First Series of Arrests
Four of the speakers of the Champs-de-Mars meeting, James Moir Ferres, editor in chief and principal owner of The Montreal Gazette, William Gordon Mack, lawyer and secretary of the British American League, Hugh E. Montgomerie, trader, Augustus Heward, trader and courtier, as well as Alfred Perry, five persons in total, were arrested and charged with arson early in the morning of April 26 by the police superintendent William Ermatinger. A crowd gathered around the police station at the Bonsecours Market in protest. Perry, who was arrested last, was transferred to the prison of the faubourg de Québec at 12:00 pm, escorted by a company of soldiers, and pursued by the crowd. Once in prison, he was put in the same cell with the other four.
Lafontaine, exercising his role as Attorney General, advised Ermatinger to release the prisoners. On Saturday April 28, they were released on bail. A procession of omnibuses and cabs transported them in triumph from the prison to the front door of the Bank of Montreal, on Place d'Armes, where they addressed their partisans and thanked them for their support.
Read more about this topic: Burning Of The Parliament Buildings In Montreal
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