Mr. Denison, Governor of Vermont, has issued a proclamation di-
recting the people of that State to observe neutrality between the con- tending parties in Canada.
A meeting of the inhabitants of Buffalo was held in the Theatre of that town on the 12th of December. At this meeting Mr. W. L. Mackenzie was present. He is described as "a little Scotchnurn, 5 feet 5, with a big head and sandy whiskers, bearing some slight re- semblance to Martin Van Buren." The Buffalo Advertiser supplies the following summary of Mackenzie's speech to the meeting— " To prove the justice of the cause, he took the declaration of Independence, went through it, article by article, and stated that, in every partitular, the Ca■ nadas had the same grievances, and in some cases that they were even more onerous.
" He spoke of the government of Great Britain as good at home, but uni- formly bad abroad—of laws made in the province, repealed at London after being six years in operation—of the enormous salaries of their public officers— of taxation without the consent of the taxed—of the British monopoly of the trade of the St. Lawrence—of packed juries, and packed Legislatures—of a perpetual Senate, the creatures of the Governor — of supporting church establishments with which the people have no sympathy—of the want of education, and the sequestration by the Government officers of the funds raised for that purpose—of colleges endowed by the King of France turned into British barracks—of the London Company's land monopoly—of the repeated overwhelming majorities chosen by the people in the lower house, whose reform acts were uniformly set aside and vetoed, when 80 to 8—of his own repeated expulsion from the house, and his being elected Mayor of Toronto in consequence—of the frequent and long petitions sent to the Hume Govern- ment, but uniformly disregarded. " He said that the recent unfortunate rising was in consequence of a mistake in the time specified in one of their despatches. They were organized, acting in concert with the people of the lower provinces, ruining almost daily ex- presses—despatches hati been sent to the different towns who had joined in the league, but one of them, by accident or design, was written ' Tuesday' instead of ' Thursday.' They came on Tuesday, and made a forced march to the neighbourhood of Toronto, expecting to meet the citizens of the whole province. They were too weak to attempt the town that night—the Government took the alarm—the munitions of war were placed in the hands of the retainers of the Executive—and the opportunity was lost. They had a slight skirmish, in which some three or four lost their lives—and being destitute of arms, were obliged to retreat. Parties were coming in iu every direction, with bold hearts and strong hands, but they were unarmed, and there were no arms to give them. Why? There are not probably 300 muskets in the rpper Province, except those in the hands of the Government. They have nothing but pitch- forks to oppose bayonets. " He described the death of Colonel Moodie, who was shot by a sentinel, en• deavouring to escape, and after he had first fired on the soldier. " He spoke of the interest of the United States in the freedom of the pro- vinces, the navigation of the St. Lawrence, the North-eastern boundary ques- tion, the trade of the Upper Province, its wheat, its lumber, and its millions of acres of the best land in North America, and especially of the interest of Buffalo in the present struggle. " They had little to contend with—a few thousand men would do the busi- mess in a hurry. There were no British troops—none but the pensioners of the Government, and a few of the old Tory brood, who mill adhered to the prin- ciples for which their fathers fled from the States to this province.
" There is, he said, no probability of England's debating the quntion. In her former struggles she had lost money, honour, men, and been shamefully de- feated. He had watched the progress of seventeen successful revolutions ; he slid not believe that of Canada would be an exception.
" He had by chance seen some despatches from Government officers in the Lower Provinces, which got into his camp instead of going into the Post-office. One of them to the Commandant at Niagara said they were all rebels below, and made inquiries inregard to the Upper Province, recommending, moreover, that spies should be' sent to Buffalo, as they apprehended danger from this spatter.
" He said he was not the principal man ; he acted in an humble capacity ; there were leaders abler than himself.
" Thirty-live hundred had come to them—they had no arms to give them— they were obliged to go home. They wanted arms—they wanted powder— they wanted ordnance—they wanted blankets. Of those assembled in the neighbourhood of Toronto there were but 200 armed.
" Would they be successful? He could not tell. They depended on the 'tune overruling Power that guided our fathers and protected the life of Wash- ington. The battle was not to the strong; he nutted that God would strike for the oppressed.
" England could hardly spare troops or money to carry on a foreign war. It takes 30000 bayonets to keep Ireland quiet; those who snake war in England are tax-payers—they would hardly take mosey out of their pockets to oppress their countrymen."
At a preliminary meeting, the "venerable Dr. Chapin" announced -that some of the Canadian insurgents had taken refuge in his house, arid that one of them was Mackenzie. Then, says the Buffalo paper- " The whole vast assembly burst into a thunder of applause. Never saw we such a scene—never heard we such a shout of exultation! Such enthusiasm as honourable to the feelings of our citizen,. It was not Mackenzie who called forth such electrical feeling. A few months ago he might have come among its and excited little interest. He comes now as the champion and martyr of liberty. A price is net on his life by the agents of transatlantic power. That eircuiristaace alone is enough to call out all the feeling of an American assembly. " Fellow-citizens,' continued the veteran, his life is in our power ; he has thrown himself upon our protection—will you protect him ?' "' We will, we will? Bring him out !' "' Gentlemen, he is too fatigued—ton sick, to come here tonight; but to- morrow night he shall address you. (Cheers.) I am an old mail, but at the 'Inuit of my life will I protect these who throw themselves upon my hos- pitality. If any mean scoundrels, fur the sake of the reward of 4,000 dollars which is offered for him, should undertake ta get him, they must first walk over me. I am rather old ta tight, but I have got a good bowie knife. Here he showed one of very respectable dimensions, which was greeted with three cheers.] Now we must act with prudence and discretion. I want six strong. brave young men, as good sons as God has got amongst us, to go to my house to-night, for fear of any attempt on the part of the Loyalists.'
" A hundred !'
" No I want only six : who'll go ?' " I—I—I,' was heard all over the house. A dozen sprung upon the stage." This is an anecdote of Mackenzie's escape- " He was in disguise, and slept two nights in haystacks. Being clothed very poorly, and mounted on a good charger, he was apprehended as a horse-thief. He was armed, but did not wish to shoot the sheriff; so, to ascertain his senti- ments, he commenced talking politics. The officer expressed himself warmly in favour or Mr. Mackenzie, upon which he avowed himself, but was not able to convince him, until he showed him his name marked on his linen, upon which he was at once aided to escape. It is said that before he bad got across the river, a party of horsemen in pursuit appeared on the opposite bank."
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