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EMORY WASHBURN (1800-1877) was a Massachusetts Legislator in 1826, serving two terms as a Whig, and was elected governor in 1853. Traveling in the company of his wife, Marianne Cornelia Giles (1810-1898), Washburn writes a compelling description of Montreal during the Montreal Rebellion of 1837-38 when armed uprisings in Upper and Lower Canada (present-day Ontario and Quebec) against British Colonial rule, fueled demands for greater political autonomy and responsible government, which ultimately led to significant political reforms in Canada. Lord Durham was dispatched from London to investigate the cause of the rebellion. He arrived on May 29th, 1838. The rebellion ended in December. Durham recommended union of the two Canadas and granting responsible government to the new colony. Washburn describes the extra troops stationed there. He also writes, in part, The laws and government and Lord Durham & the Colonial Policy must always keep down these provinces.The law of caste is distinct & impassable as in India. He sent the letter offered here to his family home in Worcester, MA, and designated it for Miss Giles, his wife in the integral address leaf. Montreal July 22, 1838 4 pp, 7 7/8 x 9 ¾, ALS, Washburn writes, We are safe at the Exchange [a coffee house and the site of the first stock exchange in the city since 1827] in this goodly city and in behalf of the wanderers I resume the thread when it was cut off a week ago. We parted with you at St. Johns and we parted with St. Johns the next morning at 9 o clock and at half past 11 found ourselves in Montreal. Marianne has written a book to tell whom & what we have seen and consequently I have no commission to tell you that we traveled over a rail road to the River and crossed the St. Lawrence from La Prairie 9 miles in a steamboat. I found nothing new here but to the rest it was full of novelty. We however only staid during a day and at 6 o clock went on board the Canada, not the territory but a steamboat with a real John Bull of a captain and were off for Quebec where we arrived the next morning, Tuesday at half past 7. If Montreal was novel Quebec was interesting in the extreme & we saw it under favorable circumstances & we filled up our time till Thursday night when at 2 o clock AM we started on our return. Our way back was slow tedious and uncomfortable the first rain we had had was pouring upon us our boat was small dirty & slow. Our company was so-so & yesterday morning at 5 o clock we found ourselves again in this city. A ride around the mountain, a visit to the Hospital nominally the Grey Nuns or Soeurs Grises as the name over the door is written, a due modicum of shopping, eating breakfast, lunch dinner & tea (supper we dispensed with) filled up the day and this beautiful morning found us at 10 o clock sallying forth to church at the Cathedral from which we have just returned. Now where shall I begin or what shall I tell. I could talk politically and tell you of the laws and government and Lord Durham & the Colonial policy that must always keep down these provinces but you would not thank me. I might talk of the people, their dress, houses, language, manners & everything so different from ours in which the law of caste is distinct & impassable as in India but Marianne has all that in her note book. I might speak of the troops sent here from England to protect the Canadas from themselves. But I have not the time for all these. Let me just take you Lissy or Mother by the arm & look out of our hotel upon the esplanade in the upper town of Quebec. It is half as large as our common in Worcester a street running along the east side & there we stand in front the walls of the city to the top of which is a sloping glacis & up the top a row of large cannon mounted about half way up the glacis is a line of sentries in re.
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