Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 18.pdf/25

 THE GREEN BAG Q.C., while Mr. Christopher Robinson and Mr. Hugh McMahon, Q.C. were for the Dominion. The argument began on the 1 5th of July and lasted six days, many were the old treaties, plans, reports, travels, records, and other documents cited and discussed, much dust was shaken off the musty records of the past; much recourse was had to the tales of French, English, and American explorers. On the nth of August Her Majesty approved of the decision of her counselors which was practically in favor of the con tention of Ontario — and against the views of Mr. Robinson. In 1885, while the snow still lay thick upon the ground, Eastern Canada was astonished to hear that Louis Riel had again incited the half-breeds and the In dians of the Northwest to rebellion. He had played the game in 1870, and had escaped over the border to the south, and in time had been allowed to return, and was even elected member of Parliament. The Canadian Pacific Railway was not yet completed north of Lake Superior, and navigation was not open, yet volunteers from the east were hurried to the west. In the skirmishes that followed thirty-eight of the loyal party were killed and one hun dred and fifteen wounded, and very many were the casualties along the line of march, and severe were the diseases contracted through the hardships of the campaign, and enormous was the expense. Riel was cap tured, and tried for high treason at Regina. The court opened on July 20, before Mr. Stipendiary Magistrate Richardson and an associate justice, with a jury of six men, according to the Northwest Territories Act, 1880. He pleaded not guilty and was defended by F. X. Lemieux, Charles Fitzpatrick, the present Minister of Justice, J. N. Greenshields, and T. C. Johnston: while Mr. Christopher Robinson prosecuted for the Crown, assisted by B. B. Osier, R. W. Burbridge, D. L. Scott, and T. C. Casgrain. The court overruled all objec

tions to its jurisdiction. The trial lasted several days and was followed by a ver dict of guilty. The defense rested chiefly on the plea of insanity, but this he him self repudiated in his addresses to the court, although he even then claimed he was "the Prophet of the New World;" but his deeds were clear, however dark his mind may have been; his fate was sealed; he was sentenced to be hung. The case was appealed to the Court of Queen's Bench, Manitoba, and there, the judgment was confirmed. His counsel applied to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council for leave to appeal to that august body, but their Lordships refused permission, and so after a commission of medical experts had reported that he was sane, this unhappy enthusiast who intended after the over throw of the English in Canada to give Quebec to the Prussians, Ontario to the Irish, and the Northwest to the other nations of Europe, perished on the scaffold. For long years his spirit haunted the Cana dian politician, refusing to rest, or let friend or foe have peace, although his body lay in peace in the graveyard at St. Bonifice. In 1893, Mr Robinson crossed swords with members of the American Bar, with Messrs. Carter, Phelps, and Coudert, "as good as we have," said Irving Brown anent them. The Behring Sea Arbitration tribunal met in March of that year in Paris, and amid the array of legal talent that discussed the sea and the seals before that august body Mr. Robinson was not the least conspicuous figure. The court consisted of arbitrators named by the President of the French Re public, the King of Italy, and the King of Norway and Sweden respectively, two ap pointed by the British and two by the American government. The question was "Had the United States acquired any special jurisdiction in Behring Sea or any special right of protection over or property in the fur seals there by the purchase of Alaska in 1867." The judgment, was in favor of Great Britain, but certain regulations were