Passing through the Mississippi country, he seems to have proceeded eastward to Washington; he next appears in Albany, and hastens back to Upper Canada, without even visiting his family in Montreal, though he had been absent from them for upwards of a year. In Upper Canada his presence was urgently needed to meet the artful machinations of his enemies. CHAPTER XXVII. THE BLUE-BOOK OF 1819 AND THE NORTH-WEST TRIALS. British law disgraced--Governor Sherbrooke's distress--A Commission decided on--Few unbiassed Canadians--Colonel Coltman chosen--Over ice and snow--Alarming rumours--The Prince Regent's order--Coltman at Red River--The Earl submissive--The Commissioner's report admirable--The celebrated Reinhart case--Disturbing lawsuits--Justice perverted--A store-house of facts--Sympathy of Sir Walter Scott--Lord Selkirk's death--Tomb at Orthes, in France. The state of things in Rupert's Land in 1816 was a disgrace to British institutions. That subjects of the realm, divided into two parties, should be virtually carrying on war against each other on British soil, was simply intolerable. Not only was force being used, but warrants were being issued and the forms of law employed on both sides to carry out the selfish ends of each party. An impartial historian cannot but say that both parties were chargeable with grievous wrong. Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, Governor-General of Canada, felt very keenly the shameful situation, and yet the difficulties of transport and the remote distance of the interior where the conflict was taking place made interference almost impossible. He was in constant communication with Lord Bathurst, the Imperial Colonial Secretary. Governor Sherbrooke's difficulties were, however, more than those of distance. The influence of the North-West Company in Canada was supreme, and public sentiment simply reflected the views of the traders. The plan of sending a commission to the interior to stop hostilities and examine the conflicting statements which were constantly coming to the Governor, seemed the most feasible; but with his sense of British fair-play, Governor Sherbrooke knew he could find no one suitable to recommend. At last, driven to take some action, Sir John named Mr. W. B. Coltman, a merchant of Quebec and a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Militia, a man accustomed to Government matters, and one who bore a good reputation for fairness and justice. With this Commissioner, who did not enter on his task with much alacrity, was associated Major Fletcher, a man of good legal qualifications.