land by way of Hudson
Bay, and Sinclair, as an agitator, was refused the privilege of having
his freight carried at any price. The spirits of the English-speaking
half-breeds were raised to a pitch of discontent, quite equal to that of
the French half-breeds, although the latter were more noisy and
demonstrative. James Sinclair became the "village Hampden" who stood for
his rights and those of his compeers.

It was at this juncture that the valuable aid of Isbister came to his
countrymen. In 1847 Isbister, with his educated mind, social standing,
and valiant spirit led the way for his people, and with five other
half-breeds of Red River forwarded a long and able memorial to Earl
Grey, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, bringing the serious
charges against the Company, of neglecting the native people, oppressing
all the settlers, and taking from them their natural rights. A perusal
of this document leads us to the opinion that the charges were
exaggerated, but nevertheless they showed how impossible it was, for a
Trading Company, to be at the same time the Government of a country and
to be equitable and high-minded. The Hudson's Bay Company answered this
document sent them by the Imperial Government, and so far relieved
themselves of some of the charges. But the storm raised could not be
quieted. Isbister obtained new evidence and attacked the validity of the
Company's Charter. Lord Elgin, the fair-minded Governor of Canada,
claimed that he, in Canada, was too far away from the scene of dispute
to give an authoritative answer, but on the whole he favored the
Company. Lord Elgin, however, based his reply too much upon the
statement of Colonel Crofton, a military officer, who had been sent to
Red River. Alexander Ross said of Crofton, on the other hand, that he
was a man "who never studied the art of governing a people."

But the agitation still gained head.

The mercurial French half-breeds now joined in the struggle. They
forwarded a petition to Her Majesty the Queen, couched in excellent
terms, in the French language, in the main asking that their right to
enjoy the liberty of commerce be given them. This petition was signed by
nine hundred and seventy-seven persons, and virtually represented the
whole French half-breed adult population.

An important episode soon took place among the French, usually known as
the "Sayer Affair." Of this we shall speak in another chapter. The
movement, headed by Isbister, still