It is certain that Lieutenant Weir was killed at St.
Denis; his body was found buried on the banks of the river Richelieu. No fur- ther particulars of his death have been received. The Government newspapers say that he was murdered; but it is probable that the first account, which stated that he was shot in an attempt to escape after baying been taken prisoner, is the true one. It does not appear that any acts of unnecessary barbarity have been committed by the insur- gents: that imputation lies on the Royal troops, if on either party. The mode of warfare adopted by Colonel Gore and Colonel Wetherell —their burning of St. Denis, including private houses—contrasts un- favourably with the admission of the Montreal newspaper, the Herald, .that the wounded soldiers abandoned by Colonel Gore in his hasty retreat from St. Denis were " well treated by the rebels."
By the latest accounts, it appears that rewards have been offered for the apprehension of the leading insurgents--for Papineau, 1,000/. ; for Dr. Will rid Nelson, Brown, O'Callaghan, W. H. Scott, and six others, 5001. each; for nine others, 1001. each.
Some particulars of the state of Prince Edward's Island were men. toned last week, at a meeting of the members of Prince Edward's Island Association, held at their rooms in Great Russell Street. The Times is our authority for what follows- " The Chairman, Mr. Stewart, announced that be had received despatches from the island, setting forth that considerable excitement prevailed among the tenantry and settlers of the colony in general, arising out of the question of tenure of lands then in their possession, which was connected with the question so long agitated respecting the establishment of a Court of Escheat. The numerous tenantry of Lord Selkirk had united with the other maledisposed tenantry, and refused to discharge the demands made on them by the agents of their noble landlord for rent. Mr. Waller, the Honorary Secretary, to show the disturbed state of the island, referred to a circumstance mentioned in some of the Colonial papers. The High Sheriff of King's County had recently been attached whilst in the execution of his duty, and was resisted by a large Number of armed persons, while endeavouring to enforce an execution on a judgment which had been obtained in the supreme court of the island for rent. Mr. Waller then said that her Majesty's Government bad already, in the most decided manner, refused the application of the House of Assembly of Prince Edward's Island for the establishment of a Court of Escheat. It was also mentioned in the course of the discussion that took place, that the members of the louse of Assembly had been weak enough to order a letter, (the contents of which were of a most inflammatory nature,) addressed to the Legislature and the inhabitants of the island by M. Papineau, to be entered on the minutes of the House, whilst at Nova Scotia and some of the other colonies it was ejected with indignation."
A letter from Montreal, dated December 7th, and published in the S101, gives some particulars, not mentioned elsewhere, of certain preli- minary proceedings of the Government. The writer is a friend of the insurgents, and his statements must therefore be received with caution : they have, however, the semblance of truth. After mentioning the attack of the "loyal Tory mob" on the printing-office of the Montreal Vindicator—the first act of physical violence in the contest—the writer " Events which have since taken place have induced me to believe that this was only the commencement of a series of authorized outrages by the govern• ment, which has thus far thrown the country into disorder, and led to blood. shed, and the arbitrary destruction of all the legal rights of the subject in Canada. About the same time that the paper was destroyed with the con. atvance of the magistrates, a secret inquisitorial inquiry was going on in Quebec by one of the Magistrates, aided by Duval, Queen's counsel, and by a violent pattisan, one of the Dalhousie and Aylmer Administration, of the name of Thomas Ainsley Young. This most irregular Star Chamber pro- ceeding terminated in the arrest of Mr. Morin, and three other Reformers in Quebec, for sedition. It stems they had previously passed some strong resolu- tions against the Administration at a public meeting ; and this was considered sedition. The great coup d'etat, however, was reserved for Montreal. Imme. diately after Morin's arrest, Lord Gosford issued a new commission of the peace for the district of Montreal, in which were omitted the names of between sixty and seventy Liberal Magistrates at one swoop. What was most asto- nishing was, that many of the gentlemen who were struck off the list had taken no share in the public meetings which had agitated the country throughout the summer. The only objection which the Tory party could have against them was, that the said Magistrates had not joined them. This was a sin not to be forgiven. The Liberal par ty in Montreal saw in this a preparation for hostilities on the part of Government of the most violent kind. The Attorney- General, Ogden, had been for some time in town. He, it is well known, has a peculiar facility in patching tip accusations. So long as Liberal Magistrates remained, there was some chance, if nut of justice, at least of being sheltered from persecution. If a Reformer were arrested, he might possibly be admitted to bail; all this hope was, however, destroyed by the removal of all the Liberal Magistrates from office. Then it was that affidavits, warrants, and arrests deluged the city and districts. Immediately the President, Correspond- ing Secretary, and some of the members of the Committee of a young men's society, lately formed in Montreal, called ' The Sons of Liberty,' were seized and thrown into gaol on a charge of high treason. L. M. Viger, Esq., Pre- sident of La Banque du Peuple, was also arrested at midnight, and thrown into prison on some similar charge. What the grounds for this arrest have been, we are at a loss to know ; for Mr. Viger has of late taken no part in politics, except, in his place in the House of Assembly. They charge him with lending funds to the Reformers to upset the Government. This is a most silly ruse, and without a shadow of fouu.lation. Various other persons have since been arrested, and remain in gaol, not being admitted to bail. The party in power next directed the war against those gentlemen who attended the meeting of the six confederated counties in October last, at St. Charles. Warrants were issued against the officers of the meeting.; and the loyal Montreal Cavalry, composed for the most part of the infuriated set who destroyed the Vindicator office, were despatched through the country as special constables (!) to execute the warrants."
Boys in the printing-offices of the Vindicator and Minerva were bribed to swear informations against O'Callaghan, Duvernay, and Perrault ; but these gentlemen escaped. These acts of the Govern- ment precipitated the rebellion- " This wide-spread war and persecution of the Government against all the leading influential gentlemen of the district, could not but call up indignation, and a determined spirit of resistance. The people at once saw that the Go. vernment aimed at the leaders; so that, by their destruction, it might the Inure easily accomplish the destruction of the people at large, and attain by terror those objects which it had been for years endeavouring to accomplish constitutionally in the House of Assembly. The people foresaw that the men who should be committed to prison would only leave it by way of the scaffold.
The Government had just bribed the Judges—dependent Sheriffs were ready
to furnish packed Juries. With such a combination against Reformers, there was no chance of justice; so the people determined not to suffer any arrests
in the Chambly district. This became apparent only about the 15th Novem-
ber. Two gentlemen of St. Julio's, a Dr. d'Avignun and a Mr. Diniaray, had been arrested at night by a troop of cavalry. The prize was so rich, that the Tories were determined to parade it through the neighbourhood. Instead of returning by the direct road by La Prairie to Montreal, they carried these gentlemen, with ropes round their necks, and irons on their hands andfeet, down to Chambly, and thence to Longueil, on their way to Montreal."
These were the gentlemen rescued by the peasantry of Longueil. The writer then proceeds to detail the subsequent events of the con- test, with some particulars which have not been mentioned elsewhere. Indeed, he furnishes the only account friendly to the Canadians which we have seen. The object of the attack on St. Denis was to surprise some of the Canadian leaders- " The detachment (under Colonel Gore) sent to Sorel, per steam-boat, landed at that place on Wednesday night, the 22d November, at ten o'clock. Guided by a man named Jones, horn Sorel they set out fur St. Denis, eighteen miles below Sorel and six above St. Charles. Instead of passing through St. Ours, an intermediate village, they took a back-road through the Concessions, unknown to the people, along the bank of the river. It was not until two or three hours before their arrival at St. Genie, on Thursday the 23d, that Mr. — received information: of the expedition. He immediately sent notice to the people of the vicinity of the threatened attack. There was a warrant, be it remembered, against Mr. —, and several others of the Notables. It was forthwith determined to resist the progress of the troops through St. Dennis, well knowing that scarce a man would be left in the village if once the troops got possession of the place. The tocsin was immediately rung ; sod before the troops arrived, barricades were thrown up at the entrance of the village, and between three and four hundred men were collected, armed, all intent upon op. posing force to force. Mr. — having thrown out come sharpshooters along the fences, withdrew the main body of his men into a large stone store or house on the right of the entrance of the village. The advanced picquet of the troops was allowed to pass unmolested ; but when the main body came up, a round of fire was sent in upon them from the house, with such force as to make theta stagger. This battle between the peasantry and the troops continued from nine in the morning till half-past three in the afternoon with unabated rage ; and so desperate was the contest, that a piece of artillery, belonging to the troops, was five different times in possession of the adverse parties : it finally remained in the possession of the Canadians. Between three and four o'clock, the regular
troops found themselves obliged to retire from the field. One of the officers, Captain Markham, had received four wounds. Their loss was estimated at 501
killed and about 15 or 16 wounded. The precise 'lumber of killed cannot be ascertained, as it is said a party of soldiers was employed in throwing their dead into the river. The loss on the Canadian side was eight killed. Amongst these, I have to record the irreparable loss of your watui.heaxted, patriotic, and highly-talented friend, Ovide Perrault."
The attack on St. Charles is thus described-
" About four hundred infantry, some artillery, with one howitzer, and seine cavalry, were sent, by way of Lungueil and Charnbly, against this place. On Friday, (the day after the attack on St. Denis,) they arrived at Ronville, sir miles above St. Charles; where they rested for the night. They attacked St. Charles, at eleven o'clock on Saturday the 25th November. This post was de- fended by about 300 Canadians, who had guns. There were a large number of men without arms on the ground, who had been employed during the two preceding days as workmen in hurrying on the completion of the stockade, or rude line of fortification, hastily ratted by Mr. These men were not merely of no assistance—they did but create confusion—during the fight. You will remember that the right of this stockade was composed of three or four barns, in which were stored a quantity of hay and grain. The habitans, who had come to work, had lodged about fifty or sixty of their horses, unfortunately, in some of these outhouses. When the troops first commenced the attack they were received with Ruch a hot fire, that they were obliged to abandon or change their ground. The hottest of the fire was from the barns; where the Canadians, from loop-holes previously cut, bore upon their oppetients in a most galling manner. The troops immediately threw shells into the barns, and set them on fire. This was totally unexpected. Immediately, in consequence of the inflammable nature of their contents, the barns were in one blaze; the horses within broke loose, and ran mad through the camp. The unarmed peasantry fled likewise; and in a short time all was confusion. The fight kilted about an hour and a half. Colonel Wetherall had his horse shot under him ; so had Mr. David, a Jew, commanding the cavalry. The loss of the Patriots here did not exceed 28 killed; the troops had 15 killed and 16 wounded. The Tory papers of Montreal, who receive their information from the official circles, admit that the Patriots fought with uncommon desperation: indeed, some of the people, sooner than fall into the bands of the enemy as prisoners, flung themselves into the river ; whereby many were drowned. Lord John Russell, I expect, will find it difficult to crush a people so determined and ob- stinate as this."
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