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Montreal 7^th June 1775.

My Lord! The 19^th of last Month in the Evening, I received Intelligence from General Gage by Sea of the Rebels having commenced Hostilities in the Province of the Massachusets, and Requesting I would send the 7^th Regiment with some Companies of Canadians and Indians to Crown Point, in order to make a Diversion, and favour his Operations.

The next morning, Captain Hazen arrived Express at Quebec, and brought me an Account, that one Benedict Arnold said to be a native of Connecticut, and a Horse Jockey, landed a considerable Number of armed men at St. John's, distant from this Town eight Leagues, about eight in the Morning of the 18^th, surprised the Detatchment of the 26^th doing Duty there, consisting of a Serjeant and ten Men, and made them Prisoners, seized upon The King's Sloop, Batteaus, and every other Military Store, and a few Hours after departed, carrying off the Craft, Prisoners, and Stores they had seized.

From this Party We had the first Information of the Rebels being in Arms upon the Lakes, and of their having, under the Command of said Arnold, surprised Ticonderoga, Crown Point, the Detatchment of the 26^th doing Duty at these two Places, and all the Craft employed upon those Lakes; Arnold told Captain Hazen, He had for that Purpose received a Commission of Colonel from the Congress of the Massachusets, with the Command of five hundred Men, that Volunteers to the Amount of fifteen hundred followed him, but he did not wait for them all.

The same Evening another Express brought an Account of the Rebels having landed at St. John's a second Time, in the Night between the 18^th and 19^th, this Party was said to be three hundred strong, and that nine hundred more were at the Isle aux Noix; this second Party however was not near so numerous as at first reported, and most probably would have been cut off by a Detatchment of one hundred Men from the 26^th Regiment, under the Command of Major Preston, had they not been advised of the March of the Troops by one Bindon a Merchant of this Town, upon which they crossed the Sorel, and were fired at by the Troops, as they went down the River.

While this Party, Commanded by one Ethan Allen, said to be outlawed in the Province of New York, remained at St. John's, He sent a Letter by this same Bindon, addressed to one Morrison and the British Merchants of Montreal Lovers of Liberty, demanding a Supply of Provisions, Ammunition, and spirituous Liquors, which some of them were inclined enough to furnish, had they not been prevented.

The little Force we have in the Province was immediately set in Motion, and ordered to assemble at or near St. John's; The Noblesse of this Neighbourhood were called upon to collect their Inhabitants, in order to defend themselves, the Savages of those Parts likewise had the same orders; but tho' the Gentlemen testified great Zeal, neither their Entreaties or their Example could prevail upon the People; a few of the Gentry, consisting principally of the Youth, residing in this Place, and it's Neighbourhood, formed a small Corps of Volunteers under the Command of M^r. Samuel Mackay, and took Post at St. John's; the Indians shewed as much Backwardness as the Canadian Peasantry.

The Consternation in the Towns and Country was great and universal, every Individual seemed to feel our present impotent Situation, for tho' in no Danger of internal Commotions, we are equally unprepared for Attack or Defence; Not six hundred Rank & File fit for Duty upon the whole Extent of this great River, not an armed Vessel, no Place of Strength; the ancient Provincial Force enervated and broke to Pieces; all Subordination overset, and the Minds of the People poisoned by the same Hypocrisy and Lies practised with so much Success in the other Provinces, and which their Emissaries and Friends here have spread abroad with great Art and Diligence; had it not been for those few Troops, three hundred Rebels might have procured all the Arms, Ammunition, and Provisions, this Province can afford, and have kept Post at St. John's with great Security.

We are at present fortifying a Post there and at Oswegatchie, tho' there are other Avenues into the Province, I hope the above may be made sufficiently strong to resist any sudden Attack of this Sort; a considerable Force here might not only secure ourselves, but assist General Gage in extinguishing the Flames of Rebellion in the other Provinces more speedily, I fear he has none to spare, and it may be too late in the year to have them from Europe, however I shall see what in our present Situation is further practicable for The King's Service.

Within these few Days the Canadians and Indians seem to return a little to their Senses, the Gentry and Clergy have been very useful upon this Occasion, and shewen great Fidelity and Warmth for His Majesty's Service, but both have lost much of their Influence over the People; I propose trying to form a Militia, and if their Minds are favourably disposed, will raise a Battalion, upon the same Plan as the other Corps in America, as to Numbers and Expence, and were it established, I think, it might turn out of great public Utility; but I have many Doubts whether I shall be able to succeed.

These Measures, that formerly would have been extremely popular, require at present a great Degree of Caution and Circumspection; so much have the Minds of the People been tainted by the Cabals and Intrigues, I have from time to time given Your Lordship some Information of, I am as yet uncertain whether I shall find it advisable to proceed in the aforementioned Undertaking; to defame their King and treat him with Insolence and Disrespect, upon all Occasions to speak with the utmost Contempt of His Government, to forward Sedition and applaud Rebellion seem to be what too many of His British American Subjects in those Parts think their undoubted Right.

For my Part since my Return to this Province, I have seen good Cause to repent my having ever recommended the Habeas Corpus Act and English criminal Laws; these Laws, now used as Arms against the State, require more public Virtue, and greater Fidelity to their Prince, than is generally to be met with amongst the set of People here, that take the Lead upon all Occasions; To render the Colony of that Advantage to Great Britain, it certainly is capable of, would require the reintroducing the French Criminal Law, and all the Powers of it's Government.^[36]

Our Communication with the other Provinces being entirely stopped, we run a Risk of being at a great Loss for Money, to defray the ordinary and extraordinary Expences, the Service here must be attended with, The Money Contractors, as well as Trade, at this Time of the Year, being used to procure large Supplies of Cash from New York and Philadelphia, with which Places We have at present no Intercourse; if fifteen or twenty thousand Pounds were sent here as soon as possible, it would be of great Use to Government, which must lose considerably by the present low course of Exchange, likely to fall every Day; could it be procured in Dollars, and some Part in small silver, the same would prove highly beneficial to this Country, where that species is become extremely scarce.

I am with much Respect and Esteem

Your Lordship's

Most Obedient and

Most Humble Servant

GUY CARLETON

Earl of Dartmouth

One of His Majesty's

Principal Secretaries

of State.

8^th June

P. S. Since I wrote the above, I find the Rebels are returned, and have taken Post near to St. John's, and there have The King's Sloop and Major Skene's Schooner well armed, with several Bateaus; tho' I have not as yet been able to procure exact Accounts of their Numbers or Intentions, I have Reason to believe from the imperfect Information already received, they are more in Number than upon their former Incursions.

G. C.

[35]

Canadian Archives, Q 11, p. 184. This despatch gives Carleton's account of the attack on Canada as the sequel to Gage's operation at Boston. It reveals also the surprising extent to which the general body of the French Canadians had adopted British ideas of personal liberty during ten years of British law and administration, as shown in their refusal to submit once more to the feudal authority of the noblesse under the restoration of the French system by the Quebec Act. Many documents of the period in addition to the few samples given, deal with this important crisis in Canadian government.

[36]

Two days later, June 9th, before leaving Montreal, Carleton Issued a proclamation setting forth that rebellion had broken out in some of the neighbouring colonies, and that the province of Quebec had been invaded by rebels with arms and divers false and seditious reports "tending to inflame the Minds of the People and alienate them from His Majesty." In order to meet a situation which he considered beyond the power of civil law, "I have thought fit to issue this Proclamation, hereby declaring that, until the aforesaid good Purpose can be attained, I shall, in virtue of the Powers and Authority to me given by His Majesty, execute Martial Law, and cause the same to be executed throughout this Province, and to that End I shall order the Militia within the same to be forthwith raised;" The proclamation was published in the Quebec Gazette, June 15, 1775. It was also given in Maseres Additional Papers, p. 170.