food, and with whose habits and customs it would be dangerous, suddenly to interfere. If such interference were to take place, the Trade must be exposed to the rivalship of American Citizens on the Mississouri, who would have little scruple in making use of any means to acquire or preserve an influence otherwise unattainable. Subsequently, indeed, the very Colony established by Lord Selkirk, would have rendered any legislative provisions inefficient. Does his Lordship really suppose it would have been possible to prevent his Colonists, such as they are described to be, from clandestinely distilling their grain, (for which they could have no sale or demand), when they cannot be deterred from doing so at home, with all the vigilance and severity which the Law can exercise to prevent this practice? If, however, the use of spirituous liquors could not be wholly dispensed with, or prohibited, it might at least, by judicious regulations, and a proper understanding between the Traders, be restrained; and this, at the meeting which took place, as above mentioned, the Merchants offered their best endea vours to effect,

Great improvements had taken place in this

respect before Lord Selkirk's interference, which it is essential to state, that he may not lay claim to the little merit the reviled Fur Traders are entitled to on the subject. It was shewn by accounts produced at the meeting, that the quantity of spirituous liquors introduced into the North-West Country, had in the two preceding years been reduced from 50,000 to 10,000 gallons; no great quantity, considering there were at that time 2000 white persons in their employment, of which the greater number were to pass the winter in a Siberian climate. It is true, they had succeeded in so rapidly and effectually reducing the quantity, in consequence of the union of the Companies; but after that union, it was the first reform they made, conscious that the success of their Trade, and the security of their persons and property, were equally promoted with their own wishes on the subject, by moral improvement in the habits of the Indians. Will the reader believe, or rather, will the Editors. of the Quarterly Review believe, that at that very meeting, the Merchants stated, and were ready to prove, that the introduction of spirituous liquors amongst any tribe or nation of Indians discovered for the first time in their remote researches by

the North-West Company, was strictly prohibited? Indeed, so faithfully has this principle been maintained, that to this hour the use of it is unknown to them.

So much it was necessary to observe in this Preface, in answer to the unfounded calumnies on this interesting subject. The Author is less solicitous upon the other points urged by Lord Selkirk and his friends: the Courts of Justice in Canada will have no difficulty in rebutting the charges by which they are assailed; and the Editors of the Quarterly Review must surely be aware, that if such transactions as are detailed in this pamphlet by Lord Selkirk, are justified by truth, an appeal to His Majesty's Government, for the reform of abuses so scandalous, or the public exposure of them by Lord Selkirk in his place in Parliament, would have been a much more proper course for the Noble Lord to pursue, than that he has thought it not beneath the dignity of his station to adopt.

The colouring attempted to be given to the lamentable scene in which Mr. Semple perished, will be removed by the facts of the case, as detailed in the Narrative; and it is hardly necessary to

refute the misrepresentation on this subject, into

which Lord Selkirk's friend in the Quarterly Review has been led by his zeal in the cause, and of which Lord Selkirk himself is not guilty. It is stated, that when his Lordship received intelligence of this event at Montreal, he engaged, and took with him, the Meuron soldiers, to ensure the apprehension of the persons engaged in it. This happens to be utterly destitute of truth: Lord Selkirk, without any knowledge of this transaction, or the least reason to presume (unless indeed from the instructions he had given, which might produce such mischief), that any affray or quarrel could have taken place, engaged these mercenaries at Montreal, for the purposes to which their services were afterwards applied.

This fatal catastrophe has, however, been artfully improved by Lord Selkirk. He seems to have expected, that the public compassion for the tragical death of an amiable and meritorious individual, would shield his Lordship's prior usurp ations and subsequent outrages, from all investigation. He hoped that those, to whom in a body he ascribed the premeditated murder of that Gentleman, would be so overpowered by the clamour against their own imputed guilt, that they should raise ther voice in vain to seek justice and indem

nification for his Lordship's unparalleled invasions of their rights and property.

The delusion of these artifices and misrepresentations, however, will speedily pass away; and Lord Selkirk, after preferring charges, for which there does not exist a shadow of proof, will, in his turn, be called upon to answer for having advanced such an unfounded accusation. In the mean time, while Lord Selkirk exhibits the me lancholy incident of Mr. Semple's death with theatrical decorations, to excite the popular feeling of this country in his own favour, the Members of the North-West Company sincerely regret the fate of a man, who appears to have been qualified to be a useful and honourable member of society, and who fell a sacrifice to the implicit fidelity with which he seems to have executed the commission with which he was entrusted. Mr. Semple appears to have been convinced that he was defending the sacred legal rights of his employer; and that to have permitted the Servants of the NorthWest Company to have used the liberty of passage on the soil claimed by Lord Selkirk, as they and their predecessors had done for near a century, would have been a violation of his duty. The feeling of devotion and fidelity was honour