A narrative of the outbreak in Upper Canada, by William
Lyon Mackenzie, dated about the middle of January, has been only this week transferred from the American newspapers into the London daily journals. Though Mr. Mackenzie cannot be relied upon as a very faithful narrator of the events "quorum pars magna fuit," his ac- count is amusing, and supplies some deficiencies in the history of the attempt to upset Sir Francis Head's government in Upper Canada. It is stated that the malecontents in both provinces were in commu- nication with each other-
" We kept up a good understanding with the Reformers of Lower Canada; and concluding that arbitrary imprisonments and a declaration of military exe- cutions would follow the anticipated outbreak at Montreal, we resolved to second the Lower Canada movements by others equally prompt and decisive. Some of the members of our branch societies were kept in ignorance of the intended re- volt ; others were fully aware of it. Some, whose names were attached to no association, were leaders in the revolution ; other very active Republicans took no part. The presses under my control sent forth nearly 3,000 copies of a periodical filled with reasons for a revolt ; and about the third week in Novem- ber it was determined, that on Thursday the 7th of December, our forces should secretly assemble at Montgomery's Hotel, three miles back of Toronto, between six and ten at night, and proceed from thence to the city, join our friends there, seize 4,000 stand of arms which had been placed by Sir Francis in the City- hall, take him into custody with his chief advisers, place the garrison in the hands of the Liberals, declare the province free, call a convention together to frame a suitable constitution, and meantime appoint our friend Dr. Rolph pro- vincial administrator of the government. We expected to do all this without shedding blood, well knowing that the Viceregal Government was too unpopular to have many real adherents."
The causes of the failure—
" The country was ripe for a change; and I employed a fortnight previous to unalay the 3d of December in attending secret meetings, assisting in organizing towns ano places, and otherwise prepZalq, :3: the rNalution. On that day, I rode from Stouffville (where I had held two private meetings on the Saturday) to Youge Street, and arrived at Mr. Gibson'e in the evening. To my astonish. ment and dismay, I was informed by him, that although I had given the cap- tains of the townships sealed orders for the Thursday following, the Executive, through him, by a mere verbal message, had ordered out the men beyond the ridges to attend at Montgomery's with their arms next day (Monday), and that it was probable they were already on the march. " I instantly sent one of Mr. Gibson's servants to the North, countermanded the Monday movement, and begged of Colonel Lount not to come down, nor in any way to disturb the previous regular arrangement, because neither of the other towns nor the citizens of Toronto were in any way prepared for an alter- ation, which, if persisted in, would surely ruin us. The servant returned on Monday, with a message from Mr. Lount, that it was now too late to stop; that the men were wanner', and moving with their guns and pikes on the march down Yonge Street (a distance of thirty to forty miles on the worst roads in the world); and that the object of their rising could therefore he no longer con. cealed.
" I was grieved, and so was Mr. Gibson ; hut we had to make the best of it. Accordingly, I mounted my horse in the afternoon ; rode in towards the city ; took five trusty men with me ; arrested several gentlemen on suspicion that that they were going to Sir Francis with information ; placed a guard on Yonge Street, the main Northern avenue to Toronto, at Montgomery's, and another guard on a parallel road, and told them to allow none to pass to the city. I then waited some time, expecting the Executive to arrive ; but waited in vain —no one came, not even a message. I was therefore left in entire ignorance of the condition of the capital ; and instead of entering Toronto on Thursday, with 4,000 or 5,000 men, was apparently expected to take it on Monday with 200, wearied, after a march of thirty or forty miles through time mud, and in the worst possible humour at finding they had been called from the very extre- mity of the county, and no one else warned at all."
While at Montgomery's Tavern, Mackenzie was joined by some per. Sons not made of exactly the right stuff for rebels- " Some persons from town, friendly to us, but not very brave, had joined us during the march ; and they, unknown to me, told awful stories about the pre- parations the Tories had made in several streets to fire out of windows at us, ptotected by feather-beds, mattresses, &c. These representations terrified many of the country-people; and when they saw the riflemen in front falling down, and heard the firing, they imagined that those who fell were killed and wounded by the enemy's fire, and took to their heels with a speed and steadiness of pin. pose that would have baffled pursuit on foot. In a short time, not twenty per- sons were to be found below the toll-bar! " This was almost too much for human patience. The city would have been ours in an hour, probably without firing a shot ; hundreds of our friends waited to join us at its entrance ; the officials were terror-stiuck ; Governor Head had few to rely on ; the colony would have followed the city ; a conven- tion and democratic constitution been adopted, and a bloodless change from a contemptible tyranny to freedom accomplished. But eight hundred ran where no one pursued, and unfortunately ran the wrong way."
The following is the fullest account of the only bit of fighting be- tween Governor Head's men and the insurgents- 44 We were still at the hotel, discussing what was best to be done, when one of the guards told us that the enemy was marching up with music and artillery, and within a mile of us. Our people immediately prepared for battle, I rode down towards the enemy, doubting the intelligence until when within a short distance I saw them with my own eyes. I rode quickly back ; asked our men if they were ready to fight a greatly superior force, well armed, and with artil- lery well served. They were ready ; and I bade them go to the woods and do their best. They did so ; and never did men fight more courageously. In the face of a heavy fire of grape and canister, with broadside following broadside of musketry in steady and rapid succession, they stood their ground firmly, and killed and wounded a large number of the enemy ; but were at length compelled to retreat. In a more favourable position, I have no doubt but that they would have beaten off their assailants, with immense loss. As it was, they had only three killed and three or four wounded."
Mackenzie pretends that the large bodies of volunteers who joined Head were to have made part of Ms force ; but better authority will be required before that version of the affair, however curious, can pass as credible. "As a 4
pita to support him, it is a sheer fabrication. If that were true, Wh
hot, confined for two days on board a steam-boat? Why did he send no fl law become necessary since to suspend the trial by jui y ? Why were his tamili truce on Tuesday, when all the force he could muster was 150 men and
" As to Sir Francis Head's story of 10,000 men instantly making to the en
nut' of a population of 20,000, in and near Toronto? The truth is, that thousneh were on their way to join us on Thursday evening, that being the regular time for which the towns had been summoned ; and they, on learning that we Were dispersed, made a virtue of necessity, and professed that they had come is ya the Tories. Sir Francis, in his speech, says they were, 4generally speaking without arms ;' and, in fact, most of them had none to bring. That was the grand difficulty, and would have been remedied hail our movement been delayed till Thursday, as agreed on. Very few Militiamen in Upper Canada had beep, intrusted with arms; and of those few, Government hail endeavoured, through Captain Magrath and others, to deprive them previous to the outbreak."
In conclusion, Mackenzie pledges himself to the Liberal cause; and declares that he will constantly strive to convert "colonial vassalage into "freedom and peace."
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