134 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND 
     
    
   
   
    
     having branch societies in all parts of the country. In Char- 
     
     lottetown a large convention of delegates met the year pre- 
     
     vious, for the purpose of framing a constitution for the whole 
     
     organization ; which enjoined in explicit terms a solemn obliga- 
     
     tion to withhold all further payment of rent, each member 
     
     was to contribute an equal share towards all expenses, that 
     
     might be incurred by litigation caused by the refusal of the pay- 
     
     ment of rents. But the Government in power at the time de- 
     
     termined to call in the assistance of the military, to aid the 
     
     Sheriff and civil officers in maintaining the supremacy of the 
     
     law and to enforce the payment of rent. And in the month of 
     
     August, a detachment of the 16th Regiment, about one hun- 
     
     dred and sixty soldiers, eight sergeants, four lieutenants and 
     
     two captains, under the command of a. major, arrived in Char- 
     
     lottetown from Halifax. And as the old barracks were dis- 
     
     posed of and taken down the year previous, the troops therefore 
     
     pitched their tents in a field on the east side of the Malpeque 
     
     road, opposite the city spring, where they were comfortably 
     
     cantoned. The presence of the soldiers checked all lawless 
     
     excesses, on the part of the tenant league,—but they ultimately 
     
     obtained the main object of their desire, namely, converting 
     
     leasehold into freehold, and making a final settlement with the 
     
     proprietors. As the summer season was near over, it became 
     
     necessary to provide substantial quarters for the troops, before 
     
     the setting in of winter. And for this purpose a site was se- 
     
     lected at the pleasant little hamlet of Brighton, where barracks, 
     
     consisting of three long buildings, together with military stores, 
     
     were erected, and completed by October, at a great expense to 
     
     the colony. To these the detachment removed, but for a few 
     
     days only, as they received orders to join their Regiment at 
     
     Halifax, and were relieved early in November by two compa- 
     
     nies of the 15th under the command of Major Sewell. At 
     
     Victoria Barracks, this detachment remained during the winter, 
     
     until the 20th of April, I866, when they too left to rejoin head- 
     
     quarters; the Volunteer Artillery, Captain Morris, then took 
     
     temporary charge for a few days, when they were relieved by 
     
     the arrival of two companies of the 4th Regiment, under Major 
     
     Paton. This detachment remained until the following year, 
     
     when they also left to rejoin headquarters, leaving the barracks 
     
     to the tender mercy of an incendiary. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Governor Dundas returned to the Island during November,