Excerpt from A Chapter in the History of Newfoundland, for the Year 1861

On the day of nomination Mr. Mclea, accompanied by a body of his mercantile friends, arrived early at the Lustiags. Indeed, so punctual had they been, that his nomination was over when the other candidates, who had been intent on mak ing a glaring noise and display through the, streets by 'means of flags and music, made their appearance. Immediately a scene of confusion commenced in which coats were torn, and hats (rushed on the heads of the unlucky owners, while those of the li\ ely crowd who could not get near enouglrto take an active part in these diversions, contented themselves with fling ing eggs and filth on the friends of the less popular candidate. Wherever a flag waved denoting a house in favour of him, it was torn down and even the British Ensign was trampled in the dirt. The chief object of this riotous wrath, were the mercantile premises of Mr. Mclea himself. These were ia vaded, the windows broken, and daring attempts made to rifle the oflices. Against thislatter step a decided stand was made. The sons of the proprietor, and others who had charge of the place, armed themselves with revolt ers, and made known their determination that in case the offices were entered, they would then oppose force by force. In consequence of this re solve, and of the persistency of the mob, several shots were fired, and wounds inflicted - in how many cases, and to. What extent is not known, for, as might have been expected, few were anxious to come forward to plead against those who defended the property which they had in charge - injuries which would constitute prima facie evi dence that they themselves had been guilty of trying to break into a man's house. The nomination proceedings did not conclude without a rather strong address from a priest, delivered from the hustings, which, whatever its character, had not the effect of infusing into the multitude the spirit of peace and respect for the laws, for when all was over they formed a disorderly procession, perambulating the streets, and smashing the windows of parties against whom a sudden its had been inflamed. One effect of the outrages'on this day was to lead the independent Catholic candidate to withdraw; and as the cry of the Church being in'danger had been raised, it was evident that none of the same per suasion: would venture in 'opposition to the dominant. Feeling of'their cc-religionists. Any chance of success mclea might h'ave-had-waa destroyed; indeed, he judged' it prudent toretire without'going t0'the poll.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.