l88 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF XEUTOUNDLAND 



along the three-mile road between Carbonear and Harbour 

 Grace in broad daylight, 1 he was felled to the ground by 

 a gang of painted or masked ruffians, and his ears were cut 

 off. The same penalty was inflicted shortly afterwards at the 

 same place in the same month under the same circumstances 

 on his foreman. It was said that the name of the ringleader 

 of the outrage was known to every clerk in every counting- 

 house in Carbonear, but nothing was done. 2 In 1840 there 

 were election riots at Carbonear, in which a magistrate was 

 attacked in presence of a huge mob and all but killed. No 

 one was punished. It was about this time that a Judge of 

 the Supreme Court was, at the instance of John Kent, sent 

 to prison by the Speaker of the Assembly for having granted 

 a writ of habeas corpus to Dr. Kielley, a local surgeon 

 whom the Speaker had illegally sent to prison. 3 



In 1 86 1 John Kent, while Colonial Secretary, accused the 

 Governor, Sir A. Bannerman, of conspiracy with the judges 

 to defeat a Government Bill. The Governor dismissed the 

 Ministry ; a general election ensued, and, when the new 

 Assembly met, a riot broke out in St. John's, during which 

 houses were wrecked and looted, and the soldiers of the gar- 

 rison were called out, stoned, and shot at, and then they shot 

 back, killing three people and wounding twenty. The great 

 bell of the Roman Catholic Cathedral tolled to prayer, the 

 mob melted away, and peace was suddenly and completely 

 restored. This act of righteous severity was the last act and 

 deed of the garrison, which, in accordance with the policy 

 applied to every self-governing colony by the English 

 Government, left Newfoundland for ever in 1870 amidst 

 universal regret. There was an afterglow of popular passion 

 at Harbour Grace in 1883, when four men were killed during 

 a riot caused by rival religious processions ; but since the 



1 Shortly after 4 p.m. See Public Ledger, June 2, 1835, cited by 

 C. Pedley, History of Newfoundland, p. 392. 



2 E. Gosse, Life of P. II. Gosse, p. 81. 



:! 1 842, Kielley v. Carson, Moore's Privy Council Cases, vol. iv, p. 63. 



