102 THE LIFE 01;‘

- documents were drawn up and signed by the different

chiefs, to be presented to the Government of Canada.
The whole Council waited on the Governor General,
Lord Sydenham, in a body; they presented their peti-
tions (see Note A, at the end of this chapter.) In
reply, we received but little satisfaction ; he closed his
note, by saying, “My children, for the present, I bid
you all farewell.” His Lordship did not even deign
to aflix his name to the note. Since then, nothing has
been heard of our papers, and therefore we must con-
clude that they have been laid under the table. But
what could be expected of a “father,” who could smile
in the presence of his “c/zildren,” and yet stab them in
the dark? See note B, at the close of the chapter,
Where the reader may find an extract from his letter to
Lord John Russell. To rebut his false representations,
I would appeal to the Report of the Commissioners on
Indian Affairs in Canada; to the missionaries; and to
the whole civilized and Christianized population of the
Chippewa nation. I can therefore say, without the fear
of respectable contradiction, that his assertions have no
foundation in truth. A few drunken Indians, it is true,
may be found in Canada; and these alone, would be
willing to call him Fat/zer.

It was at this General Council that I became ac-

quainted with Captain Howell’s family, of Toronto, for-
merly of England, and after an intimate acquaintance of

some six months, I was united in marriage to his daugh-
ter Elizabeth. My wife has been a help meet indeed;
she has shared my woes, my trials, my privations; and
has faithfully labored to instruct and assist the poor In-