o hesitation in advising resistance by force, in which the
Americans of that day would prove to the enemy and the world, that they
had not only inherited that liberty which their fathers had given them,
but had also the will and the power to maintain it. They relied on the
patriotism of the nation, and confidently trusted that the Lord of
Hosts would go down with the United States to battle, in a righteous
cause, and crown American efforts with success. The committee
recommended an immediate appeal to arms. The confidential secretary of
Sir James Craig was not a little to blame for the terrible state of
fermentation into which the representatives of the sovereign people of
America had wrought themselves. Without the knowledge of the Imperial
government, Mr. Secretary Ryland had received the concurrence of Sir
James Craig to a scheme for the annexation of the New England States to
Canada. A young man named Henry, of Irish parentage, and a captain in
the militia of the American States had come to Montreal with the view
of remaining in Canada. He studied law and made considerable
proficiency. Indeed, he was a young man possessed of some talent and of
great assurance. And as there was another suspicion haunting the minds
of Sir James Craig and of Mr. Secretary Ryland, Mr. John Henry, late
captain in the American service, and now Barrister-at-law, was
introduced to Governor Craig, as a gentleman likely to inform the
government of Canada, whether or not, the suspicions of the Governor
and of the Governor's Secretary, were correct, these suspicions being
that the North Eastern States of the American Republic desired to form
a political connection with Great Britain. Mr. Henry appeared to be the
very man for such a mission. He was immediately employed as a spy, and
went to Boston, where he did endeavour to ascertain the public mind, in
those places in which it is most frequently spoken. He lingered about
hotels and news rooms. He visited the parks and the saloons. He went to
church, or wherever else information was to be obtained, and he sent
his experiences regularly to Mr. Ryland, who furnished him with
instructions. But Captain Henry required to be paid for all this
trouble. He applied to Governor Craig to find that excellent gentleman
had no idea of their value. He then memorialized Lord Liverpool, asking
for his services only the appointment of Judge Advocate of Lower
Canada, to which the salary of L500 a year was attached.