Toronto had a population of 12,000 when Bond Head attacked the patriots under Mackenzie.

‘For Liberty-
for Right.../

The patriots of 1837 fought for
‘Independence-Liberty-Equality’

was mild in Toronto that
fateful Thursday, December
7, in the year 1837. There was
little snow and the bay was free
of ice.
Just before noon there march-
ed up muddy Yonge Street that

runs north and south through.

the centre of the city, a well-
armed, though not all uniformed
army under the command of

‘Colonel McNab.

To the north of the city, a few
‘blocks above what is now Eglinton
Avenue, stood Montgomery’s Tav-
vern, Gathered around it were per-
haps 500 men, tradesmen, farmers,
artisans, workers, who had an-
swered the call of William Lyon
“Mackenzie to take up the struggle
against the autocratic rule of the
tory family compact and fight for
the independence and freedom of
‘Canada.

The hour of decision had come
and Mackenzie spoke to his fol-
lowers, the patriots who had_ of-
fered their lives. for the cause of
democratic, responsible Canadian
government. At that moment he
must have thought of the indeci-
sien, treachery and betrayal in
his own ranks that had thwarted
his plan to ‘seize the city two days
before, without bloodshed if pos-
sible. Now the government was
attacking.

Mackenzie put the issue square-
ly. The forces of Sir Francis Bond
Head, the hated tory ruler, were
well armed and many; the patriots
were outnumbered and had scarce-
ly 200 rifles and fowling-pieces.
Should they engage the enemy?

The answer came without argu-
ment. We will fight.

And so the battle was joined.
‘The riflemen under Samuel Lount
* led the way, followed by’ the pike-
men—their pikes hammered out in
Lount’s blacksmith shop which

stood near Yonge Street to the
north where the road now turns to
Newmarket. Behind them came
those who .had only sticks and
clubs for weapons.

About two blocks below Eglin-
ton the battle was fought—just
about where the TTC tram barns
are now situated. Mackenzie’s
forces were to the west; Col. Mc-

» Nab’s among the trees to’ the east,

the artillery pieces -on open
ground.

It was a _ hopeless defense

against -the attacking army with
its cannon and withering fire. But
the patriots stood their ground un-
til it became clear to Mackenzie
~that his heroic band was ‘no match
for the attackers.

“Never,” wrote Mackenzie, “did
men fight more courageously. In
the face of heavy fire of grape
and canister, with. broadside fol-
lowing broadside of musketry in
steady and rapid succession, they
stood their ground firmly, and kill-
ed and wounded a large number
og the enemy, but were at length
compelled to retreat.”

e

Mackenzie stayed to the last,
well knowing that a reward of
£1,000 had been offered for him
and that a Tory charge of treason
faced him if he was captured. Not
more than 40 yards separated him
from his pursuers as he spurred
his fine horse to flight up Yonge
Street. It was a “live to fight
another day” escape.

One thing he knew:
would not betray him.

Through the woods he made his
way to the home of Hervey Price,
a lawyer and city clerk, and the
man. who’ had nominated him as
Mayor of Toronto when the city
had ‘been incorporated in 1834,
and. who had helped finance the
rebel cause. The story is told that

the people

_ the cook at Price’s home hid Mar-

kenzie in a big basket in the kit-

By JOHN STEWART- me

chen when the loyalist troops

came.

Outside, the men of Bond ‘Head,
acting under orders “to mark the
record by some stern act of ven-
geance,” were arresting hundreds,
pillaging homes. Bond Head or-
dered the burning of Montgom-
ery’s Tavern and the torch was
put that night—Mackenzie sadly
watched the flames as he made his
escape in darkness. (Today the
site of the tavern is occupied by
a government post office at the
corner of Yonge and Montgomery
Avenue. A plaque beneath a flag
pole tells of the event.)

Among those seized were Sam-
uel Lount and Peter Matthews,
the farmer from Pickering who
had fought against the Americans
in the War of 1812. They were
later tried for treason and hanged
at’ Court Street police station —
while on the high seas from Eng-
land was coming the document
that would have pardoned them.
° f

What was the cause for which
the rebels fought? Perhaps' this
poem that appeared in the St.
Thomas Liberal in August, 1837,
tells it:

“Up then! for Liberty—for Right,

Strike home! the tyrants falter;

Be firm—be brave, let all unite.
And despots’ schemes must alter.

“Our King—our government and

laws
While just, we aye shall love
them, 3
But Freedom’s Heaven-born, holier
cause

We hold supreme above them.”

In revolutionary struggle Can-
adian capitalism came into being
The yeomen, the artisans and
workers, the small tradesmen and
farmers, were held in the yoke of

a foreign domination, helpless to
develop Canada .as Canadians,
seeking to exploit the riches of
our land for the people who had
risked much to come here, whose
toil had opened the land. They
sought their ‘independence  to-
gether with their French-Canadian
brothers under the leadership of
Louis Joseph Papineau.

Mackenzie had not wanted vio-
lence; had it not been for Dr.
Rolph, who lived in the city and
was in contact with both sides, the
action would not, haye taken place
on December 7.. Mackenzie’s plan
was to consolidate the growing un-
ity of the people and compel the
Family Compact to yield by force
of public pressure. But Dr. Rolph
had sent out a message calling the
patriots to Montgomery’s Tavern
by Manday of that historic week.
Mackenzie tried to countermand
the order, but it was to late. The
patriots came. There was little
time for training, for gathering
arms.

When the die: was cast, Mac-
kenzie favored seizing the city im-
mediately. Sir Francis Bond Head
was ill-prepared and frightened
half to death. His yacht was stand-
ing at the foot of Church Street,
his family aboard, ready ‘for flight.

But inside Mackenzie’s council,
the indecision and treachery de-
feated the plan.

Then came the infamous act by
Bond Head. On Tuesday, he sent
a messenger under the flag. of
truce asking Mackenzie for his
terms. The governor knew re-.

‘ inforcements were on the way and

sought to delay the rebels.

Mackenzie’s answer was brief
and pointed:

“Independencd — and a conven-
tion to arrange details.”

Again.on Wednesday, after the
truce deadline had expired, there
was delay. Mackenzie pleaded for
a handful of followers who would
go with him to seize the city. His
appeal was mupned down.

e

Mackenzie was forced to seek
refuge in the United Staates and
after a perilous journey, aided by
hundreds of people who supported
the cause for which he fought, he
succeeded in reaching Naval Is-
land, near Niagara.

From there, with his heroic wife
who joined him as an inspiration
to all in the growing patriot camp,
Mackenzie began reorganizing.

But even then the United States
had its witchhunters.

Mackenzie was arrested on a
trumped-up charge of violating.
immigration laws. He was tried in
Rochester on June 80, 1839, and
sentenced to 18 months in. prison.
Alone and persecuted as he was,
he stood proudly Canadian before
that Yankee court and addressed

He said he had been

the jury.
told to use “honied” words to
them:

“But as I did not stoop to
flatter power in a few on the
other side of the great lakes,
it is not likely that I shall cringe
to it here, . . .?

Then he said these words,
fraught with such meaning today:
“Why should there be de-
ception used. You want Can-
ada. I know it. ... Your ver-
dict against me would blind no-_
body to your real views.” And
he proceeded to give chapter
and verse. on the U.S. plan to
annex Canada by economic of
military aggression.

But he was imprisoned and held
for many months in solitary con-
finement.

His thoughts, however, were
still of the struggle for indepen-
dence and liberty, for the “Liber-
ty—Equality” that were emblaz-
oned on the great seal adopted
by the patriots at Navy Island
along with their flag with its two
stars, representing the two Can-
adas. In prison he wrote:

“What was his crime; His coun”
try’s love-

For her he fain had freedom
gained;

This was the offence. For wall he
strove—

And failing — freedom’s star too
would.

4

“He sought a home among the
bravely free,

He called for aid — for arms to
crush the foe—

And asked if freedom’s sons would
tamely see

Their brothers sink beneath the

victor’s blow.

“For this he finds a cell — a
prisoner lone!

For,this immured- he’s torn from
freedom’s light!

And still he hopes — still speaks
in trumpet tone

Against the ills which his
country blight.”

own

William Lyon Mackenzie had
not given up the struggle. His
time in the United States he spent
enlisting aid “on behalf of the
Canadian patriots struggling t0
obtain the independence of theit
country.” When he returned he
was again elected to the Upper
Canada legislature. The struggle
for responsible. government had
gained many victories—but it is @
struggle that continues to this day
as Canadians fight to re-establish
the supremacy of parliament and
the independence of Canada from
the grip of another foreign powe!
the United States.

—

URSUIT of the maximum

profit has gained signal
success in Tanganyika and
this is of interest because of
the near neighborhood of
that territory to Kenya.

Tanganyika Concessions
has made a record profit of
more than $2,500,000, nearly
double the previous year.

On the strength of that
success the shareholders are
getting a very handsome rise
in dividend, 40 percent as
compared with 25 percent for
the year before.

Interest in these figures is
based on the facts that Tan-
ganyika is a strategic ground
for the imperialist profit-
hunters and. its people are
threatened with the applica-

Whips -- and A-bombs

are kept secret.

lows against the Africans are »

tion of those same bloody
measures that are in force
against the people of Kenya.

The biggest British imper-
ialist interests in uranium, the
taw material of the atom
bomb, are controlled by Tan-
ganyika Concessions. It holds
these through shares in the
Belgian concern, Union Min-
iere du Haut Katanga.

High profits are being
made by that concern from
selling uranium to the Unit-
ed States in quantities which

But while Africa provides
such profits, the reasons for
whips, dogs, guns and gal-

no secret,

—

/
_PACIFIC TRIBUNE — DECEMBER 5, 1952 — PAGE 10

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