The Life and Times of Queen Victoria; vol. 1 of 4Wilson, Robert
History
The Life and Times of Queen Victoria; vol. 1 of 4
Wilson, Robert
Great Britain -- History -- Victoria, 1837-1901; Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, 1819-1901
Governor of Upper Canada. A small steamboat owned by the American
invaders, with which they kept up communications with their own side of
the river, and which was laden with arms and ammunition for the
insurgents, was cut adrift from her moorings on the night of December
29th, set on fire, and left to sweep over the cataract. The affair led
to a great deal of diplomatic correspondence between the American and
British Governments; but the preceding violation of Canadian soil by a
body of adventurers precluded the Cabinet of Washington from making any
serious demands on that of London. Ultimately, in the course of 1838,
the President (Mr. Van Buren) issued a proclamation calling on all
persons engaged in schemes for invading Canada to desist from the same,
on pain of such punishments as the law attached to the offence. This
put an end to the difficulty so far as the two countries were concerned;
but the insurrection was not yet entirely suppressed.
Although the worst disaffection was in Lower Canada, both provinces were
disturbed by movements of a disloyal nature. Upper Canada was excited by
the fiery appeals of a Scotsman named William Lyon Mackenzie; Lower
Canada by the incitements of Louis Joseph Papineau, one of the
disaffected French provincials. The two divisions of the colony,
however, were jealous of each other, and this hampered what might
otherwise have been a more dangerous rising. The Radical party in
England supported the cause of the malcontents, and insisted on the
necessity of at once redressing all grievances. The Government of Lord
Melbourne maintained that the rebellion must be first suppressed; and
undoubtedly that was the only course consistent with Imperial authority.
In the autumn of 1837, a small party of English troops was beaten at St.
Denis; but another detachment was successful against the rebels, and the
garrisons of the various cities, though extremely small, held their own
against the rising tide of insurrection. Aided by the Royalists, the
Government force under Sir John Colborne inflicted some severe blows on
the enemy; yet the movement continued throughout the greater part of
1838. On the 16th of January in that year, however, the Earl of Durham
had been appointed Governor-General of the five British colonies of
North America, and Lord High Commissioner for the adjustment of the
affairs of Canada. The liberal policy thus inaugurated, and the
victories obtained over the rebels by Sir John Colborne, Sir Francis
Head, and others, brought the revolt to an end before the close of the
year, and the colony soon afterwards entered on a future of prosperity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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