e the place. On
December 29, they attacked the steamer "Carolina" and sent her over the
Falls, resulting in the loss of several lives. This incident caused great
excitement, both in England and this country. President Van Buren issued a
proclamation of neutrality forbidding all interference in Canada, and sent
General Wool with a military force to compel obedience to the proclamation.
In Upper Canada, Major Head--afterward Sir Francis Head--undertook to
suppress the rebellion by throwing the Canadians on their honor. Trusting
to the good will of the people, he sent all the regular soldiers out of the
province to the assistance of Governor Gosford in Lower Canada. The plan
worked well. The Canadians, proud of the confidence reposed in them,
enrolled themselves in the militia to the number of ten or twelve thousand,
and when Mackenzie and the rebels assembled to show fight, they were routed
at the first encounter, and the rebellion in Upper Canada was at once
suppressed. But Major Head's policy was not approved by the British
Government, and Head had to make way for Lord Durham, the newly appointed
Governor of Canada.

1838

[Sidenote: Lord Durham in Canada]

[Sidenote: Napierville]

[Sidenote: Prescott]

[Sidenote: Durham repudiated]

[Sidenote: Canadian interregnum]

Early in the year the Canadian insurgents and their sympathizers at Navy
Island were compelled to surrender. United States troops were posted at the
frontier. In the meanwhile Lord Durham had taken charge in Canada with
dictatorial powers. He undertook to remodel the Constitution of Canada. His
first act was a proclamation of amnesty from the Queen. The beneficent
effect of this was spoiled by a clause of exceptions providing for the
perpetual banishment of a number of men implicated in the recent rising. On
April 2, Lunt and Matthews, two conspicuous rebels, were hanged. Lord
Durham's confession that his measures were illegal evoked a storm in
Parliament. Lord Brougham, who had a personal quarrel with him, led the
opposition there. In Canada, Mackenzie promptly proclaimed a republic. On
June 5, a fight between the rebels and British troops near Toronto quelled
the rebellion for a short time. Within a few months it broke out again at
Beauharnais. A pitched battle was fought at Napierville early in November.
After their defeat there, the rebels made another stand at Prescott on
November 17, but suffered so crushing a defeat that the insurrect