Statement respecting the Earl of Selkirk's Settlement of Kildonan ...

74have to misrepresent the facts,must be too evidentto require any comment. Of this I amconfident, that Mr. Semplewas not a man likelyto act in a violent or illegal manner, so as togive any just ground for such an attack asappears to have been made.I trust that, in thecourse of a few days, I may obtain more completeinformation on this subject, at Fort William,where are now assembled many persons who musthave direct knowledge of the facts, and on whomI propose, as a magistrate, to call for information.In the delicate situation in which I stand as aparty interested, I could have wished that someother magistrate should have undertaken theinvestigation. In this view I have applied totwo very respectable gentlemen in this neighbourhood,who are qualified as magistrates forthe western district of Upper Canada*, and theonly persons so qualified who could be expectedto go to such a distance. Both of them, however,have avocations which render it impossibleto comply with my request ; I am thereforereduced to the alternative of acting alone, or ofallowing an audacious crime to pass unpunished.In these circumstances, I cannot doubt that it ismy duty to act, though I am not without appre-at* Mr. Askin of Drummond's Island, and Mr. Ennatingcrthe Saull St. Marie.