nial department at home. By its secure majority in the Legislative Council, it could effectually control the legislative powers of the Assembly." The then existing House not at all complying with Sir Francis Head's arbitrary policy, as will be seen by the close of its foregoing memorial, "He ventured upon a dissolution, when he thought the public mind completely ripe, and it completely answered his expectations; [to ensure a perfectly menial Assembly;] the Crown made itself a party in the electioneering contests; the result was the return of a very large majority hostile, in politics to the late assembly carried, in many instances, not only by an unscrupulous influence of the government, but by a display of violence on the part of the tories, who were emboldened by the countenance afforded to them by the authorities. * * "It cannot, then, be a matter of surprise, that such facts and such impressions produced in the country an exasperation and a despair of good government, which extended far beyond those who had actually been defeated at the polls. For there was nothing in the use which the leaders of the Assembly made of their power, to soften the discontent excited by their [unconstitutional] mode of obtaining it. "It was the prevalence of a general dissatisfaction, that emboldened the parties who instigated the insurrection, to subvert existing institutions, or change the connection with Great Britain. "It certainly appeared too much as if the rebellion had been purposely invited by the government, and the unfortunate men who took part in it, deliberately drawn into a trap, by those who subsequently inflicted so severe a punishment on them for their error. It seemed, too, as if the dominant party made use of the occasion afforded it by the real guilt of a few desperate and imprudent men, in order to persecute or disable the whole body of their political oppponents. A great number of perfectly innocent individuals were thrown into prison, and suffered in person, property, and character. The whole body of Reformers were subjected to suspicion, and to harassing proceedings, instituted by magistrates whose political leanings were notoriously adverse to them. Several laws were passed, under color of which individuals very generally esteemed, were punished without any form of trial. "The two persons who suffered the extreme penalty of the law unfortunately engaged a great share of the public sympathy; their pardon had been solicited in petitions signed, it is generally asserted, by no less than 30,000 of their countrymen." ΤΟ THADDEUS SMITH, ESQUIRE, OF CANADA WEST, These pages are respectfully inscribed, as a slight token of regard due him; for the more than fraternal generosity extended to his family, during the captivity of THE AUTHOR. "Though sacred the tie that our country entwineth, Yet dark is that tie when no LIBERTY shineth, And sad the remembrance where SLAVERY stains." MOORE. LETTERS FROM VAN DIEMAN'S LAND. To LETTER I. ASHGROVE, near Oatlands, Van Dieman's Land, My very kind friend: It is truly with sensations of grateful pleasure, that I endeavor to reply to your sympathetic letter, which has but just reached me, though written six months since. Had it arrived one week earlier, the delight it has created would have been far more enhanced; but now it has been preceded by one from the intrepid partner of my sorrows, dated October, 1839, breathing an affectionate ardor that could not fail to absorb all my former pain and disquietude, while it robs exile of half its bitterness, and renders my heart giddy with gratifying anticipations. The ruggedness of wild nature, and the asperities of the mass of wretchedness about me, are, through its exhilarating potency, invested with a smile that seems to manifest a general participation in my newly inspired feelings and hopes. |