence of their country." * *
"A Bill to Facilitate the Circulation of Army Bills was introduced, and
the liberality of the House of Assembly surpassed the hopes of the
Executive. Fifteen thousand pounds were granted to pay the interest that
might become due upon army bills, of which £250,000 were authorized to
be put in circulation (large bills of twenty-five dollars and upwards
bearing interest at the rate of fourpence per day for every hundred
pounds). They were made current in the revenue, were to have the effect
of a legal tender, and were redeemable at the Army Bill Office, either
in cash or Government bills of exchange on London, at the option of the
commander of the forces. Small bills of four dollars were at all times
payable in cash at the Army Bill Office. On the 1st day of August, 1812,
this Bill received the royal sanction, and the Governor prorogued the
Parliament, with acknowledgments for the liberal aid they had granted
him to meet the exigencies of the public service."[192]
Such were the provisions made spontaneously, and with wonderful
unanimity, in Lower Canada for the defence of the province against the
impending American invasion. These provisions were prior to
corresponding provisions made in Upper Canada, and the statement of
which has been made in so much detail that the English reading public
might be reminded, or informed, of what has been too little known--the
loyalty, liberality, and courage of the French as well as of the English
inhabitants of Lower Canada, from the very beginning of the contest, and
followed by deeds of heroism and fortitude (to be noticed hereafter),
which successfully repelled successive American invasions, and prevented
the American armies, ten times as numerous as the Voltigeurs and all
other Canadian volunteers, from gaining a single foothold in Lower
Canada.
2. UPPER CANADA.
Upper Canada was not second to Lower Canada. Sir Francis Gore left for
England in 1811, and was succeeded by General Brock as President of
Upper Canada, and commander of the forces, who called the Legislature
together as early as possible after the declaration of war. Colonel John
Clarke, Adjutant-General of Militia, in his manuscripts (with the use of
which I have been favoured by the learned and excellent librarian of the
Dominion at Ottawa, entitled "U.E. Papers"), says:
"Whilst the Americans were busily preparing for the campaign, we were
not idle in Canada. On the 27th of July, 1812, General Brock proceeded
to York and called a meeting of the Legislature, to which he delivered
an animated and spirited address, concluding with the following
remarkable words:
"'We are engaged in an awful and eventful contest.
"'By unanimity and dispatch in our councils, and by vigour in our
operations, we may teach the enemy this lesson, that a country defended
by FREE MEN, enthusiastically devoted to the cause of their King and
Constitution, cannot be conquered.'"
The Legislature heartily responded to the noble appeal of General Brock
at the opening of the session; passed the necessary Acts for the
security of the country, for the organization and training of the
militia, and for the expenses and support of the war, and concluding
their work by an earnest and patriotic address to the people of Upper
Canada. We will extract some passages of this "Address of the House of
Assembly to the People of Upper Canada, on the Declaration of War." This
powerful address, which occupies twelve pages, is signed "Allan MacLean,
Speaker," and dated "Commons House of Assembly, August 5th, 1812"--just
ten days before General Brock took Detroit:
"The House of Assembly having nearly completed the necessary business
for which they were called together, beg leave, before they return home,
to lift up their warning voice at this eventful crisis. The declaration
of war issued against Great Britain by the United States, when first
announced, appeared to be an act of such astonishing folly and
desperation as to be altogether incredible, and not only excited the
greatest surprise among the inhabitants of this province, but among the
great majority of our enemies themselves. That that Government,
professing to be the friend of man and the great supporter of his
liberty and independence, should light up the torch of war against the
only nation that stands between itself and destruction, exhibited a
degree of infatuation or madness, altogether incomprehensible. But the
men at present ruling the States, infatuated, or, as their more
enlightened countrymen say, 'bribed by the Tyrant of France,' regardless
of the best interests of their country, and the feelings and affections
of a great majority of their own people, have commenced hostilities
against our mother country whilst treating their vessels with
hospitality, and instead of threatening their liberties, offering most
equitable terms of accommodation.
"This war, on the part of the United States, includes an alliance with
the French usurper, whose dreadful policy has destroyed all that is
great and good, memorable and holy, on the continent of Europe. The
government of this bloody tyrant penetrates into everything; it crushes
individuals as well as nations; fetters thoughts as well as motives; and
delights in destroying forever all that is fair and just in opinion and
sentiment. It is evidently this tyrant who now directs the rulers of
America, and they show themselves worthy disciples of such a master." * *
"We turn with joy to you, many of whom have already risked your lives
for the unity of the empire. We are confident that the same spirit still
animates your breasts and those of your children--that you still retain
the same love of your excellent King, the same veneration for a free and
happy Constitution, that you exhibited during the American war. * * When
we picture to ourselves the sublime prospect the world would have
exhibited this day, had the population of the neighbouring States
preserved, like you, their filial love, we should not now behold the
continent of Europe groaning under the yoke of a sanguinary tyrant, nor
his satellites in America studiously imitating his example.
"It is therefore from former experience that we look to you for the same
patriotic principles--principles which enabled you to face death in its
most dreadful attire--principles which exalt human nature, and which
have been warmly cherished by the most virtuous and renowned of every
age: and surely when we are attacked by the same enemies who once, aided
by the mistaken lenity of the mother country and the misconduct of her
commanders, were able to drive us from our native homes and possessions
to this province--a people whose lands are manured with the blood of our
friends and kinsmen, who drove our wives and children from their homes
in the woods, or threw them into dungeons, and who now envy us the
habitations which, through the blessing of Providence, the beneficence
of our parent state, and our own industry, we have gained from the
wilderness, we are confident that you will display the same energy, and
certainly with better hopes of success. Great Britain will not now
consider such Americans as perverse children who may be reclaimed, but
as her most malignant foes. Her commanders will not, as formerly,
temporize and raise hosts of enemies by their misconduct and delays, but
they will hasten to punish them with all the rigour of war.
"Already have we the joy to remark, that the spirit of loyalty has burst
forth in all its ancient splendour. The militia in all parts of the
province have volunteered their services with acclamation, and displayed
a degree of energy worthy of the British name. * * When men are called
upon to defend everything they call precious--their wives and children,
their friends and possessions--they ought to be inspired with the
noblest resolutions, and they will not be easily frightened by menaces,
or conquered by force. And beholding, as we do, the flame of patriotism
burning from one end of the Canadas to the other, we cannot but
entertain the most pleasing anticipations.
"Our enemies have indeed said that they could subdue this country by
Proclamation; but it is our part to prove to them that they are sadly
mistaken--that the population is determinedly hostile to them, and that
the few who might be otherwise inclined will find it their safety to be
faithful. * *
"Innumerable attempts will be made by falsehood to detach you from your
allegiance; for our enemies, in imitation of their European master,
trust more to treachery than to force; and they will, no doubt, make use
of many of those lies, which, unfortunately for the virtuous part of
these States, and the peace and happiness of the world, had too much
success during the American rebellion: they will tell you that they are
come to give you freedom--yes, the base slaves of the most contemptible
faction that ever distracted the affairs of any nation--the minions of
the very sycophants who lick the dust from the feet of Bonaparte will
tell you that they are come to communicate the blessing of liberty to
this province; but you have only to look at your own situation to put
such hypocrites to confusion. * *
"Trusting more to treachery than to open hostility, our enemies have
already spread their emissaries through the country, to seduce our
fellow-subjects from their allegiance, by promises as false as the
principles on which they are founded. A law has been enacted for the
speedy detection of such emissaries, and for their condign punishment
on conviction."[193]
"Remember, when you go forth to the combat, that you fight not for
yourselves alone, but for the whole world. You are defeating the most
formidable conspiracy against the civilization of man that was ever
contrived; a conspiracy threatening greater barbarism and misery than
followed the downfall of the Roman Empire--that now you have an
opportunity of proving your attachment to the parent state, which
contends for the relief of oppressed nations--the last pillar of true
liberty, and the last refuge of oppressed humanity.
(Signed) "ALLAN MACLEAN,
"_Speaker, Commons House of Assembly, August 5th, 1812._"
The effect of this manly and animated address to the people of Upper
Canada was most beneficial, and contributed greatly to unite and
encourage the people to face the struggle impending over them. There was
no inflated boasting--no undervaluing of danger and sacrifice, but a
plain statement of facts, and a heartfelt appeal to loyalty, patriotism,
and manly courage.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 189: "A war with Great Britain had been long contemplated by
the rulers in America, and a seasonable moment only was sought for, to
grasp the provinces which they had fallaciously been induced to believe
were ripe for revolt, and would therefore fall a willing conquest to
America. The Peninsular war had engrossed the attention and resources of
the mother country, and the Canadas were necessarily the less provided
with means to encounter the struggle in which they were likely soon to
be engaged. The coffers were exhausted, nor were hopes entertained of
their being speedily replenished from home; the regular forces were too
thin to preserve an extensive frontier of some hundred miles against the
pressure of an enemy which, if united, must become irresistible; and the
Canadians, though naturally brave and hardy, and attached to their
Constitution, might from recent occurrences be fairly presumed to have
been so far disgusted as to leave doubt of their hearty co-operation and
zeal in the cause." (Christie's History of the War of 1812, Chap. iii.,
p. 48.)]
[Footnote 190: Christie's History of the War of 1812, Chap, iii., pp.
49-53.
"The Governor, by a General Order of the 28th of May, 1812, organized
four battalions of embodied militia, in virtue of the late Act. The
first battalion rendezvoused at Point-aux-Trembles, near Quebec, under
the command of Colonel De Salaberry; the second at Laprairie, near
Montreal, commanded by Colonel De Rouville; the third at Berthier, in
the district of Montreal, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Cuthbert; and
the fourth at St. Thomas, near Quebec, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel
Taschereau. The alacrity with which they were filled, and the
cheerfulness with which the young men submitted to the restraints of
discipline, reflected credit upon the military character of the
Canadians. This proof of the zeal and the loyalty of the people inspired
Government with hopes of successful resistance against the approaching
war, and a reciprocal confidence between the Governor and the people
seems to have resulted, as much from the danger of the moment as from
any studied policy on the part of the present Administration. They who
had incurred the displeasure of the late Government were treated with
confidence, and gradually appointed to situations of trust.
"A regiment of Canadian Voltigeurs was recruited, and placed under the
command of Major De Salaberry, of the 60th Regiment of Foot, which in
the course of the war became eminent for discipline and its steadiness
in action, as well as for the fatiguing duties on which it was
unremittingly employed."--_Ib._, pp. 55, 56.]
[Footnote 191: Christie's History of the War of 1812, Chap. iii., pp.
36, 37.]
[Footnote 192: Christie's History of the War of 1812, Chap. iii., pp.
57-60.]
[Footnote 193: Colonel Clarke remarks that "the moderation of the
different Acts which were then passed, for the preservation and defence
of the province, is an additional proof that _internal treachery_ was
not one of the causes which were found."]
CHAPTER LI.
FIRST AMERICAN INVASION OF UPPER CANADA BY GENERAL HULL, FROM DETROIT,
WHOSE PROCLAMATION "TO THE INHABITANTS OF CANADA" IS GIVEN ENTIRE, AND
GENERAL BROCK'S NOBLE ANSWER TO IT, IN AN ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF UPPER
CANADA.
In the meantime Canada, in its western extremity, had been invaded. The
American Government had been for several months collecting an army of
some 3,000 or 4,000 regular troops and militia, around and west of
Detroit, in order to strike a blow upon Canada the moment war should be
declared. General Hull was the Governor of the territory of Michigan,
and Commander-in-Chief of the "Grand Army of the West." On the 12th of
July he crossed the River Detroit with a force of 2,500 of the above
troops, and a strong park of artillery, and planted the American
standard on the shores of Canada, at Sandwich. He forthwith issued a
pretentious, inflated, cajoling, patronising, threatening proclamation
to the inhabitants of Canada, and pronouncing instant death to any one
who should be fighting in company with the Indians, while at the same
time the Americans were employing in their army all the Indians they
could induce to join them. The American democratic party which ruled at
Washington had persecuted and driven the fathers of Canada from their
homes in the United States, and had always been the enemies of their
peace and prosperity in Canada; yet they were under the strange delusion
that the people of Canada must be still as much in love with them as
they were with themselves, and that the magnetism of their star-spangled
banner planted in Canada would draw all Canadians to it; that an
address from their commanding general would supply the place of armies,
and that taking Canada would be but a holiday march, in which, as their
language of the time was, they would "breakfast at Sandwich, take dinner
at York (Toronto), and sup at Montreal." It was in this spirit of vanity
and delusion that General Hull issued his famous proclamation, on his
landing at Sandwich, and which I give entire in a note.[194]
In a noble address to the people of Upper Canada, General Brock answered
the proclamation of General Hull, repelling and exposing with
overwhelming power his misstatements, and answering with withering
sarcasm General Hull's attack upon the Indians, and the "barbarous and
savage policy of Great Britain" in recognizing the Indians as allies and
fellow-subjects, and their right to defend their homes and liberties
against American invasion and rapine. We present the reader with the
following extracts of this masterly address, transcribed from the
manuscripts of the Dominion Library at Ottawa.
In the course of his Address to the People of Canada, General Brock
says:
"The unprovoked declaration of war by the United States of America
against Great Britain and Ireland and its dependencies, has been
followed by the actual invasion of this Province, in a remote frontier
of the Western District, by a detachment of the armed force of the
United States.
"The officer commanding that detachment [General Hull] has thought
proper to invite his Majesty's subjects not merely to a quiet and
unresisting submission, but insults them by offering with a call to seek
the protection of his Government.
"Without condescending to notice the epithets bestowed, in this appeal
of the American commander to the people of Upper Canada, on the
administration of his Majesty, every inhabitant of the Province is
desired to seek the confutation of such indecent slander in the review
of his own particular circumstances.
"Where is the Canadian subject who can truly affirm to himself that he
has been injured by the Government in his person, his property, or his
liberty?
"Where is to be found in any part of the world a growth so rapid in
prosperity and wealth as this colony exhibits? Settled not thirty years,
by a band of veterans exiled from their former possessions on account of
their loyalty, not a descendant of these brave people is to be found who
has not, under the fostering care of their Sovereign, acquired a
property and means of enjoyment superior to what were possessed by their
ancestors.
"This unequalled prosperity would not have been attained by the utmost
liberality of the Government or the persevering industry of the people,
had not the maritime power of the mother country secured to the
colonists a safe access to every market where the produce of their
labour was in request. * *
"The restitution of Canada to the empire of France was the _stipulated_
reward for the aid afforded to the revolted colonies, now the United
States. The debt is still due; and there can be no doubt but that the
pledge has been renewed as a consideration for commercial advantages, or
rather for an expected relaxation in the tyranny of France over the
commercial world.
"Are you prepared, inhabitants of Canada, to become willing subjects, or
slaves, to the Despot who rules the nations of continental Europe with a
rod of iron?
"If not, arise in a body; exert your energies; co-operate cordially with
the King's regular forces to repel the invader, and do not give cause to
your children, when groaning under the oppression of a Foreign Master,
to reproach you with having so easily parted with the richest
inheritance of this earth--a participation in the name, character, and
freedom of Britons. * *
"Be not dismayed at the unjustifiable threat of the commander of the
enemy's forces, to refuse quarter should an Indian appear in the ranks.
"The brave bands of aborigines which inhabit this colony were, like his
Majesty's other subjects, punished for their zeal and fidelity by the
loss of their possessions in the late colonies, and rewarded by his
Majesty with lands of superior value in this Province.
"The faith of the British Government has never been violated. The
Indians feel that the soil they inherit is to them and their posterity
protected from the base arts so frequently devised to overreach their
simplicity.
"By what principle are they to be prohibited from defending their
property? If their warfare, from being different to that of other
people, be more terrific to the enemy, let him retrace his steps; they
seek him not--and cannot expect to find women and children in an
invading army.
"But they are men, and have equal rights with all other men to defend
themselves and their property when invaded, more especially when they
find in the enemy's camp a ferocious and mortal enemy, using the same
warfare which the American commander affects to reprobate.
"This inconsistent and unjustifiable threat of refusing quarter, for
such a cause as being found in arms with a brother sufferer, in defence
of invaded rights, must be exercised with the certain assurance of
retaliation, not only in the limited operations of war in this part of
the King's dominions, but in every quarter of the globe; for the
national character of Britain is not less distinguished for humanity
than strict retributive justice, which will consider the execution of
this inhuman threat as deliberate murder, for which every subject of the
offending power must make expiation.
(Signed) "ISAAC BROCK,
"_Major-General and President_.
"HEADQUARTERS,
"Fort George, July 22nd, 1812."
"By order of his Honour the President,
(Signed) "J.B. GLEGG, A.D.C.,
_General_."
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 194: The following is General Hull's Proclamation:
"PROCLAMATION.
"Headquarters, Sandwich, 12th July, 1812.
"_Inhabitants of Canada_,--
"After thirty years of peace and prosperity, the United States have been
driven to arms. The injuries and aggressions, the insults and
indignities of Great Britain have once more left them no alternative but
manly resistance or unconditional submission. The army under my command
has invaded your country. The standard of the Union now waves over the
territory of Canada. To the peaceable, unoffending inhabitants it brings
neither danger nor difficulty. I come to find enemies, not to make them;
I come to protect, not to injure you.
"Separated by an immense ocean and an extensive wilderness from Great
Britain, you have no participation in her councils, nor interest in her
conduct. You have felt her tyranny; you have seen her injustice; but I
do not ask you to avenge the one, or to redress the other. The United
States are sufficiently powerful to afford every security consistent
with their and your expectations. I tender you the invaluable blessings
of civil, religious, and political liberty, and their necessary
result--individual and general prosperity; that liberty which gave
decision to our councils and energy to our conduct, in a struggle for
independence--which conducted us safely and triumphantly through the
stormy period of the revolution--the liberty which has raised us to our
elevated rank among the nations of the world, and which afforded us a
greater measure of peace and security, of wealth and improvement, than
ever fell to the lot of any people.
"In the name of my country and the authority of Government, I promise
you protection to your persons, property, and rights. Remain at your
homes; pursue your peaceful and customary avocations; raise not your
hands against your brethren. Many of your fathers fought for the freedom
and independence we now enjoy. Being children, therefore, of the same
family with us, and heirs of the same heritage, the arrival of an army
of friends must be hailed by you with a cordial welcome. You will be
emancipated from tyranny and oppression, and restored to the dignified
status of freemen.
"Had I any doubt of eventual success, I might ask your assistance; but I
do not. I come prepared for every contingency--I have a force which will
break down all opposition, and that force is but the vanguard of a much
greater. If, contrary to your own interest, and the just expectations of
my country, you should take part in the approaching contest, you will be
considered and treated as enemies, and the horrors and calamities of war
will stalk before you.
"If the barbarous and savage policy of Great Britain be pursued, and the
savages are let loose to murder our citizens, and butcher our women and
children, this war will be a war of extermination. The first stroke of
the tomahawk, the first attempt with the scalping knife, will be the
signal of one indiscriminate scene of desolation. No white man found
fighting by the side of an Indian will be taken prisoner--instant death
will be his lot. If the dictates of reason, duty, justice, and humanity,
cannot prevent the employment of a force which respects no rights, and
knows no wrongs, it will be prevented by a severe and relentless system
of retaliation.
"I doubt not your courage and firmness. I will not doubt your attachment
to liberty. If you tender your services voluntarily, they will be
accepted readily. The United States offer you peace, liberty, and
security. Your chance lies between these and war, slavery, and
destruction. Choose, then, but choose wisely; and may He who knows the
justice of our cause, and who holds in His hands the fate of nations,
guide you to a result the most compatible with your rights and
interests, your peace and happiness.
"By the General,
A.P. HULL."
_Note._--It is a curious commentary on the above proclamation, that
within six weeks of its being so pompously put forth, General Hull
himself, with all his army, was a prisoner in the hands of the
Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, to whom was surrendered nearly
3,000 prisoners, Fort Detroit, an immense quantity of arms and munitions
of war, together with the whole territory of Michigan, and the secured
alliance of the numerous Indian tribes to the west and north.]
CHAPTER LII.
GENERAL BROCK PREPARES FOR AN ATTACK ON DETROIT, AND WITH A SMALL FORCE
TAKES GENERAL HULL AND HIS ARMY PRISONERS, AND ACQUIRES POSSESSION OF
DETROIT AND THE TERRITORY OF MICHIGAN--INCIDENTS PRECEDING AND ATTENDING
THE TAKING OF DETROIT--GENERAL BROCK'S PROCLAMATION TO THE INHABITANTS
OF THE MICHIGAN TERRITORY--HIS COUNCIL WITH THE INDIANS, AND
CONVERSATION WITH THE GREAT CHIEF TECUMSEH, AND ESTIMATE OF HIM--GENERAL
BROCK RETURNS TO YORK (TORONTO)--WHAT HE DID IN NINETEEN DAYS.