[3] On the evening of the June 6th, pursuant to previous announcement, Gavazzi proceeded to deliver a discourse in the Free Presbyterian Church, in St. Ursule Street, on the subject of the Inquisition.

A volley of stones came crashing through the windows of the church, and immediately afterwards a crowd of persons armed with bludgeons made a forcible entrance into the building.

Gavazzi attributed the failure of the Italian national movement of 1848-49 to the defection of Pope Pius IX from the cause, and therefore rejected Catholicism.

While the lecture was in progress there was an attempt on the part of a band of Roman Catholic Irish to force their way into the church.

[4] Protestant journalists such as John Dougall of the Montreal Witness persisted in accusing the mayor for the riots.