itical
differences had arisen between the two men, Nelson denied having given
Papineau any such advice. It is very difficult to know the truth. But
even if Nelson did advise Papineau to leave, it cannot be said that
Papineau consulted his own reputation in accepting the advice. He was
not a person without military experience: he had been a major in the
militia, and was probably superior in rank to any one in the village.
His place was with the brave farmers who had taken up arms on his
behalf.

An episode in connection with the attack on St Denis left a dark stain
on the _Patriote_ escutcheon and embittered greatly the relations
between the two races in Canada. This was the murder, on the morning
of the fight, of Lieutenant Weir, a subaltern in the 32nd regiment, who
had been sent with dispatches to Sorel by land. He had reached Sorel
half an hour after Colonel Gore and his men had departed for St Denis.
In attempting to catch up with Gore's column he had taken the direct
road to St Denis and had arrived there {80} in advance of the British
troops. On approaching the village he was arrested, and by Wolfred
Nelson's orders placed in detention. As the British attack developed,
it was thought better by those who had him in charge to remove him to
St Charles. They bound him tightly and placed him in a wagon. Hardly
had they started when he made an attempt to escape. In this emergency
his warders seem to have lost their heads. In spite of the fact that
Weir was tightly bound and could do no harm, they fell upon him with
swords and pistols, and in a short time dispatched him. Then, appalled
at what they had done, they attempted to hide the body. When the
British troops entered St Denis a week later, they found the body
lying, weighted down with stones, in the Richelieu river under about
two feet of water. The autopsy disclosed the brutality with which Weir
had been murdered; and the sight of the body so infuriated the soldiers
that they gave the greater part of the village of St Denis to the
flames. In the later phases of the rebellion the slogan of the British
soldiers was, 'Remember Jack Weir.'

Another atrocious murder even more unpardonable than that of Weir was
perpetrated {81} a few days later. On November 28 some _Patriotes_
near St Johns captured a man by the name of Chartrand, who was enlisted
in a loyal volunteer corps of the district. After a mock trial
Chartrand was tied to a tree and shot by hi