No. XXXII.
An Extract from the Address of the House of Assembly, at the opening of the Session, 30th Jan. 1815, to His Excellency Sir George Prevost, p. 176.
"The operations contemplated on the shores of Lake Champlain, we are led to believe, by our confidence in your Excellency's judgment, were planned in consequence of wise combinations, and our proximity to the scene of action has enabled us to acquire a perfect conviction, that they were frustrated by causes beyond your Excellency's control. We are equally convinced that the failure of our naval means rendered necessary at the very onset, an immediate abandonment of the enterprize.
"The protecting hand of His Majesty's government has been agreeably felt in the reinforcements received by your Excellency, for the diminution of the pressure of the war on the inhabitants of this province. The testimony which your Excellency is pleased to bear to the zeal and alacrity with which their services have been rendered, cannot but be more flattering to their feelings and demands through their representatives, their warmest acknowledgments. It is under your Excellency's wise and just administration that their character and conduct have been justly appreciated; and whatever merit their services may be entitled to, a large portion of it is unquestionably due to your Excellency, whose well founded confidence in them, has enabled them, by those services, to testify their faithful, loyal, and patriotic adherence to His Majesty: of which, under your Excellency's administration, they hope many opportunities, during a long time to come, will be afforded them to give additional proofs."
Extract from an Address from the House of Assembly of Lower Canada, to Sir Geo. Prevost, 20th March, 1815.
"We take this opportunity of repeating the expression of our sentiments of gratitude to your Excellency, for having, by your prudence, by the wisdom of your measures, and by your ability, preserved to the empire these important provinces, and for the paternal solicitude with which your Excellency has watched over the welfare of His Majesty's subjects, and to pray your Excellency to rest assured, that those benefits will ever remain deeply engraven on the hearts of the Canadians."
Extract from the Resolutions of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada, 21st March, 1815.
"According to order, the resolutions of the Committee of the whole House, to consider whether it would be expedient to give to his Excellency the Governor-in-Chief, some mark of gratitude for his distinguished services in this province, were reported to the House, agreed to, and ordered to be engrossed.
"The said resolutions are as follows:
"Resolved,
"That this House entertains the highest veneration and respect, for the character of his Excellency Sir George Prevost, Governor-in-Chief, whose administration, under circumstances of peculiar novelty and difficulty, stands highly distinguished for energy, wisdom, and ability.
"Resolved,
"That this House, representing the people of this province, anxiously desirous of expressing their gratitude to his Excellency, for having, under Providence, rescued us from the danger of subjugation to our late foe, have, and do hereby, give and grant a service of plate not exceeding five thousand pounds, sterling, to his Excellency, as a testimonial of the high sense this House entertains of his Excellency's distinguished talents, wisdom, and abilities.
"Resolved,
"That for the better carrying into execution the object this House has in view, for the purchase of the service of plate for his Excellency, the Speaker of this House be authorized to give directions to such persons, in England, as may be best able to execute the same, and that when so completed, the said service be presented to his Excellency the Governor-in-Chief, in the name and on the behalf of the Commons of His Majesty's province of Lower Canada.
"Resolved,
"That an humble address be presented to his Excellency the Governor-in-Chief, to communicate the above resolutions, humbly praying that his Excellency will be graciously pleased to advance a sum not exceeding five thousand pounds sterling, to the order of the Speaker of this House, for the object stated in the above resolutions; and that this House doth engage, and hereby pledges itself to make good the said advance the next ensuing session of this provincial parliament."
Extract from the Speech of the Speaker of the House of Assembly, on presenting the Money Bills to the Governor-in-Chief, 23rd March, 1815.
"Superior to prejudices which had but too generally prevailed, your Excellency has derived from the devotion of that brave and loyal, yet unjustly calumniated people, resources sufficient for disconcerting the plans of conquest, devised by a foe at once numerous and elate with confidence. Reinforcements were subsequently received; and the blood of the sons of Canada has flowed mingled with that of the brave soldiers sent to its defence. Multiplied proofs of the efficacious and powerful protection of the mother country, and of the inviolable loyalty of the people of this province, strengthen their claim to the preservation and free exercise of all the benefits which are secured to them by their existing constitution and laws."
Addresses to Sir Geo. Prevost, from the Inhabitants of Quebec and Montreal, 31st March.
To His Excellency Sir George Prevost, Bart. Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief, in and over the Provinces of Lower Canada, &c. &c. &c.
"May it please your Excellency,
"We the inhabitants of the city of Quebec, most respectfully approach your Excellency, at the moment of your departure for England, to express the sentiments which we entertain, of a most profound regard for your Excellency's person and character, and a lively gratitude for the benefits, which, in common with our fellow subjects throughout the province, we have derived from your Excellency's administration.
"At the period of your Excellency's arrival in this country, on the eve of a war with America, you found the majority of its inhabitants irritated by the unfortunate effects of misunderstandings of a long duration. Your Excellency, consulting only the general welfare by a strict adherence to justice and a well-timed confidence, soon allayed every discontent, and rallied the whole population for the common defence. Under the happy influence of harmony thus restored, the militia was assembled and trained, and an exhausted treasury replenished. The additional means which you thereby derived from the colony committed to your particular care, enabled your Excellency to extend the handful of British troops at your disposal, to the most distant parts of the Upper Province, where the long meditated attacks of the enemy were met at the onset, and his forces repeatedly overthrown with disgrace—the happy precursor of the fate which awaited all his attempts on this province.
"If the smallness of the regular army with which your Excellency was left to withstand the whole efforts of the United States for two years, and the insufficiency of the naval force on the Lakes, have exposed His Majesty's arms to some reverses, it is nevertheless, true, that under the auspices of your Excellency, the British arms have acquired new laurels, amidst circumstances of extraordinary difficulty, unprecedented in European warfare; the name of the people of this country has been rendered illustrious, and a vast extent of territory protected from the ravages of war and preserved to the empire.
"Your Excellency's name and services will ever be held in veneration and grateful remembrance by the inhabitants of Quebec. The whole province has assured you of its gratitude; and the imperishable evidences of your Excellency's merits, though they could not appease, will easily overcome your enemies.
"May your Excellency's voyage be prosperous, and its results correspond with your wishes. The citizens of Quebec will hail the day of your Excellency's return to your government, rewarded with the full approbation of a gracious Prince, as one of the happiest in the annals of Canada.
[Signed by 1420 persons.]
"Quebec, 31st March, 1815."
To which his Excellency was pleased to return the following Answer:
To the Inhabitants of the City of Quebec.
"Gentlemen,
"I thank you for those sentiments of kindness which now, as at all times, I have had the gratification to receive from the inhabitants of the city of Quebec. It is at the moment of separation that such expressions appeal most forcibly to the heart.
"If under the authority which His Majesty has deemed proper to place in my hands, you have been prosperous and happy, the objects of all my exertions, and my most earnest solicitude has been attained.
"The time I have spent in your society has taught me at once to appreciate its worth, and to regret the loss of it; and, be assured, the testimony of regard you have now given me, will be treasured up among recollections the most grateful to my feelings."
On Monday last, at twelve o'clock, the Address of the Citizens of Montreal was presented to his Excellency Sir George Prevost, by their Deputies, J. M. Mondelêt and John M'Donald, Esquires, which Address is as follows:
To his Excellency Sir George Prevost, Bart. Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief, in and over the Province of Lower Canada, Upper Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and their Dependencies, Vice-Admiral of the same, Lieutenant-General and Commander of all His Majesty's Forces in the said Provinces, and in the Islands of Newfoundland, Prince Edward, Cape Breton, and Bermuda, &c. &c. &c.
"May it please your Excellency,
"We His Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, inhabitants of the city of Montreal and the neighbouring Parishes, have learnt with extreme regret that your Excellency is unexpectedly about to leave this province.
"We hasten, before your Excellency separates yourself from us, to convey to your Excellency the expression of our sorrow for your departure, of our gratitude for the benefits conferred on us, in common with our fellow subjects, by your Excellency's administration, and our ardent wish that your Excellency's absence from this province may be of short duration.
"These sentiments are naturally produced in our minds by the recollection of the public and private virtues which have been displayed by your Excellency in your exalted station, and by the advantages we have experienced from your Excellency's wisdom and justice in peace, and your protecting care in war.
"In your Excellency's civil administration, we have seen conspicuously evinced an anxious desire to dispense equal justice to His Majesty's subjects, to obliterate unjust and impolitic distinctions between the inhabitants of this province, of different origin, and to unite them as members of one community with the same rights and interests, for the promotion of their common welfare. Influenced by this wise and just policy, your Excellency has been enabled to form a correct estimate of the character and disposition of the population of Canada: and, by reposing in the loyalty and bravery of His Majesty's Canadian subjects that confidence which they fully merited, your Excellency has afforded practical evidence of their devoted attachment to His Majesty's government, and their capacity to yield it effectual support.
"While exposed to the pressure of the late unjust and unprovoked war waged by the United States of America against His Majesty, we experienced the security derived from your Excellency's indefatigable exertions for the defence of this Province, and have reason to ascribe its preservation, as well as that of the Upper Province, to the judicious distribution and arrangement of the Public Force made by your Excellency, by which the attempts of the enemy were frustrated, and the honourable character, with the rights and advantages of British subjects has been secured to the Inhabitants of the Canadas.
"Having the greatest confidence in the skill and judgment of your Excellency, and being fully convinced of the ability and prudence with which your Excellency has discharged the military as well as civil duties of your high office, we anticipate, from the investigation for which your Excellency is preparing, a result honourable to your Excellency's character, by which your well-earned reputation will be confirmed, the voice of calumny and detraction silenced, and your Excellency's merits conclusively established. We persuade ourselves also that the important services rendered in this country by your Excellency to His Majesty's Government will be duly appreciated by His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, of whose discernment and justice we have had so many proofs, and will procure for your Excellency deserved approbation, and the high rewards reserved for distinguished merit.
"We shall not cease to take the warmest interest in the fortunes of your Excellency; and in expressing our ardent wishes for your prosperity and that of your family, we join in the general sentiment of the country, whose affection and unalterable attachment your Excellency will carry with you, and whose greatest felicity would be experienced in the speedy return of your Excellency to resume the reins of Government."
(Signed by 1510 persons.)
His Excellency was pleased to make the following answer:
To the Inhabitants of the City of Montreal, and the neighbouring Parishes.
"Gentlemen,
"The alacrity with which you have hastened to prevent the distance of your residence from being an obstacle to the expression of your kind wishes on my sudden and unexpected departure, gives to them all the additional value of eager sincerity.
"Your good will is to me a most acceptable offering: and as I am now content if your good opinion of my services during my Administration is proportioned to my desire to promote your welfare, so shall I ever be ambitious that your estimate of my exertions may be found as correct as the favourable judgment which I early formed of His Majesty's subjects in Canada, which experience has now fully justified."
Letter from M. de Salaberry to Sir George Prevost.
A son Excellence Sir George Prevost, &c. &c.
Qu'il plaise à votre Excellence,
Me permettre d'écrire, puisque je ne peux sortir. J'en suis empêché par une maladie opîniâtre et apparemment dangereuse, puisqu'encore hier j'ai tombé sans connaissance sur le plancher. Je suis bien peiné d'être privé par les accidens d'aller vous rendre mes respects, avant que vous vous laissiez.
Sir George, vous portez pour vous justifier—Quoi! une justification de vous! Qui pouvait s'y attendre? Mais s'il en faut une, la voici d'un mot: Le Canada est encore a l'Angleterre. Cela repond à tout. Le résultat est tout, il est frappant, il est grand. Voilà un fait, celui-là: on ne peut le nier. Devant lui doivent disparaitre les vaines paroles, les accusations sophistiques; sous lui doivent succomber les efforts de la malveillance, l'envie, les passions haineuses; mais le mérite et la vertu sont sujets à la persécution. Vous en triompherez glorieusement: j'ôse vous le prédire avec assûrance, et je la souhaite du profond de mon cœur, comme je souhaite aussi tous les bonheurs pour vous, Sir George, et pour ce qui vous est chér. Avec ces vrais sentimens, et ceux du plus grand respect, j'ai l'honneur de me souscrire,
Mon Général,
De votre Excellence,
Le trés-humble, très-obéissant
Et très devoué serviteur,
L. de Salaberry, Col. M. Quebec.
A Beauport, 28 Mars, 1815.
P. S. Oui, les Canadas sont encore à l'Angleterre, mais n'y serraient plus sans un effort perséverant de prudence, d'activité, de patience courageuse, et d'habilité consommée, dans un commandement et un genre de guerre aussi difficiles, dont la conduite éxige un art tant particulier. Voilà ce qu'avoueront tous ceux qui ont de vraies connaissances de la nature de ces pays de situations si extraordinaires, à des prodigieuses distances, à travers des forêts immenses.
Ce ne sont pas des guerres d'Europe, où sous un beau ciel et dans des riches plaines cultivées, toutes les parties d'armées se touchent, où sont toujours à-portée, de se donner la main, dans des localités rapprochées et dont les communications sont si faciles. Daignez, mon Général, traiter mes reflexions avec indulgence, puis qu'elles viennent d'un vieux et loyal soldat, qui a commencé à faire la guerre il y a précisement quarante ans cette année.