In a Canada more cruelly divided by religion than by language or culture, backers of the former government would exploit whatever Sandfield Macdonald did for whichever denomination felt aggrieved. The legal and factual details of the case hardly mattered. The Aylwards presented the kind of dilemma all politicians fear. Macdonald, and by indifference to their demand for a voice equivalent to their burgeoning population, voters in Canada West had taken a chance on a moderate Reformer from Cornwall, John Sandfield Macdonald.Ī Catholic at the head of a largely Protestant bloc in the Legislative Assembly, Macdonald held the post of attorney general. Fed up with George-Étienne Cartier and his partner, John A. They must devote themselves single-mindedly to seeking God’s mercy, for they would find none on this earth.įar away, in Quebec City, was a new government, elected in the very month that the Aylward family had been caught in their own tragedy. Chief Justice Draper solemnly warned the couple to expect no reprieve.
EXPLOITS OF YOUNG DON JUAN AUNT MARGERITE TRIAL
In the trial on October 20, Draper had been implacably on the side of the Crown.īefore he pronounced sentence, Mr. True, their judge, William Henry Draper, was the perfect symbol of a High Tory, Family Compact politician in Upper Canada. In their separate cells in the Hastings County jail, the Aylwards took heart. On the weekend before the scheduled execution, rumours circulated in Belleville that the gathering throngs would be denied the spectacle they were travelling for miles to see.
Even the convicted couple refused to accept their imminent death. Petitions from neighbours and fellow Catholics claimed perjury and falsified evidence. Michael's Roman Catholic Church ArchivesĪt the time, few were convinced that the death sentence pronounced at their trial would actually be carried out.